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!