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               The Chief Tomokie Preservation Group

When I was a little kid growing up in a vastly different Ormond Beach, a big day was enjoying a family picnic under the majestic oaks surrounding the Chief Tomokie statue at beautiful Tomoka State Park.  

I remember gazing up at the anatomically correct Indians, bowstrings taught, shooting arrows at the Chief as he stood proud, bravely pouring water over his attackers from a golden goblet with spear raised high.

The Chief looked like a giant atop the high ground, standing tall over a reflecting pool at the foot of the sculpture’s coquina base.

Now, he looks like a broken mess – the pool long-dry – and on stormy nights along the Tomoka Basin, what remains of Tomokie’s crumbling fist can be seen in the flashes of lightning, rising above the dark forest canopy in defiant resistance…

According to a report in the Ormond Beach Observer, the 45-foot statue was erected in 1955 by acclaimed American sculptor Frederick Dana Marsh on the site of an ancient Timucuan village known as “Nocoroco.” 

“The statue depicts the “Legend of Tomokie,” based on a fictional account of a mythical tribe. The legend says Tomokie’s tribe turned on him for the sacrilege of drinking the Water of Life from the Sacred Cup.”

As I understand the folktale, there was an artesian spring flowing near the village – a sacred place where the tribe believed the Great Spirit came each day to have a cool drink – the dew that dripped from his wings imbuing the waters with curative powers.

Dismissive of tribal lore, Chief Tomokie boldly drank from the source, desecrating the hallowed elixir, and an internecine war ensued amongst the Timucua. After taking the waters, Chief Tomokie seemed invincible – its restorative powers making him immune to the many arrows the warriors shot at him.   

Then, Oleeta, a beautiful Timucuan maiden, sprang forth, took careful aim, and pierced Tomokie’s calloused old heart with a well-placed arrow…

I don’t know about you, but I’m a superstitious old fool. 

I believe in the power of legend, myth, and storytelling – those historical fables and symbols that can teach valuable lessons to those willing to listen.  On occasion, I travel to the West Volusia community of Cassadaga – the bucolic spiritualist camp now celebrating its 130^th anniversary as the “Psychic Capital of the World” – to speak with mediums and psychics, or just sit on a bench and take in the tranquil vibe of that quaint and incredibly friendly community.

In my view, the “Legend of Tomokie” serves as a powerful metaphor for how modern-day leaders – like that arrogant Chief of yore – continue to defile and sacrifice our own sacred “Water of Life” on the altar of greed…     

Given the near constant political sleight-of-hand and self-serving schemes we face here on the “Fun Coast,” I think ‘ol Chief Tomokie took the ass after watching us indiscriminately violate the land his people once inhabited – where they lived in complete harmony with the lifegiving natural processes – to make room for more, more, more 3/2 cracker boxes and half-empty strip centers – then allowed his legendary monument to be desecrated and destroyed by time, elements, and vandals… 

As a result, “The Curse of Chief Tomokie” has doomed current inhabitants of Volusia County to wretchedly poor governance and a dearth of upscale grocery stores for the next thousand years…

Regardless, the dilapidated statute now serves as a stark reminder for visitors to Tomoka State Park about what our ‘powers that be’ in the Florida legislature find important, and what they do not, when preparing the state budget… 

Now, a dedicated group of residents and historians known as the Chief Tomokie Preservation Group is working hard to save this important piece of public art by having it listed on a statewide historic preservation list. 

According to the Observer’s report:

“The Chief Tomokie Preservation Group is aiming to have the statue placed on the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation’s “11 to Save” program for 2024 — and the group is soliciting letters of support from the community. Every year, the organization picks 11 threatened historic places in the state and highlights them with the mission to inspire communities to preserve them. While no funding accompanies the designation, being on the list helps with applying for grants that could fund preservation efforts.”

To his credit, earlier this month, Commissioner Harold Briley successfully urged his colleagues on the Ormond Beach City Commission to issue an official letter of support to the Florida Trust.

That’s a good start. 

Here’s hoping the Volusia County legislative delegation will hear our collective voice and finally break Tomokie’s ancient curse by allocating funds for the restoration of this important Ormond Beach landmark.   

Please mail letters of support to Bill Partington II at ahc_locksmith@hotmail.com or mail them to 54 West Granada Boulevard, Ormond Beach, Florida 32174.

Asshole           The Tightlipped County of Volusia

“Build it and they will come?”

Earlier this week, The Daytona Beach News-Journal aptly turned that classic line from Field of Dreams into a perplexing question to tease business editor Clayton Park’s excellent explainer on why public land is currently being cleared at Daytona “International” Airport.

What?  Nobody you elected to represent your interests in the cloistered Halls of Power at Volusia County government told you?   

Me neither… 

Because I have too much time on my hands, I went back months and perused “news releases” from Volusia County’s Community Misinformation Division and Daytona “International” Airport and couldn’t find peep about why the bulldozers are roaring. 

In an article that best exemplified the importance of local journalism, Clayton Park reported that land clearing operations along the Bellevue Avenue Extension at DIA will prepare “…hundreds of acres of unused land the airport owns south of its runways and taxiways for potential future aviation/airline-related commercial development, according to Cyrus Callum, Volusia County’s director of economic and aviation resources.”

Well, it appears Volusia County taxpayers are, once again, in the speculative commercial real estate business – whether we like it or not… 

Three years ago, when our elected officials and economic development shills were still referring to the worst kept secret in town as “Project Tarpon” – there was speculation that the Amazon robotic warehouse near DIA would spawn industrial parks both on and off airport property to accommodate ancillary businesses supporting the e-commerce operation.

That included the possibility of our airport becoming a Florida “air support center” for Amazon. 

In a 2021 News-Journal piece, Mr. Park reported that Volusia County economic development officials have wanted to build an industrial park on airport property for over 15-years, however:

“That proposed business park was never built,” said Phil Ehlinger, a retired longtime economic development staffer for the county whose stint included serving as economic development director from 2009 to 2012.

“I know exactly why the industrial park never got developed,” he said last week. “Consolidated-Tomoka (now known as CTO Realty Growth) and the city of Daytona Beach objected to it on the basis that the county was going to compete with private landowners.”

I guess with initial opposition tamped down and anxious residents resigned to the Amazon fulfillment center, keeping government out of the marketplace is no longer a concern? 

For now, what we know is that 54 acres of airport property are being made “shovel ready” in a project funded by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration earmarked for airport development.

According to the News-Journal, Mr. Callum reports the airport has yet to identify potential tenants for the industrial park but claims county officials have been approached by “a number of interested developers.”

As you may recall, in 2022, area residents and established business interests along already congested Beville Road expressed serious concerns regarding the massive truck and employee traffic associated with the Amazon fulfillment center. 

At the time, some anxious residents of Pelican Bay claimed they had been “blindsided” by both the proposed Amazon warehouse – and later the network of planned roadways to service the center and other industrial sites that only became known after plans had been finalized.      

So, rather than wait until Amazon cranks up and its impact on residents, transportation infrastructure, and existing businesses can be honestly evaluated – Volusia County decides to start clearing land for heavier industrial and air cargo operations – activities which will put even more heavy truck traffic at the I-95/I-4 hub? 

Sounds about right…  

The more disturbing question remains why none of our elected or appointed officials bothered to explain both the positives and potential impacts of the DIA project to We, The Little People – taxpayers who are routinely kept in the dark and expected to make decisions regarding threatened property values and our quality of life with little information or explanation of what comes next?

Slowly but surely, Volusia County residents are awakening to the realization we are pawns in a much larger game – where plans that directly affect our lives and livelihoods have been agreed upon by our “Rich & Powerful” behind closed doors – those with a chip in the game who don’t give two-shits how their for-profit schemes impact the rest of us.

In my jaded view, that is why Volusia’s influential insiders – those who pour massive contributions into the campaigns of hand-select candidates – are so desperate to turn the Volusia County Council and various municipal commissions into echo chambers – little more than elected marionettes who keep their mouths shut and nod in simultaneous agreement when it comes time for a return on their benefactors very lucrative investments…

In recent weeks, courageous taxpayers – fed-up with being ignored by those who accept public funds to serve in the public interest – have demanded the undivided attention of their elected representatives on various boards, councils, and commissions throughout Volusia County when they engage in what passes for “citizen participation” at open meetings. 

In each case, residents boldly called out the lack of attentiveness by their elected officials – who always seem more interested in sotto voce parleys with their “colleagues,” looking at their phone, shuffling papers, or leaving the dais altogether – always during the brief three-minute audiences set aside for us peons who pay the bills. 

In their defense, I doubt if many of our disconnected elected officials are even aware of these projects – many of which they rubber stamp on a “consent agenda” – never to be discussed publicly again…

The resulting 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 – and secrecy is the operative ethic.

I hope you will keep this disturbing trend in mind at the ballot box this year…

Angel               Daytona Beach City Commissioner Stacy Cantu

This week we learned that the City of Daytona Beach has a problem many municipalities would love to have – too much money in its Permitting and Licensing fund. 

According to an article by Eileen Zaffiro-Kean writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, the city has been under a state review since 2021, when the State Auditor General – no doubt in a feeding frenzy – realized that if the funds are not spent properly, some of those dollars must be forfeited to state coffers… 

“State law says governments in Florida can’t let too much of their permits and license revenue go unspent year after year, and the city has found itself in that situation. The fund currently has a balance of about $22 million.

Top city staffers have come up with an $11 million plan to draw down the revenue. But at least some city commissioners have been unaware of the accumulated permits and licensing funds, the state laws governing their use, the ongoing audit, and the constraints of buying a nearly $1 million mobile command vehicle with permits and licensing funds.”

In December 2023, something called the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee – a bureaucratic collection agency comprised of state senators and representatives – ordered Daytona Beach officials to produce a written plan for how the money would be spent. 

The city’s plan called for, among other things, purchasing property for a new Permitting & Licensing facility, renovation of existing assets, acquiring vehicles, additional staff positions, information technology upgrades, new office furniture and fixtures, etc. 

In addition, the plan called for the purchase of a $1 million mobile command post, ostensibly to help coordinate operations for “Code, Building, Fire Inspectors and during major disasters/events for Police and Fire.”

Look, I was never a fan of a million-dollar mobile command post – not for licensing operations, anyway.  It appears at least some members of the Daytona Beach City Commission weren’t either…  

According to the News-Journal, Mayor Derrick Henry said he wasn’t “hunky-dory” with the command post purchase – while Commissioner Stacy Cantu correctly explained “…state law makes it clear permits and licensing funds can only be used for permits and licensing functions. So if a mobile command vehicle funded by permits and licensing was also used by other city departments, it appears that would violate the statute.”

In turn, Ms. Cantu suggested that, given Florida’s raging property insurance crisis, perhaps some of the funds could be used to help residents offset the cost of new roof replacements through a rebate program.

“We might be able to give rebates for a few years,” she said.

In my view, returning public funds to the public who generated them should always be the preferred option – and I applaud Ms. Cantu’s willingness to assist Daytona Beach residents as the city government works through this unique “problem.”

In addition, Mayor Henry and Commissioner Cantu expressed their concern that City Manager Derek Feacher apparently developed the corrective action plan – which was received by state auditors just four days before the March 29 deadline – without the input of the City Commission… 

According to the News-Journal report, Mr. Feacher explained, “It appears there is confusion on how these funds can be expended as well as the need to provide more detailed information to the elected officials,” Feacher wrote in the email. “It is not my desire ever for an elected official to denote the appearance of impropriety in the work we do. Our goal is to always provide the facts for the elected officials to be able to make the best decision for the residents of Daytona Beach.”

Feacher agreed last week to talk to the News-Journal about the permits and license mobile command vehicle purchase, but then said he was requesting more information and didn’t believe it was “prudent to have an interview.”

Now, all information coming out of City Hall related to the issue must first be filtered through Communications Manager Susan Cerbone.   

That’s unfortunate…

In my view, the Lost City of Deltona should serve as a shining example to other local governments on the importance openness and transparency when outside regulators start snooping around asking questions – keeping both the elected body and their constituents “in the loop” at every opportunity.

That contributes to the healthy debate of ideas, makes everyone feel part of the solution, ensures fair and equitable allocations of public funds, and helps build trust.

For now, the matter will be discussed at an upcoming City Commission workshop next month.  

In my view, too much money is a “good problem” to have.  Here’s hoping Mr. Feacher, and the Daytona Beach City Commission, can work cooperatively to find a beneficial solution. 

Quote of the Week

“What about the current police station at 170 W. Granada Blvd.? City Manager Joyce Shanahan said the city “certainly needs some sort of presence in the downtown.” The commission, she said, will decide what that will look like.

“We will impress upon them (the consultants) the importance of keeping that presence in the downtown,” Shanahan said. “We don’t want anyone in this room or in the community to think that we’re going to abandon the downtown.”

The original police station was built in the downtown in 1972. The current 21,000-square feet police station was rebuilt onsite in 2001.”

–Ormond Beach City Manager Joyce Shanahan, as quoted by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer, “Ormond Beach chooses architecture firm for new police station, EOC study,” Friday, May 10, 2024

Say what?

Call it bureaucratic “paralysis by analysis” – the bane of taxpayers everywhere – where government at all levels spends scarce tax dollars on studies, feasibility reports, “space needs” analysis, architectural renderings, and employing outside consultants to “define the scope” of a project, all before the first block is laid or nail driven… 

Never mind the fact they have in-house experts with institutional knowledge (namely those who have worked in a space for years), engineers, and others on the public payroll who will be required to speak with a highly paid intermediary, who will generate a report, which in turn provides a degree of political insulation for elected officials and senior administrators by confirming that their initial assessment was right all along… 

Look, I live and pay taxes in Ormond Beach.  It is no secret that we need a new public safety complex with an up-to-date Emergency Operations Center – one more centrally located – that can provide room for expansion and advanced technology as the community continues to grow.

So, why didn’t our ‘powers that be’ just say that in the first place and get on with it – rather than wait for land and construction prices to increase exponentially?     

As you may recall, in 2019, Ormond Beach Mayor Bill Partington raised suspicions when he attempted to convince taxpayers that the still perfectly serviceable police department – rebuilt 23-years ago on West Granada Boulevard – was “obsolete,” horribly flood-prone, and in dire need of massively expensive repair and replacement.

Bullshit.

In my view, it was the classic Boy Who Cried Wolf tactic – leadership by manufactured crisis – the political dark art of creating an emergency to justify a need. 

At the time, many questioned why Mayor Chicken Little would embroider such a gloom-and-doom scenario, choosing to frighten residents into submission, rather than simply tell them the truth?

Why not explain that the police department sits as the western anchor of Ormond Beach’s Main Street revitalization efforts (perhaps the most valuable commercial real estate in town) and the facility should be relocated west to keep up with the rapidly expanding population center, allowing the current property to be developed and returned to the tax rolls. 

I like City Manager Joyce Shanahan – in my experience, she is accessible, responsive, and knowledgeable – and despite the often-shambolic nature of the City Commission, she somehow makes it “work,” keeping Ormond Beach one of the most stable and well-managed communities in the region. 

However, given her odd comments in the Observer, perhaps she should step outside her office and reorient herself?      

Ormond Beach City Hall sits conspicuously at the east end of West Granada Boulevard – making the municipal government complex the most prominent presence in the downtown corridor. 

It’s hard to miss.  Besides, Ms. Shanahan is smarter than that. 

Which makes me suspicious that Mayor Partington is crafting another of his Henny-Penny scenarios – calming non-existent fears that the city is “abandoning” Granada Boulevard (which may not be a terrible thing) – to facilitate the relocation of the police facility. 

In my view, this smells like another blatant political insulation tactic – one carefully crafted and foisted on already suspicious taxpayers – at a time when the truth would better serve the community…

And Another Thing!

How time (and opportunity) flies while government “study’s” the issue du jour – putting time and money between an unaddressed civic problem and their constituent’s incredibly short collective memory…    

Seven years ago, what became known as the “Grippa Committee” – a blue-ribbon panel led by former Brown & Brown senior executive Tony Grippa and comprised of the “Fun Coast’s” heaviest hitters – was charged by the Volusia County Council with developing a comprehensive revitalization strategy for the Halifax area’s still struggling beachside. 

The only red flag was the upfront caveat that the group never acknowledge the 800-pound gorilla in the room – Volusia County’s perennial beach mismanagement issues… 

Even hamstrung by that odd stipulation, given the impressive make-up and mandate of the Grippa Group, in a swoon of naivety, I was cautiously optimistic that if any alliance could influence positive change, provide effective leadership, and identify actionable solutions – it was this extraordinary assembly of civic strength and power.

There were meetings and presentations – in-depth discussions of uncomfortable truths – and a concerted effort to set a clear path forward.

Then Superman met bureaucratic Kryptonite…

After ten-months and a sincere effort to find answers, the fatal flaw came when the job of crafting the committee’s final report was left to the ultimate entrenched bureaucrat – Volusia County’s Director of Growth & Resource Management Director Clay Ervin.

What resulted was another missed opportunity – a final work product wrapped in vagaries, and prosaic clichés, strongly peppered with bureaucratese – chockfull of jargony horseshit such as, “expanding opportunities,” and “determining feasibility” – nonsensical terms that say nothing and mean less.

For instance, the group’s top two “recommendations” in what should have been a visionary roadmap for the complete revitalization of our core tourist area – the Halifax areas “tarnished jewel” of a tourism product – as construed by Director Ervin were:

1.         Expand the opportunities to make the beach a year-round destination for all visitors.

2.         Utilize prior redevelopment efforts to determine the feasibility and viability of new efforts to attract the type of redevelopment targeted by the individual cities (Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores and Ormond Beach).

You read that right… 

Frankly, given the influential and high-profile VIP committee members, I’m not sure how any County administrator associated with this sham still has a job after neutering and embarrassing all the right last names.  

In my jaded view, the legacy of the Grippa Group will remain its complete waste of time, talent, and enthusiasm – an embarrassing exercise in wheel-spinning – in retrospect, little more than a gilded (and unwitting) political insulation committee that confirmed the worst fears of beachside stakeholders. 

I was reminded of “what could have been” last week as Volusia County’s Tourism and Hospitality gurus gathered at the Hard Rock Daytona with senior County officials to join hands and congratulate themselves on attracting 10.1 million visitors to the Halifax area in 2023 – down from a record 10.6 million in 2022… 

Really?

Wow.  On average, that’s over 841,600 visitors to Volusia County each month last year – substantially more than our permanent population of 553,540… 

As a jaded skeptic, I seriously doubt the Daytona Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau knows exactly how many visitors vacationed here last year. 

I bet they know even less about the number of families who arrived, drove the dilapidated gauntlet that is the East ISB “Gateway,” locked the car doors, and fled west down I-4 to places that know something about attracting, entertaining, and retaining tourists.  

Each week, I do my civic due diligence and take a driving tour of the Halifax area, watching the latest godawful “condotel” coming out of the ground, lamenting the demise of another restaurant, while pulling for the success of new-comers to A-1-A – passing the same tired façades and streetscapes that comprise much of our core tourist area – taking in the same sights, sounds, and smells that greet visitors and residents alike… 

You should try that sometime.  It’s eye-opening… 

In my view, instead of giving each other awards and accolades for maintaining the status quo, it is time Volusia County’s redundant tourist and hospitality apparatus stop living exaggerated statistic to statistic and start the long overdue process of improving the product.

I crow about this concept ad nauseum – but it isn’t an original idea. 

Over a decade ago, the Volusia County Council commissioned a $100,000 (in 2012 dollars) in-depth analysis of our tourism and hospitality industry. 

At the time, a prescient op/ed in The Daytona Beach News-Journal warned:

“As most Volusia residents know, county government and local cities love to launch studies of various issues. Those studies are usually intended to prompt action on a particular problem or opportunity, but more often than not they end up on the proverbial shelf, gathering dust.

Let’s hope the tourism report doesn’t suffer that fate. Tourism is a $3.7 billion-plus industry in Volusia County, employing more than 37,000 people. More than a third of the county’s sales tax revenue comes from tourists, according to the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Tourism is essential to the economy and the future of Volusia County. Officials do need to study the tourism market and figure out precisely what the area is doing right — and doing wrong.”

In fact, the introduction to the report compiled by the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) of Duluth, Georgia, noted that all components of the study sprang from a common theme:

“Tourism is one of the most important industries in Volusia County.”

Yet, to this day, Volusia County’s economic development arm – that publicly subsidized travel club over at Team Volusia – has yet to add “Tourism and Hospitality” to their list of “Target Industries.” 

Why is that?

In their detailed final analysis, SAG wrote of our “Tourism Product”:

“The stakeholders expressed concern over the current condition of the tourism “product,” notably the beach side of Daytona Beach. There were many types of concerns expressed.

Examples include:

Condition of hotels

Condition of storefronts in high volume areas

Lack of attractive streetscape in key tourism areas

There is widespread concern that there is no “plan” for who is leading the effort and how these challenges can be improved. The issue of improvement in the tourism product was a top priority in most of the interviews.”

Any of that sound familiar twelve-years on? 

Other findings in the SAG report included:

“Disengaged Industry and Community:  . . .A very real current threat is the consistent indication of being uniformed and having no understanding of the effectiveness of current tourism initiatives. An aggressive and effective communication plan featuring understandable, measurable results is critical for the long-term support and success of tourism.  An additional theme in SAG’s meetings was the sense that it is going to be difficult to instill broad based confidence that is vital toward improved collaboration.”

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

In my view, broad-based public confidence begins with effective communication and identifiable results – infrastructure, revitalization, and amenities that go beyond some visitors count construed and bandied about by those who are paid to sell Volusia County to the world.

Unfortunately, it appears our hospitality maharishis are still groping for an identifiable “brand” – one many hope will capitalize on the historic lure of the “World’s Most Famous Beach” – something more than a goofy catch slogan like “Seize the Daytona” or “Forget everything you thought you knew about Daytona…” 

Then support opening more of our beach to driving as advocated by the Main Street Merchants Association, developing a viable boardwalk/entertainment district, and making the area attractive for entrepreneurial investment – while embracing those traditions and natural amenities that once made the Daytona Beach Resort Area a world-class destination.

A comprehensive tourism product we can all take pride in, rather than clucking and clapping once a year over some swagged statistic that may, or may not, be completely accurate – or pertinent to the larger discussion.   

I know.  I sound like a broken record – but it needs to be said…

With the SAG report now gathering dust on some groaning shelf in a dead-records morgue in DeLand – bookended by the findings of the Grippa Commission – how many more ways do those who allocate bed taxes need to hear it? 

“An overall collaborative strategy is needed…”

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