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…

U.S. Representative Cory Mills

This week, we learned that the bipartisan House Ethics Committee will review an apparent complaint involving our own District 7 Congressman Cory Mills.

Although few details were released concerning the accusations against the New Smyrna Beach lawmaker, in a short statement issued by the OEC on Monday, we learned the “…Committee on Ethics has extended the matter regarding Representative Cory Mills, which was transmitted to the Committee by the Office of Congressional Ethics on August 29, 2024.”

As you may recall, in the lead-up to the Republican primary in August, a report by Mark Harper in The Daytona Beach News-Journal explained, “Mills, a first-term congressman representing Florida’s 7th District, is facing an Aug. 20 Republican primary challenge from Michael Johnson, a retired Department of Defense employee and Vietnam-era Army veteran from Altamonte Springs.

While campaigning, Johnson is handing voters flyers that ask: “Why does Mills lie about his military service? … He is committing Stolen Valor.”   

According to a follow-up article by Harper this week, “…Michael Johnson, told The News-Journal in October – two months after the OCE’s referral to the Ethics Committee – he had mailed a 55-page “criminal complaint” against Mills to the Attorney General and FBI.”

As I understand it, at issue is Rep. Mills’ claim to have been awarded the Bronze Star medal for heroism during combat in Iraq.  His detractors believe he may have conflated his military service with time spent as a security contractor in Iraq, which apparently occurred after his discharge from the Army.  

Earlier this year, the Army completed a review of Mills’ awards and confirmed he received the Bronze Star and several other service-related medals in a July memorandum.

Then, in August we learned that Mills provided the News-Journal with a Form 638 – the official written recommendation for the Bronze Star – signed by retired Brigadier General Arnold Gordon-Bray, who corroborated to the News-Journal that he signed the recommendation.

“Bray himself told The News-Journal that he did sign a recommendation for Mills, but neither he nor Mills answered the question of when it was signed.”

In the August article, Mills’ detractors pointed out the form was dated 2021 – and Gen. Gordon-Bray retired in 2012…

In his defense, Rep. Mills was quoted in a News-Journal report, “I’m tired of the slander and the defamation,” Mills said. “I ran for office to be able to serve the American people, not to defend something I did 20 years ago over and over and over.”

In addition, Rep. Mills has been credited with rescuing American citizens from Afghanistan in 2021, and in March of this year he escorted thirteen aid workers out of Haiti after criminal gangs took control of the Caribbean nation’s capital. 

The Office of Congressional Ethics also explained that Rep. Mills is rightfully considered innocent of the allegations until proven guilty, “…the mere fact of a referral or an extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such an extension and the name of the subject of the matter, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred…”        

In my view, if Rep. Mills is in fact a combat veteran who was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in Iraq – he deserves an immediate apology from anyone who made formal accusations of stolen valor.

However, if the insinuations brought to the OEC are true – then Rep. Mills owes his constituents – and anyone who served honorably in the Global War on Terror – an immediate apology, right before he resigns from the United States House of Representatives…

In my view, it is that serious.

Claiming false service accomplishments and unearned awards for valor dishonors the service of those brave souls who earned the respect they so richly deserve with their blood, sweat, and courage.  

Including those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Having read the timeline and assorted items of “evidence” as posted at www.corymillswatch.com  I must admit, some things in Rep. Mills’ official military records (as presented in the article and on the website) didn’t add up to me. 

If you live in Florida’s 7th Congressional District – or are simply concerned about good governance, honesty, and personal integrity in public office – I encourage you to follow the OCE’s investigation and determinations.  

In my view, if this is a case of mudslinging gone horribly outside the bounds of ethical campaigning (a wide-open space in the scorched earth bloodbath that is modern politics) then it should be Exhibit A in the case to stop the personal destruction by and between candidates for elective office – something that has a chilling effect on good people considering public service. 

Determining the truth is important to preserving what remains of the public’s tattered trust in the institutions of government, the steady erosion of which I fear will bring terrible repercussions if we don’t reverse this “anything goes” atmosphere that our apathy has created at all levels.  

Sitting representatives like Mr. Mills have a moral and ethical obligation to tell the truth and conduct themselves in a manner that reflects honorably on the House of Representatives, their sworn office, and the district they serve.

That means speaking the unvarnished truth to voters about their background and service.

In my view, these are moral imperatives for holding a position of public trust – and they should not be subject to quibbling, obfuscation, or false witness for cheap political gain on either side of the aisle.

This one bears watching…

Halifax Humane Society

Kudos to Gala Chair Nancy Lohman and all the wonderful sponsors, volunteers, and donors who raised a record setting $537,501 for animal welfare programs during the Halifax Humane Society’s Paws & Pearls Fur Ball held earlier this month at Ocean Center. 

According to a report in the Ormond Beach Observer this week, “…the black-tie gala, presented by Subaru of Daytona, united over 600 of the region’s most passionate animal advocates and community leaders, a press release stated. Emmy-winning television star Brandon McMillan, of CBS’s Lucky Dog, headlined the event.

“This milestone achievement is a testament to the incredible kindness and commitment of our community,” said Sean Hawkins, CEO of Halifax Humane Society. “Thanks to the unwavering support of Subaru of Daytona, our sponsors, and every single guest, we can continue saving the lives of the 15,000 animals who depend on us every year.”

The Halifax Humane Society has been serving the needs of Halifax area animals since 1937 as a full-service “open-door” animal shelter that helps thousands of animals annually in Volusia County.

During this season of giving, I encourage everyone to make a tax-deductible donation to assist the many wonderful programs and educational initiatives sponsored by the Halifax Humane Society.

To learn how you can help, please visit www.halifaxhumanesociety.org

If you live in Flagler County and want to support animal services and welfare, I encourage you to donate to the Flagler Humane Society at www.flaglerhumanesociety.org

Volusia Republican Executive Committee

A tip of the cap to all those who worked diligently behind the scenes to orchestrate a smooth (and much needed) change of leadership at the Volusia Republican Executive Committee. 

Following a shambolic on-again/off-again meeting, Maryann Pistilli, a longtime Republican operative who chaired President-elect Donald Trump’s Florida campaign, took the reins of the Volusia County Republican Party after defeating John Casaburro and William Sell during an election held Saturday in Daytona Beach.

Prior to the vote, controversial former VREC Chair Paul Deering must have seen the bold handwriting on the wall and decided to sit out the internal election…

According to reports, the VREC retained Cathy DiBernardino as secretary and John Reid as treasurer.

It’s no secret that former Chairman Deering’s contentious manipulation of the “Official Republican Voter Guide” earlier this year brought things to a head for many Volusia Republicans, but an October article by Al Everson writing in the West Volusia Beacon brought something more sinister to light.

According to the Beacon’s disturbing report:

“Rosa C. Campbell, who is herself a member of the local Republican Executive Committee, alleges Deering and others engaged in discrimination “against certain types of Conservative members of VCREC by turning them away from joining [the] committee.”

Campbell’s complaint was first filed with the West Volusia Branch of the NAACP, but she has in recent days delivered a refined complaint to the U.S. District Court in Orlando. Contacted by phone, Campbell told The Beacon that she has not yet hired a lawyer to represent her, but she is searching for one. In the filing with the NAACP that accompanies her federal complaint, Campbell writes that Deering, on Feb. 11, 2018, “referred to me as the token Black” in the REC and “made negative comments about Hispanics.

Since that time I tried to get along with Chairman Deering at the General meetings, but he would always ignore me when I raised my hand,” she wrote.

Campbell also wrote that Deering “had me removed from a candidate endorsement meeting on June 25, 2024 because I was taking pictures of candidates speaking, that I would vote on their endorsement by the Republican party and listed in the voter guide.”

Last week, in advance of the VREC election, former Chairman Deering again tried to maneuver around the process by unilaterally cancelling the meeting – a move the Republican Party of Florida put the kibosh on – and the vote proceeded as scheduled on Saturday…

In my view, petty tyrants have always been a problem in local political organizations – typically clubbish cliques that often operate in diametric opposition to the egalitarian principles they claim to represent.

Discrimination and bullying have no place in our democratic system, despite what some high-powered partisan martinets might think, and I commend the Volusia County Republican Executive Committee for refusing to tolerate Deering’s exclusion and manipulation any longer.

Volusia County School Board  

“The Volusia County School Board voted to approve Superintendent Carmen Balgobin’s four-year contract at its school board meeting Tuesday.

The motion, made by Ruben Colón and seconded by Jamie Haynes carried with a 4-1 vote.

Donna Brosemer was in the minority. She felt the board should table the decision until an upcoming meeting so that newly elected board members, including herself, could have a say in the contract.

“Just allow us a little bit of time to have some input and be able to discuss some of the terms that we might question,” Brosemer said. “We have not been given that opportunity, and when this was negotiated, you knew we were coming, and so, I think it’s fair to us and board members to have a better sense of the overall process.”

“My position is still,” she continued. “… this is not ripe, and we have time to cure it. We have time to discuss it. If it is as solid and logical as you describe, then wonderful. But I don’t think that we have had a full opportunity to find out.”

–Reporter Mary Ellen Ritter, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Volusia County School Board approves Superintendent Carmen Balgobin’s four-year contract,” Thursday, December 12, 2024

As the Volusia County School Board stumbles from one weird embarrassment to another, last week – with questions of timing and transparency still unanswered – the majority bowed to external political pressure and voted to approve a bloated contract with Superintendent Carmen Balgobin.

Despite the fiduciarily responsible arguments of newly elected member Donna Brosemer, the others seemed hellbent on approving a new four-year agreement with Balgobin – one that gifts her an 8.7% increase taking her salary from $245,000 to $280,000, with all the perquisites and trimmings, such as health insurance, including vision and dental, an addition medical supplement of $500 per month and life insurance coverage.

By comparison, teachers and other instructional personnel were thrown a 3% bone earlier this year… 

In addition to having all school holidays off, Superintendent Balgobin will be gifted twenty calendar days of vacation, accrue one sick day per month, and six days of personal leave per year.

In addition to a county owned vehicle, cellular phone, and computer, the taxpayers of Volusia County will contribute to a slush fund that Balgobin can use – apparently at her sole discretion – to “…participate in civic and community activities as well as activities that promote good relationships with the public and area stakeholders.”

Merry Christmas, indeed…  

The new agreement was negotiated in effective darkness – with the full knowledge that two new members would be seated following the November election – then ramrodded through with three months remaining before the board needed to commit to a new contract. 

In my view, it became apparent the fix was in after listening to former School Board Chair Jamie Haynes mewl the Poormouth Blues – whining about all the normal expenses of living (things you and I are responsible for everyday) that Balgobin was forced to go in her own incredibly deep pocket for under the old contract (I never feel sorry for someone commanding $245,000 in public funds plus benefits…) – before the board voted 4-1 to put the yoke of Balgobin back on students, teachers, parents, staff, and taxpayers for another four-years.

What about goals, performance metrics, and expectations you ask? 

Apparently, they will cobble those afterthoughts together the minute Jamie Haynes learns the difference between a school improvement plan and districtwide strategic goals…   

To her credit, the voice of reason was District 4 representative Donna Brosemer, who smartly cast the lone dissenting vote to postpone this half-baked agreement until members could have discussed it at a public meeting.  

It is no secret that in Volusia County, malleability, averageness, and mediocrity reign supreme; and once again, the School Board has proven that Superintendent Carmen Balgobin is the perfect fit for those abysmal metrics…     

Thanks for participating Volusia County voters:  The more things change, the more they stay the same…    

Quote of the Week

“(Volusia County) Council members dream of spending millions on a motocross facility but have found to their great surprise that residents object to having one in their backyards. And they have repeatedly tried to open Tiger Bay State Forest to all-terrain vehicles, ATVs, over the objections of forest managers, hikers, birders and environmentalists.

Turning the state forest into an ATV track is an evergreen proposal for the Council. It draws a crowd of objectors when it’s on the agenda, so the Council arranges to vote on the issue without any mention on the agenda. Problem solved!

As the holidays approached in 2023, the Council voted to advocate for ATVs before a nearly empty chamber during closing comments in the last minutes of the last meeting of last year. Smooth move!

And back in 2019, the council also took a surprise vote to support ATV traffic in the protected area. The backlash was swift, and the council reversed itself.

On Dec. 3, the issue came up again. This time, under the agenda heading “2025 Proposed State Legislative Priority List.” Who knew that getting ATVs into a state forest was a state legislative priority for the county? It is now.”

–Editorialist Mark Lane, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “County Council sneaks in an ATV in Tiger Bay vote yet again,” Saturday, December 14, 2024

Once again, the great News-Journal editorialist Mark Lane hits the proverbial nail on the head with his thoughts on the Volusia County Council’s patented use of what I call public policy by ambush – the pernicious practice of voting on off-the-agenda items in the waning moments of public meeting to avoid citizen input or opposition.

Earlier this month, the method was used to worm the perennially failed notion of allowing ATVs in the Tiger Bay State Forest onto Volusia County’s 2025 legislative priority list. 

You read that right.

At a time when taxpayers are clamoring for flood mitigation, transportation infrastructure, utilities upgrades, and clean water initiatives, the majority of our representatives on the Volusia County Council see permitting ATVs in a pristine pine forest and wildlife habitat as a public urgency?   

In his excellent piece, Mr. Lane shined a bright light on the County Council’s recent 6-1 vote to send yet another letter to “Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson asking the state to allow off-road vehicles to tear up the state forest. Council Chairman Jeff Brower acted in his familiar role as the only dissenting vote.”

In my view, Mr. Lane’s piece illuminated the gaslighting machinations of District 3 Councilman Danny Robins – who, in my view, has made a cottage industry finding timewasting solutions to non-existent problems:

“Getting ATVs in the state forest has long been a priority for District 3 County Councilman Danny Robins. “I hope that we can all sit down at the table and work this out and come to some sort of compromise,” he said piously.

A hilarious statement given that the Council has repeatedly sandbagged environmentalists. You’re welcome to the table … oops! dinner’s already been served and we’ve cleared the dishes.”

Perfect.

Many thanks to the great Mark Lane for so eloquently saying what the rest of us are thinking.

And Another Thing!

Reverberations from the bombshell revelation that Volusia County School Board Chair Jessie Thompson is an admitted liar and meanspirited nutcase continued across the political spectrum this week – leaving many stakeholders baffled – and others downright angry that Ms. Thompson hasn’t shown the basic decency to step aside and avoid further humiliation for district schools.   

That’s what happens when self-righteous politicians lose the human emotion of shame. 

As a result, on January 14, the Volusia County School Board will begin 2025 with yet another hyper-dramatic shitshow – a political Kabuki played out in three acts – a livestreamed stage production where Ms. Thompson’s fellow members will consider whether to rightfully remove her as board chair after she lost the moral authority to lead when she disparaged students and openly bragged about providing false information to colleagues during meetings – including the apparent manipulation of an active district contract for reasons yet to be explained…  

When confronted at the end of a tense meeting earlier this month, Ms. Thompson proffered a lukewarm apology, claiming she “chose those words poorly.” 

Bullshit.

The fact is, Ms. Thompson didn’t misspeak.  She knew exactly what she was trying to accomplish, and in doing so brought shame on herself, the Volusia County School Board, and the Moms for Liberty organization.   

In my view, Volusia County taxpayers have the right to expect a degree of integrity, emotional stability, and truthfulness from those who make decisions that affect the lives of thousands of students, teachers, and staff, including the administration of an annual budget now north of $1.2 billion.     

Conducting public affairs with honor is Chairwoman Thompson’s sacred obligation to her constituents and stakeholders – and she has failed to uphold the moral and ethical standards her elected position demands.  As a result, many believe it is now imperative that she step down and allow voters to elect someone who better represents their interests.

Earlier this week, something called Citizens for Truth and Justice in Education of Volusia County, took exception to Thompson’s practice of placing a bible on the dais during public meetings in a “My View” column published in the Ormond Beach Observer.   

I have no problem with Chairwoman Thompson placing the Good Book in front of her – I just wish she would open it and turn to the part that says, “Ye shall not deal falsely, neither lie one to another…”

Although Ms. Thompson bills herself as a comedienne, I’ll be damned if I find anything funny about attacking the ethnicity of a fellow elected official, belittling children she brands intellectually inferior, besmirching the character and motivations of other board members, or spewing lies as a means of ramrodding public policy or approving district contracts – especially a paid agreement with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.    

Those aren’t “values” – they are the earmarks of someone out of their depth – a cheap role-player who uses props and costumes to sell an act, when, in reality, they lack the smarts, political acumen, and interpersonal skills to negotiate items in a forthright and collegial way, and those who pay the bills, or rely on Volusia County District Schools for their education or livelihood, should not be forced to accept this phony in a leadership role.      

Unfortunately, that is the recurring fate We, The Little People suffer here on the “Fun Coast” – a place where party bosses and influential insiders cast D-list posers to play a stereotypical role – then, once elected, they transmogrify into something that bears no resemblance to the candidate we voted for.

Bait and switch.  Smoke and mirrors.  Gaslighting and subversion.  

In my view, the best Christmas present Chairwoman Thompson could gift her constituents and colleagues is to tender her immediate resignation from the Volusia County School Board as fitting recompense for her admitted sabotage of the legislative process, and the public trust.

That’s all for me.  Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year to all!

________________________________

Dear Members of the Loyal Barker’s View Tribe:

I’ll be taking a few days off next week to spend time with family and friends celebrating this joyous season!

May peace be with you and those you hold dear.

From the Barker family to yours, Merry Christmas, and all best wishes for a happy, healthy, and most prosperous 2025!

MDB