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           County of Volusia

You may have read this earlier in the week. 

Read it again…

The Daytona Beach News-Journal got one wrong last week. 

A headline announcing an informative article by Sheldon Gardner erroneously read, “Volusia Council to seek $4.5M from state in Ormond Beach fuel facility fight.”   

Trust me.  The Volusia County Council had nothing to do with this…

Last week, in an off-the-agenda ambush, our elected representatives learned the news at the same time their blindsided constituents did when Deputy County Manager Susan Konchon “threw a curveball” and announced that Volusia County would be working with state Rep. Tom Leek and the county’s lobbying firm to seek a $4.5 million appropriation, apparently to bribe Belvedere Terminals by incentivizing an “alternative site” for the proposed 13-million-gallon fuel terminal in Ormond Beach.

Speaking from the dais during a discussion of Volusia County’s 2024 legislative priorities, Konchon dropped the bombshell, “It is necessary to help prepare an alternative site with, say, utilities or road infrastructure to relocate the facility to a more appropriate place than its current site.”

Wait. 

Why would those faceless bureaucrats who work in virtual anonymity in the bowels of the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building seek millions in public funds to provide utilities and infrastructure for Belvedere Terminals – a private company whose CEO, we learned this week in a disturbing piece by Cheryl Smith in Treasure Coast Newspapers,“…has had criminal and financial issues, including two bankruptcies and a conviction for bribing a public official, according to court records.”?

I mean, why aren’t county bureaucrats seeking $4.5 million in state funds to improve Volusia County’s wholly inadequate public utilities and transportation infrastructure as malignant development continues its inexorable spread? 

And why were our elected representatives (once again) left out of the loop?

Before it was decided by an off-the-agenda wave of a bureaucratic wand that Volusia County would obtain public funds as a potential incentive for a foreign owned railway and bulk fuel supplier (both Belvedere Terminals and the Florida East Coast Railway are subsidiaries of mining and infrastructure giant Grupo Mexico) from relocating to Hull Road in Ormond Beach – that decision should have been openly discussed, with time for public input, and voted on by those we elect to maintain the checks and balances over county government.

You know, the same elected representatives whose ignorance and inaction got us into this mess in the first place…

In my view, city, county, and state government should use all legal and legislative means necessary to stop this potential disaster from being built adjacent to thousands of homes, a sports complex, and the municipal airport. 

But recently approved ploys – such as the use of public funds to lease or purchase the property – or spending $4.5 million in taxpayer money for a corporate welfare scheme to underwrite the fuel facility somewhere else is a slippery slope.

For instance, since 2017, Grupo Mexico has more than doubled its metal melting capacity in Peru after environmental regulations were loosened – about the same time the company announced an expansion of its profitable oil-by-rail business, building at least three terminals in Mexico.

To take things to the extreme, anyone want a commercial copper smelter here in our backyard unless Volusia County ponies up a lucrative sweetheart deal for the next developer?     

A slippery slope indeed…

In my view, Volusia County bureaucrats are taking us down an extremely dangerous rabbit hole – and this latest intrigue deserves a second look from state representatives and regulatory agencies. 

Angel               Fifth District Court of Appeal

I unapologetically refer to Florida as the biggest whorehouse in the world. 

Because it is.

From the politization of government functions and appropriations, the abysmal conduct of high-ranking elected officials like Sen. “Terrible Tommy” Wright – a bullying narcissistic creep and lecherous scumbag with a pathological inability to control his temper or base impulses, given to the abuse of females and lewd come-ons to vulnerable domestic violence victims – to the erosion of our foundational principles by greedy insiders with a bought and paid for chip in the game, the Sunshine State and its political subdivisions has all the earmarks of a fetid Banana Republic…

Fortunately, justice has prevailed in one of most blatant cases of political power run amok.  

In the dramatic culmination of a case that exposed the depth of cut-throat political power in Florida, last week, a panel of judges from the Fifth District Court of Appeal exonerated former Sumpter County Commissioner Oren Miller – a 73-year-old retiree who Governor Ron DeSantis removed from office in 2021 – who later had his life destroyed, serving 75 days in prison on a bogus charge of lying under oath.

The case, colloquially known as “The Vendetta in the Villages,” stemmed from citizen opposition to a 25% property tax increase to subsidize further development south of the sprawling retirement community. 

The amount of money at stake for the developer of The Villages was in the hundreds-of-millions.

According to a February 2023 article in The Intercept, reporter Ryan Grim explained, “The developer is a spaghetti bowl of LLCs doing business collectively as The Villages, which is still owned by the Morse family, descendants of Harold Schwartz, who founded what became the community in the 1970s as a trailer park…”

According to the report, the family owns the local newspaper, The Villages Daily Sun, the community radio station, a glossy magazine, “…and also owns local politics.”

When running for office, Miller said, “This place has grown like crazy.  The developers pay no impact fees for schools, for fire, for EMS, for police, for parks and recreation, for government buildings. The only impact fees they do pay are for roads, and they only pay 40 percent of the recommended amount.”

Sound familiar?   

To oppose the tax increase, three residents of The Villages – Craig Estep, Oren Miller, and Gary Search – stepped up to run for the Sumpter County Commission. 

Despite the fact incumbent candidates received massive financial backing from contractors and others doing business with The Villages, the three candidates ultimately won their seats, setting up a 3-2 majority. 

That’s when things took an ominous turn…

Almost immediately, Miller and Search found themselves under investigation by the Fifth District State Attorney’s Office on allegations they violated Florida’s Sunshine Law – essentially discussing commission business during telephone calls outside of an open meeting.  

While neither man was ever charged with violating the public records law, investigators claimed that during interviews Miller was “…repeatedly hazy in response to questions as to when the calls stopped.”

According to The Intercept’s report, “At one point, the investigator prompted Miller with a claim he had not made, saying that the calls ended in January. Miller agreed with him, but elsewhere gave different estimates, and at another point said that whatever the phone records said was accurate.”

Inexplicably, Miller was charged with felony perjury and spent 75 days in jail along with three years of probation and community service.

Mr. Search was similarly prosecuted but accepted a plea deal. 

It served as a chilling example of what happens to those in the Sunshine State who dare stand in opposition to the voracious appetites of special interests with close ties to unbridled political power…  

Last Friday, Grim reported, “Oren Miller has been exonerated. On Thursday, a Florida appeals court overturned the conviction of the 73-year-old retiree turned former Sumter County commissioner, who was removed from office by Ron DeSantis in 2021 amid a battle with the Florida governor’s high-dollar donors. The court took the unusual step of not just vacating the previous conviction, but also instructing the lower court to insert a new verdict of “not guilty.”

The saga of Miller and his fellow commissioner, Gary Search, who was similarly prosecuted, captured national attention earlier this year after The Intercept reported on the backlash to their effort to roll back property taxes in The Villages retirement community. A surge in public support for Miller’s legal defense fund enabled him to appeal his conviction.

Ahead of the investigation into Miller and Search, as The Intercept previously reported, a top Villages official, who has hosted DeSantis for fundraisers, told Search on Election Day he had the personal phone number of DeSantis, adding, according to Search: “Search, just remember one thing: I’m a big person, you’re a little person. I can squash you anytime I want.”

Wow.

And that, friends and neighbors, is a short course in how things work in the cloistered Halls of Power here in Florida – the biggest whorehouse in the world…   

Ultimately, Oren Miller lost everything – his life left in ruins – yet, in an incredible display of courage, Mr. Miller previously said he would run for office again if his name was cleared. 

Now, with his honor restored, time will tell…

Asshole           Flagler County School Board

It should be apparent to anyone paying attention that government entities in Florida would prefer to perform what passes for “the people’s business” in effective darkness – away from the prying eyes of those who pay the bills and are expected to keep our pieholes shut. 

I have several theories, not the least of which is the lack of an effective ethics apparatus that holds elected and appointed officials accountable for their abhorrent conduct and obvious self-enrichment – or, when blinded by hubris, an elective body decides they are above the law – often with little legal (or political) repercussions.

Last week in this space I mentioned a strange episode involving an agriculture teacher at Buddy Taylor Middle School in Palm Coast who used a garden hose to flush wild rats out of a burrow in the presence of students.   

In the bedlam that ensued, at least one student was bitten on the finger, and an internal investigation ultimately resulted in a mild reprimand for the teacher involved.

Pursuant to Florida’s public records law, the completed investigation was properly released to area media outlets with the story reported first by FlaglerLive! and later by The Daytona Beach News-Journal. 

The initial report included a verbatim excerpt from a written statement provided by an unidentified Buddy Taylor student, which read, in part:

“Mis. (redacted) askt me if i cold grab thar talls [meaning tails] and put them in a bucet. I sed yes so whal we are doing this a rat bit me it did not bracke skin and did not hert.”

Look, I’m not trying to embarrass anyone here. 

Literacy is one of the most serious issues of our time – but something tells me Flagler County students may be victims of more than wild rat attacks… 

Rather than use this incident as a teaching tool – to prompt a discussion of literacy, the fact Florida’s college admittance scores rank among the lowest in the nation, judgement in the classroom, or even modern pest-control techniques – last week, Flagler County School Board member Will Furry went on the defensive and launched a rambling tirade suggesting that the district should have willfully broken the law and redacted student statements from the investigative report before it was released to media outlets.

According to a report in FlaglerLive!:

“Furry criticized the district – and, again, School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin – for not censoring student statements in the report about Buddy Taylor Middle School students getting bitten by rats in September. “I cannot believe that there’s not a state statute that we could have applied to not release those statements,” he said. There isn’t. But Furry said the district should have “used our own discretion” to censor the report anyway, and dare anyone to post a challenge.

The names of the students were redacted, but not the statements themselves, in accordance with law. Furry’s criticism was prompted by an article here last week that summarized the investigative report. Furry was sharply critical of the article, too, though that’s not unusual. Gavin explained to Furry repeatedly that the statements could not, under the law, have been redacted.”

Unfortunately, Furry wasn’t going to let a little thing like state statutes get in the way of protecting himself – and the district – from even more political embarrassment and public humiliation – which appears to be the only leavening agent remaining for some elected officials…

As FlaglerLive! aptly stated, “…there is no discretion in public record redactions. Either the law provides for an exemption, or it does not. It’s not the custodian’s call.”

In addition, board member Christy Chong was “furious” that the investigation was “leaked” – it wasn’t.  The incident was reported on social media almost immediately after it happened, and reporters naturally made inquiry.    

You may remember that in August, the Flagler County School Board was caught meeting privately following a press conference by Superintendent LaShakia Moore regarding a previous embarrassment at Bunnell Elementary School that garnered international media attention after African American students were subjected to a segregated assembly. 

Following Ms. Moore’s press conference, the elected members of the School Board gathered behind closed doors to secretly discuss – who knows?

For the uninitiated, under Florida’s open meetings law it is illegal for elected members of the same board to meet or discuss matters that may come before the board outside of a properly noticed public meeting…

Ultimately, besieged School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin (who is currently awaiting termination – and the massive compensatory damages that will follow) entered the room and rightfully broke up the secluded klatch.

Unfortunately, the secret confab added fuel and speculation to the crisis.

In Flagler County, it appears School Board members would rather force taxpayers to fight for their right to know, to understand, and become aware of the good, the bad, and the ugly of how their children are being educated (or not). 

I learn best from those who look at civic issues through different eyes and engage in thoughtful debate – the vigorous competition of ideas and diversity of opinion that spurs a deeper discussion of the issues we collectively face beyond the bureaucratic bias. 

That begins with a free press aggressively investigating, digging beyond the surface spin, and reporting on the machinations of government and taxing districts. 

For those safeties to work, it is a moral imperative of those holding high office to maintain transparency and follow both the letter and spirit of public records law, speak the truth, and be open to public input and critique. 

Apparently, robust reportage and the resultant exchange of ideas in the community is making some important policymakers nervous – because it lets them know We, The Little People are paying attention to how the sausage gets made.

In my view, it is time for Flagler County voters to purge the likes of Will Furry – and any other politician who seeks to hide controversial issues from public view as a means of protecting their own political asses from public criticism.

Quote of the Week

“For exasperated, desperate homeowners such as Paul Valigorsky in Volusia’s Wilbur-by-the-Sea, the unsafe to occupy notice is the latest chapter in a year-long battle with insurance companies, state and federal agencies and county officials.

“We’re not doing very well and Volusia County fights us every step of the way,” said Valigorsky, a Pittsburgh resident who owns the three-bedroom, two-bath vacation home at 4101 S. Atlantic with his wife, Toni Cherry, and her sister Paula. There, Nicole delivered the knock-out blow in an assault that began when Tropical Storm Ian first destroyed its deck, beach walkway, sea wall, and two lateral walls. Valigorsky’s frustrations began after Ian, when he says the bureaucratic process involving FEMA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection thwarted his efforts to replace the destroyed seawall with a new temporary one constructed of boulders that could have resisted Nicole’s impact. He had presented the agency with a permit for that work to be done by a local engineer.

Instead, the homeowners were allowed to install a vinyl seawall that failed against the power of Nicole.

In the months since, Valigorsky said the family has received little support or cooperation from any source to embark on their intention to rebuild.”

–Reporter Jim Abbott, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “After Nicole,” Sunday, November 12, 2023

For most of us who call Volusia County home, life has returned to what passes for “normal” here following the back-to-back meteorological assaults of Tropical Storms Ian and Nicole one year ago.

But for some residents of Wilbur-by-the-Sea, the bureaucratic nightmare continues – brought back like a bad flashback by this week’s blustery weather…

In recent weeks, I’ve listened to the experiences of a few people involved in South Peninsula recovery efforts, some of whom have never interacted with county or state government agencies before. 

It is tragically apparent that these individuals are learning a hard lesson about the omnipotent power of faceless bureaucrats and the wholesale indifference of those elected representatives charged with setting public policy. 

To add insult, earlier this week, something called the Volusia County Licensing and Construction Appeals Board sat in judgement of taxpayers as they considered demolition orders for properties unable to be repaired – an action that would require homeowners to foot the bill or face massive liens. 

In his excellent exposé “After Nicole,” News-Journal reporter Jim Abbott quoted perhaps the most frustratingly obtuse, time-buying non-answer every uttered by a senior bureaucrat when Volusia’s Emergency Services Director Jim “Captain Obvious” Judge mewled:

“Residents in each community impacted by Hurricane Nicole are still recovering in some respects.  Property owners along the coast are at varying degrees of the recovery process, with some completely restored while others may have yet to begin…”

No shit, Jimmy. 

So, what are your grossly overpaid cronies in the Ivory Tower of Power doing to help?

After listening to the repetitive hurdles being placed in the path of desperate homeowners fighting to save what remains of their properties from being consumed by nature, I question what the endgame is for those special interests who seem to control everything but the ebb and flow of the Atlantic tide here on the “Fun Coast”?

When homeowners are denied the right to rebuild, fortify the shoreline, stalled by obstinate insurance companies, unable to sell their property, forced to demolish what remains while permits are stalled, then become financially strapped – what options remain, other than abandonment and foreclosure?  

What ultimately becomes of these oceanfront properties once the damaged homes have been scraped from what remains of the dunes? 

I’ve got a few suspicions…I’ll bet you do too.

While South Peninsula homeowners, condominiums, and hotels are literally drowning in bureaucratic red tape, to the north developers are gliding through the sham process that invariably leads to a rubber stamp approval of yet another high-rise building on the same crumbling dune line.  

As anxious Halifax area residents see the effects of beach erosion with their own eyes – and repeatedly consider grim headlines, such as – “Plans for oceanfront condo high-rise in Daytona raises concerns from neighbors,” or “’It’s been harrowing’: Residents recount ordeal of having to abandon beachfront condos,” etc. – many are asking why, rather than consider a moratorium on further development east of the Coastal Construction Control Line, our ‘powers that be’ continue to facilitate high-rise monstrosities while stonewalling existing residents who are trying hard to save what remains of existing homes?  

Good question.

If you can get an answer from anyone in state or county government, let me know…

And Another Thing!

Last week, residents of Palm Coast descended on City Hall to explain to their seemingly clueless elected officials what everyone in the sprawling community already knows: Changes in topography caused by new construction is resulting in flooding to adjacent homes. 

Sound familiar New Smyrna, Daytona Beach, Deltona, Ormond Beach, Volusia County, etc., etc., etc.?

You don’t have to be a hydrogeological engineer to understand that water flows downhill – and when dirt is trucked in to raise the elevation of building lots – stormwater is going to run toward low-lying surrounding properties. 

At present, Palm Coast does not have height regulations for new home foundations in its land development code…

According to a recent report in FlaglerLive!, we learned:

“They (concerned residents) got a measure of satisfaction, at least in words and promises, though as far as reversing course on ongoing construction or fill allowances, that’s not in the cards. Only new regulations could affect that, and new building regulations take time. But that’s what a council member is pledging.

“We still have 1000s of infill lots that this can potentially still happen on,” City Council member Theresa Pontieri said. “I have asked city manager to work with staff to readdress our land development code and our technical manual to address this on a larger scale, so that we can not only fix what’s going on now, but also look to the future. And I’ve asked for deliverables from city staff in the form of updates.”

Pontieri spoke after nearly a dozen people had brought their stories to the council.”

Many in Flagler and Volusia counties are wondering how those we elect and appoint to represent our interests could ignore the obvious and allow a situation like this to develop – approving even more sprawl while knowing the unaddressed consequences faced by existing residents throughout the region? 

Or, how developers could knowingly turn adjacent properties into fetid swamps in their insatiable quest to shoehorn more, more, more in this current “shove ten-pounds of shit into a five-pound bag” growth management strategy?

During last week’s discussion, when Councilman Ed Danko attempted to question the city’s construction manager, Carl Cote – asking if he would mind living next to an artificially elevated property – Mayor Alfin slammed the gavel so forcefully the sound startled his “colleagues” and shocked onlookers. 

Hey, I get it.  We can’t have elected representatives asking the tough questions of staff during a public meeting, now can we? 

I mean, where does that crazy “accountability and transparency” horseshit end, eh?

According to an account by FlaglerLive!, after Hizzoner’s officious gavel banging, “…the large crowd hissed, while Alfin himself seemed aware that he may have slammed the gavel harder than he intended. He threatened to clear the room, asked Danko to continue his inquiries with the city manager later, and turned to Pontieri, who then made her pledge, urging residents to contact council members and the city and follow-up even as she spoke cautiously about existing limitations.”

Following the meeting, City Manager Denise Bevan announced Palm Coast has formed a “task force,” apparently comprised of the city’s “internal technical staff” (?), to review residential flooding on a case-by-case basis…

In my view, Palm Coast residents shouldn’t expect any assistance from current Mayor/Realtor David Alfin as he advances his self-serving plan to pave every square inch of vacant property in an all-out push for buildout. 

That may be good news for those in the real estate development industry – but not so much for those who live in the rapidly expanding community.   

This week, a Jacksonville-based consultant hired by the city reported that Palm Coast residents could see an 18% increase in water and sewer rates over the next three years to alleviate the cost of growth’s impact on utilities infrastructure… 

Whoever said, “growth pays for itself,” lied… 

According to FlaglerLive!, during the discussion of development induced flooding, Marilyn Mack, a disabled resident of Palm Coast’s F-Section, who has reportedly been locked in a 14-month fight after a construction company damaged her property, said:

“Something’s not right here. This is not how the government is supposed to work.  The inspector came out and gave them their certificate of occupancy knowing that my property looked like that. That’s not right. That’s not how the government is supposed to work. You’re supposed to work for us.”

“And everybody that works for the city and whatever departments, construction and everything else, just turned a blind eye and–well, no problem. She’ll have to deal with it,” Mack said, noting that she’s been dealing with it for 14 months. “I don’t need this on my plate. I’ve got enough going on.”

I agree, Ms. Mack.  This is not how government is supposed to work. 

Not in Palm Coast.  Not anywhere…

That’s all for me.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, y’all!

_____________________

In keeping with tradition, Barker’s View will take a break next week as we join with family and friends to celebrate the holiday – and give grateful thanks for all the wonderful gifts in our lives. 

The friendship and loyalty of Barker’s View readers is a great blessing for me, and, whether we agree or disagree on the issues of the day, thank you for taking the time to read and consider an alternative opinion. 

My sincere hope is that you and your family enjoy all the bounty and blessings of this Joyous Season!

From the Barker family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!