Hi, kids!

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

ERAU Chairman Mori Hosseini, Boeing, and Aura Aero Inc.

Big news at our Harvard of the Sky last week when it was announced Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will host French electric aircraft manufacturer Aura Aero Inc.’s new 10,000 square foot hangar facility.   

According to reports, the Big Enchilada remains the company’s planned 500,000-square-foot aircraft manufacturing plant, Aura Aero’s first in the United States.  As it stands, the ERAU hangar will employ 20 people – while the manufacturing facility would bring 1,030 jobs with an average annual wage of $73,895 to Daytona Beach – along with a capital investment of $172.5 million.

Although Aura Aero’s announcement stopped short of naming Embry-Riddle’s Research Park as the location for the production facility, it did mention that the plant will be built somewhere in the state. 

Regardless, the fact we are high in the running is outstanding news for long suffering Volusia County residents who have grown old and weary waiting on those elusive “high paying jobs” we’ve been promised (and shelled out publicly funded incentives to attract) for decades.  

Of course, I chuckled watching our myriad (and horribly redundant) “economic development” shills fall all over themselves taking credit for the Aura Aero hangar… 

In a recent article by Clayton Park writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, we heard from Keith Norden – the high-flying CEO of that public/private travel club over at Team Volusia Economic Development Corporation – who weighed in from his latest junket to the Farnborough International Air Show in the United Kingdom. 

Although none of the official announcements from Aura Aero CEO Jérémy Caussade, Embry-Riddle President P. Barry Butler, Governor Ron DeSantis, Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez, Florida Secretary of Commerce J. Alex Kelly, (whew, let me catch my breath…), FDOT Secretary Jared W. Perdue, Space Florida President and CEO Robert Long, etc., etc., mentioned Team Volusia by name – Mr. Norden “…confirmed that he spoke with Aura Aero officials on Monday.”

Okay…

I’m not sure if that means Mr. Norden ran into someone wearing an Aura Aero nametag exiting the ‘Loo,’ or if he single-handedly negotiated the deal to bring the aircraft manufacture to Daytona Beach last Monday?

But when Team Volusia’s “big gets” have essentially been limited to cobbling together a string of tax breaks and publicly funded incentives to lure the low hanging fruit of industrial warehouses, then using mysterious “code names” to force elected officials to approve the projects in the blind, while short selling the Daytona Beach area’s logistical brass ring that is the central nexus of I-4 and I-95, I suppose it is important to glom on to a trophy catch when and where you can, eh?   

By all appearances, the real rockstar in this deal – and last month’s equally impressive announcement that Boeing will locate a 400 strong research element at the Cici and Hyatt Brown Center for Aerospace Technology at Embry-Riddle this fall – is our own High Panjandrum of Political Power Mr. Mori Hosseini. 

Although Mr. Hosseini, as chairman of Embry-Riddle’s board of directors, gave credit to Gov. DeSantis for creating a “favorable business environment,” I’ll bet you a donut (croissant?) we have the Big Guy to thank for connecting the university with these innovative aerospace engineering and research opportunities. 

According to a News-Journal article announcing Boeing’s presence at the research park, “Embry-Riddle is at the tip of Florida’s Space Triangle, and Boeing selecting ERAU and Volusia County will redefine our university and our community,” Hosseini said. “With 400 new, high-paying jobs right here in our backyard, the future has never been brighter in Central Florida and Volusia County.”

Great news all around. 

Kudos to Chairman Hosseini and everyone involved in bringing these important economic engines to Volusia County.    

Raquel Levy and Water Quality Advocates of Victoria Commons

Anyone who still questions the devastating effects of regional overdevelopment and nutrient pollution – phosphorous and nitrogen from sewage and surface runoff – in area waterways need look no further than the ongoing decimation of fish, ducks, and other wildlife in Deland’s Victoria Park lake. 

While state agencies charged with protecting Florida’s threatened environment and wildlife continue to drag their bureaucratic heels in determining the cause, local attorney Raquel Levy and residents of the Victoria Commons section are standing up to bring public focus to this growing problem. 

According to an article by Frank Fernandez writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Ms. Levy explained:

“We need clean water; everything in this lake has been dying. We have dead hawks, dead ibis, we have dozens of ducks that have died,” Levy said. “This lake is a selling point of this community. Most people have purchased a home here because of the beautiful lake and now what used to be a beautiful lake has become a death pond.”

According to the report, Ms. Levy and her equally ecologically conscious daughters recently collected signatures from area residents petitioning the Victoria Commons homeowners association to address the issue. 

Last week, the Levy’s organized a gathering of residents and area environmental advocates – including the intrepid Suzanne Scheiber of Dream Green Volusia – to call attention to water quality issues and encourage compassion for affected wildlife.  

Look, anyone who has spent time in the woods and on the waterways of Florida – or maintains a home aquarium, for that matter – understands the interconnected and symbiotic relationship of the systems and natural processes of rivers, lakes, and wetlands.   

Depending upon prevailing land uses, runoff from streets and roadways, residential fertilizer use, wastewater treatment, and certain agricultural operations can result in nutrient contamination of the watershed which leads to excessive algal growth.

Don’t take my word for it, read up on how overdevelopment around Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades – coupled with “Big Sugar’s” political manipulation of state environmental protections – is actively destroying South Florida’s fragile ecosystems… 

According to the News-Journal, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said photographs of Victoria Lake sent to that agency indicate the cause as cyanobacteria, a blue-green algae bloom that can result from excess nutrients. 

Meanwhile, a paid mouthpiece for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection reported, “We will be collecting samples from Victoria Lake following a request from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Currently, DEP is coordinating with the property owner to gain site access…” 

Whatever.

Meanwhile, many of those we have elected to represent our interests in municipal, county, and state offices sit on the dais of power in their respective jurisdictions – playing their role as one of the Three Mystic Apes who “hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil” when it comes to accommodating the greed-crazed demands of their political benefactors in the real estate development community who pour massive sums of money into the campaigns of hand-select candidates in a bizarre quid pro quo that could only be legal in Florida – arguably the biggest whorehouse in the world…   

Volusia County Councilman David “No Show” Santiago

“Councilman David Santiago said he believes he’s been clear on where he stands on the issue: He’s not willing to accept the liability if the I-2 zoning is amended. He was in favor of providing an exemption for the properties zoned I-2.

Santiago said none of his constituents have expressed wanting to take on the liability. However, last year, the Deltona City Commission passed a resolution 4-0 supporting the Volusia League of Cities in its opposition of the fuel farm project.

Kent told Santiago that if the fuel farm project was in Santiago’s district, Kent would be the “guy you want next to you saying ‘heck no’ to it.”

In response, Santiago said that, when the project was first brought to the council’s attention, he supported Kent’s opposition to the fuel farm.

“Do I finish in the same location with you? It’s the details,” Santiago. “If this were in the center of Deltona, it would be a lot tougher decision for me, I agree with that.”

–Volusia County Councilman David “No Show” Santiago, as quoted by reporter Jarleene Almenas, Ormond Beach Observer, “Volusia County Council at odds over amending heavy industrial zoning district due to existing fuel farm proposal,” Thursday, July 25, 2024

In my view, Volusia County Councilman David “No Show” Santiago is the most “polished” parliamentarian on the dais.  He is also one of the most mercurial, self-serving, and undependable politicians I’ve ever seen.

That’s a pretty high (low?) bar, y’all.

Last week, during a farcical “workshop” to discuss amending Volusia County’s “wide open” Heavy Industrial I-2 zoning – something our incredibly well-compensated growth and resource mismanagement gurus only learned of after Belvedere Terminals submitted a proposal to construct a massive 24/7 bulk fuel terminal on Hull Road in Ormond Beach (?) – Mr. Santiago openly put the screws to his flummoxed “colleague” District 4 Councilman Troy Kent.

He also showed Volusia County residents how quickly he will turn on them (and shamelessly flip-flop) when it becomes politically expedient to do so… 

In February, the majority voted against a moratorium on the development of heavy industrial properties as it considered changes to the zoning ordinance, with Chairman Brower and Councilman Kent the only two elected officials supporting the temporary pause.

According to the Ormond Observer’s report, “During the workshop, the council appeared to be split 4-3: Council Chair Jeff Brower and Councilmen Troy Kent and Matt Reinhart were in favor of pursuing amendments to the I-2 zoning ordinance. The rest worried the change could bring legal challenges to the county or voiced not wanting to impede on the property rights on the impacted landowners.”

Now, anxious residents wait to see what fate the unnervingly quiet Belvedere Terminals – who now holds all the cards – will hand them in coming months. 

Will Belvedere seize the advantage presented by the abject weakness and divisiveness of Volusia County officials and push forward with the bulk fuel terminal on Hull Road?

Will the $10 million in public funds offered by the Florida legislature persuade Belvedere to move the terminal away from Ormond Beach and into the backyards of some unfortunate residents elsewhere?

Perhaps most ominous – how will the “not my district/not my problem” fallback used by “No Show” Santiago as a cowardly excuse for turning his back on an issue of regional concern ultimately effect the concept of the council collectively representing the interests of all residents – especially from potential countywide threats proposed by these “wide open” zoning and land use regulations? 

Daytona Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce

Like everyone who is anyone this election cycle, the Daytona Beach Area Chamber of Commerce is engaging in the controversial practice of endorsing candidates for Florida Representatives and Senate races, a process with potential benefits – and deep pitfalls – for what should be an apolitical pro-business organization. 

The Chamber’s “Voters Guide” also contains the canned responses of local candidates to a series of questions, no doubt formulated by a committee… 

Please find the Chamber’s guide here:  https://tinyurl.com/u434xtrm

Now, can we please get back to the urgent and unrelenting issues at hand? 

Time’s a wastin’…  

In my view, through the years, the denial, misplaced optimism, and ineffective response of the chamber set – along with their cohorts in our ossified tourism and hospitality apparatus – has done little (if anything) to change the trajectory of the Daytona Beach Resort Area’s core economic driver: Entrepreneurship and investment on our beleaguered beachside.     

Prove me wrong?

I’m not talking about “New Daytona” over on Boomtown Boulevard, the publicly subsidized One Daytona, industrial warehouses, malignant sprawl west of I-95, or the tedious, wearisome, and ass-dragging “improvements” to that house of horrors that remains the gateway to the World’s Most Famous Beach on East International Speedway Boulevard. (Is it being completed by two guys working on weekends?  I’m asking…)

In my view, the most recent visible insult was the broken-down chair that prominently sat on the southeast corner of the intersection of East ISB and Atlantic Avenue during the heart of our summer tourist season – a lovely visual amenity for visiting families who responded to the Halifax Area Advertising Authority’s incredibly expensive “Beach On” marketing campaign… 

Whatever.

Earlier this year, a group of long-suffering Main Street merchants – intrepid entrepreneurs with a personal investment in the success of our core tourist area – made the pilgrimage to Deland, properly genuflected, and beseeched the monarchical Volusia County Council to bring back driving on the beach from International Speedway Boulevard to Auditorium Boulevard – an important stretch of the strand where vehicular access has been prohibited by legislative edict for more than 20 years.   

The group appeared before their elected representatives with the support of the Main Street Merchants Association, along with more than 100 signatures representing area businessowners and residents seeking a return of beach driving – something many see as the key to turning things around on Daytona’s struggling beachside.

Per usual, the initiative failed on a 4-2 vote (not surprisingly, Councilman David “No Show” Santiago was absent that day…).

At the time, Councilman Kent explained that his no vote was a “chess move,” a parliamentary strategy that would allow the motion to be brought back at a future council meeting when all seven members are attendance. 

Good luck… 

Of course, Bob Davis, president for life and CEO of the Lodging & Hospitality Association of Volusia County, led the charge to maintain the tired status quo, rallying hoteliers seeking to retain a publicly inaccessible semi-private beach, and throwing up a phalanx of negativity to prevent progress for Main Street businesses. 

In turn, the Daytona Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce remained conspicuously silent on perhaps the most important question of our time – whether the restoration of our century-old tradition of beach driving and access can help invigorate and revitalize our core tourist area?

Why is that?

Rather than use their extensive membership to hold elected and appointed officials to account and demand substantive change to the decades-old stagnation and impediments on the beachside, the Daytona Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce continues to “consecrate the bonds of obedience” to the Halifax areas fossilized Ruling Elite by repeating our sad civic mantra in response to every self-serving blow, “Thank you, sir.  May I have another?”  

In my view, legislative lobbying for business-friendly public policy is a key responsibility of any Chamber of Commerce – but I draw the line at political cocktail parties and other time-wasting elbow-rubbing horseshit while entrepreneurial investment in places like Midtown, downtown, and our struggling beachside continues to be hamstrung by onerous hurdles and a refusal to move beyond demonstrably failed policies. 

Maybe it’s time for the DBRCC to get out of politics – and the organizational divisiveness and alienation that naturally results – and focus on its core mission of advocating for a strong economic and business environment for everyone.  

Just my two cents… 

Quote of the Week

“Gov. Ron DeSantis will not face a Florida Ethics Commission sanction over a golf simulator donated to the Governor’s Mansion.

The Ethics Commission announced that it found no probable cause to pursue further investigation of the simulator provided by Ormond Beach mega-donor Mori Hosseini in 2019, the year DeSantis − who previously represented the Daytona Beach area in Congress − took office in Tallahassee.

During a closed-door session Friday, the panel also found no probable cause that DeSantis failed to report as a gift free air travel provided by Hosseini. The Ethics Commission did not explain its findings.”

–Reporter Mark Harper, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Ethics commission drops probe into Mori Hosseini’s donation of golf simulator to DeSantis,” Wednesday, July 31, 2024

In my jaded view, the barefaced quid pro quo practice of “I do nice things for you, you do nice things for me” has become the way things get accomplished in the cloistered halls of power here in the Sunshine State. 

Them’s the rules, folks. 

You either have the wherewithal to purchase a seat at the table, or you don’t – and any “outsider” who happens to mistakenly slink past the gilded gate will be dealt with.  Harshly. 

Don’t take my word for it.  Attend any of the candidate forums and stilted “hob nobs” that are de rigueur this election cycle and ask beleaguered Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower about his reception into the “inner sanctum” of political power once it became apparent he wouldn’t go along and get along? 

Or you could ask former Councilwoman Heather Post (Who? Exactly…) how Volusia’s “Old Guard” responded when she refused to be beaten into the round hole of conformity by her “colleagues” on the dais of power?    

Not much phases me anymore, but what came as a surprise with this week’s announcement that Florida’s ethics apparatus – who long ago became the paralyzed and impotent victim of a horribly botched political neutering – met in effective darkness, then refused to explain its findings to citizen’s concerned about the appearance of the most connected and powerful man in Florida “gifting” expensive toys and private air travel to Governor Ron DeSantis and his wife… 

In my view, that secretiveness by a state agency charged with protecting the public trust is ultimately worse than the ethical implications – and does more to harm government integrity than a transparent ‘let the chips fall where they may’ process. 

I don’t have a crystal ball, but I suspect each legislative session, our elected representatives will continue to whittle away at Florida’s feeble ethics apparatus – a toothless hodge-podge of political appointees who, on occasion, issue a fine or censure for the most unavoidably egregious violations. 

In June, Governor DeSantis signed legislation that puts onerous burdens on those reporting possible ethics violations – now requiring that citizens who file ethics complaints with state and local ethics commissions have “personal knowledge” of the alleged violation – among other chilling limitations.  

Yeah.  I know…    

As Caroline Klancke, executive director of the Florida Ethics Institute and former deputy executive director of the Florida Commission on Ethics, warned in a February 2024 open letter (and dire warning) to the citizens of Florida:

“Florida has long led the country in its legal protections of fairness and transparency. But this is not the time to take these safeguards for granted. It is once again necessary for Floridians to band together to reiterate our collective commitment to fairness in government as evidenced in our State Code of Ethics.

Do not let the tools of accountability slip so easily from society’s grasp.”

And Another Thing! 

“In the last two months, the Palm Coast Planning Board has approved almost 750 homes for the next two phases and applications for a development within the Palm Coast Park development.

The Palm Coast Park Development of Regional Impact is a massive 4,700-acre, phased development project in the northwest portion of Palm Coast along Highway U.S. 1 that was originally approved in 2004. It is broken down into multiple tracts, with smaller developments within those tracts, and is expected to have over 2,000 homes once it is finished.”

–Sierra Williams, writing in the Palm Coast Observer, “Over last two months, city planning board OKs 750 homes for Sawmill Branch development,” Wednesday, July 24, 2024  

They call them “Developments of Regional Impact” for a reason…

According to Florida statute, a DRI is “…any development which, because of its character, magnitude, or location, would have a substantial effect upon the health, safety or welfare of citizens of more than one county.”

Sound familiar? 

If you live anywhere in the increasingly claustrophobic Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area (which includes Flagler County), it should. 

For years, the Florida legislature – populated by many perennial politicians with real estate interests – has worked diligently to fast-track development by eroding environmental protections, gutting review processes, eliminating local control – essentially setting the ball for developers so their counterparts in local and county governments can spike it down the throats of existing residents….

Across the region, municipal and county governments have exposed the shocking fact they have been caught flatfooted when it comes to growth management.  That realization usually hits existing residents when asking their representatives why their once high-and-dry homes and land are inundated with standing water each time it rains. 

It is increasingly clear that these elected and appointed incompetents are now totally incapacitated and overwhelmed by the monster they helped create – incapable of determining how to pay for necessary infrastructure and utilities improvements, protect our threatened water supply, and provide essential services, while kissing the sizeable asses of their “friends” in the development industry – always reverting to the one arrow in their quiver: Raising taxes and fees for existing residents. 

Always quibbling causality and disputing the facts – never admitting that their failed strategy of cramming ten-pounds of shit into a five-pound sack is destroying every region of the state – then continually procrastinating, kicking the can down that long political road, buying time while the bulldozers roar…   

Now, amid the most prolific period of explosive growth in our history – a time when every square inch of land, virgin forest, aquifer recharge area, wetland, and wildlife habitat is being churned into a foul black muck, filled, and elevated to shoehorn more, more, more zero lot line cracker boxes – many are dealing with the resultant impacts across both Volusia and Flagler Counties. 

So, how does the City of Palm Coast and other county and municipal governments on Florida’s “Fun Coast” respond to hundreds of reports of development-induced flooding, pollution, and density concerns? 

Reread the quote above for the abysmal answer to that troubling, and increasingly prevalent, question… 

Now, vote like your quality of life depends upon it. 

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