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           Volusia County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald

I hate to point out the obvious, but Volusia County government is suffering a serious credibility problem, made worse by a new bureaucratic mouthpiece who blatantly spins fabrications with arrogant confidence in some misguided attempt to divert attention from the multifaceted issues facing our elected and appointed officials in DeLand.

Last week, we learned in a report by Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal that former Corrections Director Mark Flowers has now filed an amended lawsuit against County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald, Public Protection Director Mark Swanson, and county government alleging First Amendment violations, retaliation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and interference with the Family and Medical Leave Act. 

This ugly shitshow came to light last year and quickly dissolved into serious accusations and counteraccusations of misconduct and maladministration between Flowers and Volusia County – an internecine brawl which exposed dangerous conditions at Volusia County jail facilities that continue on Swanson and Recktenwald’s watch.  

So far, the only one held accountable has been Mark Flowers…     

According to the report, “Flowers raised concerns about an alleged use of excessive force by corrections officers in April of 2022. Inmate Justin Caruthers said he was “pummeled,” slammed against a wall and the floor and injured. A Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation and state attorney’s office review led to no charges against the officers.

The lawsuit says that after Flowers raised concerns about the incident the county took away his job duties and had him work from a conference room instead of his office. The county fired him in January after placing him on administrative leave.

According to the lawsuit, the county’s “retaliatory actions in response to Plaintiff’s protected expressions were motivated by Plaintiff’s protected speech.”

The Caruthers incident wasn’t the only issue, according to the document. Flowers heard that corrections officers used excessive force in other incidents while he was on medical leave for a cancer diagnosis “and nothing was being done to stop it.”

Then, on Tuesday, a dozen courageous Volusia County correctional officers stood boldly before the Volusia County Council to report unsafe practices with harrowing stories of improvised weapons, violent encounters with inmates, chronic understaffing, recruitment and retention issues, historically low morale, mental abuse by inmates “and the administration,” stressed inmates who remain locked in their cells up to 18-hours a day – a deteriorating situation described by one officer as a “recipe for disaster – waiting for someone to die…”

Inconceivably, just days before, Community Information Director Michael Ryan couched the allegations contained in the amended Flower’s suit in a much different light:

“County spokesman Michael Ryan said in an email that the corrections system operates “at the highest levels of professionalism and safety in the interest of all inmates, officers, and civilian employees…”

My God. 

After months of horror stories emerging from the cloistered confines of Volusia County Corrections – including firsthand accounts by dangerously overworked and understaffed corrections personnel who have repeatedly come before the Volusia County Council to warn of a potential disaster in the making – this shill has the unmitigated gall to ignore those cries for help and paint things as “safe and professional”? 

Really? 

As concerns continue to mount, Director Ryan had no problem cutting into Flowers in the media, openly opining on unresolved personnel issues, besmirching his professional reputation, and defending his bosses with blame-shifting, distortion, and defensive projection. 

What does this scorched earth HR strategy say to current Volusia County employees who do not have a highly paid mouthpiece to give their side of the story in the media when they get sideways with the administration?

And what will Ryan’s public obliteration of Mr. Flower’s character and reputation ultimately cost We, The Little People who pay the bills? 

“Flowers, 60, of Volusia County, started working for the county in 2014 and became acting corrections director in 2016. He had more than 30 years of corrections experience when he began working for Volusia County and served as the director of Standards and Accreditation for the American Correctional Association from 2006 – 2009, according to the lawsuit.

County officials said Flowers’ termination was not about retaliation but rather about performance issues and leadership concerns. Swanson’s notice of dismissal to Flowers said he lost the support of many of the correctional officers at the jail.

Other allegations from the county include that Flowers had an inmate improperly placed in a four-point restraint, and ordered an inmate who was on a type of suicide watch to be moved without medical clearance.

Ryan said via email Flowers had a pattern of behavior “characterized by a reluctance to accept personal accountability for his actions and a tendency to attribute fault to others.”

County spokesman Ryan said that Flowers “remains reluctant to acknowledge his failure to effectively oversee his team while employed with the County. Unfortunately, he chooses to continually place blame elsewhere even though the claims he brought against his own staff have been discredited by an internal affairs review and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.”

That’s rich…

The fact is, the review by FDLE found that internal surveillance cameras failed to capture what occurred inside Caruthers’s cell, and the county’s own internal affairs investigator wrote at the time, “Based on the information gathered during this investigation, I am unable to determine if the force used against (inmate Caruthers) on April 26, 2022, was excessive in nature.” 

Ultimately, based upon the findings of the FDLE review, the Office of the State Attorney found “…insufficient evidence to proceed and no further action is warranted by this office.”

Look, you don’t have to be Zebulon Brockway to understand the direct correlation between understaffing and dangerous conditions inside the walls of a correctional facility to an increase in use of force, stress, and deteriorating morale. 

In August, corrections officers began employing body worn cameras, although Volusia County Public Protection Director Mark Swanson would have us believe the decision to add the protections “…had nothing to do with Flowers and was really about transparency.”

During the closing comments section of Tuesday’s council meeting, Mr. Recktenwald and County Attorney Michael Dyer callously accused those brave correctional officers who stood before the elected representatives to explain the tinderbox conditions at Volusia County jail facilities by describing their fervent pleas as a “negotiation tactic” – little more than sensationalized misinformation provided away from the bargaining table – once again turning the tables, devaluing employees, refusing to accept constructive criticism from the tip of the spear, while painting themselves as victims of a “planned attack.”

Bullshit.

Why is everyone in Volusia County government’s hierarchy afraid to admit mistakes and learn from them? 

Why are Volusia County correctional officers chronically underpaid and underappreciated?

And why is Director Michael Ryan allowed to spew untruths without question or condemnation from those we have elected to represent our interests? 

I mean, who is this guy?

In my view, the toxic culture of the Recktenwald administration – with the acquiescence of the Volusia County Council – is literally defined by “a reluctance to accept personal accountability” – and “a tendency to attribute fault to others” – as institutionalized mediocrity has increased at the same rate as the astronomical operating budget…

Regardless, as questions continue to mount on numerous fronts, our elected dullards seem incapable of recognizing that constituent confidence in county government is further damaged each time Director Ryan opens his mouth – and, in the midst of major credibility problems, such as the raging Belvedere Fuel Terminal debacle – that suspicion and distrust won’t bode well for those politically accountable Council members who must stand for reelection next year…

Angel               DeBary City Council & City Manager Carmen Rosamonda

According to sociologists, “unintended consequences” are outcomes of a purposeful action that are not planned or foreseen.

I am certainly no social scientist, but I have watched the machinations of government long enough to know there is also a phenomenon called “unintended benefits” – the direct result of legislation that enriches the same special interests who hold the paper on the political souls of those elected officials who they bankroll each election cycle… 

Sound familiar?

The quaint riverside community of DeBary recently got a down-and-dirty lesson on how those “unintended benefits” work when City Manager Carmen Rosamonda explained that incentives resulting from Florida’s Live Local Act – legislation, we were sold, was crafted to promote “affordable housing” – may result in the loss of a $100 million commercial development. 

At last month’s meeting of Volusia’s Knights of the Roundtable, Mr. Rosamonda warned that the developer of a proposed industrial park may allow the current development agreement to expire, then sell the land to an apartment developer.

According to Rosamonda’s report, once complete, the industrial park would have created some five hundred jobs and boosted the city’s tax revenue by over $1 million a year. Conversely, under provisions of the Live Local Act, if the property is turned into affordable housing units, the project would be tax-exempt…

That’s frightening.

Because anyone paying attention knows the gory fate that awaits any local government who dares to control the grim fate of their community by denying a speculative developer whatever their land use attorney can conjure as the “highest and best use” of the land… 

Even if that use drastically increases the population of a small community, taxes everyone else to pay for necessary infrastructure improvements, and forever alters the quality of life for existing residents…

According to Mr. Rosamonda, should the property off US 17-92 – for which the DeBary City Council approved zoning and land use changes in 2019 – be developed for affordable housing, “They’re not only 100 percent tax-exempt for city taxes but for state taxes, for county taxes and taxes for schools.” 

As I understand it (and I’m not sure I do) the law also requires that local governments automatically rubber stamp “multifamily and mixed-use residential as allowable uses in any area zoned for commercial, industrial, or mixed-use if at least 40 percent of the residential units in a proposed multifamily rental development are, for a period of at least 30 years, affordable.”

It is a very lucrative time to be a developer of “affordable housing” (or anything else) in the Sunshine State – and transportation, utilities infrastructure, school capacity, increased density, environmental protections, emergency services, water consumption, and other “concurrency” requirements be damned… 

On Wednesday evening, the DeBary City Council hardened their tenuous position when they voted to approve the first reading of an ordinance imposing a citywide nine-month building moratorium, excluding projects within the city’s Transportation Oriented Development overlay district. 

The moratorium is ostensibly designed to allow city officials time for “careful consideration and necessary changes” to the city’s land development code which have been under revision since 2020. 

In my view, once you look beyond the legalese, the City of DeBary is doing everything in their power to protect the best interests of residents, businesses, and property owners by creating standards and requirements for commercial and multifamily residential development before the potential tsunami of “affordable housing” applications hit City Hall…

How this tactic ultimately works in an environment where the legislative deck has been stacked exclusively in favor of developers remains to be seen.  But I applaud Mayor Karen Chasez, the members of the DeBary City Council, and City Manager Carmen Rosamonda for thinking outside-the-box to develop solutions to this very serious threat. 

Other Florida communities should take note. 

Although I do not expect the political insulation committee that is the Volusia Knights of the Roundtable to do one damn thing to pressure state legislators into fixing the unintended consequences/benefits of the Live Local Act – it is refreshing to see the DeBary City Council take on this David v. Goliath fight as other communities face the threat of shouldering the burden while “affordable housing” developers get fat.  

Stay tuned, folks.  Something tells me things are about to get interesting…  

Quote of the Week

“Dear News-Journal Editor,

Although I have been labeled “un-American” in your newspaper, I have the right to speak my mind just like anybody else in America.

I’ve noticed the Daytona Beach News-Journal takes full advantage of its platform to pick and choose narratives, to criticize others, and to play armchair quarterback.

Those of us who end up under the media spotlight are expected to lay prostrate, play our part and take whatever’s coming.

That won’t be me. I don’t expect glowing positive coverage of every incident or issue, but I can tell the difference between a tough story and a slanted one.

Today I have seen one too many of the latter. I guess it took me longer than most. This is nothing personal, strictly business, but the only real recourse I have is to unsubscribe from the News-Journal and quit commenting in it.

Your column accused me of cyberbullying, scapegoating, and possibly provoking people to “respond with more than words.” If you or your staff are being threatened in any way, let me know and I will immediately put you in contact with an FBI agent. If you believe I’m responsible, I would urge you to notify the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and file a criminal complaint.

I have been subject to plenty of threats, as has my family, so I can assure you I don’t take them lightly.

There are lots of dedicated reporters out there who are tough but fair, and last week we all said goodbye to one of the best ever.

We need more of those and less of the type who believe in accountability for everyone but themselves.”

–Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Letters to the Editor, “Sheriff’s response to column by News-Journal editor,” Sunday, October 1, 2023

For those who have been living on the dark side of the moon for the last, oh, decade – Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood speaks his mind on the issues of the day.

He also wears his heart on his sleeve – openly showing raw emotion and speaking off-the-cuff – something his supporters find refreshing in an era where many elected officials ‘stick to the script,’ never wavering from the ‘talking points’ crafted by some PR flack.  

As expected, Sheriff Chitwood’s tough talk is also a source of fodder for his detractors…

That comes with the territory, and Mike has proven, time-and-again, that he can give as good as he gets – standing up to antisemitism, neo-Nazi hate speech, online threats, and cyberbullying.   

I admire that. 

The fact is, Mike Chitwood genuinely cares about those who live, work, play, and learn in Volusia County – and he has the work ethic of the Amish.     

It is also no secret that Florida sheriff’s – often donning ten-gallon cowboy hats – have set a bar only exceeded by Nature Boy Ric Flair when it comes to outrageous pressers and one-liners, with charismatic Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd reigning as the undisputed King of the Soundbite…

As elected officials who must stand before voters and defend their record every four-years, that swaggering self-promotion comes with the territory. 

But knowing Sheriff Chitwood as I do, he would never place a reporter – or anyone else – in harm’s way. 

In my view, News-Journal Editor John Dunbar stretched the limits of journalistic integrity (is that still a thing?) when, in a misguided defense of reporter Frank Fernandez, he insinuated “…he’s (Chitwood) creating a scapegoat and invoking his followers to tell him “what they think.” What happens if they respond with more than words?”

Come on, man…    

What Sheriff Chitwood did was call out a question posed by a reporter – a concern that apparently originated from a local defense attorney – critical of the physical arrest of an 11-year-old girl who texted false reports of a kidnapping to 911 and defended himself after being labeled “un-American” by a “jury consultant” when he expressed his feelings on the Othal Wallace verdict.    

As is his way, Sheriff Chitwood took to social media and asked the public:

“My office got this email from a reporter this morning. The 11-year-old is the one who called 911 with an elaborate report of a fake kidnapping because she thought it would be funny. I think I know how I want to answer this question but how would YOU respond?”

Regarding the Wallace verdict, he inquired:

“I really don’t care what Allison Ferber Miller has to say in the latest BS report by the Daytona Beach News-Journal defense attorney mouthpiece Frank Fernandez. I don’t take Frank Fernandez’s calls or give him quotes for his BS stories anymore, but feel free to let him know what you think.”

That is a far cry from what Mr. Dunbar is suggesting…   

Now, Sheriff Chitwood has made good on his word and is refusing to comment to the News-Journal.  This week, he intentionally excluded the newspaper from a press conference – which resulted in another editorial from Mr. Dunbar. 

Personally, I have always appreciated Sheriff Chitwood’s accessibility – and his candor. 

He puts himself out there, engages with constituents, mixes it up with critics, and partners with the community.  In doing so, he has become incredibly popular with Volusia County voters and a trusted source of information. 

Unfortunately, The Daytona Beach News-Journal is now viewed by many as just another regionalized and homogenized property of the international media conglomerate Gannett – something that bears no resemblance to our former ‘hometown’ paper – and Mr. Dunbar is going to have a tough time changing that opinion.   

It is no secret that, like a good editor should, Mr. Dunbar has been doing his level best to stop the hemorrhage at what remains of the News-Journal, including a recent entreaty to his dwindling subscribers asking for suggestions to improve the newspaper:

“So this is where you come in. I ask you, what would you like to see more of? What needs more attention? What needs less attention? I’m listening.”

Here’s a suggestion: Pick your battles, Mr. Dunbar.

And allow your journalists to do the same.      

That means stop inflating benign comments on social media into a sensationalized “threat” in a misplaced effort to cast Sheriff Chitwood in a bad light because he publicly challenged a loaded question and a gloating social activist with a law degree…     

Reporters need access to newsmakers, and vice versa.

That starts with hard-earned mutual trust.

In my view, what Mr. Dunbar did with his editorial overreach was to alienate and undermine the important work of those dedicated reporters who bring us the news under increasingly difficult circumstances – and further damages the fragile credibility of The Daytona Beach News-Journal at a time when we need quality local investigative journalism the most.  

And Another Thing!

I find it interesting how different the core beliefs and principles that guide a government bureaucracy can be from those of us who pay the bills and are expected to suffer in silence – values like responsibility, accountability, transparency, a focus on individual and organizational progress, active listening, personal courage, ethics and morality, accepting criticism and feedback, service delivery, genuine gratitude, authenticity – those attributes that form the heart of organizational culture. 

In my view, Tuesday’s meeting of the Volusia County Council shined a bright light on what Volusia County government finds important – and it has nothing to do with you and me… 

After twelve brave Volusia County corrections officers stood before the Volusia County Council and, once again, brought attention to the myriad problems in the Division of Corrections – only to be accused by a clearly embarrassed County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald – of conducting a “planned attack” as the rank-and-file fight for a competitive wage and safe work environment. 

To add insult, when it came time for council comments, Councilman Matt Reinhart – who spent 30-years in the Division of Corrections before retiring as warden in 2017 – pooh-poohed jail overcrowding and made a disheartening comment that all options are on the table for dealing with the concerns expressed by the officers, including a cryptic mention of “…bringing in another agency.”

Wow.  If that doesn’t say – “Quit airing our dirty laundry or you will find yourself replaced out-of-hand,” I don’t know what does…

In my view, it also speaks to how little our elected and appointed senior officials value the service, sacrifice, and contributions of those who serve. 

Chilling.  

Having served the bulk of my adult life in local government, I can tell you the courage it took for those officers – several of whom are tenured line supervisors – to enter the gilded council chamber and speak truth to power, knowing well the repercussions that can befall county employees who expose the inner turmoil or challenge the status quo.

Earlier this week, I received an anonymous note (I get a lot of those, about a lot of things) from someone clearly “in the know” who spoke of personnel turnover and the resultant morale issues in the Planning and Development Services Department – and during this week’s public participation period, a longtime government watchdog spoke of a chance encounter with a recently terminated county employee who spoke of potential problems in the Legal Department. 

Were these the rumblings of disgruntled former employees – or symptoms of larger problems?

We will never know. 

Because the culture at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building is anything but open and transparent – and no one who should seems to care…  

Although Mr. Recktenwald has come to accept mediocrity as an organizational value – perhaps it is time for our elected officials to understand that an “average” wage will no longer attract quality recruits to this difficult and dangerous pursuit – and it will not retain the experience the Division of Corrections desperately needs.

In my view, the question of “what is important, and what is not,” became evident during council comments, when the topic of where to hold next year’s Grand Soiree known as the “State of the County Address” – where elected officials don their finery and preen and peacock with what Councilman Jake Johansson described as the “Who’s Who” of Volusia County – over a rubber-chicken lunch paid for by government contractors seeking a better place in the suckling order at the public teat…

Although I rarely agree with Councilman Danny Robins, I thought he had the most sensible idea when he suggested holding the annual hot-air generator at a regularly scheduled Council meeting – a notion supported by Councilman Don Dempsey – who argued the event should be held annually at the County Seat. 

Who gives a shit? 

That seemed to be both my uncouth sentiment – and District 4 Councilman Troy Kent’s – who announced that not one of his constituents have ever voiced opposition to holding the event at the county owned Ocean Center. 

Not one.

As the timewasting back-and-forth continued, ad nauseum, proposals and motions were made to alternate across the Palmetto Curtain, with Councilman Matt Reinhart opining that the 2024 event be moved to the City of DeLand’s Sanborn Center (without a clue whether the rental venue is available) – with the collective wisdom finally deciding to allow County Manager Recktenwald to check availability…

My God.   

It also confirmed my suspicions that this annual event is an orchestrated sham when Councilman Johansson admitted that earlier this year, he was required to read from a prepared script at the 2023 State of the County Address (I wonder if he received a treat and a pat on the head for his obedience?).

However, Johansson let staff known that he would be speaking his own mind next year – suggesting that the event be more “low-key” than in years past with a “little less effort put into the production…”

Oddly, Chairman Jeff Brower (the star of the show) suggested he enjoys the “theater production” surrounding the event, and thought it was “fun” for the county’s highly paid communications staff to spend their valuable time staging ridiculous videos and goofy vignettes for the luncheon. 

Did I mention this year’s operating budget now sits at an obscene $1.6 billion?

Whatever…

To understand an organization’s “culture” – one must start by examining the principles, standards, and goals that its leadership strives toward. 

In my view, in Volusia County, outside of revisiting problems that have already been solved so council members can say “look what I did!” gutting environmental protections, staring down from the dais like gargoyles at concerned citizens seeking answers, taking cover behind subjective “rules” and policies, and grandstanding over bullshit process, there is no discernable goal.  Or principles…  

Because empty values, as spouted by out-of-touch elected and appointed senior officials, ring hollow to dispirited county employees who recognize their disingenuous “thank you for your service…” for what it is – and, as suspicions around the Belvedere Terminal debacle have shown, concerned constituents are coming to the realization that good citizenship requires active participation. 

And vigilance…

In my view, it is time for the Volusia County Council to have a serious discussion about the direction, tone, and culture of the Recktenwald administration – and what it means for their political futures in an era when voters are beginning to see through the crumbling façade.

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