Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the newsmakers of the day – the winners and losers – who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life, or detracted from it, in some significant way.

Let’s look at who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:

Buckle-up, folks – this week’s episode is quite a bumpy ride…

Angel               Andrew Baumgartner & Main Street Merchants

Things that may you go, “Huh?” 

In March, the City of Daytona Beach continued its foray into the commercial real estate business when it purchased the 39,300 square-foot former Corbin building in the heart of the downtrodden Main Street Community Redevelopment Area. 

Some of our “economic development” visionaries at City Hall suggested the property would best be utilized as a multi-functional public market, beer garden, food court, event space, food truck spot, full-service restaurant, live music venue, etc., etc., etc.

The idea being that if the stars aligned, the City of Dayton Beach could charge rent of around $546,000 annually and recoup the $3.1 million it paid for the building in six-years… 

That’s a very big “if.”    

So, after putting out a request for proposals earlier this year, Andrew Baumgartner, the owner of Savage Craft Ale Works of West Columbia, South Carolina, was the sole respondent.

To me, that ranks an “A” for “interest.”

According to a report by Eileen Zaffiro-Kean writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Baumgartner “…transformed a historic building in a South Carolina redevelopment area and turned it into a brewery, taproom and restaurant.”  The renovation of that once dilapidated space earned Savage Craft Ale Works a Historic Preservation Honor Award from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

Impressive. 

For that, I give Mr. Baumgartner an “A” for “experience.” 

In addition, it was recently revealed that Baumgartner has expressed interest in purchasing the property from the city and investing between $6.5 million to $8.5 million to renovate the 84-year-old building as a microbrewery and casual eatery. 

Again, “A” for “commitment & investment.” 

But in keeping with the City of Daytona Beach’s reputation for erecting bureaucratic hoops and hurdles to entrepreneurial investment, recently an internal “committee” comprised of Holly Prevatt, the city’s purchasing agent, Director of Business Enterprise Management Michael Stallworth, Redevelopment Director Ken Thomas, Economic and Strategic Opportunities Director Jeffrey Brown, Financial Business Analyst Sandra Nealy, and “E-Zone” Operations Manager Allyson Brown (Whew! That’s a lot of visionaries!) – sat in judgement of Mr. Baumgartner by “grading” his proposal on a subjective100-point scale. 

According to the News-Journal report, “Each category had a 15% or 20% impact on Baumgartner’s total score. Committee members graded him on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best. He received his highest scores on experience, and his lowest scores on his fee proposal.

Out of 100 possible points, his highest score from a committee member was 73. His lowest was 64.

Baumgartner’s total score averaged out among the five committee members was 68.7.”

So, as I understand it (and I am not sure I do), the only person with a demonstrated history of turning a decrepit building into an award winning and highly successful business in a Community Redevelopment Area launches his efforts in Daytona Beach with a D+ from the city’s redevelopment apparatus?   

Really?   

Look, I get it. 

The process is no doubt based on the statutory requirements for local government procurement of contracted services. 

However, I seem to recall that when less than two responsive proposals are received, the city may choose to negotiate on the best terms and conditions, in the best interests of the community, rather than resolicit for competitive proposals. 

Perhaps that negotiation should begin (and end) with selling the building to Mr. Baumgartner and getting Daytona Beach taxpayers out of the brewery business while we have someone with interest, experience, and commitment willing to take a risky financial gamble on the largely dormant space. 

In 2017, Eileen Zaffiro-Kean authored the five-part exposé “Tarnished Jewel” detailing the malignant blight and civic neglect of our core tourist area.  In her seminal work, this outstanding reporter peeled the rotten onion of Daytona’s Main Street CRA: 

“Plans have come and gone to get a water taxi, marina and riverfront hotel on the west end of Main Street. On the east end, there have been failed efforts to create everything from a vastly expanded pier to an Olympic training village.

The “Take Part” studies of the 1980s, the second of which cost $380,000, were aimed at reviving the beachside core tourist area, and once again making Main Street a charming place to stroll from business to business.

The city spent $318,000 more for a 2011 plan to create a Main Street area entertainment zone, or “e-zone,” that has attracted more dust than developers.

The city has given out more than $713,000 in property improvement grants to dozens of businesses and homeowners in the Main Street area since 2006. Many of those grants went to absentee landlords or businesses that now stand empty.

The city paid for a Main Street overhaul complete with new sidewalks and planters about 25 years ago. Those sidewalks are now stained with the excesses of Bike Weeks past.”

Does anyone see substantive change six-years on? 

I’m asking. 

Because, while several intrepid entrepreneurs have staked their claim on Main Street – working hard to breathe life into an area that could/should be a major draw outside of special events – much of the boulevard still has a down-at-the-heels appearance that dissuades investment…

Many are hoping that Mr. Baumgartner’s investment will be the stimulus for change.   

Clearly, Daytona Beach City Manager Derek Feacher has done more than any of his recent predecessors to turn the dismal tide on the civic and financial stagnation that has plagued the beachside and beyond. 

While many tax-strapped residents in Volusia County are tired of the myriad corporate welfare schemes cloaked as “economic incentives” that are repeatedly heaped on all the right names with a chip in the game – Mr. Feacher has proven a true commitment to creating attractive opportunities for private investment in areas of the community that desperately need it.

In my view, Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young should also be commended for his yeoman efforts to curb violent crime and nuisance conditions on Seabreeze Boulevard – recently sending a shot across the bow of a notorious area nightclub by suspending its extended hours permit following the shooting of four people in the parking lot – among other well publicized incidents that have turned Seabreeze into the Wild West.  

Although a city magistrate later reinstated the businesses after-hours privileges, Chief Young’s bold move sent a strong message that the lawlessness that has plagued the area will not be tolerated.  

To that end, the Daytona Beach Police Department has completed a new substation on the beachside – establishing a reassuring permanent presence for beleaguered residents and the business community – while Mayor Derrick Henry and the City Commission recently approved an investment of $3.5 million for crime cameras and improved lighting for Seabreeze Boulevard and, ultimately, the Main Street area.

Good stuff. 

In my view, these combined efforts represent a great “jump start” for Main Street and our core tourist area. 

My hope is Daytona Beach planning and economic development officials will drop the bureaucratic impediments to progress – and continue their renewed focus on the renovation and rebranding of the “tarnished jewel” that is our downtrodden beachside.    

Angel               Intrepid Citizens Fighting the Belvedere Fuel Terminal

If recent events prove anything, it is there is no shame in government, the rights of developers and massive corporations will always trump those of average citizens, and our elected and appointed officials will say anything to avoid accountability. 

It also proves that sometimes help comes from the most unlikely places…   

Last week, residents of Ormond Beach were shocked to learn of plans to build a 20-million-gallon bulk fuel storage farm on Hull Road as part of a hub-and-spur distribution network that will see dangerous petroleum products delivered by rail, stored in massive above ground tanks, and distributed by a steady 24/7 stream of tanker trucks on two-lane Hull Road near the city’s airport, a children’s dance studio, and a sports complex…

Sadly, they did not hear about it from their elected and appointed officials in local government. 

Instead, residents read the grim details in an article in The Daytona Beach News-Journal.  And to hear our flabbergasted elected officials in Ormond Beach and Volusia County tell it – so did they…

Bullshit.

As the news swept through the community, on August 15, concerned residents appeared in the Volusia County Council chambers, and later packed the Ormond Beach City Commission meeting, to express their growing outrage against what many rightfully see as a direct threat to their environment, property values, physical safety, and quality of life. 

Of course, our elected officials at both Volusia County and Ormond Beach were dumbstruck – completely poleaxed by the news – and our ‘powers that be’ yammered and stammered about what can be done to oppose a previously issued Florida Department of Environmental Protection “air construction permit.”

Residents also demanded to know why city and county officials failed to give them a heads-up before things progressed this far – especially now that it is too late to appeal the FDEP permit?

What followed is a textbook example of how government reacts when it gets caught out…  

Despite the usual mumbling and fumbling by our elected representatives, public records show that on June 22, 2022, the Ormond Beach Site Plan Review Committee – an internal group comprised of the Planning Director, Economic Development Director, Senior Planner, Planning Civil Engineer, Chief Building Official, Landscape Architect, Utilities Engineer and the Office Manager – met with representatives of Belvedere Terminals to discuss preliminary plans for the fuel terminal and submittals required for the permitting process.

On June 24, 2022, Ormond Beach City Manager Joyce Shanahan dutifully reported the Committee’s meeting to the City Commission via her weekly staff report.  According to the report, Ms. Shannahan advised, “Pre-application meeting for a parcel located in unincorporated Volusia County that seeks a fuel farm facility with railroad access.” 

In her report, Ms. Shanahan specified that annexation into the city would be required based upon the terminal’s connection to municipal utilities… 

After the news broke last week, in a “Planning Memorandum” from Ormond Beach Planning Director Stephen Spraker to his boss, Ms. Shanahan, we learned “Volusia County Land Development, Environmental, Zoning, and Planning staff received an inquiry for the development of a rail freight terminal for distribution of oil, fuel, propane.  County staff indicated that this use was a permitted use by right in the I-2 zoning classification.” 

I guess we now know who knew what, and when…

At their August 15 meeting, the Ormond Beach City Commission directed staff to compose a letter of objection to the FDEP regarding the Air Construction Permit for Belvedere Terminals, a letter of opposition on behalf of the Commission to the Volusia County Council and all Volusia County legislative delegates including the Governor and members of Congress, and a letter on behalf of the Commission to Belvedere expressing their concerns regarding the intended use not being at an appropriate location. 

Trust me.  It was the least they could do. 

Literally…

There was a similar ham-handed reaction from the equally flummoxed Volusia County Council…

During his waning comments at the Council’s August 15 meeting, District 4 Councilman Troy Kent, who claims to represent Ormond Beach residents, spoke in opposition to the fuel terminal. 

According to a report by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer:

“Kent said at the meeting that he wasn’t directing officials to pursue action that would necessarily result in a lawsuit, but because the site’s proximity to the municipal airport — about a mile north — he believed the county should notify the Federal Aviation Administration.

“I’m not trying to be a fearmonger, you’ll hear me all the time bashing people for that, but if there is a plane that hits those towers with all of that fuel in it, we are talking about a firestorm in this community,” Kent said.

Not every area in town is unsuitable for a fuel terminal, but Hull Road is, he added. County Council Chair Jeff Brower agreed.

“I hope that this council, if we have an opportunity to have any input on it, that we will stop it in its tracks,” Brower said.”

What I found most troubling was when the exasperated Councilman Kent announced that he found out about the fuel terminal from the “News-Journal.” 

For the record, Mr. Kent was a sitting member of the Ormond Beach City Commission last June when Ms. Shanahan announced the pre-application meeting with Belvedere Terminals…    

Whatever.

In turn, Councilman Danny Robins rightfully asked County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald to compile more information on the history of the terminal – which was met with Mr. Recktenwald’s usual lack of urgency – as he garbled and grumbled in some weird tongue that only Mr. Robins seemed to understand… 

Then, during a standing room only special meeting of the Volusia County Council on Wednesday evening, we learned – among other disturbing revelations – that county officials are unable to appeal the FDEP air construction permit issued to Belvedere Terminals because the county now lacks legal “standing.”

We also became painfully aware that Volusia County’s highly compensated legal and planning apparatus was asleep at the switch and completely failed to notice the required Public Notice of Intent to Issue Air Permit published in the Hometown News. 

In fact, an Assistant County Attorney confessed (to the collective gasps of assembled taxpayers), “Volusia County does not monitor the notices of other government agencies…” 

Really? 

Even when it involves a 20-million-gallon bulk fuel terminal?   

Wow. 

What followed was a long parade of angry residents who approached their elected representatives to passionately demand action to protect their lives, children, and homes from the adverse impacts of a massive fuel storage and distribution terminal in perhaps the most inappropriate location on the Eastern Seaboard.

Public comments included:

“Please lead!”

“Traffic, traffic, and more traffic.”

“An attractive target for domestic terrorism.”

“Why in God’s name do we have to defend ourselves over something you should have said no to a long time ago?”

“Why now?  And why Ormond Beach?”

“As leaders, you should know what’s happening, when it’s happening.”

“We’re sick of excuses.  You need to listen to your constituents!”

“Shame on you for not doing your job!”

“If my child dies, will you go to bed knowing you did all you could to stop it?”

Powerful…

During public comments, Debbie Cotton, President and CEO of the Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce, boldly announced that the Chamber’s Board of Directors opposes the fuel terminal, saying the project represents an “undeniable threat to Ormond Beach.” 

Before Wednesday’s meeting, State Representative Tom Leek of Ormond Beach issued a strong statement claiming, “As a vehement opponent of the proposed fuel terminal project in Ormond Beach, I am working every angle to derail this project.  Additionally, I call on the leaders of the Volusia County Council to join me and make every lawful effort to stop the proposed fuel terminal project in Ormond Beach.”

I also understand Senator Tom Wright of New Smyrna Beach has voiced his opposition to the terminal. 

More important, I heard an interesting rumor through the Barker’s View grapevine this week that a certain unnamed High Panjandrum of Political Power – the ultimate ‘powerbroker’ who swings a lot more wood in Tallahassee and beyond than Rep. Leek and Sen. Wright combined – is also not happy with the idea of a massive fuel farm in once idyllic Ormond Beach…

Time will tell.  

So, what was the ultimate result of this coming together of furious residents and outpouring of opposition against the unthinkable?

Well, after hearing the fervent pleas of their constituents, those gutless do-nothings on the dais of power elected to direct the same staff that got us into this mess to “investigate” options and alternatives… 

You read that right.

After blaming everyone but themselves (or that bloated bureaucracy in DeLand), it appears to many that Growth and Resource Mismanagement Director Clay Ervin – supported by County Attorney Mike Dyer – is setting worried residents up for their patented, “Nuttin’ we can do, y’all. Our hands are tied – bidness is bidness” dodge. 

Without outside help by those in state and federal government (and the private/political sector) who have leverage over the Florida East Coast Railroad and the petroleum distribution industry – which should include the identification of alternative sites with rail access outside of heavily populated areas or adjacent to children’s playgrounds – this terminal may well become a reality for Ormond Beach residents.

Because Volusia County has telegraphed that it doesn’t have the backbone to stand and fight – and Belvedere Terminals hasn’t even rattled their legal saber yet…

Kudos to those intrepid Halifax area residents who are standing firm for that which is right and had the courage to speak truth to power on Wednesday evening. 

It was democracy in action – something our cowardly elected officials have not seen in quite a while…

Angel               Flagler Interim Superintendent of Schools LaShakia Moore

Earlier this week, Pierre Tristam of the online news site FlaglerLive! broke the incredibly disturbing story of how a group of so-called “educators” at Bunnell Elementary School isolated students in an assembly last Friday, ostensibly for a presentation on the importance of improving their standardized test scores.

In Mr. Tristam’s informative article, “Black Students at Bunnell Elementary Are Told Of ‘Early Grave’ If They ‘Clown’ Around and Don’t Perform,” we learned the shocking common denominator – “What these students had in common was one thing, and it wasn’t even low test scores. It was their skin color. They were all Black students. Only Black students.”

According to the report, “They were summoned in two separate assemblies at Bunnell Elementary, one for fourth graders, one for fifth graders, interrupting their classes. They were told that if they clowned around, if didn’t perform well, they could miss out on college. They could end up shot or dead.

They were shown a five-slide PowerPoint that told them that “AA have underperform (sic.) on standardized assessment (sic.) for the last past (sic.) 3 years.” AA are African Americans.

Astonishingly, with three errors in a single line, whoever wrote the PowerPoint would fail a basic English test: the problem at the school appears to start with its faculty, not its students.”

My God…

Please find Mr. Tristam’s excellent article here: https://tinyurl.com/2r5dn8n9

By Wednesday evening, the ill thought segregated assemblies had turned into an international embarrassment for Flagler County Schools as the story was carried by Daily Mail and other media outlets. 

Yesterday, we learned that Flagler County’s Interim Superintendent LaShakia Moore has placed Bunnell Elementary Principal Donelle Evensen on paid administrative leave as the district continues to sort through the fallout from last week’s “assemblies.”    

In addition, the Flagler County School Board abruptly postponed a special workshop scheduled for Thursday morning during which Interim Superintendent Moore was to be interviewed for the permanent position…

According to a piece in Thursday’s FlaglerLive!:

“Postponing the workshop—which the School Board has continuously, misleadingly labeled a “retreat”— was Moore’s request.

“After much reflection,” Moore wrote board members this morning, “I respectfully ask that the Board Retreat scheduled for this morning be rescheduled. Greater than serving as the permanent superintendent, is my desire as an educator to continue to serve the community of Flagler well. For the 3-hours we have scheduled for this retreat, my thoughts will be on what is needed at BES and the rest of this district.”

She also informed the board of placing the principal on administrative leave. (Evensen is not likely to be the only Bunnell Elementary staffer to face disciplinary action.)”

Then, Ms. Moore did the unthinkable for a sitting senior official.  She apologized. 

“As the superintendent of Flagler Schools, I apologize for any disruption to our progress that this has caused, and I ask for your support as a greater community in moving forward. We need your time, ideas and resources to address the performance needs of our students as a whole.

“I appeal to this community to come together, not just around what we don’t want to see, but around what we want to see in our schools,’ she said, outlining opportunities to get involved.”

In my view, Interim Superintendent Moore’s response to this crisis should tell the Flagler County School Board all they need to know about her character and suitability. 

By any metric, Moore has shown incredible leadership under pressure, and accepted personal and professional responsibility for a terrible error in judgment that occurred on her watch – and, in my view, she has acted in the finest tradition of demanding a level of accountability commensurate with responsibility.

That is admirable – and something other area government “leaders” could learn from… 

Quote of the Week

“The (Deltona) City Commission agreed during a workshop Monday to create a committee of residents to assist in picking the next city manager following the recent resignation of Jim Chisholm.

The commission also gave consensus to Glenn Whitcomb, the newly named interim city manager, to finalize the parameters of what the city is looking for in a manager over the next two weeks.

The commission will hold votes approving those items during its Sept. 4 meeting as votes cannot be held during workshops.

The commission also agreed to shorten the timeline of searching for a city manager by 30 days.

Whitcomb also will reach out to the city manager search firm that previously responded to the city’s call to see if they are still interested.

During Monday’s workshop however, some commissioners and residents were opposed to hiring a search firm, which can cost upwards of $50,000.”

–Wild West Volusia reporter Katie Kustura writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Deltona residents asked to help pick next city manager,” Tuesday, August 22, 2023

And Another Thing!

Last week, The Daytona Beach News-Journal published a whimsical ditty on the annual personal financial disclosure forms filed by the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker that we elected to the Volusia County Council – a statutorily mandated obligation of all elected and appointed officials governed by Florida’s Code of Ethics who hold a fiduciary responsibility to those they serve.   

Three of our Councilmen – Don Dempsey, Danny Robins, and Jake Johansson – list themselves as millionaires… 

Good on ‘em. 

My three decades in municipal public service were not nearly as lucrative – but it is good to see local boys doing well, eh?   

District 1 Councilman Don Dempsey, a DeLand attorney, took the cake with a net worth of over $4.5 million as of June 1, 2023.

At-Large Councilman Johansson – a retired naval officer and former city manager of Port Orange – lists a sizeable personal fortune with a net worth of $3.4 million – with millions in checking, savings, and investment accounts – and an annual income of $202,726 derived from a military pension, VA disability, and a company owned by Mr. Johansson and his wife, Core Concepts Leadership, (not including the $51,292 he receives for service on the Volusia County Council.)

In his disclosure, Mr. Johansson listed Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce as “major customers” of his leadership training and coaching company. 

According to the News-Journal’s report, Mr. Johansson has rightfully limited his involvement with these clients to avoid any conflict of interest…  

I have always found the Florida Ethic’s Commission’s financial disclosure requirements something of a joke, in that I have rarely known a corrupt public official who willingly detailed their graft and grift on Form 1, have you?     

Frankly, at the risk of sounding crass – I don’t give a rat’s ass about how much these pompous blowholes bring in – or how many play toys they have accumulated in their spacious backyards…

In my view, if we were serious about ensuring our elected and appointed officials remain independent and impartial – we would subject them to regular polygraph examinations, forensic audits, credit checks, analyze their personal financial stability, past criminal behavior, history of substance abuse, veracity, contacts with special interests, and regularly examine any personal and professional associations that suggest a vulnerability to compromise and corruption.

Yeah.  I know…

Most important, if “The System” were serious about preserving the public trust – we would immediately overhaul our horribly broken campaign finance system – an exercise in transactional politics that has taken on the appearance of a Turkish bazaar.

Don’t hold your breath…

As recent events in the City of Deltona, Ormond Beach, and Volusia County government have shown – once lost, the public trust is impossible to regain – especially when the same compromised hands are allowed to remain on the tiller. 

In my view, it is time those who accept public funds to serve in the public interest at all levels of government understand the importance of protecting the integrity of our system of governance by avoiding even the appearance of impropriety, accepting personal and professional responsibility, and holding highly compensated senior government executives accountable for the actions and omissions of their administration.   

It is also high time those we elect to serve our best interests live up to their campaign promises and support and defend the rights of their powerless constituents in the frequent David v. Goliath conflicts we face – like crippling malignant sprawl and the increasingly likely placement of a 20-million-gallon fuel farm in Ormond Beach…

The slapstick comedy of errors that was on full display to astonished residents on Wednesday evening – many of whom had never set foot in the Volusia County Council chambers – should have been a gross embarrassment to our blindsided elected officials, County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald, and his senior staff who either knew or should have known about the Belvedere Terminal project well in advance of last week’s News-Journal exposé. 

In my view, governmental ethics require that those who accept hundreds-of-thousands in public funds to serve in the public interest have a moral obligation to maintain situational awareness, monitor internal and external actions that may adversely impact their constituents, and take early and definitive action to protect public safety, safeguard the environment, and preserve our quality of life. 

Anything less is unethical – and inexcusable.

That’s all for me.  Have a great weekend, y’all!