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:
Asshole Sen. “Terrible Tommy” Wright
As regular readers of these jeremiads know – as a former member of the Republican party (like my father and grandfather before me) – over a decade ago, when it became evident that power and ideology were more important to both major political factions than the fate of our great nation, I became a No Party Affiliate and never looked back.
![](https://barkersview.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/tom-wright.jpg?w=303)
Apparently, I am not alone.
According to a recent report from the Pew Research Center, “A growing share of the public dislikes both political parties. Nearly three-in-ten (28%) express unfavorable views of both parties, the highest share in three decades of polling. And a comparable share of adults (25%) do not feel well-represented by either party.”
Trust me. What remains of the Republican and Democratic parties have no one to blame but themselves – now that the fringe elements have shouted down any remaining moderate voices – and both party’s piss away any shred of moral credibility protecting their weakest links…
For the third week in a row, the continuing saga of the powerful Sen. “Terrible Tommy” Wright – in my view, a highly coiffed wolf in sheep’s clothing who was captured on camera browbeating and physically intimidating the interim CEO of a struggling Daytona Beach domestic violence shelter when she attempted to uphold state law and protect the identities of survivors and their children at the facility on Labor Day weekend.
Last week, like clockwork, things took an unfortunate (but expected) political bent as opportunistic democrats seized the opportunity to use Wright’s abhorrent conduct as a cudgel – while high-ranking republicans seemed content to ignore the raging conflagration and focus on chipped paint and unmade beds…
According to a report by John Dunbar and Mark Harper writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal last week:
“Senate President Kathleen Passidomo wrote Friday that Sen. Tom Wright has made some “very serious allegations regarding the living conditions and financial management of the Beacon Center,” Volusia County’s domestic violence shelter, calling the reports “troubling,” and that she is “pleased that they are being reviewed.” Wright, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, has been accused of flirting with shelter residents evacuating ahead of a hurricane and angrily confronting the shelter’s then-interim CEO on Sept. 2, an action caught on video that has been widely circulated.
“As we have seen most recently with the criminal charges against former executives of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, just because an entity is serving a vulnerable population does not mean they are above reproach or oversight,” Passidomo continued, in a statement to the Orlando Sentinel that was provided to the News-Journal on Saturday.
“That being said,” Passidomo wrote, “I take all of these allegations very seriously. Survivors of domestic violence deserve our compassion and support, and their safety is and should remain our focus.”
Wow.
In the meantime, the shameless Sen. Wright continued to ignore constituent calls for accountability, and media requests for comment, as he pressed on with his exhausting schedule of self-promotion – even brazenly appearing at a ‘town hall’ at the Beacon Center this week – as though he hadn’t been caught on video verbally brutalizing a female in front of traumatized domestic violence survivors and their children – or openly accused of making a creepy come-on to a then 20-year-old victim in the presence of her baby, crudely chatting about Cuban prostitutes and topless women, before offering to fly her to Las Vegas – as the uncomfortable young lady attempted to evacuate The Beacon Center ahead of a hurricane six-years ago…
My God.
It is now clear that we live in an age when the disgusting behavior of a sitting state senator – conduct which includes video evidence of bullying and credible allegations of grooming behavior at a domestic violence shelter – gets lost in the internecine bickering of craven partisan politicians.
That bothers me.
Although I am far from the most virtuous soul you know, I was brought up to believe that we have a moral obligation to protect the vulnerable from exploitation and victimization – a sacred duty that transcends status and politics.
Earlier this week, I was touched by the heartfelt resignation letter of Cheri Brant, another staffer who worked to protect and serve survivors of domestic violence and recently left The Beacon Center citing Wright’s belligerence which read, in part:
“All of the circumstances surrounding the Board of Directors, Senator Tom Wright and the assault on our Interim CEO have been causing me such panic and anxiety that it has been incredibly difficult for me to function. The bullying and harassment in the workplace that has erupted has now made it impossible!”
“Beacon Center has always been more to me than a job or a paycheck. Beacon Center helped me find the tools I needed to build myself into the person I am today. I am put together with all the pieces and parts of all the amazing women I have been in contact through this journey back to myself first as a Survivor seeking safety in the emergency shelter, then as a volunteer giving back and now as an advocate & peer support counselor for the agency that gave me (a) chance when no one else would!”
The Beacon Center – like many domestic violence shelters – has been woefully underfunded, sustained by a caring group of employees and volunteers (some of whom were domestic violence survivors themselves) who did their best to provide a haven for survivors, despite the indifference and political posturing of those in power who should have done more.
In my view, if Senate President Passidomo were serious about protecting the integrity of the institution – and domestic violence survivors – over the now sullied political aspirations of some shit-heel in an expensive suit with the base instincts of Gaius Caligula who allegedly treated The Beacon Center as his private Hellfire Club, she would have immediately commissioned an investigation into Wright’s disturbing behavior and put a stop to the cheap political rhetoric on both sides of the aisle.
Angel S. R. Perrott
I like beer.
I also like local companies with a civic conscience and the courage to stand in support of their community when the chips are down.
This week, it was announced that venerated Ormond Beach beverage wholesaler S. R. Perrott is challenging the air quality permit recently issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to Belvedere Terminals allowing construction of a 20-million-gallon bulk fuel farm near the city’s sports complex, municipal airport, a child’s dance studio, and thousands of homes and businesses.
According to a report by News-Journal reporter Sheldon Gardner this week, “S.R. Perrott, which is near the proposed site, filed an initial petition for an administrative hearing with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in August, but that was dismissed with the opportunity to amend the petition. They are now making another attempt with an amended petition.
Among other things, the latest petition says that “the permit and its safeguards do not fully consider and mitigate the proposed project’s full potential to emit pollutants.”
The challenge also says that legal requirements weren’t satisfied by the public notice of a pending air-quality permit in the Hometown News.”
Since news of the terminal broke this summer in an exclusive exposé by The Daytona Beach News-Journal, residents from throughout the region have mobilized to oppose the plan that would create a hub-and-spur distribution system along the Florida East-Coast Railway – to include the disputed Ormond Beach terminal – which, in the view of many, is proposed for the most inappropriate location on the Eastern Seaboard…
As questions continue to mount about “who knew what, and when” – with senior elected and appointed officials still claiming they were caught flat-footed, even though both entities held meetings with the company in June 2022 – last week, the City of Ormond Beach took a symbolic vote to deny annexation and utilities to the proposed site.
Many in the community rightfully remain skeptical because the City Commission’s vote seemed to contradict previous statements by Ormond Beach planning director Steven Spraker, who last month reported that the city would be required to annex the property as the terminal would use Ormond Beach utilities and existing regulations require the annexation.
However, in a recent press release, Ormond Beach City Attorney Randy Hayes said the city has, “…the discretion to deny utilities to the proposed project. Exercising this discretion in favor of our community’s safety and well-being is, in our view, the most prudent course of action. The City Commission demonstrated that, unwavering in the commitment to protecting Ormond Beach and its residents from potential harm.”
Time will tell…
Kudos to S. R. Perrott, a great corporate citizen, and the legions of concerned citizens who are fighting valiantly to oppose this potential disaster and preserve the quality of life for residents of Ormond Beach and beyond.
Asshole Palm Coast Councilman Ed Danko
Palm Coast Councilman Ed Danko has, once again, proven himself among the worst examples of what passes for “elected representatives” in our horribly cursed Metropolitan Statistical Area…
You may disagree with my assessment, but that is the beauty of this forum – and what remains of our great nation. We should be able to vehemently disagree, while courageously defending each other’s right to voice an authentic opinion on the issues that affect our lives and livelihoods.
In my view, that takes an open mind – the self-confidence of a freethinker – unencumbered by suppressive bureaucratic “rules” or lockstep conformity to the rhetoric of political parties now wholly controlled by dark money and demagogues from the lunatic fringe…
![](https://barkersview.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/danko.png?w=800)
Earlier this month, the always arrogant Councilman Danko started one of his frequent contretemps from the dais of power when he set about bullying a staff member following a benign presentation on expanding the placement of electric vehicle charging stations in Palm Coast.
Because everything in our lives is now hyper-politicized – the topic of electric vehicles has been seized as a cause célèbre by democratic leftwing moon bats as part of their Henny Penny agenda to control the masses through fear mongering – which, in turn, means republican firebrands are dutybound by party dogma to take things to the opposite extreme and vilify the topic or technology.
In keeping with this Doctrine of Divisiveness, the always controversial Ed Danko performed his caustic Clown Show to exploit the electric vehicle debate to his political advantage as he ramps up a run for the Flagler County Council.
According to a report in FlaglerLive!:
“Palm Coast City Council member Ed Danko verbally attacked and disparaged the city’s resiliency and sustainability officer in a public meeting on Tuesday, baselessly calling her presentation “propaganda,” questioning why she had a job, and sparring with Mayor David Alfin, who brought him under control.
It was the latest in a history of public outbursts for Danko, who has used his position to fabricate lies about a former mayor and have shouting matches with fellow council members, and who previously violated council rules to the point that the mayor threatened to have him removed from the chamber. Danko was also the subject of several complaints by employees. (Tuesday’s outburst was first reported by WNZF’s Rich Carol.)
Maeven Rogers, the chief sustainability and resiliency officer, was appearing before the council to provide an update on potentially upgrading the city’s electric vehicle charging station infrastructure from its lone station at City Hall, and to get guidance on whether and how much to charge at that station.”
As is his way, Danko cut into Rogers – calling her presentation absurd “propaganda,” while questioning her credentials and the need for her position at City Hall.
Look, in light of massive budgets, and the corresponding increase in taxes and fees placed on the backs of already strapped residents, I believe we need to have a serious discussion of superfluous positions like “Resiliency and Sustainability Officers” and “Community Involvement Specialists” – as these so-called ‘fiscal conservatives’ we elect pay tacit lip service to our concerns of government expansion – yet refuse to hack the thick rind of fat off area bureaucracies.
However, openly humiliating a staff member for doing the job she was hired to do, at the direction of the City Manager, for purely political purposes is sensationalistic grandstanding and beyond contemptable.
I know desensitized residents of Florida’s “Fun Coast” may find this hard to understand – but there are ways in which elected officials can express their views, influence colleagues and constituents, and poke holes in public policies they disagree with without resorting to the personal and professional destruction of the messenger.
That’s the difference between a statesman and a bombastic dipshit…
If Councilman Danko possessed the human emotion of shame, he would understand that.
Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin stood up to Danko’s aggression, and according to FlaglerLive!, a heated exchange ensued:
“But by then Alfin was trying to intervene, since Danko had directly attacked a staffer, as council members are not allowed to do by city procedures: staffers answer exclusively to the city manager.
“I think I think you’ve made your point,” Alfin told Danko.
“I’m not finished yet,” Danko yelled.
“Yes you are,” Alfin went on, telling him to address his remarks about staff to the city manager as Dank (sic) said he would speak “any way I want.”
“No, sorry, you will not,” Alfin told him.
“You do not control me,” Danko said, his voice rising further. “You’re elected, I’m elected.”
“You also need to understand the organization of the city,” Alfin said as Danko tried to speak over him. “If you have a question about the assignment, you should address it to the city manager. I will not, I will not tolerate your going after staff.”
“I don’t even know why this person has a job,” Danko said, by then repeatedly out of order.
“That’s a discussion that you can have with the city manager. And I am not going to allow your continued attack on staff.”
“Who do you think you are?” Danko went on.
“I am the mayor of this city and I control this meeting,” Alfin said, turning to (Council member) Pontieri for her questions.
Danko was better behaved at the very end of the segment, when he joined the consensus for charging 18 cents a kilowatt hour, and asked for a report back in a year.
Rogers will, in fact, report back in six months, assuming she is willing to risk subjecting herself to more boorish behavior.”
My God.
This is what passes for “governance” in Palm Coast?
What a damnable embarrassment…
Here’s hoping Flagler County residents finally see Councilman Danko for what he is (and isn’t) and send this incendiary asshole to the political ash heap in 2024.
Quote of the Week
“After the (2022) election, someone mentioned to me our supermajority and they said, ‘Danny, we can make people do anything we want,’” Perez said. “And that might be true. But just because we have the power to do a thing, doesn’t necessarily mean that we should, and just because we think we are right, it doesn’t mean we are justified.”
–State Representative Daniel Perez (R) Miami, recently designated as 2024-2026 Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, as quoted by the Ormond Beach Observer, Monday, September 18, 2023
Certainly not by conscious design – more like the conjuring’s of a weird civic Ouija board – sometimes a crude subliminal theme emerges in these rambling screeds of mine.
This week, the sad refrain seems to be the corrosive effect of partisan politics and unchecked power on the lives and livelihoods of Floridia families in an environment where elected officials at all levels of government seem to have forgotten who they work for.
I found Speaker-Designate Perez’ candid comment on the sorry state of affairs in Tallahassee refreshing – or maybe I was just shocked to see the unvarnished truth coming from the mouth of a sitting politician…
Unfortunately, we now live in a time and place where some politicians view partisan majorities as a means of forcing We, The Little People to bend to their officious will like pompous tinpot dictators who crave power and control over consensus and collegiality.
Upon accepting the speaker designation last week, Rep. Perez gave his thoughts on limited government:
“I believe in limited government because history has taught us what happens when people with power begin to think they know more than the people who gave them their power,” Perez said.
“I don’t believe our state government should be at the center of people’s lives. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a role to play. Government must protect its people from dangers to life and property whether they come from threats to public safety or natural disasters. Government must ensure that we have a society of equally applied laws where any person who is willing to work hard has a chance to succeed based on their individual merit. And we also must be willing to help those who truly cannot help themselves.”
“I grew up in Miami-Dade listening to the stories of the Cuban exiles and listening to the stories of my own grandparents. I heard the fear and anger in their voices as they described the fall of their country. I sat mesmerized at the tales of the Assault Brigade 2506, and their courage in the face of desperate odds. I came to understand how much Fidel Castro had taken from the people of Cuba, and that took root in my mind as a different kind of fear — a fear about how power can be abused and eventually turned into the poor ideology of socialism,” Perez added.
“After all, what makes the American Revolution such an interesting story is not how we won the war, but how we built our peace. Our Founding Fathers understood that man created government to keep ourselves safe, but that the authority of that government also poses the greatest risk to our freedom. They knew that power without restraint leads to tyranny, just as freedom without responsibility results in anarchy.”
Refreshing, indeed…
And Another Thing!
It is natural for good citizens to hope for the best from those we elect and appoint to represent our interests. We need to trust their instincts and we desperately want to believe that their service is altruistic, independent, and civic-minded.
As participants in a representative democracy, we elect the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker – often following the chaotic bloodbath of a modern political campaign – then charge our representatives with setting public policy, enacting the laws, rules, taxes, fees, and regulations that govern our lives and livelihoods, and trust that they will allocate our tax dollars for the essential services we rely on in a fiscally responsible way.
It is a position of enormous public trust – one that should command our respect and appreciation.
So, why is our collective confidence in local government at an all-time low here on the “Fun Coast”?
Let me give you a few recent examples…
Last week, the Lost City of Deltona was back in the news when the Office of State Attorney R. J. Larizza issued a disturbing statement which, while stopping short of finding criminal culpability, painted a damning picture of how the “people’s business” is apparently conducted by a small clique of elected officials meeting in secret behind closed doors.
According to the report by Assistant State Attorney Jeanne Stratis, in May, Mayor Santiago Avila, Jr. brought forth credible information that Commissioners Dana McCool, Jody Lee Storozuk, and Steven Colwell met in private at Storozuk’s home apparently to conduct an interview with City Manager candidate David Lynch.
In keeping with the “deny everything” strategy we have come to expect when elected officials are caught in a “compromising position,” each of the commissioners involved denied they were discussing city business – which would have constituted a serious violation of Florida’s Sunshine law – a second-degree misdemeanor.
According to the report “The candidate, David Lynch, refused to be interviewed.”
My ass.
(Last year, The Daytona Beach News-Journal listed a David Lynch, former City Manager of Newton Falls, Ohio, as one of fourteen finalists for the Deltona position. According to reports, that Lynch was terminated by the Newton Falls City Commission and later resigned after making “defamatory” comments about a Hispanic resident and community volunteer “working on his green card, we think, folks.” Reports indicate the resident – a United States citizen born in Florida – later filed a defamation suit against Lynch…)
Sounds like just what Deltona needs, eh?
Look, I get it – in the absence of corroborating testimony, the SAO may not have been able to establish probable cause that three Deltona City Commissioners met in private to discuss a topic which they knew, or should have known, would come before the full elective body for official action.
You know, like selecting a permanent City Manager?
But given the presence of tightlipped candidate David Lynch in the room, the inference of a Sunshine Law violation is unmistakable – and when it comes to preserving the public trust – perception is reality…
In a subsequent interview with News-Journal reporter Mark Harper, Commissioner McCool admitted being uncomfortable with the situation:
“I walked into the meeting, or I walked into the space, and recognized within five minutes of being there that I was not OK with the gathering, and politely excused myself within 10 minutes of being there.”
Conversely, Storozuk and Colwell stuck to their clumsily orchestrated script:
“Storozuk said Wednesday he didn’t believe he was breaking any rules by hosting the event.
“Everybody around here knows that Steve Colwell is my best friend and we go on vacations together, but that doesn’t mean we meet and talk about city business,” Storozuk said.
Colwell said simply: “Nothing happened. There was no basis for this complaint.”
Which, I think, are the most words the virtually silent Commissioner Colwell has strung together since he was elected…
To say that the appalling optics exhibited by McCool, Storozuk, and Colwell is disappointing is an understatement – because even the suggestion of clandestine ‘meetings’ further erodes confidence in Deltona government at a delicate time in the city’s tumultuous history – and undermines the fair and transparent process for selecting the community’s next City Manager that residents were promised following a raucous public meeting earlier this summer.
In my view, another corrosive factor that continues to destroy our faith in local government is the lack of effective communication between constituents and our elected officials who increasingly seek cover and concealment behind suppressive “civility ordinances” and “rules of decorum” that have a chilling effect on our First Amendment right to speak freely on issues of community concern.
Even when that means voicing strong criticism of those who accept public funds to serve in the public interest…
In an eye-opening piece earlier this week, News-Journal reporter Sheldon Gardner recounted a disturbing exchange between Volusia County Councilman Troy Kent and a constituent – Ormond Beach resident and civic activist Lindsay Pate – during the public comments section of a recent Volusia County Council meeting:
“Lindsay Pate of Ormond Beach was fired up about the prospect of a huge fuel terminal being built just outside her city. She is opposed and she wanted the Volusia County Council to know about it. She singled out District 4 Councilman Troy Kent during a recent meeting.
“Combative, aggressive, ready to fight, or eager to fight and pugnacious. Troy Kent used this description of a citizen when they inquired for more substantial answers”―
Kent quickly interrupted, saying under county rules, “all comments need to go to the entire council. Ms. Pate doesn’t know the rules of this elected body, obviously. I’d like to help her and this council. No. 4 says all comments shall be directed to the council as a whole. Comments should not be addressed to a single member of the council or to county staff members.”
Yeah. I know…
Unfortunately, this is not the first time our cowardly elected officials in DeLand have stood on policy to protect their delicate sensibilities after being caught with their proverbial pants around their ankles – totally clueless regarding plans to place a massive 20-million-gallon bulk fuel terminal in Ormond Beach.
To his credit, Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower spoke to Councilman Kent’s thin-skinned deflection in the News-Journal report:
“I don’t think Councilman Kent got it right that time,” Brower said. “The rule is that the speakers have to address the entire council. … That doesn’t mean that they can’t criticize me or anyone else or mention us in their comments favorably or unfavorably. That’s a violation of the First Amendment. What they don’t do is directly speak to Troy Kent or anybody else and direct comments to them and elicit a response.”
The fact is the damage is done – Volusia County residents have been effectively censored, forced to amend their thoughts and comments from the public podium to conform to a publicly compensated elected official’s tetchy hypersensitivity – and Councilman Kent damn well knows that.
This week, in a feeble and cringeworthy response to the public outcry over the proposed fuel terminal, Volusia County officials announced they are establishing a website “dedicated to updates” on the Belvedere Terminal project – you know, a convenient place where the County’s mouthpiece can control the narrative outside of any public debate the elected officials may find embarrassing?
(To learn more from independent sources not manipulated by County government, please see www.protectormondbeach.com or on Facebook at Ormond Beach Citizens Against Belvedere Fuel Terminals/Grupo Mexico at https://tinyurl.com/2kt3b25b )
And that, my friends and foes, is the grim result of what happens when citizens no longer trust their government…
As Speaker-Designate Perez said in his inspiring remarks quoted above, “Our Founding Fathers understood that man created government to keep ourselves safe, but that the authority of that government also poses the greatest risk to our freedom. They knew that power without restraint leads to tyranny, just as freedom without responsibility results in anarchy.”
He’s right.
In 1776, fifty-six brave souls signed the Declaration of Independence – knowing that the price of treason against the British king was death – yet boldly stood and affixed their signatures to our nation’s founding document with incredible courage and conviction:
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
How far we have fallen.
Today, our elected “representatives” suppress public debate, trample our inalienable protections, and cower in frightened silence behind subjective “rules” when a few well-meaning ladies from Ormond Beach exercise their constitutional right to demands answers…
My God.
I hope you will remember that hard-earned wisdom at the ballot box next November.
Caveat Emptor…
That’s all for me. Have a great weekend, y’all!