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:

Angel               Local Small Businesses Owners

I’ve never been a fan of “Big Box” stores. 

Those cavernous gray warehouses where one can buy a five-gallon bucket of peanut butter, a hot dog, pallet of toilet paper, groceries, tires, hardware, clothes, electronics, book a Caribbean cruise, or shop for household appliances – all as a steady stream of tractor-trailer trucks resupply shelves at the rear while the faceless masses haul goods out the front – “wholesale clubs” devoid of character, connection, and charm, a place where nobody knows your name. 

I prefer to patronize small, family-owned businesses that form the backbone of our economy – those establishments owned and operated by friends and neighbors – places like Babe’s Blue Room (the best damn cocktail lounge from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine) and Mario’s, a superb Italian restaurant where family ties run deep), and Madden’s Ace Hardware (if they don’t have it, you don’t need it…) 

Last week, The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s business editor Clayton Park interviewed me for an informative article on the forced “enhanced amenity fee” – in my view, a damnable tax by another name – charged to unwitting customers at the One Daytona shopping and entertainment complex, another private entity that was publicly subsidized to the tune of $40 million by Daytona Beach and Volusia County taxpayers.   

In addition, similar cash grabs are in place at Tanger Outlets and The Pavilion in Port Orange – where they are referred to as a “Public Utilities Fee” and “Public Infrastructure Fee” respectively – which sounds eerily like what our state and local sales taxes should already be paying for…   

Please read the News-Journal’s informative article here: http://tinyurl.com/ekxfurt3

Six years ago this month, I wrote a popular blogpost entitled “One Daytona: Does it ever end?” after a savvy friend sent me a disturbing photograph of a placard near the point-of-sale at a One Daytona establishment announcing something called an “Enhanced Amenity Fee.”

“Notice of EAF – All retail purchases at One Daytona are subject to an Enhanced Amenity Fee (EAF).”

“The EAF is an additional one percent added to the total amount due before sales tax.”

“The EAF will not exceed $350 for any applicable purchase.”

The EAF will be reinvested to continually enhance the center, including its public space, mobile technology, entertainment options and public art program.”

“Thank you for your patronage of One Daytona.”

Bullshit.

Since these arbitrary add-ons are collected for the benefit of a private, for-profit business, no state or local agency maintains a public accounting.

So, John and Jane Q, how are things at your small business? 

Does the marketplace afford you the opportunity to tap your customers for an unlimited revenue stream to reduce risk and overhead while increasing profits?  Is your local government champing at the bit to underwrite your operation and expansion with public funds? 

I didn’t think so…

My problem with these “Public/Private Partnerships” (P3’s) remains the issue of local government’s meddling in what should be a free, open and fair marketplace – time-after-time providing millions in tax dollars to underwrite the private endeavors of those uber-wealthy members of the Donor Class seeking a return on investment for their massive campaign contributions to the avaricious politicians who ultimately approve these lucrative subsidies.

I was proud to contribute my thoughts to the News-Journal as they continue to expose this scheme – often without the knowledge of shoppers who patronize these venues.

In my view, for-profit developments that are underwritten with massive infusions of public funds, tax breaks, and infrastructure subsidies create a lopsided playing field in a very tight market – providing an unfair advantage that most small businesses and entrepreneurs do not have equal access to.

That’s wrong.

As the Canadian comic and politician Greg Malone once put it, P3’s should be called “P12’s” – “Public-Private Partnerships to Plunder the Public Purse to Pursue Policies of Peril to People and the Planet for all Posterity.”

Hear! Hear!

The positive is that payment of this sales-related “fee” is purely voluntary.

You can simply choose not to shop where these levies are forced on patrons – and given the turnover at One Daytona – it appears many in our community are choosing that option…

Recently we learned that the new Costco Wholesale Club set to open next month at One Daytona will not charge customers the “enhanced amenity fee.”  Instead, Costco has opted to perform maintenance and upkeep on their standalone “warehouse” – which will allow their members to shop free of the greedy fee grab demanded of other merchants in the complex.

Good on ‘em, I say. 

What impact the “Costco effect” will have on existing retailers at One Daytona remains to be seen – but people much smarter than me seem to think placing a massive discount club literally in the parking lot of an upscale shopping complex – then forcing some outlets to collect the additional fee from their customers while allowing others to opt out is a fair and equitable business practice.  

Time will tell… 

Angel               City of DeBary

In 2016, Barker’s View cut its teeth as an opinion blog on what would become known as “The Debacle in DeBary” – a squalid tale of treachery, abject greed, and the base arrogance of political power run amok in a tiny Florida town on the banks of the St. Johns River. 

At that time, the City of DeBary devolved into an ugly example of what can happen when a small town becomes hopelessly enmeshed in the intrigues of property developers and those who – for a healthy fee – can navigate the fast and loose Turkish Bazaar that passes for environmental permitting here in the Sunshine State.

The city’s surreptitious scheme for a “Transit Oriented Development” on some 102-acres of environmentally sensitive land adjacent to the DeBary SunRail station was first exposed by the Pulitzer-worthy investigative journalism of The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s Dinah Voyles Pulver.

Her outstanding reportage peeled the rotten onion on the St. John’s River Water Management District governing board’s permitting process – to include the fact public officials transferred public funds to the District’s Chairman (and his Orlando-based “environmental consultancy”) for his personal assistance in securing SJRWMD permissions for the development.

You read that right: 

The Chairman of the SJRWMD Governing Board received money from public and private clients to lobby for their interests in front of the very state regulatory board he oversaw.  

Perhaps more disturbing, in Florida – arguably the biggest whorehouse in the world – that level of quid pro quo sleaze was deemed perfectly acceptable.

It got worse before it got better…

For a while, it was fascinating to watch.  The civic unraveling had all the elements of a good Carl Hiaasen novel.

Then, most decent people averted their eyes from the catastrophe. 

It was like being transfixed on the hapless victim of a strongarm robbery being pummeled into submission, while thugs in expensive suits rummaged through the wounded dupe’s pockets. 

Everyone who was anyone in the politically entrenched ivy-covered law firms in tony Winter Park got a piece of the public pie – served up a la mode by the bumbling and horribly compromised City Council.   

The legal fees foisted on DeBary taxpayers piled up so fast and furious that even seasoned local attorneys – real sharks accustomed to fleecing the lame and the stupid – became outright queasy…

Ultimately, the SJRWMD finally settled the sordid matter by transferring the Gemini Springs Annex to Volusia County with the understanding it would forever be held in conservation and protected from development “in perpetuity.”

All’s well that ends well, I suppose… 

Earlier this week, officials launched the “DeBary Main Street” project, touted as a “built from scratch” multiuse development on approximately fifty acres near the DeBary SunRail station. 

According to a report by News-Journal reporter Sheldon Gardner, “Our Main Street will be a place where residents can gather, dine, shop and socialize,” DeBary Mayor Karen Chasez said. “The project will be a vibrant gathering location incorporating history, art nature and entertainment.”

Under the leadership of City Manager Carman Rosamonda, the community is committed to doing it right – hiring two Florida developers with experience in upscale mixed-use projects and urban revitalization using a smart blend of residential, retail, hospitality, and commercial space. 

In a report by Molly Reed of WKMG, Rosamonda explained, “You have a ton of ecotourism right here in downtown. That’s what makes it unique and I think that’s why we’ll be able to compete with other downtowns,” said Rosamonda.

The city said it will be built in two phases. Phase one will be over 270 townhomes and retail space. The second phase, which they hope to break ground later this year, will be about 450 apartments units and more retail space.

There will also be a space for concerts and a park.”

In my view, the good citizens of DeBary deserve the opportunity for prosperity and a renewed civic pride, something infinitely possible, now that they have a municipal government with a clear vision – and clean hands. 

Asshole           Flagler School Board Chair Will Furry

On Monday, what we all knew was going to happen came to be when Flagler School Board Chair Will Furry giddily handed former board attorney Kristy Gavin her walking papers – and a very lucrative ticket to file an astronomical lawsuit for breach of contract and wrongful termination against the taxpayers of Flagler County…

For the record, Ms. Gavin had served the School Board since 2009 – and previously announced her plans to retire next year when her current contract was set to expire.   

Trust me.  If you pay taxes in Flagler County, hold onto your hoop skirts – because Gavin’s legal action is going to be a doozy.

In a generic termination letter devoid of substance or articulable “just cause” as required by Ms. Gavin’s employment agreement – a notice apparently cobbled together by an contract law firm – Furry essentially says,  “We regret to inform you that your employment with The School Board of Flagler County, Florida (the “School Board) will be terminated effective as of January 22, 2024, the date upon which you were provided a copy of this letter…”

Although the correspondence makes a passing reference to “cause,” two members of the board felt it failed to meet the legal requirements of Ms. Gavin’s employment agreement, which limits her termination to “dereliction of duty, failure to report to work, misconduct in office or violation of criminal law.”

But why let little things like “legal sufficiency” and “contractual obligations” stand in the way? 

Wow.  Ms. Gavin must feel like she just grabbed the brass ring.   

Because she did…

According to an excellent piece in FlaglerLive!, we learned:

“But again: no causes are provided. There is no attachment to the letter. The letter’s remainder is boilerplate: all payments and benefits end, the final paycheck would be issued on the net scheduled payroll date, and Gavin is to return all School Board property, “including all documents, any district-issued computers or other electronic equipment, and any other School Board property and information in your possession.” It’s not exactly clear how Gavin is to return 18 years of accumulated institutional information about the district and this and previous school boards, or how the board intends to seize it, if she does not return it.”

In the aftermath, FlaglerLive! reports that Chairman Furry (predictably) retreated under a cloak of secrecy – refusing to publicly discuss the contrived reasons for Gavin’s termination – as the disembodied voice of their outside attorney admonished, “On this particular topic, just given the issues surrounding it,” a voice said from a speaker phone in the middle of the board table, “I would certainly proceed with caution on discussing all the records, any statements that could potentially be problematic down the road.”

Look, I’m not an employment law attorney, but I think we’re well past “problematic” here… 

To their credit, board members Cheryl Massaro and Colleen Conklin expressed the obvious in noting Furry’s termination letter did not include the required just cause.

According to the report, Ms. Massaro stuck to her guns when Furry attempted to silence her:

“Massaro asked Furry: “Did you not request cause be delivered at the last school board meeting before December 31?”

“I did request that that happen and sent directly to the attorneys. I’m not – I’m not privy to any of that information that was provided,” Furry said – again indicating to what extent the document trail, if there is one, has been either intentionally or benignly obfuscated, even at the cost of board members’ own knowledge of what has gone on.

“So technically, we have terminated without cause,” Massaro said.

Furry lost patience. “That not–I’m going to ask you to please govern yourself accordingly,” Furry snapped, “but we’ve been advised by two counsels to not make statements like that.

Okay? So I would highly recommend that we follow the advice of counsel and not make statements like that either here or in the media or in the public.”

“I will say what I’m going to say,” Massaro said.

Good for her.

In my view, this is another sad example of how unbridled hubris in the pursuit of Machiavellian agendas often results in playing fast and loose with the public treasure by irresponsible elected officials who believe the end always justify the means… 

Good luck, Flagler County taxpayers.  You’re going to need it…

Asshole           Florida Legislature

“One way the Florida Legislature works against the public good is its persistence in carving out special favors to special interests.”

— The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, “Insurance agents want to sell license plates. It’s a bad idea,” Friday, January 19, 2024

The difference between a grandiloquent blowhard like me and a professional editorialist can be summed up in this sentence. 

In one succinct phrase, The Orlando Sentinel’s editorial board has taken a complex thought that would have taken me a thousand words to explain and distilled it to its purest form. 

It’s true, Florida’s government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” has slowly evolved from a representative democracy to a weird form of “corpocracy” – a political and economic system controlled by corporate interests – where elected officials do little more than facilitate “economic incentives,” unfair advantages, and other giveaways for influential insiders – an arrangement fueled by massive campaign contributions from individuals and the industries they control. 

In fact, in 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke of this disturbing transformation during a speech to the National Conservatism Conference:

“Corporatism is not the same as free enterprise, and I think too many Republicans have viewed limited government to basically mean whatever is best for corporate America is how we want to do the economy.”

“And my view is — obviously free enterprise is the best economic system — but that is a means to an end. It’s a means to having a good fulfilling life and a prosperous society. It’s not an end in and of itself.”

When Gov. DeSantis suspended his ill-fated presidential bid earlier this week, he took a parting swipe at his former opponent Nikki Haley by warning of the dangers of the outside influence of special interests, saying we can’t go back to “…the old Republican guard of yesteryear – a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism.”  

So, why the disconnect between what Gov. DeSantis preached on the campaign trail and the way our state legislators conduct business in Tallahassee each session? 

The short answer is – money and power.   

It’s no secret that large corporate entities – such as real estate developers and the insurance industry – spend millions of dollars to influence policymaking thanks to wide-open campaign finance laws that, in my view, facilitate legalized quid pro quo corruption.    

The result of this lopsided largesse is often an erosion of local government’s ability to effectively regulate growth and control the destiny of the community it serves by the action of malleable elected officials wholly beholden to extremely wealthy corporate overseers who hold the paper on their political souls.  

This phenomenon isn’t limited to our shadowy state government. 

As things heat up this election year, I encourage you to periodically peruse local candidates campaign finance reports on the Volusia County Supervisor of Elections website (available here: http://tinyurl.com/2kbbnh92 ). 

Trust me.  It’s an eyeopener…

Quote of the Week

“The developers of the long-delayed Avalon Park Daytona Beach project have scaled back their ambitious plans to create a city within a city.

Instead of 10,000 homes and a “downtown” with 1 million square feet of commercial space, the Orlando developers are now looking to develop 7,878 residential units in addition to the planned commercial district, confirmed Jeff Fuqua, a partner in the Avalon Park Daytona project.

“With Avalon Park Daytona, we are focusing on what we can accomplish with our existing PD (planned development) and our existing comp (comprehensive) plan entitlements,” said Fuqua. “The million square feet (of commercial space) and the 7,878 (housing) units is what we feel confident we can accomplish within those parameters.”

–Avalon Park Daytona investor and former chairman of the Orlando Aviation Authority (?) Jeff Fuqua, as quote by Clayton Park, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Developers scale back plans for Avalon Park Daytona. Here’s what they are now proposing,” Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Reducing the size of what will ultimately be the largest master-planned community in the region by 2,122 cracker boxes and calling it “scaled back” is like throwing a deckchair off the Queen Mary…

Seriously.  Does anyone think that shoehorning an additional 7,878 homes and a million square feet of commercial space between congested S.R. 40 and LPGA Boulevard represents “smart growth” at this point in our overstuffed history?    

For those who have been living on the dark side of the moon for the past, oh, decade or so, malleable politicians at all levels of government have rubber stamped massive residential and commercial development on every square inch of available greenspace with little, if any, planning or apparent concern for adequate transportation infrastructure, water quality and quantity, wastewater utilities, flood control, schools, emergency services, intergovernmental coordination, etc., etc.   

Now that disastrous “growth at all costs” strategy is coming home to roost and existing residents are left holding the bag – while current elected and appointed officials are beginning to panic – bickering and filing expensive lawsuits over who will pay for what… 

(The short answer is “you, me, and our grandchildren” will…)

In addition to Avalon Park, in recent years, area residents have seen the advent of Latitude Margaritaville (which, according to the News-Journal, is set to sell its 3,900^th and final new home this year), ICI Home’s Mosaic community, and other gargantuan subdivisions currently under development or in the pipeline that will result in an untold number of residential units in the LPGA corridor east and west of that two-lane “Monument to Mediocrity” that is the Tomoka River bridge pinch point…      

Inconceivably, earlier this month, we learned that the dormant monster known as Ormond Crossings, another ‘development of regional impact’ located south of the Interstate 95/U.S. 1 interchange – that received its approvals and entitlements over a decade ago – has been purchased by an out-of-town real estate developer with plans to fast track construction.

I don’t make this shit up, folks…

In the view of many weary Ormond Beach residents – now trapped in the vicelike grip of voracious development to their north and south – the last thing this once quaint community needs right now are thousands of new homes and more half-empty “retail, office, light industrial and warehouse space” – especially with the specter of a 13-million-gallon bulk fuel facility threatening to bring 24/7 tanker traffic to nearby Hull Road.  

I’ve asked this question before, but what happened to all that “growth and resource management” horseshit we hear so much about?

According to the report, like Dr. Frankenstein before him, the hapless Mayor Bill Partington – who has been in office in the City of Ormond Beach for the past 22-years – seems to be awakening to the realities of his monstrous creation:   

“Ormond Beach Mayor Bill Partington said he is concerned about the increased traffic that Avalon Park Daytona Beach will create, especially on the already chronically congested Granada Boulevard, his city’s main east-west corridor.

Avalon Park Group officials want to provide their own water service. Ormond Beach strongly opposes that move.

“To best protect the rights of our residents, we definitely want to protect our water service rights,” said Partington, who added that his city is more than capable of providing water service.

Relinquishing its legal obligation to provide water service to Avalon Park Daytona would take away Ormond Beach’s only leverage in having a say over how many homes get developed there, Partington said.

“The unbridled growth around Tanger (Outlets) and the LPGA area (in Daytona Beach) gives us cause for concern,” he said.”

Welcome to the party, Mr. Mayor.  Glad you could finally join the rest of us…

Now, Mayor Partington is seeking to serve his masters in the real estate development community on a larger stage as he campaigns for the District 28 Florida House of Representatives seat this year. 

If you live in Volusia County, I suggest you take a hard look around the next time you’re stuck in traffic – or suffer additional tax increases to pay for explosive growth and resultant litigation between shortsighted government entities – then vote your conscience. 

This one’s important.

And Another Thing!

“Volusia County is keeping an eye on a recently filed Florida Senate Bill that would require “local governments to seek to minimize or eliminate the potential negative impacts of a local government action” regarding specific sectors of the economy: farming, energy, fuel production and supply chain points of connection, such as ports, railways and rail stations.

“Obviously, the intent of this bill is to limit local government authority,” Volusia County Attorney Mike Dyer said at the Jan. 16 County Council meeting. “I know oftentimes, we use the phrase ‘preemption.’ It’s a form of preemption because it’s regulating a subject that is currently not regulated in this way.”

–Volusia County Attorney Michael Dyer, as quoted by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer, “Volusia: New bill seeks to limit local government authority regarding fuel production, supply chain sector,” Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Speaking of the Florida legislature’s perpetual power grab…   

It seems Belvedere Terminals, the subsidiary of the transportation, infrastructure, and mining conglomerate Grupo Mexico that also happens to own the Florida East Coast Railroad – a company that is moving full-speed-ahead with plans to put a massive bulk fuel farm in Ormond Beach – has friends in high places and didn’t even know it! 

Can you believe that? 

Me neither…

According to a report by Mark Harper writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week, Mike Benedetto, chief operating officer of Belvedere Terminals said, “It is very important to know that Belvedere in no way had anything to do with crafting this legislation − nor had any prior knowledge about them…”  

Weird.

How advantageous is it that grossly impactful industries like fuel suppliers and real estate developers have legislators working overtime to ensure the entities get everything they want and more with absolutely no input or influence from them? 

So, who is looking out for us?   

This week, Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower took a bold stand for his constituents and demanded answers from County Attorney Mike Dyer, who, once again, was caught asleep at the switch when alert citizen-activists discovered that GrayRobinson – the mammoth Florida law firm that is currently suing Volusia County taxpayers on behalf of Belvedere Terminals – is simultaneously representing the grossly ineffective Volusia County Growth Management Commission. 

Say what? 

In an open letter to Mr. Dyer on Wednesday evening, Chairman Brower said, in part:

“As you know from our conversations, I am deeply troubled by what may constitute a serious conflict of interest created by Gray Robinson’s representation of Belvedere Terminals Company, LLC in connection with their proposed fuel storage and distribution facility in a residential neighborhood. 

In order to determine whether this is indeed a conflict of interest necessitating action by Volusia County, I seek your immediate review and report regarding the contractual relationship between Gray Robinson and Volusia County, particularly with respect to Gray Robinson’s work on the Volusia Growth Management Commission, how they are funded and how this interplays with Gray Robinson’s representation of Belvedere Terminals Company, LLC.

I would also like to know what their current, if any, and historical representation of Volusia County is, or has been, in any other capacity.

I have not seen any communications or documents relating to any conflicts of interest created by Gray Robinson’s and any simultaneous contract with Volusia County or the Volusia Growth Management Commission, and its new client Belvedere Terminals Company, LLC, to advance the Belvedere Fuel Farm.”

Interesting…

On Wednesday, the VCGMC glanced over a dramatic increase in fees for GrayRobinson for the 2024-25 budget cycle – going from $25,000 to a whopping $90,000 – ostensibly for legal representation in recent litigation brought by the City of Ormond Beach over water and sewer utilities in their “western service area” (read: Avalon Park).   

Yeah. I know… (Go throw-up and get back here, I’m not done.)

So much for all that “Intergovernmental Coordination” horseshit, eh? 

I’m confident that if decisions related to petroleum distribution and growth management were left to We, The Little People – those who live in fear of a major hazardous materials disaster, deal with the around-the-clock nuisance of heavy tanker traffic, and suffer the claustrophobic effects of malignant sprawl – we would ensure that fuel terminals were limited to the safety and security of industrial ports, and guarantee that development be managed with an eye to concurrency, appropriateness, and adequate infrastructure.

While county government is working/spending to prevent the Belvedere project by any means necessary – our state legislators are scheming to remove local authority to control the character of our community and protect the lives and livelihoods of residents.

Why is that?

At the same time, egocentric state legislators are ramrodding a wholly unconstitutional measure that will crush dissent by allowing thin-skinned politicians – those omnipotent elite who create the very laws and regulations that govern our lives and livelihoods – by weaponizing the courts against free speech by permitting public officials to file frivolous lawsuits against anyone who dares question their motivations and cockamamie policies, including professional journalists, opinion bloggers, or anyone who posts their thoughts on Facebook…

In my view, should this legislation become law, our self-important poohbahs will put the thoughts and opinions of anyone who calls out the civic stagnation, secret backroom deals, and the incestuous political relationships that perpetuate the problem, on trial – and any public challenge to the status quo will be viewed as a violation of the law of lèse-majesté and subject citizens who refuse to remain quiet to financial ruin simply for expressing their views.

I can’t think of anything more chilling, un-American, or harmful to the notion of free expression. 

As a result, citizens are increasingly seeking answers to the enigmatic questions – demanding to know who is controlling the rods and strings of government and why – as taxpayers no longer assume the decisions of local and state policymakers are crafted to serve the public good. 

Now, we instinctively ask ourselves the darker question, “Who benefits?”

When the Florida legislature has finally preempted the concept of home rule – subverted the foundational principle of government “of the people” by enacting laws obstructing the right of a community to self-determination – then silence our voices, suppress criticism, and remove citizen oversight – what remains? 

Certainly not a democracy. 

In my view, We, The Little People are awakening to the ugly realization that laws and regulations enacted for the convenience and expediency of our self-serving elected elite inexorably result in tyranny, cronyism, and rule by special interests with a profit motive.  

Gideon Tucker was right: “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session…”

That’s all for me, y’all. 

Have a great weekend at the 48th Annual IMAGES: A Festival of the Arts in beautiful Downtown New Smyrna Beach, Orange City’s Blue Spring Manatee Festival, Rolex 24 at Daytona, and the incomparable Gladys Knight’s concert at Peabody tonight! 

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:

Angel               Ormond Beach Planning Board

Earlier this month, an attorney representing developers of the controversial Tomoka Reserve project – a proposed residential development that would shoehorn hundreds of homes onto the former Tomoka Oaks golf course creating a “subdivision within a subdivision” resulting in thousands of additional vehicle trips on area roads, overcrowding, and a diminished quality of life for existing residents – asked Ormond Beach officials to ignore the suitability of the project and stick to the cold hard facts.

“The quasi-decision of both the Planning Board and the City Commission to either approve or deny the pending application must be based on legally competent evidence, which is limited solely to those facts that are actually relevant to the pending application. Mere opinions as to ‘appropriateness’ of any new proposal are just that, and they are completely irrelevant to the city’s lawful consideration of this (rezone) application.”

When land use attorneys seek the most beneficial (read: lucrative) use of a parcel for their clients, depending upon the desired outcome, they rely on the flexibility that permits zoning changes under certain conditions – or demand lock-step conformity to the “law” as crafted by those handmaidens of the real estate development industry in Tallahassee – edicts that are slowly eroding the ability of communities to regulate where and how they grow.     

There is a reason why we have residents – sentient beings with a personal stake in the future of our community – as an integral part of the planning and growth management process.  Rather than merely entering the pat details of ordinances and zoning regulations into a rigid template, we allow certain exceptions, changes, and amendments that consider a variety of factors that are advantageous for both developers and those who will be impacted by their product for generations to come.

Normally, “growth at all costs” is a foregone conclusion…

But sometimes, those we elect and appoint to make those complex decisions get it right.

Last week, the Ormond Beach Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend denial of a request by the developers of Tomoka Reserve, d/b/a Triumph Oaks of Ormond Beach, to rezone the former golf course to R-2 “single family low density” after the parcel’s previous Planned Residential Development designation expired. 

Under the R-2 zoning – which has been wielded like a cudgel by the developers and referred to as the “Nuclear Option” by concerned residents – Triumph Oaks would be permitted to cram some 300 homes in the Tomoka Oaks “doughnut hole” with substantially reduced buffers.  In addition, under the R-2 designation, the developers would no longer pursue a stop light at the busy intersection of Tomoka Oaks Boulevard and Nova Road or an improved diamond intersection at St. Andrews Drive…  

Throughout this process, the residents of Tomoka Oaks and surrounding neighborhoods have sought reasonable concessions that would reduce density, increase environmental buffers, and alleviate traffic concerns – or see the golf course returned to its intended use or converted to greenspace.

Those negotiations have long since ground to a stalemate, with Triumph Oaks now exercising the scorched earth option of pursuing the R-2 zoning, then stuffing the former golf course full of cracker boxes… 

To that end, the developers have hired Ponte Vedra Beach attorney Karl Sanders, who, on the eve of the Planning Board meeting, sent a letter to Ormond Beach attorney Randy Hayes which some planning board members considered an act of “intimidation.”    

After explaining his client’s legal posture in detail, Mr. Sanders warned:

“Accordingly, please be advised that Triumph Oaks is fully prepared to take any and all legal action deemed necessary to preserve its constitutional and statutory right to develop its property, per the express directives and authority of clearly established law. That being said, I am confident that you will continue to provide your client with the appropriate legal counsel as to these matters (including the financial consequences for failing to follow the clearly established law), and I trust that the City will timely render a final order on our pending action no later than the scheduled meeting of the City Commission on February 20, 2024.”

Find Mr. Sanders’ correspondence here: http://tinyurl.com/37pwxmch

I’ve said this before, but in my view, when one considers the adverse impacts to not only Tomoka Oaks residents but those in surrounding neighborhoods – including anyone who traverses already congested Nova Road – this is a case where that which may be legally permissible does not coincide with what is ethically responsible or appropriate. 

Where do the rights of long-established Tomoka Oaks homeowners and taxpayers end, and those of Triumph Oaks begin – especially when they knew what they were up against when they purchased the property? 

In a report by the Ormond Beach Observer, Planning Board member Mike Scudiero “…said that when he buys something, he likes to know what he’s buying.

“It sure seems to me like the applicant bought a piece of property with no entitlements, as was said here tonight,” Scudiero said. “It’s like buying a car without an engine — seems like a bad idea to me.”

In addition, Board Chair Doug Thomas observed, “…when the developers bought the property in 2021, it was zoned PRD (Planned Residential Development). In his opinion, it should remain zoned as such.

“Three times we have told them what we want, and three times they have just walked away and said, ‘The heck with that, we’re not doing that,'” Thomas said. “So here we are, and it’s going to be … a unanimous decision.”

Now, the matter will be taken up (or not) by the Ormond Beach City Commission at a public meeting next month.

Stay tuned.  This one bears watching…

Angel               Palm Coast City Councilwoman Theresa Pontieri

If you think your government – at any level – has your best interests at heart.  Think again.

In the City of Palm Coast, over 163 homeowners have now reported flooding concerns after construction on “in-fill lots” placed new homes at an elevation higher than neighboring properties. 

The physical force of gravity being what it is, you don’t have to be a hydrologic engineer to cypher where the stormwater on those raised lots ends up…

In turn, concerned residents have sought help from their elected officials on the Palm Coast City Council to save their homes from the destructive effects of runoff and flooding.   

Earlier this month, in a bold move to protect the growing number of inundated residents, Councilwoman Theresa Pontieri suggested a short moratorium pausing construction on vacant in-fill lots until the city’s technical manual is updated and building regulations are enacted.

Naturally, the mere mention of a building freeze went through Mayor David Alfin – a realtor and shameless shill for the development industry – his “colleagues,” and the Flagler Homebuilders Association, like an ice water enema…

In short order, Councilwoman Pontieri felt the wrath of the powerful real estate development lobby who mounted an aggressive email campaign spreading hysteria about potential layoffs, millions in lost wages, and thousands of jobs being eliminated – accusing council members of helping residents in one area, while putting others out of work.

Bullshit. 

In an area literally awash in new home development – with thousands of acres currently being clearcut to make way for more, more, more subdivisions?

I don’t think so.

But, as expected, on Tuesday, following a protracted discussion the Palm Coast City Council rejected Councilwoman Pontieri’s suggestion for a pause on in-fill construction, and instead enacted a do-nothing “citizen’s advisory board” – an apparent political insulation committee designed to buy time until building regulations they hope will address the flooding issue can be cobbled together and approved. 

According to an excellent article in FlaglerLive!, Pontieri said:

“I did not want to declare war on the builder and development community. That is not my goal,” Pontieri said. “But I am not a lobbyist for the building community. I’m an elected official. And it’s not my job to well, yes, we have to protect our industries here. We have to protect our businesses here. I get all of that and I appreciate that. But I have to protect my residents, too.” She called for strengthening the city’s Land Development Code and the technical manual regulating construction.

“How is it that we can possibly say we’re protecting our residents by saying nope, moratorium off the table and we can just move forward,” she said, citing nine Florida cities that did moratoriums or temporary pauses “because of this very reason.” As Council member Nick Klufas verified, those moratoriums were not related to Palm Coast’s specific issue: none had issues similar to Palm Coast’s. Pontieri didn’t dispute the fact. But she said the Palm Coast approach is far more narrowly tailored, the point being that moratoriums are not in and of themselves heretical. She urged “a 90-day pause while we finish looking at these last final issues.”

That didn’t happen…

Now, staff will fritter over how to best formulate the “citizens advisory council” – who will ultimately bandy the issue about, ad nauseum, all while the furious pace of construction continues unabated, creating more flooding issues for current and future residents. 

In my view, the inaction of the Palm Coast City Council in dismissing Ms. Pontieri’s call for a moratorium is eerily like an old Three Stooges episode in which the boys took a rented boat to the middle of a lake. 

When they reached open water Moe noticed that the vessel was leaking.  Bad. 

Thinking fast, Curly Joe took out an auger drill – something he called a “water letter outer” – and began boring holes in the bottom of the boat to allow the water to run out. 

As the water continued to flood the boat, the more holes they drilled, and the usual hysterics ensued.  I loved those guys – probably why I like watching local government in action…

The moral of the story remains – when your ship is sinking – stop drilling holes.

Unfortunately, in Palm Coast and elsewhere, reason goes out the window when arrogant politicians – beholden to special interests – put the needs of greed-crazed developers over those of their constituents…   

Angel               Jeff “Yogi” Martin

My friend and longtime Barker’s View reader Jeff “Yogi” Martin passed away Monday evening at Advent Health.

He was 61 years old.   

Over our 40-year friendship, I knew Yogi as a shade tree mechanic who could repair anything on four-wheels, a gifted custom knifemaker, an accomplished amateur stockcar racer, trader in Native American crafts, and a master in the art of barter – always wearing his trademark slouch hat with intricate beadwork and adornments.   

One of my most cherished possessions is a classic Bowie knife Yogi handcrafted from a rasp and fitted with a beautiful staghorn handle. 

Exceptional work, and like the maker, one of a kind.     

A longtime resident of Holly Hill, Yogi possessed an incredibly bright mind and cared deeply about the civic life of his community; remaining active and involved in city happenings and attending public meetings to keep abreast of the issues when his health and mobility allowed. 

But most knew Yogi for his amazing musical talent.    

As a gifted guitar player, vocalist, and devoted follower of Karaoke, Yogi made many friends and admirers through his gift of song.  A big man with an even bigger heart – who’s physically imposing figure belied a truly kind and gentle soul. 

I will miss our frequent correspondence on matters of mutual importance – his suggestions, criticisms, and fervent hopes for the future of this beautiful place we call home.

Godspeed dear friend.      

Angel               Deltona’s Brandy Lee White

The late great author and political humorist P. J. O’Rourke said, “Satire is humor used for a moral purpose.”

In my view, there are few things more patently immoral or worthy of public ridicule than the on-going affront that is the Lost City of Deltona’s governing body. 

On Tuesday evening, civic activist Brandy Lee White shined a very bright light on that tragicomic dysfunction when she wore a brightly colored clown suit – a costume she aptly described as a mirrorlike “reflection” of the commission itself – and an appropriate visual reminder of the utter frustration Deltona residents feel with this interminable Circus of Chaos. 

Unfortunately, Ms. White’s attempt to offer a practical reminder to Deltona’s elected officials of how their clown alley antics are perceived by residents was muted when the audio/visual operator for Deltona TV refused to broadcast her image from the front – keeping the camera focused on her back – with the clear intent of dulling her important message. 

In my view, this abject censorship – the intentional suppression of free speech, peaceful dissent, and public communication – represents a direct violation of the protections afforded by the Constitution of the United States, something that was not lost of Ms. White, or angry Deltona residents in attendance who demanded the situation be addressed.   

In fact, after public outcry, Vice Mayor “JodyLee” Storozuk and Interim City Manager Glenn Whitcomb both offered to give Ms. White a second chance at the podium.

To her credit – even in her auguste getup – Brandy White maintained more dignity than anyone on the dais of power, kept her seat, and refused to be patronized by that farcical troupe of buffoons sitting before her…  

In my view, this is another example of the alienation engaged citizens feel when local elective bodies normalize the practice of limiting when, where, why, and how taxpayers can ask questions, voice an opinion, or weigh-in on public policy by employing procedural constraints to limit the ‘citizen input’ that forms the very cornerstone of a representative democracy.   

Kudos to Brandy Lee White – and those other resolute civic activists in the Lost City of Deltona – who strive valiantly to shine a spotlight on the three-ring circus that is their municipal government. 

Quote of the Week

“NLC’s (National League of Cities) federal advocacy committees play an important role in helping policymakers in Washington understand the issues and challenges facing America’s cities, towns and villages at the local level,” Sander said in the press release “I’m thrilled to have Commissioner Persis serve on NLC’s Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee this year and look forward to working with her to strengthen the federal-local partnership and grow our common knowledge of the issues and opportunities facing our communities.”

–NLC President Mayor David Sander, of Rancho Cordova, California, as quoted by the Ormond Beach Observer, “Ormond Beach City Commissioner Susan Persis appointed to National League of Cities environmental committee,” Saturday, January 13, 2024

Really?

When I opened the Ormond Beach Observer last weekend and saw the smiling visage of Ormond Beach City Commissioner and Shameless Self-Promoter Susan Persis, a lot of monikers came to mind – “ambitious political parvenu,” “well-connected insider,” “ineffective three term hack” – but not the term “environmentalist” … 

In fact, when I consider those intrepid souls in Volusia County who have devoted themselves to protecting and preserving our natural places from the voracious churn of malignant overdevelopment – generously giving their time, money, and talents, speaking to anyone who will listen, and spending themselves in a cause greater than their own self-interests – the last person who comes to mind is Commissioner Susan Persis. 

Now the National League of Cities has appointed her to a federal environmental advocacy committee? 

WTF?

Look, I can’t fault Commissioner Persis – she’s just following her base instinct – trying desperately to gain the appearance of competence without any background in the environmental sciences – or apparent concern about the impact of malignant development on soils, plants, wildlife habitat, or Florida’s threatened aquifer – beyond a toothless, self-aggrandizing, and long forgotten “educational” plastic straw ban in 2019…   

Remember?  I do.  

In my experience, egocentric politicians have a pathological need to become everything to everyone – frequently painting themselves as something they are demonstrably not – using political insulation committees and civic fraternities like the National League of Cities to wrap their carefully crafted image in a thin veneer of legitimacy.    

Yet, no matter how hard our ‘elected elite’ try to camouflage the fact they are merely useful cogs in a large wheel – wholly controlled by wealthy insiders with a profit motive – the stench of lies always seeps through their cheap façade. 

Sound familiar?

In my view, Commissioner Persis knows nothing about Energy, Environment and Natural Resources – as evidenced by the continuing transmogrification of her own once quaint and livable jewel that is becoming just another mediocre patch in an increasingly overstuffed mosaic – a place where frightened residents are caught in the pinchers of surrounding sprawl and inappropriate infill, while natural buffers, old growth forests, and urban wildlife habitat are churned into a foul black muck and paved over in the name of “progress.”

What exactly will Commissioner Persis contribute to the committee’s discussion?  How to politically survive the wholesale destruction of 2,061 specimen hardwoods that were clear-cut and ground into splinters to accommodate another convenience store, strip center, and drive-thru car wash by accepting campaign donations from the same developer?

And what happens when citizens realize the emperor has no clothes?  That our legislators are being advised by clueless poseurs with no knowledge or expertise – and our federal policymaking apparatus has become a ruse to imbue a veil of validity on petty elected officials climbing the political ladder? 

I’m asking.  Because appointing someone like Commissioner Persis to a national environmental policymaking committee is ludicrous. 

Worse than that – it is a damnable farce.

One that further erodes the public trust and denigrates the arduous work of true environmentalists who are striving desperately to preserve our quality of life from the voracious appetite of greed-crazed developers and those craven politicians who benefit from their campaign largesse. 

Disgusting.  

And Another Thing!

“Democracies die behind closed doors.”

— Judge Damon J. Keith

Over the years, Volusia County residents have seen millions of our tax dollars gifted to influential insiders and industries couched as “economic development incentives,” discovered that publicly funded studies were intentionally hidden from public view, watched our heritage of beach driving and access limited to appease the overweening greed of speculative developers, listened to patent falsehoods about the pressing need for new government facilities while other public assets were allowed to rot into the ground.

In many cases, these controversial actions first came to our attention in an off-the-agenda surprise – a strategy I like to call public policy by ambush – where the results of backroom deals are suddenly foisted on unsuspecting citizens without proper notice, then sealed with a vote.   

For instance, in November 2023, we learned that Volusia County was pursuing a $4.5 million appropriation to incentivize an “alternative site” for Belvedere Terminal’s proposed 13-million-gallon fuel farm near Ormond Beach when Deputy County Manager Susan Konchon “threw a curveball” at blindsided residents.

Last October, Councilman Don Dempsey sprung his half-baked idea of using tax dollars to establish a state-of-the-art motocross training/restaurant/alternative education facility in Volusia County. 

In fact, Mr. Dempsey believes the demand for a publicly funded motocross track is so critical he wanted a resolution declaring the need right then – public input be damned.  

I could go on…

Last month, during his closing comments at one of the final meetings of the year, Councilman Danny Robins announced that he wanted to pursue opening a section of the Tiger Bay State Forest to all-terrain vehicles. 

Per usual, the controversial topic was not on the published agenda. 

I wonder why?

According to a report by Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “The council voted 6-1 to send a letter to Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson in support of exploring the possibility of opening a portion of the state forest up to off-highway vehicles. Council Chairman Jeff Brower opposed the decision.”

At present, Tiger Bay accommodates bicyclists, horseback riders, hikers, and other passive activities.  Should there be a portion of the forest set aside for off-roading, overlanding, and motorcycles on existing roads and access trails as Councilman Robins suggests? 

There are strong opinions on both sides of the issue – but no one on the dais of power in DeLand seems to give two-shits what you think.   

Why is that?

In the past, a number of residents have made it known they would like a section of Tiger Bay’s 27,000 acres set aside for off-highway vehicle use. 

The Florida Forest Service is opposed to opening Tiger Bay to off-road vehicles, citing a previous prohibition due to the potential for pollution, adverse impacts on the ecosystem, and noise.

Now, I’m going to venture a guess and say that there are a sizeable number of you who agree with the Forest Service and believe ATV’s have no place in a pristine forest – one of the last remaining large tract wildlife habitats in Volusia County – and see a distinct difference between a quiet ride through the woods on a bicycle and the resonating braaap-braaap of a two-stroke engine…

That distinct difference of opinion is why I find the complete lack of public notice before the council voted to send a letter seeking ATV access to Tiger Bay abhorrent – an arrogant slap in the face to Volusia County taxpayers who are far too often shut out of the discussion.   

As evidenced by his obtuse comment in the News-Journal, Mr. Robins and his “colleagues” are clearly tone-deaf to those venerated concepts which form the foundation of a participatory democracy – things like transparency, inclusion, the competition of ideas, and permitting citizens a voice in the civic life of their community:

“Robins said the council had the freedom to decide to send the letter and it’s not clear whether public input would have changed the decision, though he said “it probably would have strengthened it.”

“We vote on things that aren’t on the agenda possibly all the time,” he said.”

Unfortunately, we’ll never know what the influence of public opinion and input may have been.

Look, no politician campaigns on the promise of dropping off-the-agenda bombshells on their unsuspecting constituents and turning the process of developing public policy into a guessing game. 

That is a learned trait.

One that speaks to the insular culture established by County Manager George “The Wreck” Rectenwald and his coterie of incompetents in Volusia County government – a dull and cloistered place where secrecy, playing things close to the vest, and a strict adherence to the stagnant status quo is the operative ethic. 

Perhaps it is time Volusia County taxpayers awaken to the sobering fact that our haughty elected and appointed officials are actively plotting our future and allocating public funds behind closed doors – with the help of those influential insiders and career bureaucrats with a chip in the game – and the thoughts, suggestions, and input of We, The Little People are now openly ignored in a “We do what we want” echo chamber.     

You might jot that last paragraph down and take it into the voting booth with you later this year…

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

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

A strip club? 

Really? 

In a disturbing follow-up by reporter Mark Harper writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week, the other shoe dropped in the State of Florida’s investigation into “very serious allegations” filed in 2021 by powerful District 14 Sen. Tom Wright formally accusing former director Angie Pye and her employees at The Beacon Center of everything from human trafficking and drug use, to arranging “sexual favors” for taxi drivers, including a spurious accusation that Pye “carried a .357 revolver “to show who is in charge.”

In addition, it was reported that Sen. Wright once referred to Volusia’s only domestic violence shelter as “a trap house filled with prostitutes” during a child welfare summit…

According to the report, “The matter became a “preliminary” inquiry by the DCF’s Office of Inspector General, which found little to corroborate Wright’s assertions and fizzled out five months after the complaint was filed and following interviews with Pye, some members of her staff and those who had stayed at the Beacon Center.”

“I did not think additional interviews would be a good use of our resources, since Senator Wright did not want to pursue the matter,” wrote Amie Young, chief of investigations for the office. “And I felt that a report would be detrimental all around (use of our resources, how it may look to the public, and that this was not ever converted to a case).”

Don’t take my word for it, read the sordid details for yourself here: http://tinyurl.com/aaaebwvv

As everyone will recall, this summer, Sen. Wright was captured on video physically accosting the acting director of The Beacon Center when she attempted to uphold the law and protect the identity of domestic violence survivors by blocking the Senator’s access to a bus where residents were held while Wright and Department of Children and Families “toured” the struggling facility.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the half of it…

Just days later, the News-Journal published a shocking piece describing Wright’s creepy come-on to a 20-year-old domestic violence survivor, in the presence of her baby, while she was evacuating the shelter ahead of a hurricane:

“Six years ago this month, Shelby Dunlap and her baby were aboard a short bus fleeing Hurricane Irma from the domestic violence shelter where they had sought refuge.

A local philanthropist was also on board, amid a small group of women from the Beacon Center, Volusia County’s only shelter for survivors of domestic violence, she recalled.

“I think he paid for the trip,” Dunlap said.

And he was flirtatious, she added, talking about prostitutes in Cuba, topless women on a boat, and offering to fly her to Las Vegas.

Nothing happened. She didn’t go to Las Vegas, but the conversation still causes her discomfort.

“It’s kind of embarrassing to say, but whenever you’re going through that, especially I was only, like, 20 years old, but you feel like, OK, there’s this rich guy, like, that could help me out of my problems,” she said. “But now I realize, you know, he was a creep.”

The philanthropist, she said, was Tom Wright. A year later, he became Florida State Sen. Tom Wright.”

In another outrageous revelation this week, the News-Journal reported that during the DCF investigation, former Beacon CEO Pye “…told investigators Wright also offered to hold a fundraiser for the shelter at a strip club, an offer she refused, telling him it was “inappropriate given the population Beacon Center serves.” A second staff member, Jessica Moore, corroborated Pye’s assertion about the strip club fundraiser.”

Say what?

Apparently, Sen. Wright refused to respond to the News-Journal’s questions, instead substituting a prepared statement which included his own timeline and “questions and considerations” – along with a cockamamie explanation that he dropped the matter to protect his “sources.” 

Yeah…

In my view, using his considerable political influence to bring false accusations to a state agency is one thing; however, putting his hand on a female employee of a domestic violence center, screaming in her face, and belligerently backing her down – in the presence of already traumatized women and children seeking shelter from physical and emotional abuse – was unconscionable.

The lascivious suggestion to a vulnerable young girl in the presence of her infant child speaks for itself…

In my view, “Terrible Tommy” is a grooming narcissistic creep – a lecherous scumbag with a pathological inability to control his temper or base impulses – a licentious powermonger given to the abuse of females – and an exploitative low-life who epitomizes the term “asshole.”

So, now that the names, reputations, and careers of these dedicated social service providers have been destroyed by the meanspirited vengeance of a belligerent lech cloaked in the costume of a state senator, who will finally take a stand to protect the sanctity of his high office and the public trust?   

In my view, with Sen. Wright’s allegations now disproven and the legislature in session, it is time for Senate President Kathleen Passidomo to do her sworn duty and commission a formal investigation into these scandalous assertions to determine if Sen. Wright abused the power of his high office, acted inappropriately with vulnerable domestic violence survivors and Beacon employees, used the imprimatur of his office to file demonstrably false allegations against administrators of The Beacon Center who challenged him, and physically menaced a female employee who attempted to protect the confidentiality of survivors.

In the view of many, the integrity of the Florida Senate is now in question – and it is time for President Passidomo and Governor Ron DeSantis to act decisively to enforce the rules of the senate and give concerned residents answers as these shocking allegations continue to emerge.

If laws do not apply to those powerful few who enact them, to whom do they apply?   

Angel               Artist Perego

I have a delightfully eclectic family – a clan of interesting characters with a variety of interests, talents, and personalities.  This troupe of wonderful weirdos is led by my 88-year-old mom, a world-class raconteur with an enormous sense of humor who can find the lighter side of any situation. 

She is one of the most inherently funny people I have ever known – a gift she has given to each of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. 

The talented Artist Perego happens to be the father of my beautiful niece, Phoenix – a true work-of-art he created with my sister Nina some 22-years ago now…

If you live in the Halifax area, chances are you encounter Perego’s exceptional art every day in local restaurants, clubs, cafes, public buildings, and on expansive murals throughout Volusia County.  In addition, many are familiar with Perego’s unique performance art at area shows and festivals which blend music, light, paint, and canvas to create extraordinary murals and portraits that literally come to life before the viewer. 

In 1996, Perego founded the Art Army, now a global movement dedicated to the proposition that “We are the art” – that individual creativity is the “common denominator that brings about our oneness, unity but without uniformity” – and founded on the belief that we all possess a divine creative spark that can positively transform lives across cultures and boundaries. 

An incredible soul with an infectious enthusiasm for cultivating the power of imagination, with the exceptional ability to see the intrinsic beauty in all things.  In everything he does, Perego generously devotes his time and extraordinary talents to the cause of changing our world through art.   

Now, the most apolitical and spiritually informed being I know is being recognized for his lifetime of service to the arts with the prestigious “Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award” – which is among the highest honors our nation bestows on those who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to community service with an emphasis on contributing to the betterment of society. 

In addition, Perego will be presented with the “Presidential Volunteer Service Medal” for his dedication to positively impacting communities around the world through art and creativity.

This special recognition will be presented by Dr. Khalilah Camacho-Ali, the former wife of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, at an event on Tuesday, January 16, beginning at 6:00pm.  The reception will span venues at 31 Supper Club, Kona Tiki Bar, and Rose Villa on West Granada Boulevard in Ormond Beach, establishments which host a variety of Perego’s work.    

According to an excellent article by business editor Clayton Park writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week, the festive celebration “…will include live music, the creation of a community mural in which attendees will be encouraged to participate, and a book signing by Comacho-Ali for her autobiography “Undefeated.”

The event is free and open to the public with the formal presentation beginning at 9:00pm on the stage at The Grind Gastro Pub & Kona Tiki Bar.   

Everyone is welcome and I hope to see you there.  

Congratulations, my dear brother, on this well-deserved honor!   

Asshole           Volusia County Council

It’s one thing when politicians have the wool pulled over their eyes.

It is quite another when they willingly put their head in a bag and allow themselves to be led around like a poleaxed ungulate with a ring in its nose.  But in either scenario – it is you and I who ultimately pay the price for their lack of situational awareness.

It’s what happens when those we elect to represent our interests abdicate their responsibility and rely solely on the highly controlled “information” doled out (or not) by senior staff as the tail continues to wag the dog in the inner sanctum of the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Complex.

Last week, we were forced to relearn that painful lesson.

During an emotionally charged Volusia County Council meeting, frightened residents supported a proposed moratorium that everyone believed was designed to temporarily stop progress on Belvedere Terminal’s plans to develop a 13-million-gallon bulk fuel facility on property zoned for heavy-industrial bordering the City of Ormond Beach.  

Then eyebrows raised when county staff reverted to the skeevy tactic of couching the moratorium as a “countywide” review of the I-2 zoning designation – as Councilman David Santiago warned concerned residents seeking to publicly voice their opposition to avoid giving the impression that the Belvedere project was the sole reason for the legislative pause (wink-wink-nudge-nudge) …

It felt conspiratorial – as though these engaged citizens were being asked to participate in a political ruse – rather than provide input as an integral part of what they hoped was a comprehensive and well-thought plan by our highly compensated legal staff to keep this 24/7 bulk fuel operation out of their community.   

Instead, they got cheap smoke-and-mirrors – a clumsy, ill-timed response not lost on Belvedere Terminals – or their legal team at the megafirm GrayRobinson. 

Add to that the Volusia County Council’s shocking inability to work cooperatively – as evidenced by Councilman Danny Robins’ open attack on Chairman Jeff Brower’s outspoken opposition to the terminal – which has resulted in Brower’s “colleagues” repeatedly painting him as a clueless crusader who lacks the capacity for strategic thought, restraint, or the basic leadership skills to unite the council and craft effective policy, even in a crisis.

Unfortunately, after collectively playing the role of the fourth stooge – heaping glowing accolades on County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald, County Attorney Michael Dyer, and their senior staff during last month’s perfunctory “performance evaluations” (read: “saccharine lovefest”) – these dullards have only themselves to blame…

Now it appears Belvedere has seized the legal high ground – articulating in a lawsuit filed last week how they followed all existing rules and zoning regulations as confirmed by Volusia County’s planning staff – and many taxpayers are beginning to ask how the provisions of the I-2 zoning allowing fuel terminals could have sat on the books like a dry turd for nearly 18-years, waiting to be reconstituted into this monumental mess?

According to Belvedere’s case in chief:

“On June 9, 2022, Belvedere consultants met with Volusia County permitting staff for a pre-application meeting to discuss the plans for the site.

During the County pre-application meeting, Belvedere presented County officials with the Project’s concept plan and asked the officials whether the Property would need to be rezoned to allow such development.

County officials informed Belvedere no re-zoning was necessary, because the existing I-2 zoning permitted Belvedere’s proposed uses.”

Perhaps more damning, Belvedere noted that in August 2023, Clay Ervin, Volusia’s “Director of Growth and Resource Management” advised council members that the intended heavy-industrial use “…as such, appears to be allowed by right.”

Is it possible our planning and permitting staff simply rubber stamped the project behind closed doors – wrapped it up for Belvedere in a festive bow – then kept things quiet from senior administrators, elected officials, and the public for over a year?   

Bullshit.

Thanks to the ineptitude and inaction of those who accept public funds to serve the public interest, it appears the time for legal maneuvers and legislative sleight-of-hand is over.

Now, the taxpayers of Volusia County are left with two horribly expensive options – either fight a protracted property rights lawsuit from well behind the eight ball – or purchase the property from the FEC Railway and make Belvedere Terminals whole.

Which do you prefer?  

In my view, it is time for the Volusia County Council to end this bumbling kakistocracy and show County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald and his cabal of incompetents the door… 

Quote of the Week

“We now have an opportunity to keep them here and grow them in our community, and again, continuing to provide opportunities for job growth, and creating opportunities for people to, even within Ormond Beach, to live, work and play in our city versus having to leave the city to go to work,” Rademacher said.

The intersection at I-95 and U.S. 1 — for which the state allocated $340 million last year to redesign — is the gateway into Volusia County too, Rademacher said.

“It’s perfectly situated to accommodate the growth that we’re seeing along that corridor,” Rademacher said.

It goes back to the “rising tide lifts all boats” mentality, Partington said.

“The improvements in the economy will create a stronger city,” he said. “It will help to keep our taxes stable and relatively low for the value that our residents get, because there’ll be new dollars coming in and there’ll be a balance of both business and residential, which you need as a city.”

–Ormond Beach Mayor Bill Partington and City Economic Development Director Brian Rademacher crowing about the reanimation of the massive development known as Ormond Crossings, Ormond Beach Observer, “Sold for $62 million: What’s next for Ormond Crossings?,” January 9, 2024

In my experience, sometimes a tide that rises too rapidly doesn’t just lift boats – it inundates and overwhelms everything in its path… 

This week we learned that the dormant monster known as Ormond Crossings, another ‘development of regional impact’ located south of the Interstate 95/U.S. 1 interchange – that received its approvals and entitlements over a decade ago – has been purchased by an out-of-town real estate developer for $62 million. 

In the view of many weary Ormond Beach residents, the last thing this once quaint community needs right now is another 2,500 homes and 2.5 million square feet of half-empty “retail, office, light industrial and warehouse” space – especially with the specter of a 13-million-gallon bulk fuel facility threatening to bring 24/7 tanker traffic to nearby Hull Road.   

So much for all that “growth and resource management” horseshit we hear so much about, eh?

If it’s any consolation, in an article by Clayton Park writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Mr. Rademacher assured anxious residents that the new owner, Brad Kline, of the Washington D.C. development firm Bradford Kline & Associates, is a “very nice man” who knows what he’s doing.

Good.  I’ll take comfort in that.

A ‘nice guy’ screwing us over will be a break from having my quality of life destroyed – and my grandchildren saddled with insurmountable infrastructure debt – by complete assholes and greed-crazed jacklegs with no regard for the character, livability, or future of the community I grew up in…

According to reports, Klein already has an agreement in place with Arizona-based home builder Meritage Homes – who wasted no time submitting “…a conceptual plan to the City to build 2,950 homes on 631 acres at Ormond Crossings, confirmed Ormond Beach Planning Director Steven Spraker. The conceptual plan includes a future elementary school, several parks and a 13-mile “multi-modal trail system.”

Great…

With the exhilarating thought of more, more, more humming through City Hall like a tuning fork, I have no doubt that those plans will be processed and approved with conveyor belt efficiency – well before any thought is given to the massive transportation, utilities, and other infrastructure that will be needed to accommodate thousands of new neighbors in Ormond Crossings and beyond.   

According to Maryam Ghyabi – an incredibly smart Ormond Beach traffic engineer who was quoted by the News-Journal – Ormond Crossings will require infrastructure improvements totaling an estimated $40 million, not including the $340 million already earmarked for a redesign of the dilapidated gateway interchange at I-95/US-1. 

“You cannot put a development of this magnitude without multi-millions (of dollars) in infrastructure improvements,” she said.”

Moving at the speed of government, work on the interchange is scheduled to begin in 2027 with an estimated completion sometime in 2030… 

But none of this seems to concern Mayor Bill Partington – who has now been ensconced on the dais of power in Ormond Beach for over 20-years. 

As his community is caught in the pinchers of massive development (anyone remember Avalon?), our Hapless Hizzoner is focused on a run for the District 28 state house seat where he can take his “growth at all costs” strategy to a larger stage…

Hell, to hear Good ol’ Bill tell it, better late than never when it comes to shoving ten-pounds of shit into a five-pound bag here in River City. 

Speaking in the Ormond Beach Observer, Mayor Partington said:

“If the development is phased properly, with the needed infrastructure in place, Ormond Crossings will be a nice complement to Ormond Beach, Partington said.

“When we approved it 15 or 20 years ago, our expectation was that it would be five or 10 years until it started,” he said. “We kind of expected to be built out by now and yet here we are just barely getting started with the sale. I think it will take longer than people realize, but ultimately, because there’s been so much planning and preparation for it, I think it’ll be a positive project and positive addition for the city.”

Maybe on his way to a bigger, better, more powerful political office, Mayor Partington can find time to explain to my grandchildren and yours why he allowed his friends in the real estate development community to haul untold profits out of Ormond Beach while knowingly stiffing them with the astronomical infrastructure bills to come? 

In other developments (literally), we learned this week that a neighborhood meeting will be held on Thursday, January 18, beginning at 6:00pm at the Hampton Inn, 155 Interchange Boulevard in Ormond Beach to discuss a preliminary plat for “Tattersall at Tymber Creek.” 

As you may recall, in October 2022, the Ormond Beach City Commission voted 3-2 to permit the subdivision which will see another 129 single-family homes built near Tymber Creek and Airport Road. 

You’re right – that’s right down the gridlocked road from the 270-unit apartment complex the City Commission “reluctantly” approved last year near the already choked intersection of State Road 40…

Maybe next week we can chew over the “new” plan to shoehorn hundreds of new homes into the established Tomoka Oaks subdivision, or the 137-lot subdivision and 180-unit townhouse development planned near the Plantation Oaks community, or – oh, screw it.

And the hits just keep on comin’…  

Folks, the next time you’re stuck in traffic at Granada Boulevard and (insert intersection here), wait five to six hours to be seen at an area emergency room, have your kids shuffled from school-to-school due to under planning and overcrowding, or become increasingly claustrophobic as more pine scrub is sacrificed for another sticks-and-glue apartment complex or cookie cutter subdivision, look around at what this irresponsible ‘rising tide’ of explosive growth Partington and his cronies have championed has done to your quality of life.

Then vote your conscience in November… 

And Another Thing!

“Every time these folks get together they fuck the people over for the benefit of a few powerful interests,” Morgan said. “Don’t believe me? Name one law that has ever benefited you.”

–Attorney John Morgan’s thoughts on the Florida legislature, as quoted from his post on X teasing a potential independent run for governor in 2026, January 4, 2024

Gird your loins, my fellow Floridians – the legislature is now in session… 

Regardless of what you think about John Morgan – the gazillionaire personal injury attorney, staunch advocate for legalized marijuana, and brash critic of the current state-of-affairs in Tallahassee – his message makes sense for thousands of marginalized Floridians who feel like an afterthought. 

From Florida’s raging insurance crisis to malignant overdevelopment, environmental threats, coastal erosion, “pay-to-play” transactional politics, outsized influence of a few uber-wealthy insiders, and a state legislative apparatus totally controlled by real estate developers and insurance interests, John Morgan speaks to the very real concerns of those who are tired of the Florida legislature’s focus on the nonsensical, as the significant issues that affect our lives and livelihoods are ignored.  

As perhaps the most recognizable personal injury attorney in the known universe (and there’s a ton of them), Mr. Morgan has been a driving force behind several high-profile ballot initiatives in recent years, including the successful push for medical marijuana in 2016, an incremental increase in Florida’s minimum wage, and his current campaign for recreational cannabis.    

In addition, Mr. Morgan took the opportunity to cut into State Representative Tom Leek on X:

“And what better final act before the close of the show than give Floridians a government that works for them and not FPL or Tom Leeks (sic) insurance company employer. His net worth was zero when he got in office … look it up now,” Morgan wrote.  

In a subsequent article by Mark Harper in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, we learned:

“Leek’s financial disclosure form dated June 28, 2017, just after he first got into office, showed a net worth of $852,000. His form dated July 3, 2023, states his net worth is more than $14 million, with his annual income having nearly tripled, to $615,000 at Foundation Risk Partners, a Daytona Beach insurance agency.

“The people of Florida got (expletive) for that to happen,” Morgan tweeted. “He is a disgrace.”

In his defense, Mr. Leek explained in the News-Journal that he was hired by Foundation Risk Partners as chief legal counsel in 2018 – an agency that Leek said “…acts on behalf of customers seeking the best possible rates and advocating for claims to be paid” – one year after the firm’s founding.  He attributed his success to the company’s entrepreneurial spirit: 

“We took a chance on ourselves, worked hard, and in August 2022 our efforts were rewarded when the company recapitalized with a new private equity partner,” Leek wrote. “We are most grateful that our entrepreneurial efforts were successful.”

Look, two incredibly wealthy attorney’s bickering over their personal wealth is, well, you know…

I happen to like Tom Leek personally, so I’m keeping an open mind…

In the view of many, Mr. Morgan’s observations are intriguing – and speak to a growing segment of the population seeking a sensible voice on the concerns of average Floridian’s who struggle to understand why their elected “representatives” in Tallahassee seem intent on overthrowing the fundamental concept of “home rule,” limiting our ability to determine local growth, and allowing those powerful industries and individuals who finance their campaigns carte blanche to destroy all we hold dear in the name of greed. 

Because political oscillations always cause the pendulum to swing, eventually, the current single-minded focus on the divisive (and strategically distracting) “culture wars” being fought on both sides of the political spectrum will wear thin with disillusioned Floridians, who will begin looking for leadership with the wherewithal and independence to remain above the bullshit and begin the monumental task of addressing the serious issues we face here in what remains of the Sunshine State.   

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

There is a mysterious hex which says, “May you live in interesting times.” 

The provenance of this grave malediction remains the subject of great philological debate – with some modern scholars employing powerful search engines that can simultaneously pour over and cross-reference the world’s recorded history – in their hunt for the origin of what Garson O’Toole described as a most “piquant and controversial expression.”

Regardless, even dullards like me agree that the expression does not extend best wishes to the unfortunate recipient – rather an imprecation for evil, chaos, and tumult.  

I think it safe to say that residents of Florida’s fabled “Fun Coast” are now living through that accursed and star-crossed age, leaving many to question how in the hell did we get here?

Last week, many of my frightened neighbors in the Halifax area descended on the Volusia County Council chambers to support a proposed moratorium on heavy-industrial (I-2) development in unincorporated areas – a clumsy eleventh-hour response by flummoxed officials to pending applications from Belvedere Terminals, LLC – a company plowing ahead with plans to build a controversial 13-million-gallon bulk fuel storage facility on property currently zoned I-2 along the Florida East Coast Railroad abutting the City of Ormond Beach. 

Both Belvedere Terminals and the FEC Railway are subsidiaries of Grupo Mexico, a Mexican transportation, mining, and infrastructure conglomerate with a grim history of environmental contamination in the United States and Mexico. 

For many, the thought of allowing a bulk fuel terminal adjacent to the busy Ormond Beach Municipal Airport, the city’s sports complex, and rapidly expanding residential areas, is inconceivable – and has residents wondering how our ‘powers that be’ in Volusia County’s dubious “growth and resource management” apparatus could have been so horribly negligent – completely ignorant of strategic planning concepts and future land use considerations? 

That’s dangerous – and leads one to ponder what other revelations are ominously looming on the horizon?  

In my view, this bureaucratic ineptitude is tantamount to so-called “professional planners” facilitating explosive development and sprawl without first ensuring adequate transportation infrastructure, flood control, wastewater treatment capacity, the quality and quantity of potable water supplies, schools, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure.

Oh, wait… 

What I found most disturbing is that while angry residents watched some of the same hacks who got us into this mess describe their scheme for temporarily thwarting the fuel terminal under the flimsy guise of a “countywide” moratorium – accompanied by much hue and cry from the dais about how resident’s should craft comments due to the potential of a lawsuit – our elected and appointed officials were well aware that just two-days earlier Belvedere Terminals had already filed a lawsuit against Volusia County.

Yeah, I know…

In an informative article by Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, we learned the reasoning behind Belvedere’s legal action filed Tuesday in Circuit Court:

“The County has made clear it opposes the Project and is attempting ‘at all costs’ to prevent Plaintiff from developing its property in direct contradiction to the existing I-2 Zoning Ordinance,” the lawsuit reads, using part of a quote from District 4 Councilman Troy Kent.

Though the moratorium hasn’t been approved, the county is using the “pending ordinance doctrine” to stop development progress at the fuel terminal site. The county rejected the conceptual site plan in December.

Belvedere Terminals filed the lawsuit, which is 39 pages long, not including attachments, on Tuesday in Volusia County Circuit Court through their attorneys with GrayRobinson law firm. The business is asking the court to find that the development pause doesn’t comply with Volusia County Code and how the county is using the pending ordinance doctrine isn’t valid.

“This lawsuit results from a deliberate and concerted effort by the County Council to rob Belvedere of its Property and constitutionally protected rights,” according to the lawsuit. “The Property is in an enclave surrounded by heavy industrial uses to the north (railroad and alcohol warehouses), south (concrete production and waste disposal), and east (heavy recycling).”

In addition, according to a shocking excerpt from the lawsuit by WKMG-6:

“Volusia County Council members stated they first ‘became aware’ of the Project at some time in August 2023, despite Belvedere’s direct coordination with County staff in June 2022,” the lawsuit reads. “Upon finally ‘learning of the Project,’ the County Council began a crusade to stop Belvedere’s Project, as one Councilmember put it, ‘by any means necessary.’”

In addition, the lawsuit says that the councilmembers knew there was no rezoning or land-use change necessary for Belvedere to go ahead with the project, so they “panicked and began devising cloak-and-dagger schemes to stop this project.”

Wow.  Damning…  

Why wasn’t this critical information made available to residents during Thursday’s public hearing on the moratorium? 

Playing devil’s advocate (and thinking strategically) it is hard to deny the factual basis for Belvedere’s lawsuit. 

(Read Belvedere’s complaint for yourself here: http://tinyurl.com/y56fp42u )

This is setting up to be a terribly expensive and time-consuming fight – one that could have been avoided with a modicum of prior planning and diligence – and I suspect John & Jane Q’s risk tolerance will now depend upon their home’s propinquity to the potential explosive impacts of 13-million-gallons of flammable material…

I hope Volusia County residents realize this isn’t a NIMBY issue.

With the pending expansion of the massive Ormond Crossings development – and the proposed facilities proximity to established neighborhoods and the airport – I believe it represents a grave public safety concern. 

In my view, despite the fact council members have vowed not to make the Belvedere debacle a political focus during this year’s election season (it already is, because they are all equally culpable) – perhaps it is time for taxpayers to demand across-the-board accountability – and begin the process of changing the culture of Volusia County government? 

Look, I reason under the assumption that most people believe government should work in the interests of those who struggle under the yoke of excessive taxes and fees, participate in what remains of our democratic processes, and elect representatives who promise that a modicum of our tax dollars will return to the community, assure that essential services will be provided efficiently, and pledge that the administration will be accessible and responsive to our needs.

That quaint notion becomes blurred when struggling taxpayers see local elected officials serve the mercenary wants of a few influential string pullers and the industries they represent – who have purchased a very lucrative chip in the game through massive campaign contributions – while our role is relegated to paying the exorbitant bills, executive salaries, and corporate “incentives” in silence (or within our allotted three-minute audience before the aloof elite…) 

But this is different.

Perhaps most corrosive to the public trust is that those ensconced in the “inner sanctum” at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Complex in DeLand have diminished and ignored the professional ethic of accountability.

That time-honored concept has been replaced with strict adherence to the stagnant status quo, crafting public policy in a way that no one inside government can ever be held accountable for the consequences, coupled with a pernicious scheme where senior appointed officials “befriend” those we elect, welcome them inside the tent, control information, and convince them that they alone hold the answers. 

A highly effective strategy that ensures job security for senior executives – until the very moment those with political vulnerability on the dais of power are caught with their pants down and a confused look on their faces – as the behind-closed-doors machinations of the bureaucracy are exposed to public view…  

As a result, the once sacrosanct concept of answerability is becoming a quaint artifact of what was once a government of the people.

In my view, now is the time to start terminating the tax-supported employment of anyone and everyone in county government responsible for this ongoing outrage. 

That should begin with the Volusia County Council removing County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald and his coterie of not-so-useful idiots – and replacing them with competent and accountable leadership during this deplorable period in our history. 

It not now, when?

If this insult isn’t the final straw of the Recktenwald administration’s dismal history of mismanagement, what is?

How long are Volusia County taxpayers expected to accept this incompetence as “business as usual”?

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:

Angel               Volusia Supervisor of Elections Lisa Lewis

One of the benefits of Amendment 10 – a 2018 measure adopted by 63% of voters that established the constitutional offices of Tax Collector, Sheriff, Property Appraiser, Clerk of Court, and Supervisor of Elections – is it took these politically accountable officers from under the yoke of an appointed County Manager and gave them the independence to serve their constituents in a responsible way.     

Of course, Volusia’s Old Guard appealed the measure and fought like rabid badgers to preserve the status quo…

Fortunately, the will of voters prevailed. 

In my view, the result has been an extraordinary transformation of those essential services overseen by constitutional officers who now enjoy the autonomy to innovate, find efficiencies, increase public access and transparency, and live up to their campaign promises. 

I am a huge fan of Volusia’s Supervisor of Elections Lisa Lewis – a proven servant/leader who does a difficult job very well.  Despite what must be a hectic schedule spinning the myriad plates of preparing for and managing local, county, state, and federal elections, Ms. Lewis remains accessible to her constituents – with a longtime open-door policy that welcomes citizens to observe the electoral process firsthand. 

Recently, Ms. Lewis announced that her office will be hosting a “Candidate Bootcamp” for aspiring elected officials, a means of helping neophyte politicians navigate the requirements for public office, such as candidate registration, qualifying periods, the responsibilities of the candidate and their campaign treasurer, required disclaimers on campaign material, and financial reporting requirements.

In a News-Journal report announcing the training, Ms. Lewis said:

“Candidates need to know the dos and don’ts of what you’re supposed to do, how to fill out the campaign finance forms, what they need to do to qualify and the changes within municipal government,” Lewis said.

According to reports, the one-day training starts at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, January 20, at the Supervisor of Elections Office, 1750 S. Woodland Boulevard in DeLand.

Because I’m full of “good suggestions,” perhaps Ms. Lewis should consider adding a plenary session covering the all-important personal attributes of public service – individual qualities such as honesty, speaking the unvarnished truth, candidness, holding firm to one’s word and promises, keeping your public and private life unsullied as an example to all, preserving the public trust, the art of compromise, focusing on the needs of those you ultimately serve (regardless of who funded your campaign), listening to the concerns of constituents, etc.

That could involve a breakout forum to discuss the importance of refraining from three-way sexcapades while holding high office (perhaps Christian and Bridget Ziegler could serve as guest lecturers?), how to avoid “sexting” pictures of your genitals to others, reinventing yourself after being photographed in the fetal position in a hotel room with a sex worker and suspected methamphetamine, and why it’s never a good idea to grope staffers in government offices or engage in tawdry dalliances while in Tallahassee for “the people’s business…”  

That should include a symposium headed “Lowering the Bar 101” presented by Sen. “Terrible Tommy” Wright – explaining his Houdini routine of how to avoid sanction after being caught on video physically accosting the interim director of a struggling domestic violence shelter as she tries to protect the identity of survivors after having been banned from that same shelter for making lewd come-ons to a frightened young mother and her infant… 

Hey, just my two cents. 

Kudos to Lisa Lewis and her outstanding staff for serving the citizens of Volusia County with such grace and commitment to open, fair, and transparent elections!   

Angel               Flagler County Tax Collector Suzanne Johnston

In most places, a trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles is like a slow descent into bureaucratic hell – a four to six-hour disorganized trudge that pushes the limits of human endurance and frustration – where disinterested office drones wear inefficiency like a badge of honor and move at a snail’s pace while the ever-expanding line wraps around the building…

No thanks.   

Whenever I need to renew my Florida driver’s license, without hesitation I travel to the Flagler County Tax Collector’s Office on Moody Boulevard in Flagler Beach – a place where the attentive staff always make me feel welcome and valued – like a “customer” should. 

That extraordinary experience is thanks to Suzanne Johnston, a 54-year veteran of Flagler County government, who has held the constitutional office of Tax Collector since 2004. 

Last week, Ms. Johnston announced that she will not seek reelection as she retires from an extraordinary life of public service later this year.   

In a fitting tribute to Ms. Johnston in FlaglerLive!, we learned of Ms. Johnston’s dedication to “Swiss watch precision and Magic Kingdom customer service”:

“Suzanne Johnston attended the University of Florida, got married, then went to work and raised her two children, deepening her local roots as she went. She’d made three promises when she first ran in 2004: to put all tax records online, which she did. To open a satellite office in palm Coast in her first year, which she accomplished. (The Flagler Beach satellite office opened in 2017.) And to open a walk-up window for after-hours, which she also did once the new Government Services Building opened in 2007. “And I promised my mother that as long as I was tax collector, the phones would be answered by a real live person,” she said. That’s remained true, at least to the extent that, once a caller now navigates past a recording, a live person will pick up.

Though she’d known for a while that she’d not run again, she made her decision with a lump in her throat, “because when you’ve worked somewhere basically 54 years is what I’d been here in county government, you feel responsible for the future years,” she said.”

In my view, Ms. Johnston’s commitment to those she was elected to serve is a shining example of true public service – a transformational leader whose legacy will live on in her protégée, Shelly Edmonson, a seven-year veteran of the Tax Collectors office who will announce her candidacy to succeed Ms. Johnston soon.   

Thank you, Ms. Johnston.  We’re glad you passed our way.

Your commitment and dedication to government efficiency set the gold standard for customer service. 

Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement!

Asshole           Deltona City Commission

Rumors and disinformation are corrosive to the public trust.  

The buzz of gossip and unsubstantiated “reports” cause people to speculate and form conclusions with limited information, and when those rumors involve government, those responsible for the dissemination of public information understand that the continued influence effect can result in people recalling discredited or demonstrably false information—even when the original message has been proven wrong by competent authority. 

After hearing a spate of rumors and speculation from confused Deltona residents, earlier this week I reached out to a trusted contact at the City of Deltona and confirmed that veteran District 2 Commissioner Anita Bradford resigned last week citing health concerns that have kept her off the dais for several meetings. 

That’s unfortunate. 

While I did not always agree with Ms. Bradford’s policy decisions – I always felt her heart was with the long-suffering citizens of Deltona – and she continued to show up, even when it became difficult for her to communicate. 

I respect her commitment and courage. 

Unfortunately, both Ms. Bradford and her constituents deserved better from the senior staff at the City of Deltona last week.

During my three-decades in municipal government, serving a small community where things, both good and bad, can be blown out of proportion – had a sitting elected official resigned unexpectedly – the City Manager would have ensured that information was immediately pushed to residents before rumor and conjecture took hold, especially over a long Holiday weekend.

That didn’t happen in Deltona.

As a result, the community was abuzz with inference and hearsay as wild assumptions swept social media, with some suggesting Ms. Bradford resigned to avoid the new financial reporting requirements for municipal officials.  On Tuesday, I went as close to the horse’s mouth as I could get without risking one of Deltona’s abusive fees that accompanies any reasonable public records request…

In the Lost City of Deltona, important community information often comes at constituents from all directions – usually in bits, pieces, speculation, half-baked allegations, manifestos, and politically motivated diatribes issued at all hours on social media – leaving constituents horribly confused and increasingly frightened.

Then, during Tuesday evening’s City Commission meeting, things took a typically accusatory turn when residents found a stack of handouts in the chamber which alleged Mayor Santiago Avila, Jr. had rented a home (purportedly purchased by unidentified Deltona developers for that purpose) at a rate below current market value. 

These allegations became known just weeks after Mayor Avila announced his family was struggling to find affordable housing in the community he serves. 

During his comments, Vice Mayor Jody Lee Storozuk gave further detail in a disjointed “special report” explaining that he received a call from an unidentified “developer’s attorney” who asked him to “look into” an allegation that individuals described as “developers and friends” got together and “supposedly” purchased a rental home to be used exclusively as a rental for Mayor Avila. 

In turn, Vice Mayor Storozuk explained that he turned the information over to the State Attorney’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and independently contacted the Florida Ethics Commission.    

In addition, Mr. Storozuk also alleged that Mayor Avila directed Interim City Manager Glenn Whitcomb to have the water utility turned on at the home – something Storozuk described as “malfeasance,” claiming the mayor’s actions constitute a violation of Deltona’s charter.

When it was his turn to speak, Mayor Avila gave an overview of how he and his wife located the house they ultimately rented and moved into on December 1 – citing a weird incident in which his wife and young daughter were photographed outside their former home by an unnamed “friend” of Mr. Storozuk in an incident that was apparently reported to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office (?) – before asking Interim City Manager Whitcomb to confirm that he did not direct him to turn on the water or waive the utility deposit. 

In my view, if Vice Mayor Storozuk had information regarding possible criminal conduct by Mayor Avila and others – he had an ethical obligation to safeguard that information and protect the integrity of the evidence until the allegations have been investigated by law enforcement – then let the chips fall where they may.

Tuesday evening’s performance of Deltona’s detective series gives the unmistakable appearance of political vengeance – a payback for Mayor Avila’s May 2023 report to the Office of the State Attorney regarding a possible violation of Florida’s Sunshine Law by Storozuk, two other sitting commissioners, and a candidate for the open City Manager position.

A subsequent investigation by the State Attorney’s Office failed to develop evidence of a criminal violation.   

Unfortunately, this week’s melodramatic shit-show didn’t end there.

During her comments, Commissioner Dana McCool apologized to resident and current District 6 Commission candidate Nick Lulli after another wanton social media attack was foisted on him by Commissioner Tom Burbank – who, you may recall, cost the City of Deltona a financial settlement with Mr. Lulli last year after Burbank besmirched his character and reputation with an unprovoked and homophobic attack on Facebook…

My God. 

Look, I’m not sure how investigators proceed from here – now that what amounts to their case file has been printed, collated, bound, and left for public consumption on a table in the City Commission Chambers – then discussed in detail by both the accuser and accused from the dais – but I think it is time for the State Attorney’s Office to get someone’s attention…

Unfortunately, it appears the Lost City of Deltona is now beyond redemption – and whenever Governor Ron DeSantis is finished slogging around Iowa – his first order of business should be an immediate intervention to rescue beleaguered Deltona taxpayers from what smacks of systemic misfeasance by elected policymakers. 

Now, many fear that without outside intercession, longsuffering residents are doomed to repeat history like trapped passengers on some weird hypersonic carousel…

Asshole           Volusia County Council

The Moonwalk

“The moonwalk, or backslide, is a popping dance move in which the performer glides backwards but their body actions suggest forward motion…”

–Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Sound familiar? 

I really wanted to begin the new year differently… 

During Thursdays Volusia County Council meeting, it was interesting to watch our elected officials doing their best interpretation of the popular dance step – going backward while giving the illusion of moving forward…

During a heated agenda item, our elected dullards took up the thorny matter of what amounts to a 12-month moratorium on development applications for all properties in the Heavy Industrial (I-2) zoning classification throughout Volusia County.   

Ostensibly, the moratorium will allow a “pause” so that what passes for Volusia County’s “planning staff” can “…review the list of permitted uses and special exception uses for I-2 and to develop amendments to those uses.  Dimensional standards and buffering requirements will be reviewed to ensure that there is minimal impact on surrounding properties.”

Laughably, during the public participation portion of the item, Councilman David Santiago cautioned frightened residents of Ormond Beach not to refer to Belvedere Terminal’s plan to place a 13-million-gallon bulk fuel storage farm on perhaps the most inappropriate I-2 zoning on the Eastern Seaboard – even though everyone within 50-miles of the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building understands this “pause” is designed to stop forward progress on the fuel facility. 

The people came to speak about the greatest threat to their property values and general safety anyone could imagine – not become unwilling participants in another Volusia County political charade…

In my view, Santiago’s ridiculous ploy to conceal the 800-pound gorilla in the chamber in the thin drapery of an across the board “planning review” is indicative of the ham-handed fumbling and deflection that has beset this crisis from the onset. 

During public participation, an attorney from the mega-firm Gray-Robinson representing Belvedere Terminals (who, like everyone else looking on, saw through the “wink-wink-nudge-nudge” ploy) exposed the obvious in stating that the Council’s avoidance of a “quasi-judicial” hearing – one that would have allowed them to give mitigating testimony – was, in fact, a tactic designed to “stand in the way” of the company’s property rights and nothing more, before raising the specter of the Bert J. Harris, Jr. Private Property Rights Protection Act…

Make no mistake, like so many of my anxious neighbors here in Ormond Beach, I wholeheartedly support the moratorium.  In my view, it is something that should have happened years ago when the property was improperly zoned – or when Volusia County still had standing to oppose the FDEP air construction permit.

In my view, this latest attempt at an after-the-fact remedy further exposes the horrific lack of planning and preparation by Director Clay Ervin, County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald, and the perpetual farce that is Volusia County’s “Growth and Resource Management” apparatus. 

The building frustration of Volusia County residents became clear when Councilman Danny Robins attempted to explain his weird position on the controversial matter by taking a clear swipe at Chairman Jeff Brower’s open opposition to the terminal, resulted in angry shouts and profane invective from the emotionally charged gallery. 

Ultimately, the Council voted 5-2 to move the second reading of the development moratorium to February 6 – a daytime meeting – when you have to work…

In my view, now that the horse of explosive growth and intrusive heavy industry has bolted from the gaping barndoor – our elected officials finally come to the realization that they and their enabling “growth management” staff have allowed massive sprawl and potential public safety hazards without an ongoing process to reevaluate zoning classifications.

How is that possible?

It is increasingly clear that the county’s brewing legal fight with Belvedere Terminals (and perhaps other heavy industrial operators effected by the moratorium) will be a long and terribly expensive proposition for Volusia County taxpayers – and that’s okay – because the alternative is grim. 

Some things are worth fighting for.   

Now, the question becomes:  How much longer will our elected representatives allow the same inept assholes who got us into this mess to keep their hand on the switch? 

Quote of the Week

“Lindauer, one of two Shores commissioners who resigned, contends the new law is driving good people away from public service.

He said the previous disclosure, Form 1, required of city elected officials shows the public the sources of income, which is purposeful, as it might point to possible conflicts of interest.

“Form 6 is totally invasive. The first question is what is your total net worth,” he said, adding that every account he holds, every piece of jewelry over $1,000 and more invites more than public scrutiny. He sees it as an invitation for criminals looking for a score.

“What difference does it make if one elected official is worth $100,000 and the other is worth $10 million?” he asked. “That’s totally irrelevant.”

Lindauer said he lives a modest lifestyle after a successful 30-year career and building an investment portfolio, while also finding a niche as an author of articles and books on investment. If forced to reveal his net worth and holdings, he feared it would change the way people viewed him.

“People like me, who live a middleclass life and don’t flaunt wealth at all, now people see you in a different light and treat you different,” he said. “All I want to know is: Am I doing a good job or not?”

–Former Daytona Beach Shores City Commissioner Mel Lindauer, as quoted by reporter Mark Harper of The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Daytona Beach Shores officials quit – 2 resign over stringent financial disclosures,” Friday, December 29, 2023

“When a feller says: “It hain’t th’ money, but th’ principle o’ th’ thing,” it’s th’ money.”

–Abe Martin, 1916

I guess when it comes to political vanity vs. transparent public service – egotism wins every time, eh? 

According to Mark Harper’s coverage of the Daytona Beach Shores exodus, we learned that former Commissioner Richard Bryan – who left City Hall hand-in-hand with Mr. Lindauer last week – announced in his resignation letter he was leaving anyway, citing a change in priorities now that he is “…working on another project examining public health” (?). 

Bullshit.

In addition, “Bryan wrote in his resignation letter that he doesn’t feel his voice is needed, as many of the Shores City Commission votes are 5-0, and that he is also working on another project examining public health.

He said the Form 6 issue affected the timing of his resignation and also complained about Florida’s Sunshine Law requiring elected city officials to discuss city business only during an open meeting.

“The Sunshine Law prevents effective oversight on issues that are complex and/or involve wrongdoing,” he wrote.”

Wow.  I don’t make this stuff up, folks…

Makes one wonder why former Commissioner Bryan holds government in the sunshine in such low regard? 

In Orange City, two council members resigned rather than submit to the enhanced financial reporting requirement. 

According to an article in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week, “William O’Connor and Casandra Jones of Orange City say Form 6, which has been used by state and county elected officials in the past, asks questions too invasive to disclose publicly for them to continue to serve.”

Further, Ms. Jones called the legislation “abhorrent” and went so far as to suggest the requirements of Form 6 placed her at increased risk of victimization (?), “It would also require me to have family heirlooms and antiques to be appraised and announced to the world,” O’Connor wrote. “Making my personal assets public record puts me and my family at immediate risk from scammers and potential robbers.”

Okay… 

Mr. Bryan’s thoughts aside, in my view, the Sunshine Law is the only thing we have left that provides a modicum of transparency in the cloistered halls of power – that dank place where taxpayers are forced to peer through the greasy pane in the closed portcullis of government – while appointed administrators provide differing information and access to elected officials based upon their willingness to go along and get along…

Look, I’m not suggesting this factor is at play here, but no one likes to be exposed as a poseur – least of all those elected megalomaniacs who present a carefully crafted façade of financial and material “success” to their peers and constituents – only to have their personal situation laid bare as a condition of elected service.    

That’s embarrassing… 

However, given the ‘anything goes’ climate here in Florida – the Biggest Whorehouse in the World – it’s not unfair or intrusive for constituents to expect at least translucence from those they put their trust in. 

Perhaps in this new era of enhanced financial transparency for municipal elected officials, we should begin placing increased emphasis on the individual’s service – their demonstrated commitment to the highest ideals of elective service, duty, honor, loyalty, putting the needs of others over their own self-interests – as the true metric of a servant/leader’s success.

In my view, regardless of whether an elected official lives in the largest mansion on the tallest hill in town – or is poor as a church mouse – their core values and the nature of their service to others, willingness to defend our inalienable rights, and ability to put public interest above their own are the ideals that We, The Little People should admire (and demand) from those who hold high office. 

And Another Thing!

I once spoke to a fellow rube (i.e., “Volusia County Taxpayer”) who recounted a conversation with a high-powered local elected official.  As often happens during “Fun Coast” political chit-chat, the constituent asked their aloof politico if they read Barker’s View?

With a wave of the hand, the monarchical stuffed shirt scoffed at the very notion, “I never read that crap!” 

Of course he doesn’t. 

Because considering any point of view that doesn’t comport with the stagnant status quo – the “that’s the way we’ve always done it” stratagem that keeps our decisionmakers legislating public policy in effective darkness (and ensures senior appointed administrators remain the highly paid gatekeepers to the inner sanctum) is anathema in the cloistered Halls of Power. 

The fact these screeds make our “movers and shakers” uncomfortable is also why I don’t get invited to cocktail parties… 

Eight years ago, this alternative opinion blogsite was founded on the democratic principle that in the United States citizens are free to speak out, to voice dissent, and express their thoughts on the issues of the day.

In fact, it is a primary duty of citizenship.

The First Amendment to the Constitution protects our inalienable right to say exactly what we think – regardless of how embarrassing that may be to those in power.  In fact, the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld our fundamental right to criticize our government and those we elect and appoint to administrate it. 

Unfortunately, over the past several years, craven politicians and those influential insiders who control the legislative rods and strings behind the scenes, have changed tack. 

Instead of a transparent airing of the facts with sufficient time for public input, they revert to secrecy – cloaking controversial issues from public view, passing subjective “civility ordinances” by imperial edict that regulate the ability of We, The Little People from speaking out – while refusing to answer constituent questions from the dais. 

In a recent collaboration between CNHI Newspapers and The Associated Press as published in The Daytona Beach News-Journal entitled, “Locked out of local government,” we learned of disturbing trends nationwide of local governments refusing to adhere to public records requests, using the full might of government to silence critics and reporters, officials refusing to speak with the press, negotiating public policy in private, and intentionally making it difficult for constituents to attend or actively participate in meetings.

According to the disturbing report, “From school districts to townships and county boards, public access to records and meetings in many states is worsening over time, open government advocates and experts say.

“It’s been going on for decades, really, but it’s accelerated the past 10 years,” said David Cuillier, director of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida.”

In local bureaucracies throughout Volusia County, concerned residents often get the impression that things happen despite their elected representatives – not because of them – as public policy is crafted by staff, homogenized, repackaged, presented in a canned PowerPoint, and approved with little, if any, substantive input from those whose lives and livelihoods will be directly impacted.

Don’t take my word for it.

Take a strong antiemetic and read the execrable history of the Belvedere Terminals debacle – a shocking revelation that was sprung on an unsuspecting public in a bombshell article in the News-Journal article that alerted hapless Ormond Beach residents (and, apparently, our elected city/county officials who are now clumsily playing catch up?) of a proposed 13-million-gallon bulk fuel storage facility in the most inappropriate location on the Eastern Seaboard…

Or peruse the abominable events at Volusia County jail facilities – conditions that have repeatedly been brought forth by beleaguered corrections officers forced to serve in incredibly dangerous circumstances – replete with horrific stories of inmates being tacked out nude in four-point restraints for extended periods of time in some Medieval behavior modification experiment.

(All of which occurred on the watch of County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald and County Attorney Michael Dyer – both of whom received glowing performance reviews and obscene pay increases last month…)

Yeah.  I know… 

As we start 2024 – an election year – my sincere hope is that you will question candidates on their dedication to transparency, inclusiveness, and public input (we already know where incumbents stand) then vote your conscience.   

Trust me.  With the Florida legislature set to begin their 2024 session next week – anything is possible as they continue to undermine Home Rule, limit local government’s ability to control its own destiny, and seek to silence critics. 

In an era of extreme divisiveness and diminishing expectations, let’s hold those we elect and appoint to the lofty standards of clarity and openness we have a right to expect in a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. 

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