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 of Cowards

“In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.”

–Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

The descriptor “self-serving” is defined as “serving one’s own interests, especially without concern for the needs or interests of others,” and “habitually seeking one’s own advantage, especially at the expense of others.”

In short, it is the antithesis of selfless public service.

On Tuesday, those sneak thieves on the Volusia County Council of Cowards essentially pilfered $4.62 million of your tax dollars in an elaborate ruse – public funds earmarked for conservation and ecological, cultural, historical, and outdoor recreation amenities – were used to grossly overpay for 356-acres of denuded cow pasture which is located within Florida’s dwindling wildlife corridor.

Why?

Because District 1 Councilman Don Dempsey is hell-bent on constructing a commercial motorcross facility to further his family’s hobby, and he’s doing it at our expense.  To be clear, this isn’t a place to ride motorcycles on ATV trails or operate off-highway vehicles in a publicly owned wilderness. 

Last year, the for-profit facility was described by the county’s Chicago-based motor sports consultant as having two full-sized competitive motocross tracks, a minimum of 50 RV slips with electric and water hookups, 750 general parking spaces, concession and bathroom facilities and a training facility or pro shop.

It also comes with an estimated price tag of “up to $10.2 million” – or, as Councilman Dempsey has described it, “…a top-notch facility.  We’re not looking for just a field to go out and ride.”

I guess not…  Only the best when its someone else’s money, right?

This week, Councilman Dempsey got all his heart desired (and then some) after Volusia’s highly creative Community Services Director Dr. Quackenbush Burbaugh enthusiastically searched out the best spot in the county (or at least the one with fewest surrounding homes to pushback and complain) – then pulled the old switcheroo – cobbling together a slimy hybrid scheme to use both Volusia Forever and ECHO funds by identifying some wetlands on the property to facilitate Dempsey’s Folly. 

To give the shim-sham an air of legitimacy, Councilman Dempsey thundered away like Atticus Finch – reciting the minutia of state statutes, shoehorning the facility into ballot language, and quibbling that dirt bikes qualify as “resource-based outdoor recreation” under Florida Department of Environmental Destruction guidelines — which, ipso facto, must mean that a for-profit commercial motorcross facility is exactly what over 70% of Volusia County taxpayers voted for when they opted to reauthorize Volusia Forever and ECHO…  

Bullshit.  

Per usual, it was immediately apparent to many watching that the entire sketch had been orchestrated in advance – choreographed with such precision it appeared scripted. 

A kabuki that saw each elected marionette playing their appointed role, and Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins using one of his weird stream-of-consciousness soliloquies to convince us there is little difference between the environmental devastation of beach walkovers, nature observation trails, or ecotours, and the braaaap-braaaap roar of a commercial motorcross track…

To ensure all available cons and ploys were in play, the cast of characters alluded they were doing us a favor – raising the specter of the property being purchased by a developer and blanketed with another cookie cutter subdivision if we didn’t capitulate to the purchase.

Except, no real estate developer in their right mind would pay what you and I just did… 

In my view, after listening to public participation both for and against the initiative, there is clearly sufficient interest to sustain a motorcross track and training facility in Volusia County – and those families involved in the hobby are rightfully passionate about the sport and its positive impacts on youth. 

In my view, a smart commercial motor sports company should take advantage of that.  I just don’t think Volusia County taxpayers should pay for it…

Unfortunately, that point is moot now that our elected dullards openly violated the very mission of Volusia County Land Management’s stewardship of conservation lands (which happens to fall under Dr. Burbaugh’s purview) which will soon share the same parcel as a commercial motorcross facility – something Mr. Dempsey forgot to mention during his verbose legal justification:

“With the passage of the Volusia Forever referendum in November of 2020, Volusia County will be adding to these protected Conservation Lands.  These lands have been and will be acquired for conservation purposes, while allowing passive recreation by the residents of Volusia County and others wishing to visit them.  Compatible passive recreation includes hiking, biking, bird watching and wildlife observation…”

Now we understand why the ECHO component of the ruse was so important… 

Find the rest of Volusia’s conveniently forgotten land management goals here: https://tinyurl.com/yc2b47kp

Now, our elected representatives will be provided a list of options for expediting Mr. Dempsey’s self-serving project – which could include Volusia County taxpayers getting into the motorcross industry by building and operating the facility (you read that right), forming a “public-private” partnership with a commercial motor sports company, or leasing our land to a third party who would construct and operate a track.

The purchase passed on a unanimous vote…

The only thing clear is that you and I now own 356-acres of pastureland, public confidence in the Volusia Forever and ECHO programs is forever shattered, and the only people who know how much Dempsey’s Folly will ultimately cost Volusia County taxpayers are a few unaccountable senior bureaucrats with firm marching orders to expedite this ridiculous sham with all haste.

It is what it is, y’all. This time there really is no one looking out for us in DeLand. 

In addition, during Tuesday’s meeting, council members once again considered a request by struggling Main Street merchants – intrepid entrepreneurs who have invested their blood, sweat, tears, and money into the revitalization of our core tourist area – to reestablish beach driving from International Speedway Boulevard to Auditorium Boulevard as a last/best hope of reinvigorating the blighted area.

Unfortunately, their request didn’t receive the same enthusiastic reception as Dempsey’s taxpayer funded pet project…

In fact, the very notion was all but publicly shit on by our ‘powers that be’…

A year after the discussion was summarily dismissed by the council on a 4-2 vote with Councilman David “No Show” Santiago absent; Councilman Troy Kent used a parliamentary move that would allow him to bring back the discussion by originally voting with the majority to kill the measure.

During this week’s meeting, Kent’s initial motion to merely reach out to Volusia’s legislative delegation and gauge support for undoing the asinine handiwork of a previous council who, in 1996, effectively killed beach driving in the Main Street area to facilitate some perverse notion of “economic development,” damn near died for lack of a second… 

I mean crickets, y’all.

To his credit, Chairman Jeff Brower (who championed the initiative last year) passed the gavel to Vice Chair Matt Reinhart and seconded Kent’s rather benign motion. 

In typical fashion, the county’s all-powerful senior staff rolled out their battery-operated automaton, County Attorney Paolo Soria, who seems programmed to stand at the podium and repeat in robotic monotone “Does. Not. Com-pute.  Does. Not. Com-pute.” to anything Chairman Brower suggests for improving the beach experience and the commercial viability of our core tourist area.

In turn, Mr. Soria recited all the legal roadblocks, legislative hurdles, “contractual obligations,” and other myriad impediments – both real and bureaucratically concocted – that make returning the tradition and access of beach driving insurmountable…

Ultimately, in a rushed end to the discussion (thanks to the subjective time limitation placed on council meetings?) the council begrudgingly agreed to reach out to the City of Daytona Beach, and contact obstinate hoteliers along the stretch that have already made clear they don’t want to upset their private beach setting, before considering the arduous task of reversing the disastrous course that has contributed to blight, stagnation, and hopelessness in our core tourist area and beyond. 

Which means the discussion of reopening beach driving should come back sometime around the return of the Comet Kohoutek…    

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the idea is D.O.A.  

You are welcome to disagree – and I understand the ‘never say die’ enthusiasm of valiant beachside merchants – but you know I’m right.  

For reasons known only to him, Bob Davis, CEO and President for Life of the fossilized Lodging and Hospitality Association of Volusia County, doesn’t want it.  In an interview with WKMG-6 this week, we learned:

“We’re not a sleepy town anymore. It’s not 1980. We’re okay with the laws right now. It’s worked beautifully,” said Bob Davis, president of the Volusia Lodging and Hospitality Association. He believes the beach should stay clear for visitors who want a peaceful experience.”

Uncle Bob is right about one thing. 

The whole of the Halifax areas beachside is definitely not what it was in 1980 – when the “World’s Most Famous Beach” was an incredibly popular tourist destination – a place full of life, far different than the one that now mostly hibernates between special events.

If anything holds true with our ossified Halifax Area hospitality “guru’s” – it is that doing the same thing over and over and over again while expecting a different result never gets old…

Volusia School Board Member Donna Brosemer – Upsetting the Apple Cart

It is becoming apparent that many elected representatives have succumbed to the bureaucratic mentality that elective boards, councils, and commissions should operate in homogenized conformity – where groupthink, the ability to ‘get along and go along,’ and irrational optimism are omnipotent – while dissent, debate, or conflict among the “team” is to be avoided at all costs.

After all, if everyone is thinking alike, how can individual members of the “in-group” be criticized?

That’s why the independence and strategic vision of freethinkers who challenge the stagnant status quo always makes their “colleagues” nervous…   

During the April 8 meeting, District 4 representative Donna Brosemer did something unheard of when she confronted Superintendent Balgobin on the community consequences of the district’s quiet plans to respond to a reported $25.8 million budget deficit – and the building rumors those plans include putting historic Ormond Beach Elementary School on “the chopping block.”

“It’s safe to say that Ormond Beach parents are not going to take kindly to the loss of yet another of their elementary schools, having lost Osceola so recently, and they would be some of the most likely parents to go to the conversion option that appears that’s going to pass this year,” Brosemer said.

If approved by the Florida Legislature, the “conversion option” would allow parents to request that a public school become a charter.

Throwing off the bureaucratic yoke and seizing the initiative in the face of the latest fiscal crisis, Ms. Brosemer explained she had spoken to the principal of OBE and developed a plan to increase enrollment by turning the school into an “arts magnet school.”

Needless to say, Ms. Brosemer’s resourcefulness upset the board’s delicate apple cart…

According to a report by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer last week:

“Balgobin denied that any conversations on closing schools have taken place.

“I don’t know where the narrative came from, what schools were going to be closing, because I have not even discussed that with staff,” she said.

“It came from my discussion with staff,” Brosemer replied.

“My staff discussed that with you and shared with you the schools that will be closing?” Balgobin pressed.

Brosemer said staff informed her the closures were “two to three years out.”

“Well, I’m not going to put anyone on the spot, but this is what I can assert and tell you — I have not had that discussion with any staff members,” Balgobin said.

Brosemer said she wouldn’t have brought it up if it hadn’t been said to her.

Balgobin said she’s heard from principals say “conversation are taking place that we’re cutting, closing schools.” Again, she said those discussions have not taken place at the district level.

Board members also admonished Brosemer for seemingly making a decision to turn OBE into a arts magnet school on her own.”

Yeah.  It’s Brosemer’s fault… 

This is typically where the elected followers try to silence, besmirch, and marginalize the outspoken offender by beating them into the round hole of lockstep conformity.

That is exactly what happened to Donna Brosemer.

According to the Observer, School Board member Krista Goodrich explained that she was “confused” after having “conversations about a gazillion ideas,” yet closing Ormond Beach Elementary wasn’t one of them. 

I found the tone of the exchange telling.

“Brosemer countered that the notion they function as a board “is correct in one regard, but it’s also completely misleading in another.”

We all bring our own talents, our own perspectives, and if we’re just here to rubber stamp each other or to rubber stamp the superintendent or anybody else, then we’re not doing our jobs,” she said.

Goodrich said that it was “curious” to her that Brosemer brought up these statements at the regular board meeting, and not during the workshop where they were discussing the budget.

“It makes it feel pretty intentional when we had plenty of opportunities to bring up a lot of these questions earlier today,” she said. “Yes, we do all bring something to the table, but when you approach things in a way that isn’t having a discussion, it’s at the end when it’s just statements, that’s not working together — that’s not operating as a team, that’s not looking for solutions.”

Brosemer said she didn’t need to do it Goodrich’s way.

“I didn’t say you had to do it my way,” Goodrich said. “I’m allowed to share my opinion as well.  So that’s what’s devastating — is you could have brought it up this morning. We could have had great conversations about it, asked questions, got answers, but that wasn’t done that way.”

In turn, School Board Chair Jamie Haynes piled-on, lecturing Brosemer that members cannot tell staff members what to do, and that any plan for turning around struggling schools will come from the Superintendent and her bloated staff. 

Only then can the board ensure political insulation by voting on whatever self-serving ‘plan’ is cobbled together in the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand and “brought to” them on a platter…

“Whatever plan Dr. Balgobin and her staff comes up with will be brought to us, and we will vote on it, and whatever the vote is at the time … at that point it becomes the decision of the board and we each have to own the decision when we make that vote.”

Proving that Haynes, and the rest of her lockstep “colleagues,” are either kowtowed or blatantly ignorant of the fact the school board sets policy – and Balgobin implements it. 

The Superintendent works for them, not the other way around.

Without filtering her thoughts through the district’s public misinformation apparatus, Ms. Brosemer said just that in a cogent essay that appeared in the Ormond Beach Observer this week:

“Current conditions are the result of current policies. Boards make policies. Administrators implement them.

It’s past time to ditch the stock answers — “we’re already doing that,” “we don’t have enough time/staff/money,” or above all, “that’s not how it works.”

Boards are not props. We drive progress with new ideas. Bureaucrats implement them. That is exactly how it works.”

(Find the rest here: https://tinyurl.com/3cj32ucd )

Thanks to Ms. Brosemer’s bold action and willingness to speak out, Volusia County taxpayers are beginning to see how innovation, critical thinking, and independent representation is stifled by mediocrity and stagnant conformism, and why Volusia County District Schools continue to stumble from one crisis to the next…

Quote of the Week  

“The important facts about developers are simple. They do not live here. They will not be here to sit in traffic. The next storm will not affect them.

They were not here when the county created the rural transition. Developers come late to the show. They make strategic campaign contributions, pave the land, and leave.

County staff get the message. They recommend approval, or they find new jobs. Easy choice, really, since their homes will not be buried in developer dung.

This time, there was pushback from the locals. That just means the county rolls it to a future meeting, where hopefully the crowd diminishes. If not, well, roll again, rinse and repeat.

Eventually, those pesky locals will go away. And you know what the County Council is thinking — promises made, promises broken.”

–Columnist Tanner Andrews, as excerpted from his essay in the West Volusia Beacon, “What were they thinking? Drowning in development, stuck in traffic, or maybe both,” regarding plans to destroy the quaint community of Osteen with development, Tuesday, April 8, 2025

With a lack of infrastructure, concurrency, and devastating development-induced flooding effecting homes across the width and breadth of Volusia County – and another active Hurricane Season just around the corner – I found it an odd time for our political dignitaries to rejoice in more, more, more malignant sprawl… 

But last week that’s exactly what our elected elite from Volusia County and various municipal governments did when they gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of Deering Park Phase One – the decades in the making monstrosity that could ultimately see 23,000 “residential units” on the 70,000-acre track that stretches from Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach to just north of Titusville in Brevard, County.

Apparently, Phase One will be constructed in the City of Underwater west of Interstate 95 and will include 1,747 homes along with “…a mix of residential, commercial and green spaces, as well as amenities.” 

According to a report by reporter Brenno Carillo writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Sean Stefan, Deering Park’s project director, said “Deering Park will be unlike any other master-planned community in Florida,” (yes it will), and “It will provide this region with homes for every phase of life in a wide variety of neighborhoods with extensive services and expansive employment centers, all surrounded by one of the largest contiguous conservation and recreation areas in the state.”

What?  You live in Volusia County – the most flood-prone location in the state – and you’re worried about how a massive ‘city within a city’ will exacerbate development-induced runoff and flooding in your neighborhood? 

Well, don’t you worry about it, rube.   

After decades of planning and preparation for Deering Park, environmental consultants and project engineers working for the developer are apparently just getting around to digging little holes on the property to assess how water will react – you know, now that they are ready to break ground and all…

The News-Journal reported, “According to Deering Park’s land manager, Robbie Lee Jr., project engineers have already begun using the area to conduct studies on miniature land models that will help shine a light on how stormwater interacts and moves with the soil.”

“They dug this out to take measurements,” Lee said as he indicated the small area being used for studies. “They are looking at the ebbs and flows of the water — how the water moves horizontally and not just vertically.”

Great. 

Feel better? 

Me neither.  But I’ll bet those “miniature models” made a cool prop for all those malleable politicians gathered in their finery to celebrate the next big thing… 

And Another Thing!

Sometimes the truth stings. 

That’s why it is often referred to as a bitter pill – something hard to swallow.  Perhaps that is why we live in a time of gross ‘disinformation’ and manipulation on all fronts…

A disturbing era when politicians at all levels of government openly lie, gaslight their constituents, become insular, secretive, and opaque; trying desperately to create an alternate reality that masks their collusions, agendas, and associations.  In turn, they expect We, The Little People to accept the steaming crock of shit we’ve been handed as fact, and our ‘powers that be’ begin to feel infallible when apathy replaces civic interest and activism.  

In my view, the stench of lies, especially those that serve the interests of influential insiders who fund their political aspirations, dishonor and pervert the once noble calling of public service – and destroy the public’s trust in a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.  

I crow a lot in this space about the importance of trust – especially our faith in the motives of those we elect and appoint to serve our best interests – and the foundational need for public confidence in the democratic processes and essential services of governance that have a direct impact on our lives and livelihoods.   

Here’s one example why.

Last week, beleaguered Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris spoke the uncomfortable truth during the annual State of the City Address – which, regardless of jurisdiction, is typically little more than a rah-rah session compiled by “staff” to tout the bureaucracy’s pseudo-accomplishments and deflect attention from the serious issues we collectively face.

Frankly, I found it refreshing when Mayor Norris described the City of Palm Coast as “challenged,” and reiterated that he wants the future of the city controlled by its residents – not developers. 

“We are still under the mercy of the swamp builders,” Norris told his neighbors. “We are facing a mounting debt, failed planning and economic development and growth to support the existing revenues. You know the ones that are footing the tax bills: us, the taxpayers of Palm Coast. And the answer from the swamp builders and landholders is urban sprawl.”

I don’t care where you live here on Florida’s fabled “Fun Coast,” that should sound chillingly familiar.

If that didn’t resonate, this will:

“The mere mention of a moratorium on residential housing a couple of weeks ago at City Hall was met by a blockade of our City Hall by elements of the Flagler County Homebuilders Association. Let that sink in: Our City Hall was blockaded by the building industry.

“That was quite astonishing and shows you who actually runs our city.”

For the uninitiated, Mayor Norris recently received a down-and-dirty lesson in what happens when one attempts to upset the status quo and take emergency measures in the face of the largest utility rate hike in the city’s history, as officials seek to finance a shocking $615 million capital improvement plan to upgrade utilities to keep pace with current needs. 

When Mayor Norris suggested a moratorium on new residential construction, and rightfully claimed “developers have been taking advantage of this city far too long,” it became immediately clear his bread was never going to land jelly-side up again…

Within minutes of uttering the “M” word, developer shills set upon Mayor Norris, circling the wagons, telling scary stories about the apocalyptic ramifications of even suggesting a temporary moratorium in the face of hundreds-of-millions in utilities infrastructure shortfalls.

(That should sound familiar to waterlogged residents of Volusia County…) 

Just four days later, things took a predictable turn for Mayor Norris when the appointed ‘developer’s darling’ Councilman Charlies Gambaro went on the attack – accusing Norris of violations of the city charter and state ethics codes.

Norris’ crime?

Seeking the resignation of Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston and Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo in a closed-door meeting…

Naturally, others in City Hall began to draw knives, sending complaints to Human Resources, with some municipal employees describing Norris as “inappropriate,” “demeaning, “intrusive” and “rude.” 

Now, Mayor Norris is being formally brought to heel, the subject of an official investigation by an outside law firm.  After all, as every compromised politician knows – if you can’t silence a watchdog – you can damn sure pull his teeth…

During his State of the City Address, Norris addressed the distracting controversy, “We have organizations within our community encouraging city employees to file trumped up HR charges to force a duly elected mayor out of office. Backed by politicians that were soundly defeated in November.”

“These are the headwinds that I have faced the few two months of being in office. It’s challenging to say the least.

“In closing, I’ll leave you with this: Our city’s theme for today’s State of the City is ‘charting a new course.’ Are we as a community going to allow the same people that have failed our community for more than four years to chart that course for us?

Or are we gonna do it?

“It takes cooperation, and it’s not more residential housing without meaningful economic development in our community.”

I’ve said this before, but as Palm Coast goes, so go other areas in Volusia and Flagler Counties that continue to see massive overdevelopment and the resultant infrastructure shortfalls that naturally result from a ‘shove ten-pounds of shit in a five-pound bag’ growth management strategy…

In my view, Mayor Norris is experiencing the tragic personal and political destruction that occurs whenever an elected official stands by claustrophobic existing residents and pushes back against malignant growth until infrastructure requirements can catch up to current and future needs.

That’s all for me.  Have a great Jeep Beach 2025, y’all!