Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the newsmakers of the day – the winners and losers – who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life, or detracted from it, in some significant way.

Let’s look at who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:

Asshole           Volusia County School Board

The Volusia County School Board had a collective out-of-body experience this week when they were flagrantly exposed as either clueless lumps suffering from selective memory disorder – or baldfaced liars who engaged in a skeevy behind-the-scenes scheme to decertify Volusia United Educators, the union representing some 3,000 of their teachers and paraprofessionals.

Frankly, the horrific sense of vicarious embarrassment I felt for Chairwoman Jamie Haynes and her fellow quisling saboteurs on the dais of power was excruciating – an unexpected emotion that surpassed my overwhelming feeling of schadenfreude watching these rat finks get hoisted on their own petard…    

If I were Superintendent Carmen Balgobin – I would be packing my desk and slinking out the back door of the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand – because the political implications of this week’s ugly exposé will be long remembered by Volusia County voters. 

Last year, Volusia County District Schools activated a labor attorney they keep on retainer to write a letter to the state’s Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) alleging that Volusia United Educators failed to comply with a controversial new law that requires certain public sector unions (namely teachers unions) to report, among other things, dues-paying membership data to the state proving at least 60% participation – or face possible decertification as a bargaining unit. 

According to a January article in Orlando Weekly:

“Elizabeth Albert, president of Volusia United Educators in Daytona Beach, told Orlando Weekly that her union submitted the required information (including membership numbers) to the state in October 2023, using guidance the union had received from PERC, the state agency tasked with implementing last year’s law.

“We stand on telling the truth,” she asserted. The Volusia County school board, however, has cast doubt on the union’s calculation. A private attorney, writing on behalf of the school board, sent a formal notice to PERC on Jan. 18, insinuating that the union had falsified information, specifically to make it appear as though they had surpassed the required 60% membership threshold.

The board did not take a legal position, but merely notified PERC that the union representations did not appear to meet statutory density requirements by the recertification deadline,” a spokesperson for Volusia County Schools told Orlando Weekly in a statement. Albert believes this interference was unnecessary and described the board’s move as “disappointing” and “malicious.”

(Find the Orlando Weekly article here: http://tinyurl.com/2yw2vtmc )

On Tuesday, the truth was revealed in a shocking turn of events…    

At the end of the public meeting, Chairwoman Haynes desperately attempted to separate the school board from the growing public perception that the elected body is engaging in union busting tactics – saying unequivocally to teachers, staff, parents, and taxpayers that board members had no part in the district’s communications with PERC – and never authorized the hiring of an outside attorney. 

With a haughty air of indignance, Chairwoman Haynes puffed, “It has been stated that we – the five of us – have gone after the union,” – then proceeded to assure everyone watching that the board did not authorize the hiring of an outside attorney – and, in fact, no one on the board had any knowledge of the district’s correspondence to PERC. 

In a tense exchange, VUE President Elizabeth Albert countered that all correspondence to PERC was clearly referenced as having come from the school board – explaining that the outside labor attorney clearly stated in documents they were working on behalf of the “Volusia County School Board.”

Chairwoman Haynes emphatically reiterated that she did not authorize the hiring of an outside attorney and openly accused Ms. Albert of making “inaccurate” statements about the board’s involvement. 

Then, in a hyper dramatic moment right out of a bad Perry Mason episode, the district’s attorney Kevin Pendley – his head turning an odd shade of ochre that laid bare a thinly suppressed teeth-gritting rage – dropped a bombshell that literally shook the room…

Speaking pointedly before the board, Mr. Pendley explained that the School Board is represented by Sacha Dyson, the districts outside labor attorney, in the matter before the Public Employees Relations Committee – then openly contradicted Chairwoman Haynes by revealing that the board had in fact authorized the correspondence from Dyson to PERC disputing the union’s membership density. 

Chairwoman Haynes asked, “So, we voted here in the boardroom?” 

To which Mr. Pendley responded, “No.  You told me personally.”  

In turn, Mr. Pendley explained that at Superintendent Balgobin’s direction, he individually communicated with each of the elected board members – and all five agreed to the district sending the notification to PERC. 

Yeah.  I know.  Whoa. 

That direct confirmation from Pendley, the district’s General Counsel, left board member Carl “Namby-Pamby” Persis suffering a fit of embarrassment-induced amnesia – an awkward discomfiture that sucked the energy right out of the batteries in his neon pink sport coat…

(Please don’t take my word for it.  Get yourself a big batch of Jiffy Pop and watch the hijinks for yourself here: http://tinyurl.com/3mvyu5eb (To protect your digestion, tune to the 5:29:00 mark…you’re welcome.) 

Ugly. 

From there, the soothing sounds of board member Ruben Colón’s comforting rendition of Kumbaya wafted over the chamber – a soft drone explaining why the elected board members would insinuate themselves into VUE’s recertification process with a state regulatory agency, etc., etc., etc.

Nobody heard a word of it.   

Everyone was busy picking their jaws up off the floor…

The damage had been done – and the shockwave produced when Mr. Pendley exposed the elected board members as obfuscating liars/disengaged rubes who tried to convince us they were not engaged in a coordinated effort to undermine the representation of its teachers and staff outside the public eye – left everyone reeling.

Kudos to Kevin Pendley for speaking truth to power – and for acting in the finest traditions of his office to correct the public record, expose an attempted smear, and ensure transparency.

That took guts.

In my experience, avoiding even the appearance of impropriety is omnipotent in public office – because any conduct perceived to impair the ability of an elected or appointed official to fulfill their important responsibilities with fairness, impartiality, objectivity, and integrity is detrimental to the public’s trust of the institution.

I’m not sure how Chairwoman Haynes begins the arduous process of rehabilitating her scorched reputation – or if restoring trust is even possible – given the blatant and malicious nature of her conniving attempt to besmirch Elizabeth Albert’s character and sabotage Volusia United Educators. 

In my view, this latest dreadful episode in the sad history of the wholly dysfunctional Volusia County School Board should serve as a cautionary tale to other elected bodies of the corrosive effect of lies and deception on individuals and organizations.

Now, constituents are left with the overpowering fear that these unashamed transgressions by sitting elected officials charged with stewarding our children’s education may conceal even more ominous untruths – duplicity and deceit yet to be revealed…       

Asshole           Volusia County Council

The theme of the glamorous 2024 State of the County address and notorious “free” lunch was “Shaping Volusia’s Future Together.” 

(Urrrp, ahem.  Excuse me.  Sorry.)   

Presenting his fourth State of the County address – this year held at The Center in The Lost City of Deltona – Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower once again called for cooperation and collaboration between his “colleagues” on the dais of power:  

“This is a time in our history in Volusia County where we all have to come together, to work together, with the common goal of improving our coun………”

Yawn…Zzzzzzzz, Zzzzzzz, Zzzzzzz, Zzzzzzz, Zzzzzzz, (snork), Zzzzzzz, Zzzzzzz, (snuffle), Zzzzzzz…

Asshole           Disinterested “Fun Coast” Officials

Just as mismanagement and neglect can result in a series of disastrous events spiraling out of control (see “Volusia County School Board”) a “vicious cycle” of dysfunction – attentive leaders can also create a “virtuous circle” – defined as a chain of events in which one desirable occurrence leads to another resulting in a continuous process of improvement. 

For instance, a constructive circle of civic engagement is one where citizens share input on the issues important to them, elected officials listen and use that feedback to address problems, the government entity shares progress and openly admits challenges, trust in government increases, and the cycle repeats.

Increasingly, many of our elected officials here on Florida’s “Fun Coast” have strayed from the democratic imperative of citizen input – ignoring the voices of their long-suffering constituents – becoming insular, less receptive, more focused on the wants of those with a chip in the game or the self-serving directives of entrenched bureaucrats.

Others simply dissolve into disinterested lumps – empty suits who have mentally checked out – repeatedly proving to colleagues and constituents they would rather be anywhere but on the dais representing those who have put their trust in them.

That usually begins with rumblings about the amount of time set aside for the ceremonial duties inherent to public office – and using restrictive edicts to limit public participation – administrative “efficiencies” that widen the gap between elected officials and those they represent.   

Recently, Flagler County School Board member Sally Hunt exemplified this expanding chasm when she – in her own inimitable way – literally “phoned it in” to a board “retreat” to suggest too much time is spent on proclamations, public participation, and formal recognition of the achievements of students, teachers, and staff.

According to a disturbing piece in FlagerLive!:

“Something that I just would like for my fellow board members to think about just for the sake of our parents and community,” she started, using a preface she’s often used before – “for the sake of our parents and community” – as cover for a concern of hers more than anybody else: “We’ve got some business meetings where our kind of intro is taking up to, like, 45 minutes. So by the time we read proclamations, by the time we maybe have different spotlights like from the [Education] Foundation, we can be at, like, 6:45.”

She seemed to suggest that the proclamations and public comments would take place at 6, but that the board meeting itself, which she was seeing as distinct from the spotlights, would start at 6:30. She referred to the “working mom” waiting to see her kids who rushes over to the Government Services Building by 6 for whatever reason, “and now it’s already 6:45, the meeting is just now really starting, and then several minutes later for public comments.”

According to the report, Ms. Hunt has developed a “distant” relationship with those she serves – refusing to respond to emails, failing to attend graduation ceremonies, district celebrations, or recognition dinners – and recently “…complained that members of the public are not following the “chain of command” when they have a complaint, and are soliciting board members’ help when they should first bother someone else with their concerns, like a teacher or a school principal or administrator.”

Please find the article here: http://tinyurl.com/8z6kpced

In my view, what Ms. Hunt and others like her fail to understand is – as outsiders peering into the inner sanctum of local governments through the opaque aperture that separates us from those who accept public funds to serve in our interest – We, The Little People are forced to use scripted public meetings to catch a glimpse of where our “leadership” stand on the pressing issues of the day.

Adding to the thick rind of insulation is the increased use of paid government mouthpieces, “Community Information Directors” – who sanitize, manage, and condense “the message” into canned press releases while running interference for public officials – leaving those stilted bimonthly theatrical productions by various city and county commissions and the boards of taxing districts as the only knothole we have left.

It has become painfully apparent that most official decisions are a foregone conclusion – hashed out ahead of time in the city or county managers office, based solely on the political insulation of a “staff recommendation” – which, in the minds of disinterested elected officials, all but eliminates the need for public input or strategic thought on the critical issues.

This sense of remoteness between the average citizen and those we elect to serve our interests is becoming institutionalized, an accepted part of what passes for local governance in an environment where public policy is formed in seclusion by politically unaccountable bureaucrats. 

Inconceivably, these detached public officials – their egos massaged by the same insiders – completely ignore that the resultant “trust issue” even exists.

A vicious cycle indeed… 

I’ve said this before – this summer, when incumbent politicians come out of their bunkers in the Ivory Towers of Power across our increasingly claustrophobic region to shake hands, slap backs, and ask for another bite at the apple – please take a minute to ask them when those of us who pay the bills and suffer in silence became an afterthought?

Ask them why they sold their political soul for a walk-on role in an overchoreographed Kabuki that no longer bears any resemblance to a representative democracy – or service in the public interest.

If you pay taxes, you deserve an answer…

Quote of the Week

“The “hearsay” prohibition would include media exposés — the basis for most of the commission’s complaints.

“I’ve never seen a power grab like this,” says Ben Wilcox of the nonprofit watchdog group Integrity Florida. “This legislation will do away with ethics enforcement in Florida.”

“Incredibly destructive and corrosive,” Carolyn Klancke, a past deputy executive director and general counsel for the commission, told the Florida Center for Government Accountability.

Klancke, who now heads the Florida Ethics Institute, said it would prevent the commission from acting even on official audit and inspector general reports, which are not sworn complaints.

“Wrongdoing by public officials rarely takes place at times and in places accessible to the general public,” wrote Bonnie Williams, a former executive director of the commission, in an email to the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board. “Rather, it occurs in the rarefied air of political culture or within the confines of officials’ private lives. Of necessity, citizens rely on documents and reports, investigative journalism, information from persons close to the potential violation or violator, or other indirect means.

“Restricting filers of complaints to those with direct knowledge restricts citizens’ participation, will significantly restrict the number of complaints filed, and will abridge public faith in enforcement of the ethics laws,” Williams said.

It could extinguish what remains of public faith in the Legislature.”

–Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, “A sneak attack on state ethics laws shatters trust in 11 words,” Friday, February 9, 2024

The evisceration of longstanding protections that help Floridians ferret out unethical conduct by those they elect to positions of trust continues.

As the current legislative session slogs on, lawmakers are quietly working to move bills in the house and senate that would block citizens from filing valid allegations of official misconduct with the Commission on Ethics by “requiring complaints to be based on personal knowledge or information other than hearsay.”

As former director Williams said, rarely do public officials engage in wrongdoing at times and places accessible to the public – or law enforcement.  Which means watchdogs must rely on public records, outside research, anecdotal information, credible informants, and the findings of investigative journalists to develop reasonable suspicion.     

In my view, this isn’t legislation in the public interest – it’s an intentional weakening of ethical safeguards – a legal roadblock designed to protect the weakest links here in the biggest whorehouse in the world…

Restricting complaints exclusively to those with first-person direct knowledge of ethical misconduct closes the door on citizen access to the Commission on Ethics – an autonomous authority who should rightfully be the unbiased arbiter of an allegation’s legal sufficiency based upon an independent investigation.   

For instance, earlier this week, the Orlando Sentinel broke the shocking story of how Democratic State Senator Linda Stewart, a former Orange County commissioner, secretly schemed with a lobbyist from the mega-firm GrayRobinson to craft legislation that would have severely limited the authority of the Orange County Commission to reduce or eliminate tourist-tax funding for Visit Orlando.

This sordid plot was exposed when the Orlando Sentinel requested and reviewed text messages between Stewart and Carmody. 

According to the report, GrayRobinson lobbyist Chris Carmody, represented both Orange County and the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association – something that should sound familiar to area residents opposed to the bulk fuel terminal planned for Ormond Beach – as GrayRobinson represents Belvedere Terminals in their lawsuit against Volusia County, while simultaneously representing the Volusia Growth Management Commission… 

According to an excellent commentary by the Orlando Sentinel’s intrepid Scott Maxwell:

“There’s one more text you should know about. Three days after Stewart filed the legislation drafted by a GrayRobinson lobbyist, another GrayRobinson lobbyist let Stewart know he had some money for her PAC. “I’ve got a check for you,” GrayRobinson lawyer and lobbyist Robert Stuart Jr. texted Stewart on Jan. 8. “Are you around for a quick handoff?”

Could this stuff sound any more mafioso? I mean, why are lobbyists hand-delivering checks unless it’s to also deliver a message? Remember who took care of you.

Stewart and Carmody say everything they did was on the up and up — which suggests they may be directionally challenged.

Stewart has long preached the value of local control. Yet she says she filed this bill meant to override local control — and require a super-majority vote by county commissioners to trim Visit Orlando’s $100 million-a-year budget — because she genuinely believes Visit Orlando provides a valuable service to the community and economy.”

While both Stewart and Carmody deny any wrongdoing (Carmody claims he wasn’t working in his capacity as a lobbyist – just helping a “longtime friend”) the implications resulted in Orange County Mayor Jerry Demmings abruptly terminating the county’s relationship with GrayRobinson. 

In an article by Stephen Hudak that appeared in the Orlando Sentinel yesterday:

“Clearly, Mr. Carmody created a conflict of interest when he advised a State Senator about a matter contrary to the best interest of Orange County Government,” Demings said in a letter Thursday to Dean Cannon, CEO and president of GrayRobinson. “As a result, the County has lost confidence in his ability to objectively represent the County.”

Good on Mayor Demmings.

In my view, this represents one more gut punch for longsuffering citizens who are slowly becoming acclimatized to a dark and cloistered campaign finance environment where “quid pro quo” should be inscribed on the Great Seal of the State of Florida…    

Imagine a Florida where concerned citizens, whistleblowers, and others with circumstantial evidence of official misconduct are prohibited by law from referring a good faith complaint to the Commission on Ethics for review? 

Consider the ramifications of a “Sunshine State” where sitting elected despots crush free expression and legitimate criticism, use legislation to limit a journalist’s use of anonymous sources, and weaponize the courts to allow elected officials to file crippling lawsuits against reporters, editorialists, and the average citizen who complains on social media, further eroding First Amendment protections?

Pay attention, folks.   

That grim reality is closer than you might think this legislative session…

And Another Thing!

As the dust settles from the Volusia County Council’s recent vote to deny a short moratorium that would have allowed time to reassess the I-2 heavy industrial zoning classification – a move that paved the way for Belvedere Terminals to move forward with plans for a controversial 13-million-gallon bulk fuel terminal on Hull Road in Ormond Beach – weary residents are left with the queasy feeling their elected “representatives” took the path of least resistance – and sold them out in the process.

The vast majority of those I speak with remain in shock, shaking their heads in utter frustration that their fervent pleas were ignored by haughty elected and appointed public officials they had every right to assume had their best interests at heart. 

In the aftermath of any hard-fought civic loss – from environmental protections to beach driving and access – times when spirited grassroots activists put their busy lives on hold and fight threats to their safety, livelihoods, and quality of life – there is a period of confusion and self-reflection that leads to questions like, “How could anyone in a politically accountable position of power refuse to protect their constituents from a clear and present danger?”

“Why is it so difficult for sitting officials to listen to the concerns of those who pay the bills?” 

“What could we have done differently to change the outcome?”  

Ultimately, the question becomes, “How can we ensure this never happens again?”

As disappointment turns to anger, those who feel they have been ignored begin studying the mechanics of changing our leadership – hoping that by replacing the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker on the dais of power, We, The Little People will finally have a voice at the table, never realizing that – like an iceberg – the problems run fathoms deeper that those wooden figureheads at the surface who play their carefully choreographed roles twice a month, acting out scenes directed by “staff,” and condescendingly staring down at their ‘subjects’ like monarchical gargoyles…    

In my experience, most public policy comes about despite our elected officials on the Volusia County Council – not because of them. 

Real power moves in the increasingly cloistered Halls of Power at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building among senior staff – incredibly well compensated pencil pushers who oversee essential services, establish the agenda, and control the narrative with little external oversight and virtually no accountability. 

When you add to that the “subliminal” influence exerted by those extremely wealthy insiders who purchase a very lucrative chip in the game with massive campaign contributions each election cycle – money that pays for scripted television advertisements and thousands of those “glossy mailers” for hand-select candidates – efforts strategically choreographed by partisan powerbrokers who play on the apathy of disengaged voters, you begin to see how Volusia’s entrenched political system works, and how very little control average citizens have on those policies and decisions that control our lives and livelihoods.   

In my view, there is something else at play that I think We, The Little People tend to overlook. 

I’ve come to the uncomfortable conclusion that a key factor we fail to consider is the effect of old-fashioned stupidity on some who hold high office.  

Institutionalized dumbness fed by egotism and a false sense of infallibility.   

In his seminal work, theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer espoused a theory that stupidity is more dangerous than evil, or as one sage philosopher explained it, “More harm is done by one powerful idiot than a gang of Machiavellian schemers,” and, more ominously:

“Against stupidity we are defenseless.”   

From personal observation, I have long agreed with Bonhoeffer’s theory that many who ascend to powerful positions are quickly taken into “the system” – made to feel part of the established power structure (although they aren’t) – and even critical thinkers who once railed against the inefficiencies and madness of the bureaucracy succumb to the fawning of sycophantic appointed administrators, enamored by the trappings of office, rubbing shoulders with the “rich and powerful,” consumed by the perception of perfection that comes with power, and ultimately “deprived of their inner-independence.”  

That dynamic allows our elected officials to become easily influenced and controlled by senior staff – who are wholly dependent on the proliferation of the bureaucracy – and protect their positions by controlling the flow of information in the insular halls of power.   

They alone become the recognized “experts” on any matter of public concern – while citizen activists are marginalized as a vocal annoyance.      

In time, those we elect to high office become everything they hated when they entered politics – and the bureaucratic machine hums along, greased by an endless supply of our tax dollars…  

Sound familiar? 

Pastor Bonhoeffer’s story does not have a happy conclusion.  

Tyranny never does.

As a staunch anti-Nazi, well-known for his active resistance against Hitler’s dictatorial persecution, Bonhoeffer was officially forbidden to speak, print, or publish his thoughts, and required to report his activities to officious martinets before ultimately being imprisoned in January 1943. 

Three months later, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by hanging at Flossenbürg concentration camp…   

Although we may be defenseless against the pernicious influence of stupidity – I believe an informed and engaged electorate remains our best hope of bringing true servant-leaders to high office – rather than those who succumb to the false sense of aloof superiority that results in this disconnect that allows entrenched problems, suspicions, and speculation to fester.  

Look, I no longer “endorse” candidates in this space.  Who am I to tell you for whom to cast your sacred vote?    

I merely ask that citizens identify candidates who support the issues important to them – then vote their conscience. 

It’s important. 

I hope that those who feel ostracized and ignored by our ‘powers that be’ will consider a run for public office – never forgetting how this disappointment felt – or the importance of a receptive government of the people, by the people and for the people.   

That’s all for me.  Have a great Daytona 500 weekend, y’all!