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 County Councilman Troy Kent

In 2021, Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower attempted to make good on his primary campaign promise and announced he wanted the council to consider eliminating beach access tolls for county residents.

His compassionate rationale was the fact taxpayers already pay for beach management and maintenance and should not be billed twice. 

It was a key plank of his successful 2020 run – a topic Mr. Brower had become known for after more of our beach was closed to driving by an asinine 2015 ordinance benefitting Hard Rock Daytona – and access tolls were doubled in 2018, with a day at the beach going from $10 to $20, prompting residents who could afford it to opt for the $25 annual pass.

Both issues remain contentious points for many who live and pay taxes in Volusia County.   

Unfortunately, Mr. Brower’s idea was dead on arrival – a non-starter that never enjoyed the support of Volusia’s “Old Guard” – those influential insiders who control the rods and strings of county government. 

To anyone paying attention, it was abundantly clear that when Brower beat the “darling of the donor class” and upset the carefully crafted succession plan of our ‘powers that be,’ his bread was never going to land jelly-side-up again…    

Equally unfortunate was the fact Chairman Brower did not appear to have an articulable plan for feeding the insatiable bureaucratic machine by replacing the revenue lost by eliminating residential beach access fees.

Of course, Brower took a public thrashing at the hands of his “colleagues,” with Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins accusing him of engaging in “pay to play” politics and manipulating public policy “…so the chair’s friends can drive on the beach for free.”

At the time, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported on Robins’ ridiculous projection:

“You are feeding your base support, only with other people’s money. Welcome to the swamp,” Robins said from the dais Tuesday. “Talk about ‘bought and paid for’ and ‘pay to play,’ something you campaigned — and we all campaigned — so hard on.”

The goading and badgering continued…

“You are only one vote. That is it. Everyone, including staff, is not subservient to you and the beach crowd. This isn’t a dictatorship. There is no room in here any longer for a bully,” Robins said.

By October 2021, Chairman Brower proposed a revenue generating plan in support of his plan to eliminate tolls for residents by allowing naming rights and sponsorship of beach access points – something that was roundly panned by the I Hate Brower Brigade when it was first discussed earlier that year. 

In short, because doing away with beach tolls for residents was Jeff Brower’s idea – it never had a snowball’s chance in hell… 

Business as usual in the Kingdom of the Status Quo.

Then, in March 2023, freshman County Councilman Troy Kent brought forward a well-thought idea to eliminate access tolls for Volusia County taxpayers.

To his credit, unlike Mr. Brower – Kent’s proposal came with a carefully considered solution. 

According to Mr. Kent’s plan, Volusia County would charge out-of-town visitors more for vehicular beach access and off-beach parking and generate enough additional revenue to reduce the burden on residents.

In my view, Kent presented a workable strategy for making our greatest natural resource a more fun and accessible place for Volusia County families – a plan that was uncomplicated, well-organized, and clearly communicated.

At the time, the council voted 4-3 to table any further discussion of changing beach access and parking fees – with Jeff Brower, Troy Kent, and Don Dempsey (who wanted to raise fees) voting against the Old Guard’s gag order.

Then, on Tuesday, Mr. Kent’s suggestion was resurrected during a staff presentation on automating tolls and parking fees – using license plate readers, cameras, credit card kiosks, fully automated access at low volume beach ramps, and a bombshell idea – complimentary annual parking registration for Volusia residents. 

Yep.  You read that right. 

Using Councilman Kent’s funding plan, if adopted, out-of-town visitors would pay $30 per day for beach access (and $20 for off-beach parking) with enhanced fines for violators – generating sufficient revenue to off-set allowing Volusia County residents to access our beach without additional cost. 

Now, county staff will return with the necessary ordinances and legalities – including a “sunset clause” which will require the resident exemption be formally renewed by action of the council on a date certain.

Keep your fingers crossed…

In my view, Mr. Kent’s refreshing proposal represents the first solid improvement to area beaches since the misguided 1986 charter amendment that allowed Volusia County to seize control of the strand from beachfront municipalities and enact homogenized “uniform rules,” eliminating the distinctive characteristics that made Halifax area beaches a destination for millions of families.    

The rest, as they say, is history – as our horribly mismanaged beach became miles of “do this/don’t do that” sign pollution, wooden poles, traffic cones, unchecked erosion, closed ramps, walkovers, etc., etc. – now totally devoid of anything fun or unique.   

Speaking of history… 

In 2014, when Mr. Kent served as the District 2 representative to the Ormond Beach City Commission, he called for giving the cities a meaningful say on beach issues, “In my opinion, this beach is a broken system.  I’ve been taking it, and taking it and taking it. … I’m not taking it anymore.” 

At the time, several elected officials from other coastal municipalities suggested forming a beach advisory board – formally recognized by the Volusia County Council – that would give local governments, residents, and beachside businesses a voice on beach management, access, and maintenance. 

Obviously, that never happened.

In my view, Mr. Kent is on the right track, and I applaud his efforts on behalf of Volusia County families.  Now that he has a seat at the table in DeLand – the beach advisory board is another great idea ripe for resurrection.   

Asshole           Volusia County School Board

It was ‘put up or shut up’ time for members of the Volusia County School Board this week. 

Per usual – they did neither… 

As you may recall, on January 18, the School Board’s contract labor attorney sent formal notice to Florida’s Public Employees Relations Commission suggesting that Volusia United Educators – the union representing teachers and paraprofessionals in the district – falsified membership records making it appear the bargaining unit had the 60% membership required by state law. 

The leadership of Volusia United Educators vehemently denied the spurious allegation – with VUE President Elizabeth Albert describing the board’s actions as “disappointing” and “malicious.”

Last month, Chairwoman Jamie Haynes desperately attempted to separate the board from the growing public perception that the elected body engaged in union busting tactics – saying unequivocally that the elected 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.

Bullshit. 

Unfortunately for Chairwoman Haynes and her fellow dupes on the dais – that assertion was shattered in dramatic fashion by Volusia County Schools General Counsel Kevin Pendley, who reported that at Superintendent Carmen 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.

After getting caught either openly lying to their constituents – or pitifully ignorant of events unfolding in Superintendent Balgobin’s Ivory Tower of Power – last week, the Public Employees Relations Commission gave the Volusia County School Board until yesterday to file a formal response “…as to whether it is challenging the Union’s registration” under applicable Florida statutes.    

Perhaps PERC was as confused by the School Board’s machinations as everyone else?

In my view, denying their surreptitious involvement in commissioning the accusatory correspondence to PERC – a blatantly untrue statement that was publicly refuted by the district’s General Counsel – effectively exposed the School Board’s complicity in Superintendent Balgobin’s attempt to decertify Volusia United Educators and besmirch the character and reputation of its leadership.

Regardless of your views on public sector unions – this outrageous backstabbing should not be ignored.

Volusia County taxpayers deserve answers. 

They deserve the truth…   

While it is one thing for public employers and unions to fervently disagree on important issues during the collective bargaining process – even coming to impasse at times – it is quite another when the district’s administration actively works to decertify the organization, while the elected body that oversees it falsely denies any knowledge of the pernicious activity.

That speaks of something more disturbing – more ominous…

Time will tell how the School Board responds to the PERC request for clarification of their motives.  As I understand it, the district’s labor attorney has asked for an extension until March 15, and the board will meet in executive session today to decide how they wish to proceed…   

In another development this week, concerned Ormond Beach residents attended their City Commission meeting to demand answers about why their elected representatives on the School Board took action to move the Riverview Learning Center – an “alternative education” program for students who can’t follow the rules – to the former Osceola Elementary campus.

According to an excellent article in the Ormond Beach Observer, we learned:

“Resident Lindsey Wolf said she and her neighbors, all who live by Osceola, were never notified of a Dec. 5, 2023, community meeting to discuss the transfer. She was also concerned that having an alternative educational facility in the neighborhood would negatively impact property values. 

“The amount of buyers who look for homes based on the schools in the area is astronomical,” she said. “To think that having a school like that in our neighborhood wouldn’t have a detriment impact is putting your head in the sand.”

I’m not sure “sand” is where our Volusia County School Board member’s heads are wedged… 

According to the report, District 4 board member Carl “Namby-Pamby” Persis attended the Commission meeting and agreed that Ormond Beach residents were not adequately informed of the December 5 meeting. 

“Persis said he thought that was strange, and when he asked the district about it, staff told him a mailer wasn’t sent. Instead, a notice of the meeting was posted on the district’s website and on their social media.

“But, unless you have kids in school, you’re not looking at the Volusia County Schools website or anything else affiliated with it,” Persis said. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s a major error right there.’”

Persis said a community meeting is necessary — both to make amends and explain what students Riverview sees. These are not kids that are dangerous, he said.

“It makes me feel so sad that we’re talking about children,” Persis said.”

Amends?

Look, I’m just spit-balling here, but Mr. Persis should understand that taxpaying homeowners get weepy too – especially when they watch detached politicians make critical decisions detrimental to their property values and quality of life in a virtual vacuum – with little, if any, input from those impacted. 

In my view, this chaos and confusion sends a clear signal of how little our elected “representatives” respect their constituents – or their sworn oath to “well and faithfully” perform their duties in the public interest.     

I hope you will remember that at the ballot box this year… 

 Quote of the Week

“Homeowners in Deland told FOX 35 News that they have been battling flood water since neighborhoods were built nearby at higher elevations.

JC Figueredo and his family bought over a dozen acres of Volusia County land in 2016 to build their dream home.

“It was flat,” he said. “It was dry. This is what life has turned into for us.”

A submerged driveway and several feet of water surrounded his property off Jackson Woods Road. In 2018, the homes behind his property started going up as part of the Victoria Park and Sawyer’s Landing neighborhood in the City of DeLand – all built at a higher elevation.

“As soon as construction started with a lot of the retention, we started having standing water issues,” Figueredo said.

He provided FOX 35 with aerial images from a geographical consulting firm study that showed his land without flooding for decades before the construction. It’s not just affecting Figueredo’s home. Lisa Latham has a farm next door. She said her pasture hadn’t been dry in four years.

“I have cows in my front yard now because there’s no pasture and nowhere to put my cows,” she said.

Just down the road lives Ronnie Mills, who built his home 15 years ago.

“What you’re looking at here is my pasture – this is not a lake,” Mills laughed.

The homeowners live in flood zone X, which is known as the zone with the lowest risk of flooding in all of Florida.

“I’ve had this property since the ‘70s, and we’ve never seen this,” Mills said.”

–As excerpted from a report by Fox35 Orlando’s Amanda McKenzie, “Flooding fears in DeLand have homeowners on edge: ‘The infrastructure is ruined,’ Thursday, February 29, 2024

(Find the disturbing story here: https://tinyurl.com/msh48zu5 )

I understand petty politics and the self-serving motivations of those who practice it.

But I despise the stench of lies…

This week’s response to Fox35 Orlando’s eye-opening exposé of serious flooding concerns in Wild West Volusia was an interesting window into how far some elected officials will sink to run interference for their well-heeled supporters in the real estate development industry – while completely ignoring their sworn responsibilities to long-suffering constituents.

According to the report by Fox35’s Amanda McKenzie, some West Volusia residents have lost their homes – or are on the verge of having their lives destroyed – due to persistent flooding, something many have attributed to the proliferation of surrounding subdivisions, a problem County Council Chair Jeff Brower admitted both Volusia County and the City of DeLand have known about for the past five-years…

“It’s a lot worse now,” Brower said.

He said he agrees with the homeowners that the development has resulted from the flooding.

To be clear, the Victoria Park and Sawyer’s Landing neighborhood developers followed county and city guidelines and did everything legal before putting in the development.

“The developers aren’t breaking the law,” Brower said. “We’ve got to change our development pattern and stop approving every development that’s doing the exact same thing, paving over acreage and putting in a retention pond and thinking that we can hold all of that water in a retention pond that used to be dispersed over hundreds of acres.”

According to DeLand officials, aerial photographs from 2005 show some standing water in the area. 

If that’s true, why in the hell did city and county officials allow anyone to build anything – let alone a subdivision – in identified flood-prone areas in the first place?  And why are those same complicit developer shills still receiving public funds to serve in the public interest?

“Brower said he does not want to see this happen again.

“I am not willing to approve another single development in Volusia County until we know how to deal with this situation,” Brower said.”

That clearly didn’t sit well with Volusia County Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins – a needling facilitator who lost all credibility with many of his astonished constituents this week after taking to social media to dismiss the concerns of suffering Volusia County residents by posting pictures and articles of past regional flooding events, some dating to the 1920’s…

In turn, Councilman Robins tried to use my prior public service in a pernicious effort to add credibility to his ridiculous apples to acorns comparison.

My God…

Apparently, during his exhaustive research to prove waterlogged residents wrong, Robins found a 2009 article in The Daytona Beach News-Journal quoting me during my service as Chief of Police for the City of Holly Hill.

The quote came from an interview conducted with reporter Eileen Zaffiro-Kean while I was actively managing a critical incident impacting thousands of area residents when unusual atmospheric conditions dumped 30-inches of rain in 72-hours – forcing an estimated four-billion-gallons of water into Northeast Volusia stormwater systems – overwhelming infrastructure and inundating the area with massive flooding resulting in a Presidential disaster declaration. 

During that difficult time, I reported to Holly Hill residents, “(The rain) just overwhelmed the system,” Barker said. Pumps couldn’t even be used in some areas because there was no dry place close enough to send the water, he said.  “Once the rain stopped, our system worked efficiently, Barker said.”  

Because that was the truth. 

Maybe Mr. Robins should look that concept up in the dictionary?

(I wonder how much could be accomplished if Danny spent half as much time worrying about the serious issues facing his constituents as he does scheming to marginalize the concerns of residents who fear the imminent loss of their homes, agricultural properties, and quality of life?)

In the aftermath of Mr. Robins’ flippant brushoff, a rightfully indignant long-time Volusia County taxpayer and business owner sent me a note regarding Mr. Robins’ social media post:

“The nerve of that Danny Robins to gaslight us and try to make us believe that the 2009 100-year storm was the equivalent to the flooding we are experiencing with these trickling minor rainstorms.” 

Other area residents reported that following malignant sprawl and the resultant destruction of greenspace, their properties – which never saw flooding in the past – are now inundated each rain event. 

Yet, Robins – and those malleable “experts” on the public dole in the cloistered Inner Sanctum at Volusia County – refuse to admit that explosive development has drastically changed the topography of the land, paved over recharge areas and permeable surfaces, filled wetlands in a weird “hurt here, help there” mitigation strategy, overwhelmed estuaries, drowned outdated drainage systems, and resulted in standing water on once dry adjacent properties causing millions of dollars in damage and displacement.

Why is that?

Last week, the City of New Smyrna Beach – whose citizens are “represented” by “Gaslight” Robins – adopted an emergency ordinance temporarily blocking building permits in the Venetian Bay area. 

According to a report by Brenno Carillo writing in the News-Journal, the move came following recurring flooding that has resulted “…in property damage concerns but also in public health and safety concerns for affected residents, who are calling for a resolution to problems identified in the area’s stormwater system.”

One resident quoted in the article said what everyone else in Volusia County (except those holding high office) are thinking, “The additional impervious surfaces and runoff will only exacerbate the existing serious drainage issues that we have within the area…”

Many of Mr. Robins’ worried constituents agree.

In my view, it is easier for our dullards on the dais to deceive residents and dismiss the concerns of affected property owners – refusing to admit the problem even exists – manipulating the truth, causing residents to question their own perceptions and experience, downplaying concerns, and sending a clear message that those we elect and appoint to address these threats care more about facilitating additional growth for their greed-crazed benefactors and influential insiders than they do about protecting the lives and livelihoods of existing residents.

More to the point, quality mitigation efforts require strategic vision – the ability to learn from the past – and an unselfish willingness to put pet projects and petty politics on the backburner and direct critical time and resources to serving the common good. 

With that as a benchmark, don’t expect anything of substance from Councilman Robins or this shambolic shit show of a county government that our tax dollars continue to underwrite – now a massive public trough filled to the brim with some $1.2 billion of our money annually…  

And Another Thing!

By what must be official design, the portal through which taxpayers can provide input on the issues important to our lives and livelihoods is getting smaller all the time, now reduced to a three-minute audience before those stone-faced gargoyles on the dais of power who are strategically prohibited by internal “policy” from responding to citizens seeking to participate in the decision-making process.

If you have the time and stomach for it, residents can contact their elected “representative” directly and listen to a few minutes of disingenuous gladhanding, backslapping, and commiseration before being shunted into the bureaucratic ether. 

Just don’t expect anything of substance to come from either option. 

It’s not about you.

The concept of citizen advisory boards is to provide a diverse perspective on the issues, encourage “buy in,” and increase communication and transparency.  These committees improve the democratic process by involving the active participation of those who pay the bills in shaping public policy.  

So, while the critical issues of our time go unaddressed – and the majority of our wholly compromised hand-puppets on the dais turn their full attention to undermining Chairman Jeff Brower ahead of a critical election that will determine complete conformity to the whims of special interests – this week, the Volusia County Council took up the time-wasting exercise of considering eliminating or consolidating citizen advisory boards.    

Boy, did they get an earful…                 

On Tuesday, over thirty active and engaged citizens let our elected victims of bureaucratic aphasia (a weird malady contracted by pompous politicians that prevents them from hearing, or responding to, the needs of their constituents) know their serious concerns about the possible elimination or “consolidation” of several boards, to include the Cultural Council of Volusia County, the Environmental and Natural Resource Advisory Committee, and the Volusia Forever and ECHO boards.

It did my beat-up old heart good…

Former Volusia County Councilmember and veteran civic activist Pat Northey used her three-minutes to call “BS” on the idea and asked that the agenda item be voted down in its entirety. 

Good for her.

As a long-time proponent of both the Volusia Forever and ECHO initiatives, Ms. Northey was concerned about the council combining the individual governing boards – something Councilman David “No Show” Santiago scoffed at – puffing that the council has never discussed the notion (apparently not realizing the agenda item clearly said it “May be possible to combine (the ECHO board) with Volusia Forever Advisory Committee…”) 

Chairman Brower pointed out that the presentation merely contained staff “suggestions” – not recommendations: 

“Apparently, everybody has read the item (apparently not “everybody”), which is really encouraging,” Brower said. “I’m glad that you’re paying attention — we need that.”

When talk turned to the 14-member Environmental and Natural Resource Advisory Committee (ENRAC) – who work with county staff on policy, goal setting, and ordinance implementation regarding growth management, environmental resource management, and minimum standards for the protection of the environment – it became apparent our slippery “representatives” envisioned a convenient scapegoat for one of the most emergent issues of our time…  

During a subsequent discussion, Councilman Santiago suggested that ENRAC take a larger role in stormwater issues (read: “widespread flooding”) – creating another political insulation committee – an expedient group to blame for Volusia County’s abject failure to find solutions to this growing problem as the bulldozers continue to roar.

Especially now that property owners throughout Volusia County see the standing water slowing creeping toward their door – and are demanding answers…   

For a glimpse of their grim future, ENRAC members should skim what is euphemistically known as the “Grippa Report” – the final work product of an impressive committee once charged by the Volusia County Council with developing a comprehensive revitalization strategy for the Halifax area’s struggling beachside.

I suspect they can find a copy of the ill-fated Beachside Redevelopment Committee’s findings moldering on some dust-covered shelf in the bowels of a musty dead records morgue in DeLand – right next to the yellowing remnants of the unread “2011 Tourism Study” – another time-wasting exercise, wherein the Volusia County Council paid $100,000 to an out-of-state consultant to conduct a review which found that our beachside “tourism product” was a serious impediment to attracting visitors and economic development, and concluded “…there is no “plan” for who is leading the effort and how these challenges can be improved.”

“Without resources – leadership and economic – the overall tourism experience in Volusia County will decline.  An overall collaborative strategy is needed.”  

What’s changed? 

Sorry ENRAC volunteers.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

For the moment, it appears the Cultural Arts Council, Volusia Forever, and ECHO boards are safe from either the chopping block or bureaucratic blender – but I don’t hold out much hope for the Code Enforcement Board (which will be replaced by a special magistrate), Library Advisory Board, Animal Control Board, or the Business Incubator Advisory Board…

It seems Councilman Jake Johansson believes some of these county committees are stifled by the openness and transparency provided by Florida’s Sunshine Law.

He seems to think that without those pesky legal constrictions – those wishing to participate in the process could meet over coffee, chat amongst themselves, develop substantive solutions, then come before the Volusia County Council – where their suggestions can be wholly ignored by those catatonic do-nothings who refuse to interact, answer questions, (or even acknowledge) anyone who takes the time to appear before them.  

Whatever.

In Volusia County, the more things change – the more they remain the same… 

That’s all for me.  Have a safe and enjoyable final weekend of Bike Week 2024, y’all!