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…

First Step Shelter – More Disturbing Questions.  Few Answers.

Before I begin, let me reiterate to anyone joining us late that I am, in fact, an uneducated rube – a provincial bumpkin, totally devoid of any formal education, degrees, or academic credentials – a hillbilly Diogenes with a Mittyesque imagination, always tilting at windmills, real and perceived.

But I can read, and I’m reasonably coherent (at least until my afternoon forays to the liquor cabinet), and I know a few things they don’t teach in school…

As a lifelong experiential learner, I graduated summa cum laude from the prestigious L’école des Coups Durs – the most expensive education in the world – a painful process of acquiring knowledge that has left more than a few scars.

As a result, I have a horseshit detector seared into my prefrontal cortex – a finely tuned ability to spot petty machinations of from a mile away…

Like many, last week I was shocked when the majority of the Volusia County Council ignored the unanswered allegations against First Step Shelter’s Executive Director Victoria Fahlberg, Ph.D. overlooked the resultant lawsuits brought by two former employees of the enigmatic program, disregarded the ensuing shitstorm, and agreed to continue underwriting the program on a 4-3 vote using unbudgeted public funds doled out in decreasing increments over the next five years…

It was ill-advised, an odd precedent that will have negative consequences far beyond the First Step Shelter, a program that will now burn through more of our hard-earned tax dollars doing whatever it does until another infusion of public funds becomes necessary.  

To his credit, only Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower called for Fahlberg to be replaced before throwing good money after bad… 

Of course, his idea was ignored.

In my view, by disregarding the unresolved issues, the Volusia County Council sent a stark message to recipients of public funds that anyone who dares expose evidence of fraud, corruption, dysfunction, or mismanagement in tax supported services does so at great peril to their career and reputation.

What I found chilling were comments Dr. Fahlberg made during an interview with The Daytona Beach News-Journal following the January 21 meeting, arrogantly lecturing Chairman Jeff Brower to stop listening to “gossip” – clearly an intentional slight against the whistleblower’s allegations – adding that Brower should simply trust the horribly compromised First Step board to “do the right thing.”  

In my view, those aren’t the reasonable and rational comments of a professional administrator seeking to limit liability and bring stability to an organization.   

That’s when my fabled horseshit detector went into overdrive…

Earlier this week, I reviewed a January 2025 legal filing by Assistant Public Defender Kayla Grey, who represented former First Step housing director Pamela Alexander in a criminal prosecution for Petit Theft from First Step – reported by Victoria Fahlberg on or about June 25, 2024, two-weeks after the whistleblower allegations were brought.      

According to the defense motion, “On or about June 6, 2024, Pamela Alexander, along with others, provided whistleblower information alleging fraud, fiduciary malfeasance, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, admission policy violations, and resident safety violations to First Step Shelter Board Members, to Victoria Fahlberg, the Executive Director of the shelter, and to the City of Daytona Beach.”

“Shortly thereafter, Ms. Alexander was accused by the First Step Shelter of stealing 3 boxes of breakfast sandwiches from shelter (on or about June 16, 2024) and she was thereafter fired from her employment.”

Director Fahlberg reported the misdemeanor charge against Ms. Alexander to police on June 25, 2024.  On December 9, 2024, Ms. Alexander and another whistleblower filed a lawsuit against First Step Shelter and the City of Daytona Beach seeking a jury trial and in excess of $50,000 in damages.

According to the defense motion, in a disturbing twist, “On December 12, 2024, Assistant State Attorney Vanessa Lee informed the undersigned attorney (Grey) on a phone call that Victoria Fahlberg, the Executive Director of the First Step Shelter, had told her that she (as a representative of the shelter) would be willing to dismiss the criminal charges against Ms. Alexander if Ms. Alexander would drop her whistleblower lawsuit against the First Step Shelter and would agree not to speak any further publicly about the allegations underlying the whistleblower and wrongful termination case.”

When the undersigned Assistant Public Defender asked if this was a formal “offer” that needed to be conveyed to Ms. Alexander, Assistant State Attorney Lee paused for several seconds and then said, “No, I’m not comfortable doing that.”

Whoa…

On Wednesday, Ms. Alexander was found Not Guilty of the misdemeanor charge following an all-day jury trial in Daytona Beach. 

Now, those of us who pay the bulk of the bills at First Step are left with more disturbing questions…

When did the First Step Shelter Board authorize Executive Director Fahlberg to use what, in my view, appeared to be a strongarm tactic to muzzle Ms. Alexander – offering to drop a life altering criminal prosecution in exchange for abandoning an active lawsuit and keeping her mouth shut about serious issues at FSS?    

In light of these unresolved questions, why would the majority of the Volusia County Council – an elected body with a fiduciary responsibility for the allocation, expenditure, and protection of our tax dollars – simply accept data provided by First Step without independent corroboration before handing over $1.3 million in unbudgeted funds over the next five years?

And why would a highly educated administrator with experience managing non-profit agencies use such barefaced coercion to pressure a whistleblower into silence? 

More disturbing, why would anyone in a leadership role make light of these serious allegations in the newspaper? Especially regarding accusations that are now the subject of an active lawsuit by two former employees seeking in excess of $50,000 each… 

That didn’t make sense to me.

So, at the risk of going down a rabbit hole, I went to the First Step Shelter’s website (https://firststepshelter.org/staff/ ) and took a look at Dr. Fahlberg’s impressive credentials and background. 

According to the official site, “Dr. Fahlberg has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and a Master of Public Health in Population and International Health from Harvard.”

Well, that’s sorta accurate…    

In actuality, a review of Dr. Fahlberg’s resume provided at the time of hire shows a “Master of Public Health in Population and International Health” from the prestigious “Harvard School of Public Health,” and a “Doctor of Philosophy, Psychology,” from the now defunct Union Institute and University of Cincinnati, Ohio… 

No dates were provided for Dr. Fahlberg’s academic degrees, and the First Step website is not the only place Dr. Fahlberg’s educational accomplishments appear online sans clarification that her Ph.D. is actually from the shuttered Union Institute and University.

In my view, the wording of Dr. Fahlberg’s First Step bio leaves anyone visiting the site to speculate if this represents a grammatical error – or an intentional omission to add Harvard’s “Ivy League” imprimatur to her Doctorate?

So, which is it?

Look, I’m certainly not a Harvard educated Doctor of Philosophy, but if I were, I would want that unfortunate oversight corrected.  Immediately.

As Einstein taught, in all matters, including curricula vitae, “Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either…”

In my view, given the accusations of serious dysfunction and mismanagement brought by three former employees – allegations the First Step Board of Directors mysteriously refuse to fully investigate – the Volusia County Council now has a duty to ensure the accuracy of the facts and figures used by FSS administrators to prove the program’s “success” before incumbering even more public funds to support the beleaguered shelter…

Given her education and experience, Dr. Fahlberg should possess the situational awareness and emotional intelligence to understand that her continued association with First Step has become a glaring distraction – one detrimental to the public’s continued trust – and the program’s viability. 

It is time for the First Step Board of Directors to do the right thing for the taxpayers of Daytona Beach and Volusia County.

“Five-Star” Beachfront Development? Happy Days are Here Again.  Again…   

On occasion, I come upon something in the news or on social media that makes me instinctively laugh out loud. 

A cockamamie story so completely absurd that it takes me by surprise – safe in the knowledge there is no way something so ridiculous, illogical, or incongruous with hard lessons learned could possibly be true – like a bad Three Stooges episode, watching a yokel touch a hot stove again, and again, and again until it goes from shocking to wacky slapstick…   

For instance, I recently came upon a story in The Daytona Beach News-Journal announcing one of those ominous “developer-initiated neighborhood meetings” – an opportunity for some out of town developer with little, if any, institutional knowledge of our area or market conditions to tell long-suffering beachside residents how another umpteen-story “condo-hotel” casting a deep shadow across the blighted peninsula is going to improve their lives immeasurably.

I chortled.  Then did an involuntary spit-take…

According to the informative report by News-Journal Business Editor Clayton Park, “Two years ago, the Daytona Beach City Commission approved a South Florida developer’s controversial plan to build a 25-story oceanfront condo-hotel at the east end of Silver Beach Avenue.

Now a second South Florida developer has stepped forward with plans for another oceanfront high-rise, just two doors over.

Miami developer Pablos Andres Penuela, doing business locally as “Daytona Beach 1299 LLC,” will hold a neighborhood meeting Monday night Jan. 27 to discuss his proposed 24-story, 260-room Pearl Beach Club hotel.

Penuela is seeking approval from the city that would allow him to build the project on the 2.2-acre vacant lot at 1299 S. Atlantic Ave.”  

According to reports, the developer-initiated meeting was staged at the Daytona Grande Oceanfront Hotel, where the developer’s team explained to a handful of “civil and subdued” locals how the next pearl in the sow’s ear will dramatically improve their lives. 

You read that right.

I don’t know about you, but I found it odd that the developer would host a meeting to sell a 25-story monstrosity to the masses on the site of what has become a cautionary tale for coastal high-rise construction in the Daytona Beach Resort Area?   

Which leads me to believe our new friends from South Florida haven’t completely finished their homework… 

For instance, when asked by the News-Journal why build in Daytona Beach, “Penuela said he bought the property for his Pearl Beach Club hotel because he believes the city has a bright future.

“Looking at the numbers of tourists Daytona brings per year, I believe it has a lot of potential. It’s the beachfront for Orlando. It also has a lot to offer and a lot of culture and character and history,” he said.”

(Really?  I thought our draw was “Bikes, Beer, and Boobs”?  “Beach On,” y’all!)

The News-Journal reports the Pearl Beach Club “..would also offer multiple pools including a large pool and a separate kids’ pool at the ground floor level, a pool at the eighth floor level, and one of the roof. It would also offer a kids playground and an outdoor restaurant and separate outdoor bar.

The building setbacks would be 25 feet in front (facing A1A), 25 feet on the north side, 60 feet on the south side, and 75 feet on the rear (facing the ocean).

Penuela said the hotel’s restaurant will be open to the public, “as long as they’re paying customers.”

Emphasis on the paying customers.

Gotta keep those ‘cultured characters’ who frequently haunt the Halifax area out of the ‘amenities’ I suppose…  

In a follow-up article in the News-Journal this week, we learned that talks are underway with several “top-tier” hotel chains to flag the hotel – with non-disclosure agreements apparently inked with two unnamed luxury brands – which would make the Pearl Beach Club our first “Five Star” hotel in the Daytona Beach Resort Area. 

According to the report, “The project’s architects designed two newly completed five-star Four Seasons hotels in South Florida: one in Surfside, the other in Fort Lauderdale.

“This (the Pearl Beach Club Hotel) at 260 keys (rooms and suites) is what we think, in speaking with the Four Seasons, that’s what they’re looking for volume-wise to be able to come here (to Daytona Beach),” said Mathieu Picard of Kobi Karp Architecture & Interior Design of Miami.

“It’s a mixture of the room count, the room sizes which are very important to be at the five-star level, and also all the facilities — the amount of restaurants (two), the pools, the pool bar, event spaces, and the gym. It’s really about providing the amenities … to get the level of service that makes it a five-star.”

Just for shits-n-giggles I checked nightly room rates for the Four Seasons in Orlando (Disney World) and Surfside, Florida. 

Rooms ranged from $1,840 to $4,280+ per night…

I’m not a real estate marketing expert – but Monsieur Picard might want to take a drive down the road of bones paved with the fiscal remains of developers who sought Palm Beach prices in a Hooterville market before getting his (and our) hopes up for a Four Seasons…   

As usual, the hype sounds nice, but what is yet to be explained is why anyone in their right mind would consider more construction east of the Coastal Construction Control Line – especially along a section of compromised shoreline that was listed in an August 2024 report by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as a “critically eroded beach.”

According to the FDEP report, “A 16.6-mile segment of beach (R51 – R143) along Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, Wilbur By The Sea and the Town of Ponce Inlet is critically eroded, threatening development and recreational interests, as well as sea turtle nesting areas where the dry sand beach has become very narrow.”

Unfortunately, none of that seems to matter. 

South Florida developers who know nothing of the true “culture, character, and history” of the Halifax area seem intent on exploiting the cheapest beachfront real estate in the known universe and there’s not a whole hell of a lot you and I can do about it. 

Especially when our elected representatives repeatedly assure us their hands are tied due to legislative diktats – lopsided property rights that claim even clean water and flood prevention are “inordinate burdens” on speculative developers – in an environment where anything is possible with the right application of money and influence.  

So, developers in expensive suits go through the formality of neighborhood meetings to tell people who have lived here for decades how the next monstrous high-rise obliterating the sun and shoreline will be the panacea for all our problems – knowing well that our input will be ignored – and slowly but surely their next “controversial plan” will become a reality along the crumbling “Fun Coast.”  

Here’s a little unsolicited advice for our newest and bestest friends from Miami:

We’ve heard it all before.   

You will find that the citizens of Volusia County are grizzled veterans of the game.  Folks who have been screwed so many times by real estate developers, carpet-bagging thieves, and outright pirates that we walk with a collective limp. 

We’ve been bullshitted by the best in the business – for years – so please don’t insult us with more happy talk of pie-in-the-sky “five-star” resorts and how a beachfront high-rise will make us “safer.”  Just work through the formalities on the city/county checklist leading to the inevitable permit and save the horseshit “amenities” speech for our powers that be who need the political insulation…   

Circuit Court Judge A. Christian Miller  

In an incredibly fortunate decision for the citizens of the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, Volusia County Judge Christian Miller was recently promoted by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Circuit Court seat vacated by the retirement of Judge Terrence Perkins. 

In my view, Judge Miller embodies the best attributes of a professional jurist – smart, impartial, courteous, respectful of all parties, a humble man of great dignity and compassion who possesses an expert grasp of the law and procedures.

His elevation is a true win-win for our region.

In my experience, Volusia County and the Seventh Circuit is blessed with excellent judges serving our civil and criminal courts – including Judge Miller’s wife, Volusia County Judge Katherine H. Miller, who currently presides over civil matters in Daytona Beach – outstanding professionals who play an important role upholding the rule of law, maintaining order, and ensuring that justice is served firmly but fairly.  

Congratulations to Judge Miller on this latest accomplishment in his impressive career of exceptional service to justice and our community.  

Quote of the Week

“The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday approved the final plat for the 182-home subdivision known as the Enclave at Seminole Palms, on 70 acres north of the Citation Boulevard extension, between Belle Terre Boulevard and Seminole Woods Boulevard, and just south of the county airport property. Platting is a legally required final regulatory step in a development, mapping out individual property boundaries, easements, roads and other infrastructure features.

In an indication of this new council’s leeriness regarding anything that could associate it with new development, Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris wanted the public to be absolutely clear he and the council had nothing, or almost nothing, to do with the Enclave. “As one former council member used to say, for prosperity,” Norris said, referring to former Council member Nick Klufas (he meant to say “posterity”), “let it be noted that we’re just closing out this plat, and it was already in the work years and years ago.”

–Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris, as quoted in the FlaglerLive! article “Palm Coast Council Approves 182-House Development’s Final Step Near Airport in Seminole Woods, With a Disclaimer,” Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Earlier this month, the Volusia County Council put the kibosh on even the suggestion of a temporary moratorium on new development until stormwater changes and sustainable building practices can be implemented.

Trust me, it was never going to happen.  Not so long as influential insiders in the real estate development industry own the paper on our elected officials’ political souls…

Last week, the Palm Coast City Council proved that, at this point, it appears nothing can stop the aggressive malignancy of sprawl across Volusia and Flagler Counties. 

While existing residents were coming to terms with the early symptoms of overdevelopment, previous iterations of city and county councils (and the perennial senior staff who facilitate growth) had already approved massive developments that now lie dormant like latent cancer cells, waiting until conditions are right to begin multiplying.

Unfortunately, since the most prolific boom in our history began, developers have purchased property and began the process of amending zoning and density requirements, establishing “Planned Unit Developments” and “Developments of Regional Impact,” ramrodding projects past “planning” boards, ignoring environmental impacts, and obtaining final approvals at such a precipitous pace there was no way the average citizen was ever going to keep up with it all.

Besides, in the cloistered Halls of Power in local governments where the sausage gets made, the less We, The Little People know (or are allowed to participate), the better.

As a result, we watch helplessly while the tumors appear across the spine of Volusia and Flagler Counties… 

According to FlaglerLive!, “…the (Enclave) subdivision’s development has never been reported until now, because its previous regulatory steps were crossed either administratively or at the city’s planning board, drawing little attention. The planning board approved the development’s master plan in March 2023, and administration planners approved the preliminary plat last March, issuing a development permit for the site last May. Since then, 80 percent of the subdivision’s infrastructure has been built.”

Our elected officials know that silence is always the operative ethic at the nexus of growth management and the profit motives of their political benefactors…

Now, we’re left to wonder how many more “Enclaves” are waiting to ulcerate while current councils and commissions shrug their shoulders and hide behind the dodge, “Nuttin’ we can do about it, y’all.  Just closin’ it out – been in the works for years…”?

And Another Thing!

I recently read an article which referenced a little-known Office of Strategic Services manual from World War II entitled the Simple Sabotage Field Manual.  A “how-to” for using plausibly deniable measures to harass, wear down, and demoralize an enemy during time of war.

Over time, subtle acts of sabotage undermine effectiveness, discourages progress, subvert efficient operations, and, in the case of government administrators, interfere with the implementation of public policy in furtherance of a strategic goal, especially when used to effectively alienate and embarrasses an opponent.

The measures outlined sounded eerily familiar in the context of the Volusia County Council’s near-constant foot-dragging on solutions to development-induced flooding, smart growth initiatives, concurrency, and the idea of tapping the brakes on growth in the face of serious infrastructure issues – not to mention the “Old Guard’s” persistent attempts to marginalize Chairman Jeff Brower’s every initiative.

The OSS manual’s suggestions for simple sabotage include:

“Insist on doing everything through “channels.” Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.”

“Make “speeches,” talk as frequently as possible and at great length.  Illustrate your “points” by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences. Never hesitate to make a few appropriate “patriotic” comments.”

“When possible, refer all matters to committees, for “further study and consideration.”  Attempt to make the committees as large as possible – never less than five.”

“Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.”

“Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.”

“Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and attempt to re-open the question of the advisability of that decision.”

“Advocate “caution.” Be unreasonable and urge your fellow-conferees to be “reasonable” and avoid haste which might result in embarrassments or difficulties later on.”

Eerily familiar, indeed…

According to psychologists, “Gaslighting” is loosely defined as a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or a group sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group, making them question their own reality or judgment, maintaining power through invalidation and disparagement.

In politics, this insidious form of domination and control is often facilitated by repeatedly presenting a skewed narrative, limiting the ability of those affected to have substantive input in the decision-making process, limiting criticism and dissent, then attacking the character and reputation of those who speak the truth and demonstrate the courage to think for themselves.

That should sound familiar too…

Trust me.  It shouldn’t be this way. 

In my view, political sabotage, gaslighting, and hidden motives should not be the defining character of an elected body.    

With candidates beginning to announce their intentions for the 2026 general election, now is the time for Volusia County voters to begin encouraging those with a fire in their belly for positive change and a rejection of the stagnant status quo. 

If enough like-minded citizens hold firm to the basic belief that we can control our destiny by electing strong, ethical, and visionary members of our community to high office, strong grassroots candidates not beholden to special interests and well-heeled donors, we can turn the balance political power and restore transparency, fairness, and the spirit of democracy in Volusia County government.

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

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…

First Step Shelter – No Transparency.  No Confidence.  More Money.

Last summer, apparently after a few too many Tullamore Dews, I woke up in the middle of the night with a case of agita and came to the mistaken revelation that I should change the name of this weekly blog from “Angels & Assholes” to something more genteel – allowing the reader to consider my jumbled thoughts and form their own opinions about the machinations of those we elect to spend our hard-earned tax dollars.  

This week’s Volusia County Council meeting reminded why I increasingly regret that decision… 

On Tuesday, our elected dullards in DeLand engaged in a shambolic and confusing “discussion” of continued funding for the enigmatic First Step Shelter, a program embroiled in controversy that (we’re told) exists to provide permanent housing solutions for Volusia’s homeless population.

As usual, it didn’t end well for longsuffering Volusia County taxpayers when the agenda item – camouflaged as a “presentation” – resulted in a disastrous expenditure of unbudgeted public funds without adequate public advertisement or input…   

In 2017, as part of an interlocal agreement with the City of Daytona Beach, Volusia County contributed a onetime $2.5 million to underwrite construction of the facility on city owned land off US-92, and another $2 million for initial operations, paid in installments of $400,000 annually over five years.

That agreement expired in September 2024, and no provision was made in Volusia County’s 2024-25 budget to continue funding.

The advertised “presentation” for additional funding occurred amidst the shitstorm surrounding numerous allegations brought by three former senior staff members turned whistleblowers of fraudulent practices, financial irregularities, rule violations that created a dangerous environment for staff and clients, discrimination, and workplace harassment at First Step Shelter.

Rather than properly investigate these serious allegations of potential misconduct, the First Step’s Board of Directors engaged in a blatant coverup, voting to end a cursory inquiry before it produced anything of substance, leaving Volusia County taxpayers to question what those with a fiduciary responsibility for the expenditure of public funds are trying to hide?  

Adding insult, the First Step board engaged in destructive blame deflection, victim shaming, and character assassination before any investigative report was made public (it still hasn’t been released) – an orchestrated defamation that destroyed the reputations of three brave whistleblowers – contemptuous bullying that sent a chilling message to any other First Step employee having knowledge of malfeasance or misconduct who would dare come forward.  

Then things went from bad to worse… 

In a disturbing December 2024 article in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, reporter Eileen Zaffiro-Kean reported on a massive lawsuit filed against the First Step Shelter and the City of Daytona Beach:

“The suit filed early last week alleges the two former employees, Patrick Smith and Pamela Alexander, were fired in retaliation for their extensive complaints against the shelter, and that they’ve been publicly defamed by the city and shelter.

The city is named as a defendant because it’s intermingled with the shelter. The city owns the shelter building west of Interstate 95, has oversight powers of the shelter board and has contributed $400,000 per year since the shelter opened five years ago. The city also set up the nonprofit agency that became First Step Shelter, Inc.”

Yet, in the midst of lawsuits, turmoil, and lingering questions regarding the validity of the statistics used to prove First Step’s “success” (numbers provided solely by the First Step Shelter’s administration – the very administrator that has been accused of mismanaging financial reports) Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins ignored the unresolved allegations and pushed to throw more taxpayer dollars into the First Step pit – while FSS board member Mike Panaggio used his three minutes to tell us all how important he is… 

Bizarre.

After some confusing banter on the dais – which never adequately resolved where the unbudgeted money will come from – Councilman Jake Johansson spiked an idea initially setup by Councilman David Santiago and made a clearly orchestrated motion to continue funding the shelter in a graduated five-year scheme paying an extraordinary $400K, $300K, $200K, $200K, $200K annually.

Performance requirements?  Nah.   

Requiring the release of the investigative report?  Nah.

Use of the facility as an actual homeless shelter?  Nah.

Ordering a formal investigation into the whistleblower complaints of malfeasance, harassment, financial irregularities, and retaliation?  Nah.

Demanding that Executive Director Victoria Fahlberg be replaced?  Nah.

Instead, they directed County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald to “find” the cash (from where?) – then dole it out to First Step based upon numbers and assertions that may or may not be factual – no questions asked…   

Per usual, Chairman Jeff Brower was ignored when he called for Fahlberg to be replaced before considering underwriting First Step for another five-years.  He then voted against Johansson’s cockamamie motion, along with District 1 Councilman Don Dempsey and District 4 Councilman Troy Kent.

During an interview with Sheldon Gardner of The Daytona Beach News-Journal following the meeting, Director Fahlberg arrogantly lectured Chairman Brower while taking a final swipe at the whistleblower’s allegations, heaping even more liability on the First Step and the City of Daytona Beach:

“I think that Chairman Brower should stop listening to gossip,” she said.

She added that Brower should trust the shelter’s board to do the right thing.

Fahlberg said she “was very grateful” for the council’s decision on Tuesday.”

I’ll bet she was.

Because any board of directors or elected body concerned with maintaining the public’s trust in this important service would have shown Fahlberg the door months ago…  

In my view, this assholery represents another disastrous failure of Volusia’s stagnant “Old Guard” – another asinine decision that evidences their inability to think independently, demand transparency, or exercise their sworn fiduciary responsibility in the public interest – and best exemplifies why the obstructionist “RINO Faction” of Johansson, Robins, Reinhart, and Santiago should never be elected to any position of public responsibility again… 

Volusia School Board Chair Jamie Haynes – Part Trois  

There is one constant in Volusia County governance, regardless of the elected body – our influential insiders who control the rods and strings of public policy prefer a Gumby-like malleability, lockstep conformity, a wobbly moral compass, and an unshakable loyalty to protecting the status quo – from those they underwrite for public office.  

Independent thinkers who rely on their own experience, judgement, and perceptions to make decisions, eschew the near constant cheerleading that mask entrenched problems, and demand more from those who accept funds to serve in the public interest than mediocrity and repeat mistakes are not welcome here…   

Why is that?

Last week, the distracting saga of embattled former Volusia County School Board Chair Jessie “Whackadoodle” Thompson continued amidst calls for her resignation from the board by Jenifer Kelly, chair of the Volusia chapter of Moms for Liberty. 

Unfortunately, Ms. Thompson once again demonstrated her complete lack of shame – apparently buoyed by the support of some unnamed heavy-hitters in “Fun Coast” politics – and vowed to remain ensconced on the board despite her egregious conduct during a Moms for Liberty conference in Washington D.C. last year.

Many were shocked to see Thompson on video making disparaging comments about students, belittling other board members, and her disturbing open admission that she lied to her colleagues and presented false information to manipulate a contract with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.   

According to an informative report by Mark Harper writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal:

“Thompson suggested in a text message to The News-Journal that there are others in her corner.

“Her call for my resignation has been overshadowed by an outpouring of support from people both in Volusia and the state of Florida,” Thompson said. “There is still work to be done, and I’ve promised teachers, parents and students that I will stay and continue to work to make VCS a beacon of education.”

Trust me, there are some serious politics playing out behind the scenes.  But even a self-absorbed dullard like Thompson should have the situational awareness to understand that she’s damaged goods – because stakeholders and taxpayers can never trust her again – despite what her handful of influential “supporters” may be telling her.

During the board’s recent organizational meeting, Superintendent Carmen Balgobin fumbled and stumbled her way through a clumsy vote to fill the vacancy.  With little discussion, newly seated member Krista Goodrich immediately nominated Jamie Haynes for her third chairmanship in as many years (?). 

To her credit, recently elected board member Donna Brosemer rightfully challenged the nomination, citing Haynes mysterious negotiations that brought Balgobin a lucrative new three-year contract last month, something Ms. Brosemer described as “grossly unethical.” 

Because it was…

In explaining that she was a “hard no” on Haynes assuming the leadership for a third consecutive term, Brosemer asked if Haynes could tell her when public notice was given to the board that the Superintendent’s contract was being considered for renegotiation?

Haynes’ silence was deafening – which resulted in Balgobin abruptly cutting off further discussion before the 4-1 vote ensured the status quo.

Then, member Ruben Colón – whose ethnicity was used by Thompson as a crude joke during her tirade – nominated himself for Vice Chair.  The move was seconded by Brosemer and squeaked by on a 3-2 vote with Goodrich and Thompson voting against Mr. Colón…   

For her part, during public comment, Moms for Liberty Chair Jenifer Kelly put Thompson on notice, as reported by the News-Journal:

“She lied to all of you because you are all too lazy to read contracts,” Kelly told the board. “She fed you all false information because she didn’t like you and wanted to get under your skin in an attempt to make magical changes for safety and security with the contract with the sheriff’s department. Did we ever find out what that lie was?”

Kelly then called for Thompson to quit or face removal.

“If you choose not to do the right thing for the students in Volusia County and step down, there are other ways to have your removed. One, by the governor. Two, by recall.”

The criteria for either method of removal include malfeasance and misfeasance, which Kelly said “definitely” apply to Thompson.”

In addition to Ms. Kelly, there is a growing number of inquiring minds throughout Volusia County who want to know if/when a state or federal law enforcement agency charged with protecting the public’s trust in the school board’s contracting and procurement function will launch an investigation into Thompson’s admitted misconduct and determine exactly what she lied about – and why…   

Ormond Beach City Commission – An Example for Commonsense Growth

Earlier this week, the Ormond Beach City Commission took another bold step in the fight against malignant overdevelopment when they denied a rezoning request, development order, and amendment to the Hunter’s Ridge Development of Regional Impact that would have resulted in construction of a 31-home subdivision on a 50-acre tract near already congested West Granada Boulevard (SR-40). 

The Little Tomoka Village would have included a church and community center and came before the Commission with a 4-2 vote to approve by the city’s planning board.  According to reports, most of the planning board members favored the concept over the 50-multifamily units permitted under the DRI and existing zoning.

According to a report by Associate Editor Jarleene Almenas in the Ormond Beach Observer this week, “…commissioners felt that, though the project was proposing to reserve the majority of the 15 acres of wetlands onsite, the risk to nearby homes — which are already seeing some flooding — was too great.

“I just feel like when we pave this with the parking lot, when we put these lots raised up, because it’s going to need a lot of fill, that we’re going to have potential flooding issues because it’s going to flood into the wetland area and it’s going to flood into the neighborhood behind it,” Commissioner Travis Sargent said.”

As evidence of what could happen if thirty homes and other structures were allowed, Art Loguidice, a longtime resident of the area, produced photographs of flooding after storms claiming that a creek that normally drains the property isn’t being maintained.  

According to the report, Mark Watts, the very capable land use attorney representing the developer offered the time-honored Chico and the Man legal defense – that’s “Not my yob, man” – claiming the issues brought by three residents of the area were “…outside of the boundaries of his client’s property.”   

During discussion, the Commissioners spoke of the importance of doing their part to address stormwater issues that many in Volusia County believe has led to development-induced flooding due to fill-and-build construction practices.

Commissioner Kristin Deaton was quoted by the Observer explaining the “development didn’t make sense.”

“I ran my campaign on a ‘Make it make sense’ mentality when it comes to development,” Deaton said. “This doesn’t make sense to me.”

Thanks, Commissioner Keaton.  I know some other elected officials who should employ your commonsense metric for future development… 

Kudos to the Ormond Beach City Commission for using logic, compassion, and strategic vision to stop the hemorrhage while finding solutions to the most pressing issue of our time.

Bethune-Cookman University – A Leader Takes His Leave

In recent years, Bethune-Cookman University was slowly continuing to distance itself from the abject disasters of the 20-teens, when a raging financial and academic conflagration resulted in crippling lawsuits and claims of corruption against former B-CU president Dr. Edison O. Jackson – a horrific period of failed leadership and abject greed that saw this historical community asset brought to the brink of extinction.

It was a time when some familiar names fled the Board of Trustees – claiming they were not given “all the information” regarding the University’s near fatal condition – while others saw the handwriting on the wall and made a dash for the door.  The list of our area ‘movers-n-shakers’ who failed to maintain a fiduciary overwatch on the University’s finances is long and distinguished.

For a time, there was concern that the University’s accreditation was in danger – something that would have resulted in the sad demise of Dr. Bethune’s dream…

Last week, those long simmering tensions boiled over after the Board of Trustees split on hiring current interim president William Berry, despite the fact the University’s presidential search committee recommended his appointment.  In September 2024, the committee voted 11-5 to name Berry the sole finalist before the Board of Trustees deadlocked during a vote taken several weeks later.

Late last week, News-Journal reporter Mark Harper gave insight into the resultant student protests and sit-ins organized by the Student Government Association demanding the resignation of five board members.  

“This has had some students unhappy that the board was unwilling to hire Berry, a figure who has become beloved by students.

“The students are going to continue to stand firm in what our demands are, for those five (trustees) to resign, and Dr. Berry to be named,” said Eternity Bradshaw, student body president.

The five trustees are four who voted against Berry plus Pete Gamble, who abstained from voting.

Bradshaw made reference to one of the reasons a board member had given as to why Berry was not the choice.

“I heard he didn’t have the balls to run the university. I heard that you guys like him as a person but not to give him the keys to the university. If I’m wrong, please let me know,” Bradshaw said.

Trustee Jennifer Adams – another of the no votes – questioned where Bradshaw heard that comment.

Board Chair Belvin Perry, Jr., said he had heard Gamble say Berry “didn’t have the balls” to run the university.

“That is a true statement,” Perry said. “I heard that with my own ears.”

Gamble responded: “I did make that statement. … And I told Dr. Berry that I was neutral, and I didn’t hear you say that I abstained from voting.”

On Friday, in a bold statement, Judge Belvin Perry, Jr. resigned as President of the Board of Trustees after agreeing with the concerns of students, and expressed his belief that the recent turmoil will reverse the gains made in recruiting students and faculty. 

“If you have no students you have no university and they have totally ignored and marginalized these students,” Perry said.

To his credit, Perry will stay as a member of the board. 

I agree with Judge Perry, the Board of Trustees is “anti-student,” and it is high time for change on Dr. Bethune’s venerated campus.

After four years without a sitting president at B-CU, it has become clear to anyone paying attention that the various iterations of the board have been more interested in installing a puppet who will allow their meddling – rather than a strong leader who understands the role – and the challenges faced by this important institution.

Thank you for your leadership on this issue, Judge Perry – and for your support of students who are rightfully demanding better.

Quote of the Week

“City staff brought a contract to city commissioners on July 3 to buy 230 N. Beach St., but the mayor and a few commissioners were uncomfortable with the agreement and delayed a decision.

City staff has said there could be up to $3 million worth of renovation work if the city acquires the building. That $3 million, and another $4.4 million to buy the structure, would come from excess permits and licensing funds the city has to spend down to comply with state regulations.

When City Commissioner Stacy Cantu checked out the property in July, she saw work being done inside and both Dumpsters and trash cans jammed full with building materials she suspected contained asbestos.

She grew concerned for the workers hauling out the debris who weren’t wearing protective gear, and the waste removal workers who would be hauling away what was put in trash cans.

In early July she filed a formal complaint with the DEP that sparked the investigation. Once DEP investigators got inside the building, they say they found enough disturbed areas to trigger a close look.”

–Journalist Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, as excerpted from her report in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Florida DEP finds riverfront Daytona Beach building had multiple asbestos violations,” Friday, January 17, 2025

Kudos to Daytona Beach City Commissioner Stacy Cantu for her diligence and oversight in reporting a hazardous situation to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and courageously defending the best interests of Daytona Beach taxpayers, Beach Street merchants, and visitors.

For her trouble, Commissioner Cantu took some heat last year when she stood firm and challenged the city’s consideration of the 63-year-old, 32,000 square foot, multistory office building at 230 North Beach Street ostensibly to house just 28 employees of the city’s permits and licensing department.

In Eileen Zaffiro-Keans’ excellent report, we learned a DEP investigation uncovered seven asbestos violations, resulting in a consent order including abatement measures, massive fines, and civil penalties for apparent mishandling of the deadly substance.

Even if the building’s owner complies with the consent order, “…within 60 days he would need to pay the DEP $186,440 to settle the regulation violations. That fine includes $180,000 for civil penalties, $3,940 for economic benefit, and $2,500 for costs and expenses the DEP incurred during the investigation…”

According to the report, under the agreement the owner has the option to “…have 45% of the $180,000 civil penalty offset by implementing a pollution prevention project that would have to be approved by the DEP. The project would have to reduce pollution or waste beyond what is required by federal, state or local law to be eligible for the civil penalty offset.”

I’ve said this before, in my view, Daytona Beach taxpayers have no greater advocate than Stacy Cantu. 

It is clear Ms. Cantu will not have her voice or enthusiasm for service suppressed by anyone – nor should she.  While some may find her sharp elbows uncomfortable (including me, on occasion) in this case, her efforts averted a potential financial and environmental disaster for taxpayers.     

As an elected official, Ms. Cantu understands that her role is to remain vigilant, and she does an outstanding job of keeping watch, always fiercely independent and attentive to the concerns of her constituents.

Well done, Commissioner Cantu.

We need more leaders willing to stand tall and ensure that local governments are looking out for the best interests of their constituents here on the “Fun Coast.”

And Another Thing!

“As Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. bills it as “a city of destiny,” Deltona continues to solidify its reputation as the most interesting city in East Central Florida.

“We need change, … and take away the nasty remarks that have been made,” freshman Commissioner Emma Santiago said at the City Commission’s Jan. 6 meeting. “We will no longer endure any nastiness and bullying.”

Sensing Deltona’s public image is largely formed by the discordant and often raucous ways in which its elected leaders and their constituents conduct themselves at official meetings, City Manager Dale “Doc” Dougherty drafted a set of standards to remake the way the government of the largest city in Volusia County appears and behaves. The meetings, often replete with vulgar and coarse language, are livestreamed and can be playbacked via the city’s website. The potential audience extends well beyond Deltona.

The latest move affecting the public-comment time at commission meetings comes a few months after city officials stopped streaming and televising that opening half-hour segment of the regular meetings. Critics have complained that that action amounts to a suppression of free speech and that it deprives Deltonans of the opportunity to become better informed about what is happening in their city.”

–Reporter Al Everson, West Volusia Beacon, as excerpted from “Public discourse in Deltona: The best free show — if you can see it,” Tuesday, January 14, 2025

I prattle on, ad nauseam, about the importance of freedom of speech. Those inalienable protections that allow us to express ourselves, form an opinion, articulate our viewpoint, question those in power, criticize our government, and engage in the spirited debate of civic issues and peaceful dissent.

Because, for now, I still can… 

By definition, the great George Orwell, author of the eerily prophetic novels Animal Farm and 1984, said, “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” 

Especially those who hold power over our lives and livelihoods.

According to reports, Deltona City Manager Dale “Doc” Dougherty – who desperately wants to change Deltona’s raucous image – recently proposed a series of controversial “rules” and over-the-top diktats (such as allowing Mayor Santiago Avila, Jr. to sanction anyone deemed to have “excessive body odor”?) under a subjective policy titled “Disorderly Conduct at Meetings Prohibited” including a “DECORUM POLICY.”

Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, when one thinks of the two most dysfunctional and inaccessible local governments in the region, the Volusia County Council and the Lost City of Deltona rank right at the top. 

One thing both entities have in common is repeatedly attacking the public’s right to address their elected officials.  On Tuesday, several of our “representatives” on the Volusia County Council let us know in no uncertain terms that these are their “business meetings” – and they would prefer if We, The Little People kept our cake holes shut, email any piddly-ass problems we may have, and stop the timewasting grandstanding at the podium.

(Seriously.  Councilman Jake Johansson believes the only reason Volusia County taxpayers seek to participate in person is because “…it’s the only time you can communicate on the podium in front of the TV so you can go watch yourself later…”)

Don’t take my jaded word for it, watch Item 6 here: https://tinyurl.com/my537vc2 The fun begins at 2:04:46…

Look, I don’t live in Deltona – but if you care about good governance in your own backyard, you should care about good governance everywhere – and as a large and influential municipality in Volusia County what happens in that troubled community ripples across the region. 

For instance, when potential entrepreneurial investors consider relocating job-producing enterprises here, they use government stability and accessibility as an important metric. 

Unfortunately, Deltona continues to struggle with the concept of meaningful public participation and the ability of citizens in a free society to express themselves, provide substantive input, seek redress of grievances, disagree, and voice their opposition. 

What are they afraid of?

Now, it appears Commissioner Emma Santiago, the wife of development shill and Volusia County Councilman David “No Show” Santiago (who has repeatedly attempted to stifle public participation in County Council meetings) only wants to hear from those who appear before the Monarchy with hat in hand and genuflect before the elected elite – and anyone she perceives as engaging in “nastiness and bullying” will be silenced.  

In other words, under her benevolent dictatorship, Commissioner Santiago wants to suppress your point of view unless it involves happy talk, cotton candy clouds, and big rock candy mountains…

Bullshit.

Where is the legitimate and compelling government interest in refusing to broadcast taxpayers voicing their concerns during the public participation period on Deltona TV, a publicly funded channel billed as the “communication and information channel for the City of Deltona”?

In the view of many, it is time for thin-skinned Deltona officials to stop the suppression of public participation to hide dissent and embrace the constitutional protections that allow citizens to voice their opinion, criticize decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods, and provide essential input on public policy.

Earlier this week, Mayor Avila posted copious pictures of himself on Facebook – dressed in his expensive finery and rubbing elbows with other tuxedoed politicos at elegant soirees during an official visit to Washington D.C. – while railing against the suppression of free speech by social media platforms:

“I don’t usually post about world politics here, but this one can’t go without comment. It’s quite rich for China to critique the United States over TikTok bans and claim it’s a violation of 1st Amendment rights. This comes from a country where citizens can’t freely practice their religion, criticize their government, or enjoy true free commerce—just to name a few examples. The hypocrisy is truly sickening.  #FreedomMatters #StandForLiberty”

I agree.

Take a look in the mirror, Mr. Mayor.  Your hypocrisy truly is sickening… 

That’s all for me.  Have a great Rolex 24 weekend, y’all!

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…

Volusia County Council – A Confederacy of Cowards

“Self-interest lies behind all that men do, forming the important motive for all their actions; this rule has never deceived me…”

–Marquis de Sade

Once again, that tormented degenerate was proven right… 

On Tuesday, when Volusia officials were faced with a critical decision on the most galvanizing issue of our time – ultimately, their own self-interests prevailed. 

And future generations lost…  

I didn’t think it possible, but this week our elected officials did what they do best and kicked an issue that has now labeled the “Fun Coast” as the most flood-prone region in the state (seventh in the nation) even further down the dusty political trail when they did absolutely nothing of substance to address development-induced inundation across the width and breadth of Volusia County.

From political insulation committees and additional costly (and useless) studies to Jake Johansson’s condescending lectures, Troy Kent’s exhausting overexuberance, and David Santiagos political mini-moves – the special meeting to discuss a tap of the brakes on the malignant sprawl that is destroying the quality of life of taxpayers devolved into another exercise in strategic procrastination.  

That farce proved that, in Volusia County, you get what you pay for…

During this week’s well-choreographed waste of time, Councilman Kent was right when he described the positions on the dais of power as “rented seats” – because it is now painfully clear that the loyalties of those who occupy them have been bought and paid for by influential insiders – and a building moratorium was dead on arrival.

It was frustrating watching anguished residents approach the podium and plead for their very lives before that phalanx of deaf ears – those stone-faced gargoyles who ignore their constituents while relying on a demonstrably incompetent senior staff to tell them what they want to hear – using bureaucratese and double-talk to explain all the reasons why the elected body can’t protect existing residents from flooding. 

So, we get more of the same. 

More studies equal paralysis by analysis – taking existing studies and combining the separate pieces into one, then taking the comprehensive study and breaking it down into separate pieces – establishing impressive sounding “Czars” and do-nothing “subcommittees” that spread the political liability.

It’s a proven strategy for buying time.

Maybe next month someone will suggest another “Blue Ribbon Committee” – little more than a stationary bicycle that politicians use to burn the energy and enthusiasm out of engaged citizens working for change – anything that will put distance between Tuesday and the next “100 year” rain event…  

There was talk of cleaning canals (they don’t already do that?), purchasing the perennially flooded homes and properties of their repeat victims, “collaborating with the cities,” quibbling the definition of “wetlands,” yapping about more retention ponds, and “beginning a discussion” about the impacts of those massive sticks-and-glue apartment units that now blanket many areas of Volusia County in some sick post factum navel-gazing exercise.

There was hot air generated over the importance of establishing “relationships” with the St. Johns River Water Management District – a discredited “regulatory” agency that for years was operated like a Turkish bazaar by a former chairman – a cheap fixer who destroyed the public’s trust in the organization for a hundred years, facilitated the destruction of wetlands and wildlife habitat that were churned into muck, and permitted those who paid to play to turn natural places into moonscapes in an atmosphere where the fox ran the henhouse, ends justified the means, and the almighty dollar reigned supreme… 

Bullshit.

At the end of the day, Chairman Jeff Brower was the only one who supported a moratorium – a temporary means of limiting further harm by asking developers to stop shoving ten pounds of shit into a five-pound bag until already identified (but long-shelved) solutions could be implemented. 

That’s right, they’ve known about these “exciting solutions” for years.  In truth, various iterations of the Volusia County Council and their senior staff have been putting off Low Impact Development regulations for decades.

For instance, here’s a “Low Impact Development” dog and pony show Volusia’s Director of Growth and Resource Mismanagement Clay Ervin wasted our time with in 2018 https://tinyurl.com/482t2err remember? 

Sure you do, it contained this knee-slapper from 13-years ago:

“Now, more than ever, it is important to balance environmental and economic considerations in our daily operations. A sustainable future for Volusia County, and our entire region, will be based on solutions that include environmental, economic and social considerations.”

–Volusia County Council, 2012

(Sorry, I always get a hoot out of that one! “Balance.” That’s funny.)

I expect we’ll see this gem dusted off and trotted out again next month… 

For his trouble, Brower was (once again) publicly neutered by his cowardly and self-serving “colleagues” who clearly got marching orders from their overlords ahead of any discussion of the “M” word.

I thought it was magnanimous of Councilman Kent to “thank” Chairman Brower for taking his latest beatdown on the seminal issue of his campaign and accepting the ultimate outcome without an awkward fuss when he said, “Thanks for bringing this to the forefront because now there’s action and change, and a huge part of it is because of what you did.”

My God.

As Churchill said, “Tact is the ability to tell someone to shove that stupid idea up their ass in such a way that they look forward to the experience” or something like that…

The final humiliation of Brower and his supporters came when the tag team of Jake the Snake Johansson and David “No Show” Santiago made certain that any suggestion Brower may have had (to end fill-and-build development) was lost to mere lip service – ensuring that substantive solutions to development-induced flooding will languish in the bureaucratic ether for years…  

Now, we’re all victims.

In my view, Volusia County voters owe it to our grandchildren – who will ultimately suffer from the spinelessness we witnessed on Tuesday – to disrupt this cycle of pernicious procrastination in the face of crisis, and elect those with the courage to place the suffering and financial devastation of many over the greed-crazed motives of a few…

Priorities?

One of the things I enjoy about this blog site is helping readers (my neighbors) navigate the byzantine maze of (insert local government here), finding answers to often benign questions that their elected official or city/county manager could have explained in two-minutes but won’t.  

Sometimes I just commiserate with those at their wits end. 

One day I might set myself up a kiosk outside the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building in DeLand, or at various City Halls, put out two rocking chairs, and just listen to people vent.

Hearing the similarity of issues faced by residents causes me to question how those who grovel for our vote each election season can so easily shed their skin and become someone completely different when taking their seat on the dais of power. 

A lycanthropic transformation from a civically engaged neighbor with a fire in the belly, to a malleable finger-puppet with goals and priorities that suddenly don’t align with those of their longsuffering constituents…    

A symptom of that conversion is when an elected body collectively decides they no longer need the input or participation of those who pay the bills.  Enacting ludicrous “rules” limiting public comment with arbitrary diktats, claiming the “efficiency” of meetings is more important that citizen involvement in the policymaking process, then setting nonsensical and redundant urgencies that have nothing to do with community needs. 

Case in point, recently the City of Daytona Beach floated the idea of developing a $185 million “sports complex” on city owned property near the foundering First Step Shelter – a project billed as the next greatest economic driver since Daytona International Speedway was built 65-years ago…

In an informative article in December 2024, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported “If the facility does come to be, the hope is Daytona Beach would become home to more than 100 sports tournaments each year – everything from basketball to gymnastics to baseball. Concerts could even be held on the property.”

Not to be outdone, last week, the Volusia County Council kicked around the idea of putting its own $39 million sports complex on county owned land off Veteran’s Memorial Parkway in Orange City. 

Some members of the County Council said they want their complex to be an “economic driver” too… 

By saturating the market with publicly funded venues? 

According to reports, the proposed facility in Wild West Volusia would include eight multipurpose artificial turf fields, four rectangular natural fields, five restroom buildings, an 800-space parking lot, and the possibility of a BMX track and dog park. 

Per usual, no funding source has been identified for either proposal (which should send a shudder through the lower bowels of Volusia County taxpayers) with both Daytona Beach and Volusia County suggesting a “public-private partnership,” which around these parts historically means using tax dollars to eliminate risk and underwrite the profit motives of a well-connected private entity…

When you add the still simmering suggestion brought by Volusia County Councilman Don Dempsey to build a “state of the art” motocross track on yet to be determined county property – a project the county’s consultant estimated will cost $10.2 million in 2024 dollars – you begin to wonder if anyone in local government reads the newspaper, or understands the importance of keeping government the hell out of a free marketplace?    

Including the highly competitive sports entertainment industry.

For those keeping score, these pie-in-the-sky projects total a potential cost of $234.2 million for dueling sports complexes and a motocross facility at a time when Volusia County residents are pleading for flood relief, transportation infrastructure, utilities improvements, water quality and environmental protections, and other incredibly expensive upgrades to keep pace with explosive growth.   

I find it strange that money never seems to be a concern when it comes to “nice to haves.” 

But when elected officials are tasked with tightening their belt and funding needed infrastructure projects, We, The Little People have been conditioned to accept interminable delays, decades-long wait times, and massive cost overruns, while generations of bureaucrat’s slog through design, engineering, right-of-way acquisition, construction, etc., etc. – while the clock ticks and the bulldozers roar…       

County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald and County Attorney Mike Dyer

“The Volusia County manager and county attorney each received a 5% percent raise, opposed only by County Chairman Jeff Brower.

The County Council voted 6-1 to approve the raises during the performance review for both people. The council has authority over both the county attorney and the county manager positions.

County Manager George Recktenwald’s salary is increasing from about $259,041 to about $271,993. County Attorney Mike Dyer’s salary is going from about $242,138 to about $254,245.

Recktenwald and Dyer received mostly glowing reviews from the County Council on all counts. Brower offered a few criticisms, though.

Brower said while Dyer focuses on protecting the county from lawsuits, he’d like to see Dyer be more aggressive on protecting the property rights of constituents. He also said it feels like Dyer works against him sometimes.

“I would like to see you work as hard with me on items that I personally place on the agenda as chair as you do for any other item,” Brower said.”

–Reporter Sheldon Gardner, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Friday, January 10, 2025

As Volusia County stumbles into a new year some things never change.

Namely the continued protection and proliferation of an ineffectual and grotesquely bloated bureaucracy facilitated by complicit senior administrators who have dedicated their lackluster careers to preserving the status quo. 

In exchange for controlling the narrative and ensuring the public teat remains patent for all the right last names – those we have elected to represent our interests reward senior administrators with bizarre accolades – while stuffing even more of our hard-earned money into their already deep pockets. 

Don’t take my word for it. 

Despite a massive influx of federal relief funds – and the widespread protest of anxious residents whose lives have been repeatedly upended by development-induced flooding and the disastrous impacts of malignant sprawl – point your finger at one substantive thing County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald or County Attorney Mike Dyer have accomplished in the public interest since their last pay increase a year ago?   

I’ll wait…

Regardless, with the exception of their punching bag Chairman Jeff Brower, like clockwork, last week the majority of the Volusia County Council ignored the myriad issues facing their constituents (and many county employees) and gifted both Recktenwald and Dyer another 5% pay increase without any performance metrics, suggestions for improvement, or admonishment for the visionless stagnation by senior department heads that got us into this intractable mess in the first place.

Most disturbing, during his legitimate criticism of Recktenwald and Dyer (the best attorney real estate and fuel terminal developers have ever had), Chairman Brower divulged that “…he’s noticed a culture among some staff “where the victims of our flooding have become the enemies.” He said he hears things said about people that are out of line.

He said people need to be treated with respect and care.

“I’m detecting that sometimes that’s not happening, and they’re actually being blamed,” Brower said.”

You read that right.  

In my view, this best illustrates the “Us vs. Them” philosophy that permeates the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand – a place where those who accept public funds to serve in the public interest instead flippantly mock, blame, and disrespect citizens who suffer because of their ineptitude. 

With this disturbing behind-the-scenes insight now public, if Recktenwald refuses to clean house and start over, engaging senior officials who won’t demonize flood victims, then he must resign without severance.  

Add to that a County Attorney who has ingratiated himself with Volusia’s “Old Guard” by interpreting the law in a manner that thwarts every initiative put forth by Chairman Brower – heartless marionettes who would rather see your property and mine flood than admit Brower is right – and you see how desperate things have gotten under Recktenwald’s laissez-faire administration.     

Perhaps the most tone-deaf moment of the well-choreographed meeting was when At-large Councilman Jake Johansson, an announced candidate for Florida Senate, “…pointed out that Recktenwald makes less than Daytona Beach City Manager Deric Feacher ― a difference of about $32,863.

“It amazes me that Daytona Beach’s city manager makes that much more than our county manager does … Boy, that’s a lot of money for Daytona Beach. They do a lot, I understand. But it’s interesting to me.”

Wow.

What I find “interesting” is how Mr. Johannson prioritizes the allocation of our tax dollars…

In his backhanded swipe at the City of Daytona Beach, Jake the Snake exposed himself for who and what he represents – a haughty commitment to the arrogance of size and status that would have him pay a foot-dragging sluggard more than he is worth – simply to outpace another local government. 

In my view, that misplaced loyalty is not what we need representing Volusia County in Tallahassee… 

Quote of the Week

“Citing “aggressive and inappropriate” behavior with staff, the City of Palm Coast fired its utility director, Amanda Rees, in November, after just five months on the job. In a Dec. 4, 2024, letter, Rees defended herself to the City Council, saying the real reason for being fired is that she was bringing too many uncomfortable truths — about the wastewater treatment plants being overcapacity and growth’s failure to pay for itself — to city leadership.

The city, which has a standard six-month probationary period for new employees and so could fire Rees without cause if desired, responded this way: “While we understand that job separations can be emotional, it’s not uncommon for individuals to express their frustration in ways that paint a negative picture. The claims made in the letter are either untrue or misrepresented and do not accurately reflect the City’s operations or values. The City is committed to professionalism, fairness, and transparency in all employment matters.”

Rees indicated in her letter that city leadership suppressed her plans to correct the consequences of overdevelopment.

Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston told the Observer that staff does have a plan. In the coming weeks, city staff will present a Utility Action Plan to the City Council in response to the consent decree issued by the Florida Department Environmental Protection.

The city is in the final stages of expanding capacity at Wastewater Treatment Plant 2 from 2 million gallons per day to 4 million. That will enable the city to divert .5 million gallons per day to Plant 2 from Wastewater Treatment Plant 1, which is frequently near 100% capacity. The plan will give some relief to the system — but not enough relief yet to satisfy the state. To fully comply, the City Council will need to figure out how to fund more than $200 million for Wastewater Treatment Plant 3 — and build it by 2028.”

–Publisher Brian McMillan, Palm Coast Observer, “Fired director tells Palm Coast City Council that city ‘overpromised’ to developers,” Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Something stinks in Palm Coast.  Probably an overloaded wastewater plant…   

Last month, in a shocking letter to the Palm Coast City Council, now terminated utilities director Amanda Rees said the quiet part aloud: The city’s growth rate is quickly surpassing its water and sewer capacity – and the administration’s fear-fueled mantra “Growth pays for Growth” – is a damnable lie… 

Apparently, speaking truth to power is frowned upon at Palm Coast City Hall, where Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston prefers to paint a rosier picture of growth mismanagement, even after the Florida Department of Environmental Protection slapped the municipality with a consent decree requiring the expansion of its stressed wastewater utility – a project estimated to cost $200 million (most of that coming from rate increases for existing residents) – while the city continues to push full steam ahead with its asinine “westward expansion.”

In her November 23, 2024, letter to City Council members, Ms. Rees explained her reticence to sign the order:

“When we received the Consent Decree from FDEP, I reviewed the document. I had concerns about signing two clauses in the document because it threatened my imprisonment for what I could understand was stating that the City of Palm Coast did not in the past or would not in the duration of the consent decree use sewer rates to pay for any other projects that were not capacity related. Since I had been made aware in budget meetings that the council had approved a loan that transferred money from the Utility Enterprise fund to the General fund to pay for a road, I was concerned about signing the document.”

Can’t say I blame her. 

I wouldn’t want to go to jail for how mercenary elected officials shuffle money around during a period of hyperaggressive growth either…    

In my experience, a consent order would normally be signed by either the Mayor or Acting City Manager, so why would a department head (read: scapegoat) be asked to enter an agreement between the City of Palm Coast and FDEP involving hundreds-of-millions in capacity-related upgrades?    

(That said, I do think from this point forward – all allocations of public funds or legislative actions should come with a similar imprisonment clause.  One that ensures any Florida elected official who lies or quibbles the facts with constituents will be placed in stocks in the town square and given the Bastinado treatment…)

In addition, Ms. Rees wrote that when she explained a plan to Councilwoman Theresa Pontieri that would have developers pay for Pretreatment Effluent Pumping systems for new homes – something Rees believed would save the City of Palm Coast $30 million over the next five years – she received pushback from senior staff who apparently disagreed with her proposal (?).    

According to former director Rees, “This was one of my ideas to help the City with the rapid growth they were experiencing. After this meeting, my boss, Lauren Johnston, Acting City Manager, told me they had worked very hard to gain Councilwoman Theresa Pontieri’s trust over the years and implied that I was threatening it, by proposing solution to problems. This idea was quickly silenced, and we never discussed it again.”

Whoa.

Find Ms. Rees’ letter here: https://tinyurl.com/bdee5xhx

According to a January 8 report by FlaglerLive!, we learned of Palm Coast’s response to Ms. Rees’ serious allegations:

“The city consequently downplayed the letter’s claims in a statement issued today. “While we understand that job separations can be emotional, it’s not uncommon for individuals to express their frustration in ways that paint a negative picture,” the statement reads.

“The claims made in the letter are either untrue or misrepresented and do not accurately reflect the City’s operations or values. The City is committed to professionalism, fairness, and transparency in all employment matters. This letter reflects one person’s perspective and does not represent the dedication and integrity of our team or the work we do for the community.”

Nevertheless the statement downplays the city’s own response to the letter, which it has taken seriously, according to City Council member Theresa Pontieri–the only council member Reese singled out–even if not as a whistleblower action. “We’re looking into everything and taking seriously everything she put into her letter,” Pontieri said today.”

Every taxpayer of Palm Coast should find this disturbing.    

Time will tell how “seriously” the city’s elected watchdogs take the information provided by a former senior director with nothing else to lose… 

Here on Florida’s “Fun Coast,” far too often those with the courage to speak out and blow the whistle on mismanagement and maladministration in government and publicly funded services are quickly maligned as misfits and malcontents, a level of insulation that works to protect the status quo and those who benefit from it. 

Let’s hope the Palm Coast City Council takes a deep dive into Ms. Rees’ unique insights into the true cost of overdevelopment and current/future capacity issues – and her compelling allegations of retaliation for challenging the motives of those in power.   

And Another Thing!

Whenever government officials are caught with their thumbs in their backsides during a crisis, the universal dodge is, “Now is not the time for finger pointing…”

Yes, it is. 

In my view, as residents demand action on the growing disaster of development-induced flooding, it is time for senior officials in Volusia County government and elsewhere to own their failures on growth management, to look their waterlogged constituents in the eye and begin the difficult conversations, establish responsibility going forward, and find the right talent and experience to retroactively deal with our manmade stormwater emergency.

Allowing those who have been polishing the same wingback chairs in government offices for decades – so-called “professionals” who either knew or should have known the consequences of explosive growth without adequate infrastructure or engineering – to have any role going forward is the very definition of insanity.    

Yet that is exactly what the Volusia County Council did on Tuesday…

This week proved to be an eyeopener for many Volusia County residents who hadn’t realized just how dreadful things have gotten for many of their neighbors whose homes have been repeatedly inundated with development-induced flooding – and how indebted some of their elected officials are to those influential insiders who control the rods and strings of government here on the “Fun Coast.” 

In short, we learned what (and who) is important, and what is not.

The one thing that came through loud and clear following the special meeting to discuss a temporary building moratorium until a commonsense stormwater management plan and smart growth initiatives can be implemented, was who influences the outcome when development interests come up against the needs of existing Volusia County residents.

In my view, the fact we find ourselves in this incredibly expensive predicament is a testament to the abject lack of vision and strategic growth management measures by Volusia County and some municipalities that have allowed greed-crazed fill-and-build growth to spread like wildfire. 

Call it negligence, gross incompetence, or a willingness to look the other way in a legalized quid pro quo scheme that exchanges campaign cash for a development rubber stamp – but the damage is done. 

The only thing I know with certainty is how we find our way out of this dangerous quandary cannot be left to the same dullards who got us into it into the mess in the first place.

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

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:

City of Edgewater Building Moratorium – A Bold Step in the Fight Against Flooding

On Monday evening the Edgewater City Council did the honorable thing in approving a 12-month building moratorium to protect residents whose homes have been repeatedly inundated with development-induced floodwater.

The measure took the form of two ordinances, one placing a temporary halt on annexations, rezonings, planned-unit development amendments, comprehensive plan amendments, site plans, preliminary plats, and final plats, including development applications.  

The ordinance passed on a 3-1 vote with Councilwoman Debbie Dolbow voting against…    

The other passed by unanimous vote and adopts a temporary moratorium on the issuance of building permits “…that would increase impervious surface area such as, but not limited to, new single family homes, additions, attached garages, detached garages, sheds, pools, driveways, patios on any parcel within the Florida Shores Drainage Basin…”

The moratorium does not limit commercial or industrial development in properly zoned areas of the city.  In addition, reports indicate that some 4,000 residential units already entitled to development will be “eligible to proceed.”   

According to an article by Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Councilwoman Debbie Dolbow opposed the measure, raising questions about how tax revenue would be affected by the pause, where revenue would come from to fix stormwater problems, and the potential need to raise taxes down the road, among other things.”

On Wednesday, Ms. Dolbow posted on social media that she felt a permanent city manager should be “part of this process,” and the moratorium should not have been enacted until the stormwater masterplan is complete, explaining “The moratorium I was opposed to was the City Wide moratorium that delt with annexations, rezoning, etc. I felt these critical, much needed changes to our current Land Development Code and Comp Plan could have been accomplished without “shutting down” for a year.”

Many believe the pause represents a commonsense approach that will stop the hemorrhaging until a comprehensive solution to the widespread flooding can be found, and consider it a victory for threatened property owners, some of whom have spent multiple times their homes value on repairs.    

On January 14, the Volusia County Council will also have the opportunity to do the right thing and begin the process of implementing a temporary moratorium on new development in unincorporated areas until comprehensive growth management, stormwater, and smart building regulations can be put into place.

Chairman Jeff Brower suggested the temporary halt to new construction during the 2024 election.  Unfortunately, even the mere whisper of the “M” word has sent tremors through the powerful development community, and their sock puppets on the Volusia County Council are already working overtime to protect the interests of those who own the paper on their political souls…

For instance, during a contentious Volusia County Council meeting last November, frustrated flood victims gave nearly three-hours of emotional testimony ahead of the scheduled discussion of a temporary moratorium. 

Undeterred by the suffering of his constituents, Councilman David “No Show” Santiago moved to strategically postpone the discussion of countywide flooding – now considered the most serious threat to the public’s health and safety of our time – giving his handlers in the real estate development industry sixty additional days to ramrod fill-and-build development… 

That didn’t sit well with soggy flood victims fed up with the bureaucratic runaround.  

I’ve said this before, but the Volusia County Council’s persistent lack of definitive solutions and near-constant reluctance to do anything of substance is becoming a huge concern to anxious taxpayers. 

Now that development-induced flooding is too widespread to ignore – with Volusia County considered the most flood-prone location in Florida – it is time for residents to demand substantive action from their elected representatives, including a temporary moratorium to mitigate further damage, protect our property values, and restore our dwindling quality of life.

The special meeting of the Volusia County Council will start at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 14, in the Council chambers at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center, 123 W. Indiana Avenue in DeLand.

Volusia County School Board – A Question of Character

Accepting responsibility for ones acts and omissions is a key leadership trait. 

In fact, holding ourselves accountable, admitting blame, and accepting consequences is the highest mark of character, emotional intelligence, and personal courage.  It means taking ownership of our errors and shortcomings – never shifting fault to others, quibbling facts, or making excuses. 

History has proven that in the public realm constituents cannot have confidence in elected and appointed leaders who feel they are beyond accountability.  

According to reports, earlier this month, embattled former Volusia County School Board Chair Jessie “Whackadoodle” Thompson, sent an email to Superintendent Carmen Balgobin (?) announcing her intent to step down as School Board Chair after she disparaged Deltona High School students, referred to fellow board member Ruben Colón as a “tan gentleman,” and openly admitted to intentionally providing members with false information in order to pass certain items coming before the board.

Her meanspirited rant during a Moms for Liberty conference in Washington divulged that Thompson “…worked with our sheriff’s department to get something put into that contract, and then they voted to pass it without reading it through.  It was magical.

It wasn’t “magical.”  It was a lie.

In my view, Ms. Thompson’s fellow board members – and Volusia County taxpayers – have a right to expect their elected officials won’t use blatant falsehoods to push public policy or personal agendas…     

In December 2024, Thompson issued a lukewarm apology for her off-the-wall comments – which included describing her relationship with colleagues as “I’m hated by the rest of my board, and I can deal with that emotionally. They’re not nice people,” and offering her weird assessment of the motivation of newly elected board members Donna Brosemer and Krista Goodrich.

In her weak mea culpa, Thompson described her words as “poorly chosen,” claiming “I am sorry to the board that I sit with that my words caused you sadness and anger,” in other words, “Sorry I triggered you snowflakes…”

Unfortunately, Thompson only resigned her leadership role and will retain her seat on the board.

No word yet if any law enforcement agency charged with public integrity investigations have opened an inquiry to determine the extent to which Ms. Thompson’s admitted artifice may have corrupted the district’s contracting and procurement system…

Why not?

This week, Victoria Encarcion of Daytona Beach, in an open letter published in the West Volusia Beacon, wrote in part:

“I believe Chair Thompson’s actions warrant an ethics investigation. There are serious questions surrounding her actions and whether they adhere to the ethical standards expected of a school board member. There are questions about the validity of information presented to the board, specifically regarding agenda items and the sheriff’s contract. There are concerns about what information was withheld or misrepresented.

This requires a thorough and independent investigation to determine the facts and ensure transparency and accountability. The public deserves to know the truth about these matters.”

In my view, the absence of an independent investigation sends a terrible message to other elected officials that “feeding false data” to colleagues and constituents to influence the allocation of public funds is just ‘bidness as usual’ in Volusia County…    

In addition, Ms. Thompson forgot who she works for (and why) when she directed her resignation to Superintendent Balgobin.  What she didn’t forget was to deflect blame for her own abhorrent personal and professional conduct by claiming there are unnamed people “who seek to make me their focus and detract from the real work that needs to be done.”

Well, so much for that whole ‘leadership by personal example, moral responsibility, and accepting blame’ horseshit, eh? 

In my view, Jessie Thompson is a talentless actress playing a difficult role; crafting and perpetuating an image and persona of what she thinks a “conservative” school board member should be – brash, controversial, a sharp-elbowed change agent – yet she lacks the political, interpersonal, and negotiation skills to effectively legislate public education policies without creating a false narrative.

It’s okay to be a good mimic of those you admire, but it requires the perception and intellect to decern the reasons behind the politics, ideology, and actions you parrot. 

Unfortunately, it appears Ms. Thompson has assumed an artificial identity she is intellectually ill-equipped for – and the resultant drama and divisiveness has nothing to do with the furthering the interests of Volusia County students, parents, teachers, and staff…

This travesty has been a distraction, another embarrassing blackeye, and on January 14, Ms. Thompson should do the right thing for Volusia County and take her leave.

First Step Shelter – How much more can we afford?  

Back in the 1970’s there was a commercial for an oil filter company with the hook, “You can pay me now, or pay me later…” – meaning you can bite the bullet upfront and purchase quality protection or pay for catastrophic damage after going with an inferior alternative.

I was reminded of that classic spot last month when it was reported that two former employees of the First Step Shelter who blew the whistle on possible financial irregularities and mismanagement filed a lawsuit against both First Step and the City of Daytona Beach alleging that they were retaliated against and publicly defamed after coming forward with their allegations.  

Because they were.

In a disturbing December 2024 article in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, reporter Eileen Zaffiro-Kean continued her excellent coverage of this colossal shitshow:

“The suit filed early last week alleges the two former employees, Patrick Smith and Pamela Alexander, were fired in retaliation for their extensive complaints against the shelter, and that they’ve been publicly defamed by the city and shelter.

The city is named as a defendant because it’s intermingled with the shelter. The city owns the shelter building west of Interstate 95, has oversight powers of the shelter board and has contributed $400,000 per year since the shelter opened five years ago. The city also set up the nonprofit agency that became First Step Shelter, Inc.”

The city’s embroglios with the enigmatic “shelter” go far deeper than that – all the way back to its obscenely expensive beginnings in the inner-sanctum of former City Manager Jim “The Chisler” Chisholm – someone not known for transparency. 

Now it looks like things are about to get even more costly for Daytona Beach taxpayers as the whistleblowers seek a jury trial and damages in excess of $50,000…

In my view, compounding the problem (and the liability) – rather than defend these whistleblowers after what passed for an inconclusive “investigation” by an outside attorney (an inquiry that amounted to little more than a few interviews) – some board members set about protecting Executive Director Victoria Fahlberg by publicly destroying the personal and professional reputations of the former employees, questioning their motivations, and shielding Fahlberg from serious questions regarding her management and oversight of the program. 

In a mind-bogglingly negligent action, the board allowed members to unleash their collective bile on the former employees in an open public meeting and on social media, calling their willingness to come forward with concerns “appalling and ridiculous,” a “scam,” and a “charade” – ensuring that no other First Step employee would ever dare come forward again.  

Would you?

Then, for reasons that have never been released or explained to those of us who pay the bills, the cowardly First Step Shelter Board voted unanimously to accept an incomplete investigation and stop any further inquiry into the serious allegations of fraudulent practices, rule violations that created a dangerous environment for staff and clients, discrimination, and workplace harassment. 

In my view, perpetrating a coverup in plain sight. 

In the aftermath, concerned taxpayers have questioned why the First Step Board engaged in such blatant deflection and victim shaming before the investigative report was made public?

To his credit, Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry, who serves as the First Step board’s president, has said publicly what anxious taxpayers have been thinking all along:

“There are things at the shelter that rise to a deep level of concern,” Henry said. “The situation we’re in is because of leadership.”

In my experience, when an appointed board member and the executive director of a publicly funded social service have goals and opinions that are counter to the interests of the governing/funding organization – in this case the City of Daytona Beach – then it is time for them to do the honorable thing and resign or be terminated.

Don’t look for either of those commonsense measures to be taken in this bizarre case…   

Now, the City of Daytona Beach is facing a massive lawsuit – and the Volusia County Council is rightfully withholding the bulk of the shelter’s annual funding until they can be assured taxpayers (and employees) are being protected from retaliation and financial mismanagement.    

It’s the right thing to do.

I’ve said this before, now is the time to mitigate further damage (and liability) by purging these heels from the First Step Board of Directors and allow space for those with the personal and fiduciary responsibility to begin the arduous process of restoring the public’s trust in the First Step Shelter before one more public dime is spent.    

Quote of the Week

“A section of Atlantic Avenue in Ormond Beach may be a dead zone for resorts, restaurants and other businesses.

Some prefer the word cursed while others use jinxed to describe locations and sections of streets that seemed destined for one business after another to fail.

No matter the descriptor of choice, the recent closings of Dalmare Italian Chophouse, The Wave Sports Bar & Grill, Makai Beach Lodge and the temporary shutdown of The Maverick Resort raised the specter the area isn’t particularly hospital to businesses.

Those four businesses are on a bit more than a one mile stretch of A1A, falling between Rockefeller Drive to the north and Howard Drive to the south, and join many others that have failed over the years.

“Every town has got those areas that just never seem to click,” said an employee of a business located along this corridor.

The employee asked for anonymity before referring to the two restaurant locations occupied by Dalmare Italian Chophouse and The Wave Sports Bar & Grill as hard for any business to stay open for long.

Even establishments that are doing well in the profit and loss columns might get shut down because of a storm, such as Hurricane Milton. It closed the Makai Beach Lodge and temporarily shuttered The Maverick.”

–Journalist Charles Guarria, Hometown News Volusia, “Business success disappears in an Ormond Beach ‘dead zone’,” Thursday, January 2, 2025

I found Charles Guarria’s interesting piece on the perennial “dead zone” that is A-1-A – a/k/a Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway – a commercially challenged stretch extending from Granada Boulevard south to be thought provoking, which is what a well written news article should do.

Perhaps the beachside is cursed by some ethereal witchery…

Or is it something else?   

Like old-fashioned neglect and a lack of strategic vision by those who accept public funds to serve in the public interest… 

In 2018, when “The Grippa Group” – a blue ribbon “beachside redevelopment” committee comprised of Volusia County’s best and brightest – issued their bureaucratically neutered final report listing ways our core tourist area could be revitalized, I wrote:

“Perhaps the Grippa Report can bookend the 2011 tourism study wherein the Volusia County Council paid $100,000 to an out-of-state consultant to conduct a review which concluded that our beachside “tourism product” was a serious impediment to attracting visitors and economic development, “…there is no “plan” for who is leading the effort and how these challenges can be improved.”

Now, fourteen-years later, there still isn’t.

For a better perspective, I encourage everyone to take a drive down Atlantic Avenue and absorb the “feel” of the area like a visitor might – sense that ‘down at the heels’ vibe, the remnants of our once famous “Boardwalk,” and the unwelcoming appearance that greets residents and those tourists we spend heavily to attract year, after year, after year…   

In order for entrepreneurial investment to be attractive and financially practical on the Halifax area’s blighted beachside, investors must be free of the bureaucratic formalities, exorbitant fees, mind-numbing applications, timewasting processes, and the repetitive hurdles that continue to force investors to walk away, small businesses to close, or relocate to more “business friendly” areas.

Sadly, rather than call our publicly funded (and horribly redundant) “Economic Development” types on the carpet and demand an explanation for where an estimated $120 million that was ostensibly spent in the area between Oakridge Boulevard and International Speedway Boulevard went, neglected residents and business owners have been ignored for so long they have come to accept the fatalistic view of those who should be working for positive change.    

For instance, in 2019, Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Nancy Keefer admitted during a walking tour of our blighted core tourist area that it may take “30-40 years” to turn things around.

As members of the Daytona Regional Chamber prepare to don their finery and throw its annual soirée (this year’s theme “Let Us Entertain You!”) – a time for everyone who is anyone in Halifax area high society to exchange plaques and accolades while Rome burns – perhaps the Chamber’s incoming Board Chair, Mike Sznapstajler, a land-use attorney with Cobb Cole Law Firm, can expedite “turning things around” beachside? 

Because, in my view, throwing your hands up and acquiescing to the stagnant status quo, rather than ‘rock the political boat’ isn’t a good look for a Chamber of Commerce, and it damn sure does nothing to encourage struggling beachside businesses who continue to fight a losing battle in the absence of any comprehensive revitalization plan. 

Am I wrong?  Probably… 

Slowly but surely, many are coming to the realization that the Halifax area (like much of Volusia County) lacks the talent and vision to turn things around in our core tourist area and elsewhere.  In my view, it is now time to bring in outside experts – a firm that specializes in urban planning, architectural and landscape design, and ‘placemaking’ that employs high-performance economic development professionals with a proven history of revitalization – then get the hell out of their way. 

Yes, that will require eliminating the lucrative “positions” of some current do-nothings – including the ‘good old boys travel club’ over at “Team Volusia” – but its now, or never… 

Fortunately, there are bright spots. 

Small businesses are lighting up Main Street, drawing crowds, and changing the character of the street – sparks of inspiration that continue to flicker amidst the darkness of economic futility –and give hope for the future of the Main Street Redevelopment Area and beyond.

I’m not talking about the artificial “New Daytona” over on Boomtown Boulevard or some contrived “theme” subdivision.  I’m describing a “real” beach town, and one of the most downtrodden tourist destinations on the Eastern Seaboard, a place that for reasons yet to be explained has been allowed to wither and die while areas west receive the attention, and money.

By now it should be painfully clear to anyone paying attention that those who pass for “economic development” gurus in the Halifax area have grown tired and visionless, content to use a gross form of corporate welfare cloaked in secrecy to attract the low hanging fruit of warehouse scutwork and untested aviation adventures – while ensuring all the right last names have their for-profit ventures underwritten with public funds – rather than work to foster a free, open, and level marketplace that supports the private investment we so desperately need.

And Another Thing!

As George R. R. Martin said in A Clash of Kings, “When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say.”

It’s a thinly veiled secret that the Lost City of Deltona is facing serious internal and external issues, real impediments to civic progress and good governance.  Unfortunately, given the sins of the past, more internecine turmoil is the last thing longsuffering residents need right now.    

In my view, now is the time when those at the top of the municipal government should embrace transparency and encourage community involvement and input.  That said, why did city officials resurrect ways to silence those who pay the bills and stifle dissention during the City Commission’s first public meeting of 2025?

On Monday, many Deltona observers were left wondering what in the hell City Manager Dale “Doc” Dougherty and Mayor Santiago Avila, Jr. were thinking when they posted an agenda item proposing adoption of a host of subjective rules for public meetings?

For the record, this isn’t the first time this horribly challenged municipality has gone down the rabbit hole of political insulation, but history always seems to repeat itself around these parts… 

For instance, during the tumultuous reign of former City Manager Jane Shang, it became glaringly apparent that Deltona’s elected and appointed officials had simply given up on the concept of truth, transparency, and honor in public service in favor of some shambolic shitshow that bore no resemblance to a functioning municipal government – a weird pastiche of Three Stooges slapstick wrapped in a gut-wrenching Greek tragedy.

Following one particularly raucous meeting in 2019, The Daytona Beach News-Journal did an excellent job of describing the chaotic scene:

“Explicit language from residents at the lectern addressing city commissioners was frequent, though sometimes hard to hear over occasional chants of ‘lock her up’ and other similar demands. There was even a profanity-laced tirade by phone from someone out of state made during the raucous proceedings for which at least one child was present.”

Strange times.

Admittedly, due to resignations and recent elections, things have taken a distinctly more civil and businesslike tone since those wild and wooly days of yore.  But I still hear rumors and rumblings about the intrigues and influences worming around behind closed doors at City Hall…

So, during this unusual period of relative stability on the dais, why poke the sleeping bear of citizen dissent?

Why add to the very real suspicions of taxpayers by freezing them out of public meetings, relegating their participation to a fleeting two-minute audience before the elected Monarchy, restraining them with one-sided rules that allow the often moody Mayor to shut them down, and demanding they jump through the ridiculous hoop of “requesting to speak” in writing before exercising their inalienable right to free speech?

On Monday evening, the Deltona City Commission voted 6-1 to table and ultimately workshop the controversial agenda item amending “operating guidelines,” rules, and procedures ostensibly designed to “…clean up and streamline” the conduct of public meetings. 

When I saw that newly elected Commissioner Nick Lulli cast the lone “No” vote – an elected official who has championed First Amendment issues after being brutally attacked for speaking his mind on civic issues – some residents felt he may have supported the measure – so, I asked him about it. 

Not surprisingly, Commissioner Lulli explained he knew that many in the community were opposed to the proposed rules – and he wanted to vote the matter down outright, rather than resurrect it for discussion at a workshop – time Mr. Lulli feels could better be spent finding solutions to excessive water rates and other critical issues facing Deltona.

Good idea.

In my view, the right of those who pay the bills to speak freely at public meetings forms the foundation of a representative democracy.  A constitutionally protected freedom that ensures our ability to voice a differing viewpoint, criticize government without fear of retribution, and express our thoughts on the administration of public policy and the allocation of tax dollars by meaningful participation in governmental actions that should not occur in a vacuum.

Sometimes that participation arouses the full range of human emotions, the spirited debate of ideas, a confrontation of philosophies, and righteous criticism – the necessary interface of free citizens and their duly elected representatives – often referred to as the “brutality of accountability” in a democracy.   

In my view, anything less is un-American – and ministerially self-serving for those who accept public funds to serve in the public interest.  

Unfortunately, far too often, those who hold themselves out for public office discover after the backslapping of the victory party that it’s a whole different ball game the first time they come bad breath-to-bad breath with an angry constituent. 

That’s when they learn not everyone is their friend – and even constructive criticism can sting. 

Unfortunately, efforts to armor their sensitive egos often result in ludicrous “civility ordinances,” and “Rules of Decorum,” asinine vanity regulations designed to pull the reins on vigorous debate and shield senior officials from the discomfiture of open criticism during public meetings.

Bullshit.

During my lengthy career in municipal government, I learned that constituents would accept honest mistakes, fee increases, and tax hikes if properly explained.  They’ll even put up with aggressive code enforcement – for a while anyway…

What they will not tolerate is having their rights to free speech and self-expression trampled for the convenience of the bureaucracy.

Nor should they.

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

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…

As we exit 2024 and look forward to the possibilities of the new year, everyone is talking about overdevelopment and its impacts on our quality of life. Let’s get into it:

‘No Vacancy’ – A Time for Commonsense Solutions    

“Even though we’ve added thousands of new homes and apartments in recent years, demand will continue to increase in the coming years which means more supply will be needed,” said Carl Lentz IV, managing partner of SVN Alliance Commercial Real Estate Advisors in Ormond Beach.

The ongoing surge in new construction comes amid concerns by some residents that overdevelopment is one of the causes for the increase in neighborhood flooding after major storms, such as Hurricane Milton in early October.

Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower has called for a temporary moratorium on new residential development until a solution can be found to address the issue of flooding.

“It could be for 12, 24 or 36 months,” he told The News-Journal recently, adding that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that such moratoriums are constitutional. “Thirty-six months is how long Lake Tahoe (Nevada) had it for. I don’t think ours would have to be that long. A moratorium would create the incentive for the county and cities together to formulate a comprehensive stormwater plan. We can’t do it independently anymore. We all have to work together.”

Lentz and local builders maintain that even if the council agrees to impose the moratorium, which is not a certainty, it should not affect projects that have already been approved.

That’s not how Brower sees it. “It should stop everything until we know what to do with the stormwater runoff. This is a very serious problem.”

“The only exceptions, in my view, would be for individual single-family homes on private property and commercial buildings. I don’t see them as the problem,” he said.”

–Business Editor Clayton Park, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Coming Very Soon, Builders Expect 2025 to be Busy,” Sunday, December 29, 2024

In 2021, when the “M” word was first being bandied about by anxious residents, I wrote down my thoughts explaining the obvious: 

When a hotel reaches maximum occupancy, management hangs a temporary “No Vacancy” sign to alert potential lodgers that the property has no available space.

That’s because the alternative – packing guests like cordwood into every nook and cranny, placing bedding in hallways and ballrooms, overburdening recreational amenities, gridlocking parking lots, and overcrowding limited facilities – is unsafe, unsanitary, and unsustainable.

Letting potential customers know there is no room at the inn is a short-term measure that protects from the ravages of excess and overuse, frees staff to meet current needs, ensures existing guests have a quality experience, and allows management time to plan – and improve infrastructure to accommodate more customers within set parameters – ensuring that expansion does not infringe on neighbors, current residents, or detract from the unique character of the place that made it attractive to so many.  

Unfortunately, our ‘powers that be’ here on Florida’s “Fun Coast” have failed to grasp (or manage) the myriad issues that occur when one attempts to shove ten pounds of shit into a five-pound sack – my crude metaphor for the malignant growth that has metastasized along the spine of Volusia County from Farmton to the Flagler County line.

With growth and resource management now the principal concern of residents across the region, why do those we have elected and appointed to represent our interests continue to ignore the real experiences and fears of their constituents?

Why do they put the nonsensical argument proffered by real estate developers and brokers that we have an obligation to provide housing stock for potential new residents in a self-fulfilling “build it and they will come” strategy ahead of the needs of existing residents who are crying out for help with the resultant flooding and infrastructure impacts?

In my jaded view, the short answer is money – and Exhibit A is the enormous campaign contributions showered on these malleable finger-puppets each election cycle – artificially large infusions of cash to a hand-select candidate’s war chest that result in a massive return on investment for those with a chip in the game…     

On January 14, the Volusia County Council will have another opportunity to do the right thing and begin the process of implementing a temporary moratorium on new development until comprehensive growth management, stormwater, and smart building regulations can be put into place. 

I’m not talking about pouring good money after bad into more “studies,” staff paralysis by analysis, spiffs to preferred contractors, or spending limited stormwater improvement funds on neglected repair and replacement of already outpaced infrastructure.   

If history repeats (and it always does here in the biggest whorehouse in the world) absolutely nothing of substance will be accomplished now, or in the foreseeable future – because the deck on the dais of power has been stacked – and the claustrophobic Grand Plan for your family’s future and mine has already been set behind closed doors.

At the risk of sounding defeatist, there’s not a damned thing anyone can do about it. 

Not now.  The fix is in – and our grandchildren will pay the price…

That said, I believe it is our civic duty to ensure that none of the self-serving marionettes currently sitting on the Volusia County Council are ever elected to another position of public trust.  

In my view, if they won’t listen to our concerns, or take definitive action to mitigate the identified threats posed by overdevelopment (and the cronyism that perpetuates it), then we have a moral obligation to replace them with those who will at the ballot box.

That starts by cultivating (and supporting) grassroots candidates and collectively guarantee that the foul political careers of those who sold us out to the highest bidder end on the fetid ash heap of history at our earliest opportunity.

Bunnell City Commission

“One person can make a difference and everyone should try,” is sound advice often attributed to John F. Kennedy – and adage that equally applies to governing councils and commissions responsible for preserving their constituent’s quality of life… 

The forests and swamps where I enjoyed nature in my youth have all but been paved over – lost to “theme” communities, “Planned-Unit Developments,” and grotesque “Developments of Regional Impact” – once pristine places where speculative developers ground pine scrub and hardwood forests into a black muck, then drained and filled wetlands in an obscene “hurt here, help there” mitigation strategy – leaving the wild places I once hunted, camped, and fished now blanketed with zero-lot-line wood frame cracker boxes from the “low $300’s.”

We, The Little People – hapless rubes who were led to believe the “system” served our interests – watched helplessly as glib real estate attorneys, developers, compromised legislators, powerful insiders, and marketing shills shaped regional growth management strategies and their projects transitioned from gated communities to “Cities within a City.”

My God.

Planning and development in Volusia and Flagler Counties are no longer an exercise in shaping growth – the art and science of planning neighborhoods, revitalizing downtowns, enhancing civic assets, ensuring adequate transportation and utilities infrastructure, making room for cultural and creative space, and preserving our historic places.

Now, the concept of “growth and resource management” has devolved into how quickly we can allow developers to cram more, more, more into increasingly confined spaces – then watch in disgust as our elected “representatives” shrug cluelessly when confronted with massive development-induced flooding…

In an incredibly unusual occurrence for a Florida municipality, last month, the Bunnell City Commission proved that it can be done and held firm to their community’s Land Development Code and upheld the November 2024 decision of the Planning, Zoning, and Appeals Board to deny an application for the developer of the perversely named “Reserve at Haw Creek” that would have reduced the amount of open space in the massive PUD from 60% to 50%. 

If built according to plan, the PUD will see some 6,000 to 8,000 new homes which will increase the population of the City of Bunnell exponentially…   

According to a recent article by FlaglerLive! we learned:

“Northeast Florida Developers has submitted plans to build the 6,000-to-8,000-home development (up from 5,000 to 6,000 just a few months ago) on 2,800 acres west and south of the urban center of Bunnell. Chad Grimm, who represents the company, argued to the city’s planning board last November that the exception, or variance, was necessary to allow for more single-family homes, which is more profitable. Otherwise, the company would have to make up in height what it lost in spread – meaning that it would have to build more apartments.

The planning board unanimously rejected the request, citing city rules. To win such exceptions, developers have to prove that they would face “hardship” otherwise – itself an objective set of criteria. The developer did not do so in this case. Northeast Florida Developers appealed the decision to the city commission. Monday’s vote upheld the planning board’s decision, denying the appeal.”

Kudos to the majority of the Bunnell City Commission for holding firm to existing land development codes, refusing to bend to the threats and profit motives of those who will forever destroy the culture of their community, and prove the adage that one entity can make a positive difference.    

In my view, a quote by Bunnell Commissioner John Rogers should be engraved in stone and distributed to all councils and commissions in the region:

“This just isn’t right for our city. Our responsibility is to ensure this development aligns with the community needs, the infrastructure, the capacity, environmental, sustainability.”

Amen.

Volusia Politics – A Change in Leadership

“Simply put, the Democrats have become the party of the institutions. Meanwhile, the Republicans now exist in a realm somewhere between suspicion of, and outright hostility to, the institutions. I believe this simple litmus test is our most salient political divide.”

–Douglas Ollivant, “Rappahannock Musings,” December 27, 2024

I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat.

I’m an infernal realist. 

Someone who recognizes what is politically possible in a given situation – grasps the ugly backstory others pretend doesn’t exist – and see things as they truly are, not the way some self-serving bureaucracy wants us to perceive them.

Power, money, and influence don’t impress me.  They never have – and I still cling to the naïve Myth of Fairness:

The old-fashioned notion that good citizens who contribute to our society, struggle to make a living in this artificial economy, pay increasingly onerous taxes, work hard to feed their families, and follow the rules form the backbone of our community – and they deserve better from those bait-and-switch posers we elected to represent our interests.

When it comes to politics, I am a true No Party Affiliate – right of center with moderate, even apolitical, views on most issues – and I rarely involve myself in the terrible divisiveness of the national battle for partisan dominance.

Make no mistake, there is a distinct reason me and 104,942 of my neighbors here in Volusia County are now NPA.  That’s 26.51% of all registered voters here on the “Fun Coast” and just 4,347 shy of the current Democratic roll…

Like my father and grandfather before me, I was a lifelong Republican, until it became apparent during the decadeslong war on the traditional values once shared by all Americans, the rise of identity politics, the loss of reason and compassion, the deification of politicians, and the resultant irreconcilable differences that have brought us to a place of lockstep partisanship.

That’s when I realized that neither party represents my views as a moderate conservative.

In local non-partisan elections, candidates fib and call themselves “Republicans” to gain a statistical advantage.  Unfortunately, we are invariably left with sitting officials who have no understanding of the classic concepts of conservatism or liberalism.  “Republicans” who support the exponential growth and strength of the bureaucracy with perpetual tax increases – while “Democrats” remain absurdly out of touch with the values and priorities of struggling residents.

Last month, the autocratic reign of former Volusia Republican Committee Chair Paul Deering mercifully ended when members had enough of his tyrannical horseshit and elected Maryann Pistilli, a bright and successful Republican operative who led President-elect Donald Trump’s Florida campaign, to steward the influential, if often shambolic, Volusia County Republican Party going forward.

Smart move.

The change was inevitable after Deering’s controversial manipulation of the “Official Republican Voter Guide” during the recent election, along with emerging details of a shocking federal lawsuit alleging gross racial discrimination and internecine bullying by Deering and his toadies… 

Across the sandy aisle, following their national thrashing in November, Volusia County Democrats ignored the hard lessons of 2024 and elected the hypereducated South Florida transplant and Margaritaville resident Nick Sakhnovsky as their new Chair last month. 

Some might suggest that Mr. Sakhnovsky represents everything that has disenfranchised traditionally Democratic voters – the wealthy eggheaded liberal living comfortably in a gated community spewing lofty rhetoric that no longer resonates with the working class.

Because he does… 

In a recent interview, Democratic utility player Rham Emanuel – who many party leaders are favoring for chair of the Democratic National Committee said, (Democrats) “…use language to feel good about ourselves, not to communicate. We all think we’re applying to be adjunct professors at a small liberal arts college. We don’t listen to people. We tell them how to eat their peas.”   

I think Chairman Sakhnovsky’s biggest impediment to his stated goal of luring NPAs to his side of the fence is the fact: Democrats have proven time-and-again that they hate independent thought.

In my view, Sakhnovsky – the former librarian and educator with a law degree, who was recently described by The Daytona Beach News-Journal as “…an Ivy League graduate (Dartmouth at age 19) with three graduate degrees” – is probably a nice guy, but his resume (and thought process) reads like the ultimate academic naval-gazing coastal elite that turned so many off in the last election…      

When asked by the News-Journal what differences he has observed between politics in South Florida and Volusia, his response spoke volumes…

“It used to be sometimes in Broward County that you’d see people switching parties in order to get elected, let’s say, going from Republican to Democrat… It is interesting to see, at least in the last five years, that I went from an environment that was essentially dominated by Democrats to one that was dominated by Republicans, so that required some attitude adjustment.

Being from Margaritaville, where most people are from outside of Volusia, the way we adjusted initially when I would talk with friends, who all are either relatively new to Florida or Volusia, certainly, was, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of nonpartisan races up here.’ And it’s hard to figure out who to vote for. So we actually started, two and a half years ago, a group of us there, started a political committee, it’s called VOTE!

Where its real purpose was to do voter education and advocate for better leadership, but to do it on a nonpartisan basis. Because I felt that was… I’m of the belief that no matter who is my representative at whatever level there is, I’m still their constituent…

That’s why I thought it was actually useful that the County Council (School Board and municipal offices are) nonpartisan… That’s a big change between Volusia and Broward, because in Broward, we call it a County Commission, but that is on a partisan basis in Broward. Not up here… Most voters want a shorthand, if you will, and a political party label is essentially a shorthand for a relatively amorphous, in many ways, set of values or policies. When it comes down to actual governing, sometimes the reality isn’t the same as what the amorphous sense of that reality is.”

What remains of the Democratic Party in Volusia County and beyond is in its death throes – and they have no one to blame but themselves.  In my view, if Mr. Sakhnovsky wants to make a true difference in local politics, he should stick with his grassroots committee VOTE! 

By organizing and leveraging the sizeable voting bloc that new subdivisions like Margaritaville, Mosaic, and others represent in nonpartisan local races, he could truly have a positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of his neighbors.     

The potential influence of thousands of new residents on local politics – and who will emerge to control the juggernaut (I don’t think it will be traditional party bosses or Volusia’s stagnant insiders) – is something observers have waited for. 

I don’t know how things are within the gated confines of his artificial beach community, but Mr. Sakhnovsky should understand the reality the rest of us have lived with for decades:

Here on Florida’s “Fun Coast,” pay-to-play politics are a means to a very lucrative end for those influential few with a chip in the game.      

In my jaded view, Volusia County is essentially an oligarchy – ruled by uber-wealthy insiders who control everything but the ebb and flow of the Atlantic tide – where powerbrokers select malleable candidates then fund their campaigns with massive personal and corporate contributions, and political labels are certainly not an indicator of “values and policies.”   

In Volusia County, abject greed remains the overriding ethos of those who control our destiny…   

As a result, many existing residents have lost confidence in what passes for “governance” – and our fractured relationship with those who hold themselves out for high office, then sell us out to the highest bidder – has resulted in the escalating “trust issue” no one wants to acknowledge in the Ivory Tower of Power.    

Instead, they continue to deflect blame – gaslighting constituents with strategic procrastination, denial, and contradiction – delegitimizing anyone who agrees with grassroots concerns while convincing themselves of their own infallibility. 

Sound familiar?

Here in Volusia County, “We, The Little People” – regardless of individual party affiliation – rightfully share a growing distrust of those elected and appointed officials who refuse to listen to our concerns, ignore the obvious, and kick the can down the dusty political trail on critical issues of universal concern.

Increasingly, angry residents understand that development-induced flooding, transportation infrastructure, overtaxed public utilities, water quality and quantity, and strapped essential services affect everyone equally, regardless of political persuasion.    

In my view, whoever harnesses this growing sentiment will become a true force for change in Volusia County and beyond – one that transcends party politics – a dynamism that is needed now, more than ever, on this salty piece of land we call home.     

(By the way, if you’re not reading Doug Ollivant’s excellent blog Rappahannock Musings, a unique and well-formed take on politics, the military, and international affairs by one of our nation’s foremost experts on national security issues, you can find it here: https://douglasollivant.substack.com/ )  

Quote of the Week  

“As a lifelong resident of DeLand, having called this beautiful town home since February 1970, it pains me deeply to witness the rapid and often reckless development reshaping our city and the surrounding unincorporated areas of West Volusia. While we understand the necessity of growth, the manner in which it is being pursued threatens to destroy the rural charm and close-knit community that make DeLand so special.

I am particularly disheartened by the proliferation of developments featuring 35-foot-wide lots, cramming as many homes as possible into small spaces. Where are the backyards where children can play, families can gather for quiet barbecues, and neighbors can connect? These overcrowded designs sacrifice the very qualities that make neighborhoods livable and enjoyable.

Equally troubling is the County Council’s apparent disregard for the voices of its constituents. Time and again, we’ve made our concerns clear: enough is enough. While it may be difficult to impose a complete moratorium on building, it is entirely within the council’s power to stop rezoning that enables these densely packed developments.”

–Tom Sutherland, DeLand, as excerpted from his editorial, “Protect what make DeLand unique,” The West Volusia Beacon, Tuesday, December 17, 2024   

In his well thought essay, Mr. Sutherland hit on two interconnected issues facing Volusia County residents on both sides of what remains of the Palmetto Curtain – rampant overdevelopment and the obstinate refusal of our elected “representatives” on the Volusia County Council to listen to their frightened constituents.

As Mr. Sutherland noted, “The devastating flooding caused by hurricanes Helene and Milton brought another issue into sharp focus. Poor drainage systems and a lack of thoughtful environmental planning exacerbated the destruction, displacing families and overwhelming infrastructure.

These disasters are stark reminders that our current path is unsustainable, and yet the County Council continues to “kick the can down the road.” Council meetings often end with delays and excuses rather than meaningful action to address these pressing concerns.”

In my view, Mr. Sutherland has voiced the frustrations of thousands of anxious Volusia County residents – especially those whose homes are repeatedly inundated with floodwaters now that “100-year Storms” have turned into biannual occurrences – taxpayers who are exasperated by political procrastination and are demanding to be heard on the most pressing issue of our time.

In November 2024, District 5 Councilman David “No Show” Santiago successfully pushed the discussion of a temporary building moratorium as proposed by Chairman Jeff Brower by disingenuously claiming, after years in local and state political office, that he still needed more information on regional flooding before deciding whether to assist threatened homeowners.  

Bullshit.

Santiago punctuated (and telegraphed) his thinly veiled motives with more of his timewasting bashing of Brower – doing anything and everything possible to put time and distance between public outcry and the next strategic postponement.

On Christmas Eve, Patricia Gertenbach of Ormond-by-the-Sea, issued a heartfelt entreaty to the Volusia County Council in an editorial published in the Ormond Beach Observer, which read, in part:

“A moratorium is drastic but not as drastic as losing your home, and there are many solutions to the flooding issues in between a moratorium and doing nothing: revitalize older areas with existing infrastructure; buy vacant land for stormwater storage “parks;” managed retreat; and no more building in vulnerable areas, to name a few. I implore the County Council to do what is in the best interest of their constituents.”

Me too… 

On Tuesday, January 14, beginning at 4:00pm, in the council chamber at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building, 123 West Indiana Avenue, DeLand, the Volusia County Council will discuss a temporary moratorium on development until flood mitigation and sustainable growth management regulations can be formulated.

Trust me.  I find it just as odd and conflicting as you that the Volusia County Council would select a date and time conflicting with a previously scheduled School Board meeting, but this is one you should not miss.   

Sadly, it appears Volusia’s stodgy “Old Guard” would rather your home flood than admit Jeff Brower is right – about anything – or tighten the reins on the greed-crazed sprawl that has enriched a few powerful insiders at the expense of many… 

I fear it will be little more than politics on parade – a good old-fashioned Volusia County kabuki – where the same clueless assholes who got us into this intractable mess will tell us how they plan to get us out of it – with all the gaslighting and scary stories you’ve come to expect from those shameless shills who so willingly traded their integrity, independence, and our quality of life for a pat on the head and a campaign contribution…

Time will tell.

Kudos to Tom Sutherland, Patricia Gertenbach, and so many others who are demanding action on this critical issue.

And Another Thing!

2025 – The Year of the Snake… 

“According to the Chinese zodiac, the Jade Emperor invited all the animals to a banquet in heaven, and the order of their arrival would determine their rank in the zodiac. The Snake was clever and cunning, and hid in the hoof of the Horse, who was running fast. When they reached the gate of heaven, the Snake jumped out and startled the Horse, making it fall behind. Thus, the Snake became the sixth animal, while the Horse became the seventh.”

–The Chinese Zodiac

Sounds familiar…    

When it comes to what passes for Volusia County politics and governance poisonous, ambitious, and enigmatic snakes abound. 

That’s one reason I rarely get my hopes up.

While the faces on the dais occasional change, the ‘system’ remains, and – for good or ill – the limitations of the county charter dovetail precisely with the formal restrictions of the council/manager form of government to make it impossible for one councilmember to affect even a modicum of change.

Even when those of us who pay the bills demand it… 

Since it became unfashionable to listen to the concerns of taxpayers, the county bureaucracy largely controls the focus of our elected officials – senior “staff” who invariably limit options by bringing narrowly defined “recommendations” that leave few alternatives.

When forced into a corner on critical issues, Volusia County politicians bolster their haughty sense of infallibility with the support of useful idiots, the giddy “Chamber of Commerce” set, and others beholden to the “system” – each of whom self-servingly do their damndest to add legitimacy to the deception and manipulation.

In turn, a few are thrown the occasional crumb – usually something everyone knows doesn’t have a snowballs chance in hell of coming to fruition, yet they continue to grovel for scraps – while influential insiders with a chip in the game gorge greedily…

Snakes, indeed.     

As a result, much of the published agenda is a foregone conclusion, nothing of substance happens, and the stagnant status quo is protected at all costs, with anything of importance decided in off the agenda votes without public input, or opposition. 

That’s not going to change.

But recently, things on the street have felt different to me.

For instance, in last year’s election, Chairman Brower once again proved that votes beat money, and despite the machinations of powerful forces working behind the scenes to hamstring his run for reelection, concerned voters saw Brower’s well-funded opposition for what it was.

Increasingly, Volusia County residents are beginning to call out the cheap-jack tactics of compliant waterboys like District 3 Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins, the obstructionism of David “No Show” Santiago, and the backhanded sabotage of Chairman Brower’s initiatives by At-Large Councilman Jake “The Snake” Johansson – whose recently announced run for state office is getting a frosty reception from waterlogged voters… 

It is apparent that strapped residents are beginning to demand something beyond the exponential expansion of that horribly bloated bureaucracy, exorbitant raises for senior administrators, and ‘more of the same’ for their tax dollars.  

That’s all for me.  Happy New Year, y’all!    

All the best for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2025!