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 Flooding – Now, two can play that game…

In my view, for far too long real estate developers have been gifted carte blanche to build when, where, and what they want here in the Sunshine State. 

The results have been wide-ranging – a virtual blanket of zero lot line cracker boxes (“Starting in the mid $300’s”) and ugly sticks-and-glue apartment complexes covering the state – terribly destructive to our sensitive environmental processes and the quality of life of existing residents.

We are repeatedly told by our ‘powers that be’ they have some bizarre moral obligation to approve more, more, more to accommodate a wave of transplants to Florida.  Rather than allow supply and demand to dictate higher resale prices while controlling the pace, suitability, and quality of growth state legislators have openly shit on the concept of Home Rule in a bid to consolidate power. 

As a result, malleable “rent a representatives” in Tallahassee have given their political benefactors in the real estate industry extraordinary statutory protections that increasingly limit local government’s ability to control growth, and there’s not a lot We, The Little People can do about it.

Or is there?

Here in Volusia County, the majority of the County Council have proven to be little more than lapdog lackeys – running interference for their uber-wealthy donors in the real estate industry, rubber stamping development, and strategically dragging their heels on any attempt to slow growth or require low-impact construction practices – adding to the problem while refusing to act decisively to alleviate the scourge of development-induced flooding.

In January, officials in the City of Underwater in Southeast Volusia voted to tap the brakes on development with a temporary moratorium on new construction to give the community a chance to modify stormwater protections and find commonsense solutions to repeat flooding.

In May, the behemoth Lennar Homes – reportedly the second-largest developer in the United States – filed an action in Circuit Court seeking judicial review and reversal of the City of Edgewater’s denial of their final Phase II plat for Edgewater Preserve (in my view, another one of those perverse and antithetical monikers that only a real estate marketing firm could conjure) citing stormwater concerns.

It appears that Lennar is intent on pressing forward with its plans for Phase II – regardless of the community’s attempts to protect existing residents from what has been described as “severe and repeat” flooding – something many suggest is the result of changes in topography brought by new development.  

During Florida’s 2025 Legislative Circus, legislators passed a bill amending the platting statute which now takes the local elected body out of the approval process.  Instead, the local governing agency must appoint an “administrative authority” to process and review plats and replats for developments, and an “administrative officer” to approve the plat.

If signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the law smoothing out the humps and bumps for developers intent on fast tracking projects would take effect on July 1, 2025.  

Last week, the Volusia County Council approved a fox in the henhouse resolution appointing the Land Development Division of the Growth and Resource Mismanagement Department as the administrative authority and County Manager George “The Wreck” Rectenwald or his designee as the approving official… 

So, who looks out for existing residents? 

Unfortunately, so far there was little that existing residents could do but bend over and bear it… 

Now, it appears the influential law firm of Morgan and Morgan is letting waterlogged homeowners know that two can play that game.  Last week, the firm filed suit on behalf of two Deltona couples alleging that a Lennar Homes development near Deltona has resulted in “repeat flooding issues” on their properties.  

According to a report by Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal:

“The 13-page complaint, filed June 11 in Circuit Court in Volusia County by Morgan & Morgan’s Business Trial Group, focuses on Lennar’s “alleged flawed design and construction of the stormwater management system” in Vineland Reserve, according to a statement from the law firm. The plaintiffs are Suzanne and Mark Duda and Jerry Woods Jr. and his spouse, Robin.

Morgan & Morgan recently filed another lawsuit dealing with flooding complaints in Volusia County; the firm is representing multiple people over flooding around Miller Lake in Orange City.

Lennar Homes started building the development off Doyle Road in 2022. Before the development came along, “homes in the area allegedly had no history of substantial flooding during rainfall event.”

“Now their homes are alleged to be sustaining ongoing damage, and they are allegedly unable to use or enjoy their property,” according to the law firm. “The lawsuit claims that the plaintiffs communicated with Lennar several times to express their concerns, and despite allegedly being fully aware of the drainage issues, Lennar has not adequately repaired the system or paid for the damages already incurred.”

(Find the News-Journal report here: https://tinyurl.com/y3z3bzwm )

This lawsuit represents a quantum shift in the power dynamic that has squeezed Florida homeowners between voracious developers and their shills in government, leaving many with the option of selling their homes in an after-the-fact stormwater mitigation scheme, making expensive renovations after each event, or living in fear of the next unstoppable inundation.

In my view, even here in the Biggest Whorehouse in the World, the idea of existing residents being repeatedly victimized while out-of-state developers haul untold millions out the denuded pine scrub – with no legal recourse against either those who planned it, or those who permitted it – is counter to our concept of basic fairness, due process, and a respect for the property rights of everyone effected.

City of Palm Coast – Dissecting the Obvious

From the earliest origins of participatory government, anthropologists have struggled with the question of why humans developed the social, judicial, and bureaucratic institutions that are now such an integral part of our society (and individual tax burden…)

According to social scientists, the “cooperative theory” suggests that governments were initially developed as a means of coordinating common tasks between early tribes, a communal contract of sorts, where everyone gave up some of their own resources in exchange for collective benefits, a collaborative agreement that avoided conflict to meet shared needs.

By contrast, the “extractive theory” assumes that “might makes right” – with powerful groups extracting tributes, taxes, and resources from weaker ones – then ensconcing themselves as the ‘political elite’ and perpetuating a pernicious cycle using what has been described as “institutional bullying.”

Sounds eerily familiar, eh? 

According to Leander Heldring, an Assistant Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences at the Kellogg School of Management:

“We see it clearly in the archaeological and historical record,” he says. “Initial assembly meetings become less important, and you see people becoming enforcers within bureaucracies. So even if the initial push for developing these institutions was coordination, afterwards you’d still have to protect them. And that tension is very much still with us.”

Look, I’m not an educated man, but I spent the bulk of my adult life serving in a small municipality, which I still believe is most accessible, responsive, and efficient level of government.  Based upon that experience, I learned that the élan vital of any government organization is a fundamental commitment to service. 

At least it should be.

An organizational dedication to provide those essential functions that protect the safety and welfare of citizens, deliver essential services, maintain public infrastructure, mitigate threats, manage sanitation and stormwater, and provide the myriad other services that address common needs, improve quality of life, and meet the collective goals of the community.

In a modern council/manager system, the citizens elect representatives to act in their interest, handle legislation, allocate resources, and hire a competent manager to direct the multifaceted day-to-day operations of a working local government under the provisions of the city or county’s charter.

But what happens when things go awry and the finest traditions, protections, and social contracts of good governance come apart like a bad flywheel? 

Typically, that’s when governments in crisis turn to a highly compensated “consultant” – the proverbial “expert from out-of-town,” someone with a nice suit and briefcase – someone who rides into town and spends a copious amount of the people’s time and money dissecting the obvious.

At the end of the day, the “expert” will prepare an elaborate report based on their “findings” and present it to the exasperated council or commission who hired them. 

Unfortunately, many consulting firms (at least those who want other government contracts) will often play the role of the distracted wrestling referee – failing to point out the gross dysfunction, personal agendas, and mercenary loyalties of the elected dullards – as the root cause of the organizational inefficiencies and whale-shit staff morale they were hired to study in the first place…  

Last week, the tumultuous City of Palm Coast, a community in a neck-and-neck competition with the Lost City of Deltona as the most disastrously dysfunctional municipality in the Metropolitan Statistical Area, voted to spend some $60,000 to bring in the national consulting firm Plante Moran to conduct an “Entity‑Wide Risk Assessment” this summer.

According to recent media release by Palm Coast’s municipal mouthpiece: 

“The scope of the assessment includes evaluating current City capabilities and developing a framework the City can use to assess risk on an ongoing basis. Plante Moran will conduct interviews with key stakeholders to identify operational, strategic, financial, and compliance-related risks. Based on those findings, the firm will work with City leadership to prioritize risks, create targeted mitigation strategies, and recommend ways to align these efforts with the City’s long-term objectives. Additionally, the City will receive guidance on actionable measures that can enhance operational efficiency and improve services across all departments.”

I know what you’re thinking – those basic operational goals (spelled out with such flourish by the Palm Coast Communications & Marketing division) are exactly what most communities expect from their city/county manager… 

You’re right.

In my unscientific view, you don’t need a $60K study to see that the fissures so prevalent among the competing entities – divisions that have resulted in the public castration of Mayor Mike Norris, and exposed the self-serving allegiances of certain elected officials (and senior bureaucrats) intent on facilitating Palm Coast’s shove ten-pounds of shit in a five-pound sack growth management strategy – are the result of mercenary loyalties and piss-poor leadership.

And it’s getting worse…

This week, we learned that Jason DeLorenzo, Palm Coast’s community development director and chief of staff, has fled the city government’s troubled ziggurat for greener pastures as the assistant city manager of Palm Bay. 

In my view, with a list of city manager applicants now eliminated (or having fled for anywhere else amidst the internal shitshow) and senior officials beginning to jump ship, the experts at Plante Moran have their work cut out for them.

Let’s hope the most recent “experts” to peek behind the curtain of this horribly dysfunctional government demonstrate the professional integrity and civic honesty to place the blame where it rightfully belongs…   

Bunnell City Commission – A Startling Betrayal

“The Bunnell City Commission in a stunning move at the very end of its meeting Monday night, before a nearly empty chamber, voted 3-2 to revive the 8,000-home Reserve at Haw Creek development the commission rejected just two weeks ago. The item was not on the agenda.

Mayor Catherine Robinson prompted the motion, which Commissioner Pete Young offered without batting an eye–or asking questions–though Young had been in the 3-2 majority to reject the proposal on June 9. Robinson had met with the city manager and the developer for three hours Monday morning. She said the developer was prepared to submit a revised plan that takes public concerns into account.

Young said he’d met with City Manager Alvin Jackson and others on Friday to discuss the development and to let Jackson know he was supportive of Haw Creek as long as it made certain changes. “I met with the city manager and our people,” Young said in an interview today. He wasn’t sure if the developer was among those in the room. “All know is I told them what I would like to see and they said OK, we’ll pass it on to them.”

With Young’s reversal, the motion to reconsider carried, 3-2, with Commissioners John Rogers and David Atkinson as if in too much shock to comment. Rogers walked out immediately after the vote and the gavel to end the meeting, not addressing anyone in the room.”

–Pierre Tristam, writing in FlaglerLive.com, “Bunnell Mayor in Stunning Maneuver Revives 8,000-Home Development Commission Killed 2 Weeks Ago,” Tuesday, June 24, 2025

You read that right.

In a viciously underhanded use of an off-the-agenda public policy by ambush, Bunnell Mayor Cathrine Robinson waited until the end of Monday’s City Commission meeting to resurrect the prospect of the Reserve at Haw Creek – an 8,000-home monstrosity that will blanket over 2,800 acres between SR-100 and SR-11. 

Before her incredibly suspicious switcheroo – on Monday morning, Mayor Robinson said she met with the developer (out of the public’s prying eyes) – where she was told a “revised plan” would be submitted that addressed some of the myriad concerns expressed by frightened residents who see the development as a threat to their quality of life and the character of this small community.

Because it is. 

Among other potential impacts, once built out, the Reserve at Haw Creek is expected to increase traffic from the current 8,817 daily trips to an obscene 81,943 trips per day on already stressed area roadways. 

After strategically waiting for interested residents to leave the chamber – Mayor Robinson sprang her clearly choreographed surprise:

“I have a request based on a meeting with city staff and the Northeast Florida developers about the Haw Creek development to address both the public and the commission’s concerns,” the mayor said. “I would like a motion to reconsider the denial of the rezoning application and move forward with the development agreement.”

Once the motion was made and seconded, the vote to approve reconsidering both the planned unit development and the development agreement passed 3-2, with Commissioners John Rogers and David Atkinson dissenting.

Now, shocked residents of Bunnell are left to ask the troubling questions…

Such as, how was the developer was so conveniently able to persuade Mayor Robinson to bring this wildly controversial project back for reconsideration just two-weeks after the commission voted 4-1 to reject it?

Or why the massive development – one that threatens to fundamentally change everything about the community – was resurrected by a backstabbing mayor at the end of a public meeting with no public notice, substantive information, or citizen participation?

This was wrong, duplicitous, and horribly deceitful. 

In my view, Mayor Robinson and those elected officials who pushed this sneaky scheme have sold their political souls to push an agenda, and they will never be trusted again…

The residents of Bunnell deserve better from those they put their solemn trust in…   

Quote of the Week

“At their June 18 meeting, (Daytona Beach) city commissioners voted to amend their agreement with Protogroup to allow the company to be partially reimbursed for its costs for a beach access improvement and the new one-story building. Once those projects are complete, Protogroup will be reimbursed up to 50% of the property taxes for them paid to the city’s community redevelopment area fund over five years.

The agreement originally said Protogroup would have to completely finish the condo tower before it would get some of its money back for things such as new pedestrian beach access and improved water and sewer infrastructure. Now the agreement says the company just needs to complete the new one-story building.

“I just want to hide that ugly rebar we’ve been looking at for three years,” said City Commissioner Ken Strickland. “I don’t want to do anything that hampers getting that out of our eyesight.”

–Reporter Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Long-idled Daytona Beach condo project set to resume construction in July,” Thursday, June 26, 2025

What a joke…

For the umpteenth time since the decade-old debacle of the Protogroup’s abandoned mess of stained pilings and rusted rebar in the heart of our core tourist area began, it appears the Daytona Beach City Commission has simply given up – now deciding to do away with any semblance of holding the developer to his word. 

Instead of initiating condemnation procedures to ensure compliance, it appears city officials are going to incentivize a façade – anything to camouflage the suppurating eyesore that serves as a monument to another failed “panacea project” all the right last names promised us would change our fortunes for the better.

Bullshit.

According to the News-Journal’s report, “In early September 2022, the city’s chief building official issued a condemnation and demolition order that said portions of the unfinished structure were dangerous and “likely to partially or completely collapse or to become detached or dislodged” due to faulty construction, neglect, abandonment, exposure to the elements, damage and decay.

The city backed off the condemnation and demolition threat after Protogroup cleaned up the site and agreed to a plan to have structural engineers inspect the foundation work before resuming construction.”

So, is the unfinished structure “likely to partially or completely collapse,” or not? 

Unfortunately, the City of Daytona Beach and Volusia County have allowed developers to get them over a barrel, and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it now.

In an October 2018 piece in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, the former chairman of the ill-fated Beachside Redevelopment Committee, Tony Grippa, prophetically said:

“The city still lacks an overall strategy as it relates to A1A and the beachside corridor, and this is what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket.”

At this point, however, completion of the (Protogroup) project is imperative, Grippa said.

“It would be absolutely devastating to have, in addition to all the old boarded-up buildings, now a new partially completed building,” Grippa said. “That sitting vacant and empty would really hurt the beachside, optically, economically and emotionally.”

Tragic, indeed.

In my view, it is time our elected and appointed officials start representing those of us who pay the bills and demand the provisions of performance assurances and completion deadlines are enforced – or else.

This mercurial capitulation sends a bright signal to other developers that if you defy regulatory authority long enough, the ‘powers that be’ responsible for protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public will simply cave and give you whatever you demand to complete (insert “game changing” project here.)  

And Another Thing!

Last week, a dear friend and I traveled to “La-La Land” – Los Angeles, California.  

Beverly Hills, to be exact. Swimming pools.  Movie stars.   

And more bone-crushing traffic than I’ve ever seen my life…   

The purpose of our trip was to check on another lifelong friend who has been under the weather of late, courageously participating in a cutting-edge experimental treatment at UCLA’s impressive Ronald Reagan Medical Center.  An exciting technology that may eventually help doctor’s treat cancer in a more precise way.

While I’ve visited Southern California in the past, this was the first time I saw much of what Los Angeles has to offer. Great experiences like dinner at the classic “Old Hollywood” restaurant Dan Tana’s, and a wonderful afternoon over cocktails at the iconic Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Our bartender, Vladimir, could not have been more accommodating, and treated two ballcap/blue jean clad yokels from Florida like gold – taking time to explain the rich history of the hotel (now owned by the Sultan of Brunei) – and jokingly offered to pour us a McCallan 72 from a lacquered case behind the bar – a rare Scotch offered at $10,000 a shot…   

“Make it double, Vlad…”

Just kidding. As it stood, I needed a second mortgage to cover the bar tab.

The conspicuous wealth, glitz, and glamor of Tinseltown set up a classic Jed Clampett meets George Jetson story – an up-close and jaw dropping exposure to some incredible technological/AI advances currently in operation on the west coast.   

For instance, I took advantage of the new (to me, anyway) Waymo self-driving autonomous vehicle for local transportation.  A product of Google that was a decade in development, the service utilizes the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE – a sleek four-door sedan with a whirring array of sensors on the roof and each corner of the vehicle – to include an illuminated sign on the roof that displays the riders name at the point of pickup. 

Much like Uber or Lyft, the ride is summoned (and the fare paid) from your phone.  Once the location is entered, the Waymo drives to your GPS location and with the touch of a button on the app, handles emerge, and the doors unlock. 

Once inside the comfortable rear seat, the rider fastens the seatbelt, touches a “start ride” button on the screen, and you are literally along for the ride.   

What happens next is a little scary – and infinitely fascinating. 

From the back seat, the rider watches as the vehicle enters traffic and proceeds by the most expedient route – the steering wheel eerily turning independently, as though operated by a spectral “driver” – smoothly navigating to your destination.   

I’ll admit, the first trip was a bit freaky, and, over time, I discovered a few “wrinkles in the matrix.”

For instance, during one trip, the Waymo passed my hotel and dropped us inconveniently a block away, another time, the car circled the block at our destination before getting its bearings and returning to the drop-off point.   

In each case, the artificial intelligence and various sensors powering the navigation system were “learning” – getting better, more precise with each trip – a weird digital cognition training a complex decision-making capability – gathering data from each “experience,” never forgetting the lessons learned, becoming “smarter” and more accurate with each “mistake.”

During the course of the week, I found myself relying more on Waymo and less on manned ridesharing programs that work much the same, but with a person at the wheel. 

In another weird revelation, while having lunch in Westwood, I was surprised by what appeared to be an orange Igloo cooler on wheels trundling down the sidewalk outside the restaurant. 

I did a double-take…   

It was “Coco” – a purpose built “robocourier” – which autonomously transports groceries, prepared food deliveries, or other goods along city sidewalks at a brisk walking speed (or faster in a bicycle lane) – a device that became so ubiquitous that the novelty quickly wore off and I stopped noticing the little buggers.

As Coco went about its appointed rounds, the cart would stop for people walking on the sidewalk, and I realized that human beings were an impediment to its progress – in more ways than one…    

According to Coco Robotics, the urban logistics service is now available in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Helsinki.

In retrospect, it is somewhat unsettling that in time I preferred to deal with a self-driving car than a fellow human being trying to earn a living – no tip and no complex social interaction (including one awkward exchange with an Uber driver who offered to provide us with Russian hookers and Armenian vodka during our stay in LA…true story.)  

I now realize that the ease and rapidity with which I relinquished control and acclimated to an autonomous vehicle and a robotic delivery cart is ultimately how we, living/breathing/emotional beings, may ultimately become obsolete – mere impediments to “progress” – as artificial intelligence “learns” from experience and interactions, just like we do.

Which prompts disturbing question like what role will “we” play in a world dominated by (sentient?) machines, and, ultimately, how will we address the Frankensteinian conundrum of how to control the monster once it escapes our control? 

Welcome to the future, Barker… 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to spend some quality time with my toaster.  It missed me while I was gone…  

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

Note to the Loyal Barker’s View Tribe:

Barker’s View will be taking a break this week.  

During our short intermission from the “Fun Coast’s” civic/political théâtre de l’absurde, please feel free to enjoy some past asides from the BV achieves at the bottom of this page.  It’s fun to take a look back with the clarity of hindsight and see what has changed, and what remains the same, where we call home.

See you next week!

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…

Hey, Volusia.  Where did the money go?

In the 1940 Looney Toons cartoon “Of Fox and Hounds,” the dim-witted but loveable hound, Willoughby (in our parody, Volusia County taxpayers), and the sly fox, “George” (played to perfection by County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald).

During a fox hunt, the hapless Willoughby runs into the forest intent on finding a fox – except he is clearly oblivious to what a fox actually looks like – searching every tree he comes to.  When Willoughby runs into his new friend George, he repeatedly asks where the fox went.  

Of course, George gives Willoughby directions to a rail fence, ensuring him the fox is on the other side which invariably sends Willoughby off the edge of a steep cliff.

All the while, Willoughby never suspects that his “friend” George is the fox…

“Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?”

I was reminded of that farcical comedy last week when Volusia County’s Chief Financial Officer Ryan “The Alchemist” Ossowski – the greatest illusionist since Harry Houdini – presented various mind-numbing PowerPoint slides showing forecasts for Solid Waste, Volusia ECHO, Volusia Forever, Mosquito Control, Ponce Inlet Port District and County Transportation Trust funds, along with the county’s capital projects plan.

Like a game of Three-Card Monte, none of it makes sense. 

Because it’s not supposed to – and despite their contemplative head-nodding – our elected officials are just as clueless as the rest of us. 

Last year at this time, a similar forecast showed the $3.5 million in Volusia ECHO funds (for “planning purposes”) which was later approved to fund Councilman Don Dempsey’s pet motorcross facility and lashed to the controversial expenditure of Volusia Forever conservation funds to purchase 356 acres of cow pasture to put it on…

Then came the inevitable doom and gloom when Ossowski began prepping the budgetary battlefield with scary stories of reduced federal funding for expenditures we already pay for.

In an article by reporter Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal last week, we learned:

“The county is bracing for spending cuts by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The agency plays a key role in helping fund major — and sometimes very expensive — projects to repair and strengthen communities after a storm.

“Current guidance that we’ve been getting from FEMA is that they’re going to be pulling back on especially non-public-safety-critical items like (beaches) and parks,” Ossowski said.

Big projects are coming up, too.  

The county’s five-year capital projects plan includes a new Volusia County Sheriff’s Office headquarters for $30 million, a new Mosquito Control facility for over $23.9 million, which officials plan to finance; and a landfill expansion for over $20.1 million.”

Whoa.

For the record, Volusia County now operates with an astronomical annual budget of over $1.3 billion. 

You read that right.  

Following Tropical Storm Ian, the county established the Transform386 program to allocate an additional $328.9 million in Community Development Block Grant funds received as part of a massive federal assistance package. 

In January, it was reported that the U.S. Housing and Urban Development awarded Volusia County $133.5 million in Hurricane Milton relief… 

It doesn’t end there. 

Last year, the county brought in some $391 million in property tax revenue, in addition to various other taxes, fees, state and federal grants and allocations, funds carried over from the previous budget year, etc. 

Add to that the county’s pernicious process of dipping into tax supported Volusia Forever and ECHO funds under a “direct county expenditure” program (read: sneak thievery) where repair, replacement, and capital improvement projects that are normally budgeted for annually are instead funded with millions in looted conservation and passive outdoor recreation funds. 

In my view, the county’s expenditure program is “Exhibit A” in the case against the proposed “stormwater and flooding” half-cent sales tax money grab that is slowly being resuscitated from the ash heap of bad ideas by a political insulation committee of county/city officials. 

Bullshit.                   

I harp on this a lot, but the last time the Volusia CEO Business Alliance and others – in confederacy with their friends in municipal and county government – tried to sell us on a sales tax increase, it was ostensibly to fund transportation infrastructure. 

Remember?  I do.

Unfortunately, our ‘powers that be’ approved malignant sprawl at a rate that has now exceeded our transportation needs while ignoring critical infrastructure concurrency requirements – something that should be prosecuted as criminal negligence – and allowing environmentally destructive slash-burn-fill-and-build construction practices to flood existing residents across the width and breadth of Volusia County. 

Typically, engineers, planners, and growth management experts call that a compounding problem – something to avoid – a situation where added factors exacerbate an existing problem, making problems worse or more complicated. Example: The heavy rain compounded the problem of development-induced changes to the topography of the land, causing extensive flood damage to existing houses, businesses, and roads…

Now, those self-described “fiscal conservatives” on the dais of power in DeLand are being “prepared” by senior staff for a new budget year – and still no substantive road improvements, major utility upgrades, effective stormwater management, or the countless other must haves necessary to keep pace with development. 

Just more Taj Mahal facilities, upgrades, and comforts that benefit the bureaucracy, or the pet projects of shameless elected officials who know better, and the inevitable salary and benefit increases for senior staff which ensures they don’t have to feel the same pain their constituents experience.

In my view, it is time for Volusia County taxpayers to ask these pompous asses the tough questions, like, “Where did it go, George?” and “When is this bloated, lethargic, and obese monstrosity of a bureaucracy going to stand on its own two feet?

To quote the loveable dupe Willoughby after his “friend” sent him off the cliff, “Thanks a lot, George, thanks a lot…”

City of Bunnell – A Threatened Community Fights Back

“A development of this size has the potential to change the entire character of our city.”

–Bunnell Vice Mayor John Rogers, Monday, June 9, 2025

The request by a Jacksonville-based developer was the largest in modern history:

An 8,000-home monstrosity, to include an 800 space RV community, blanketing over 2,800 acres between SR-100 and SR-11 west of the community of Bunnell.  A life altering project which, among other massive impacts on existing residents, was expected to increase traffic from the current 8,817 daily trips to an obscene 81,943 trips per day on area roadways at build out… 

The controversial project has been declared the Reserve at Haw Creek – one of those cockamamie appellations that only a real estate marketing group could manufacture – a signature that always seems the exact opposite of what the development represents, is the single largest planned unit development proposed for Flagler County since ITT’s Palm Coast.   

There was nothing reserved about it…                

Once finished, the gargantuan Reserve at Haw Creek would increase the population of the City of Bunnell by 500% – forever changing the quaint culture and small town feel of the closeknit community – leaving residents rightfully concerned about traffic congestion, density, schools, flooding, infrastructure, environmental impacts, and their quiet quality of life.

To their credit, threatened citizens of Bunnell and its rural areas banded together early to fight for their small community at every step of the process. 

On Monday evening, citizens turned out en masse to voice their vehement opposition to “The Reserve” before the Bunnell City Commission – while a representative for the developer schmoozed the elected officials with tales of riches beyond their local-yokel comprehension.

According to an article in FlaglerLive.com this week:

“Yes, you will have to hire staff. Yes, you will have to maintain the sewer plants, the water plants down the road,” Grim said. “But you can have millions of dollars coming in to pay a few $100,000 worth of salaries.” It was a shocking misrepresentation: the city’s costs in added staff, added police, added firefighters, fire trucks, police cars and operational costs manyfold more than its current budget supports would be in the tens of millions of dollars.

The public comments were invariably brutal to the proposal. “The bigger picture of all of this is flooding, flooding, flooding, flooding,” Melanie Brian said. “I don’t care what St John’s Water Management says. I live there. I live right there. We had 3 feet is all I had left before that water entered my home just this last hurricane, just the last hurricane. And that is including the trees that are still there. So now you’re going to rip all that out. I’m going to have water in my house. It’s going to happen. I don’t care what they say on development. What is in black and white on a piece of paper is not what really happens.”  

At the end of a long evening, the Bunnell City Commission voted 4-1 to reject the proposed development, marking a rare victory for long-suffering “Fun Coast” residents who have literally been steamrolled by real estate developers armed with “voluntary regulations,” lucrative incentives, and state legislation that has all but preempted local control of future growth.  

Unfortunately, the David v. Goliath fight against the Reserve at Haw Creek is far from over. 

The developer now has 30-days to file an appeal in Circuit Court… 

Stay tuned.  This one bear’s watching.

Quote of the Week

“Gov. Ron DeSantis is giving a vote of confidence to the University of Florida Board of Trustees, even after they advanced a failed pick for President of the state’s flagship school.

DeSantis has reappointed Mori Hosseini and Fred Ridley to the Board, even after both men were part of the unanimous vote in favor of Santa Ono.

The state Board of Governors (BOG) summarily rejected Ono amid concerns about his adherence to left-wing ideology like diversity, equity and inclusion, and a firestorm from people on the Right, including onetime DeSantis favorite Christopher Rufo, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds and Donald Trump Jr.

The Governor offered weak criticisms of Ono, saying past comments made him “cringe,” but expressed confidence in the Trustees publicly before the BOG spiked their pick. Even after it was final, though, the usually outspoken DeSantis avoided saying anything relevant about the controversy, a measure of the political complications he faced.

Hosseini has been one of DeSantis’ most influential supporters since his run for Governor in 2018, with the Governor backing a $92 million highway interchange at the ICI Homes developer’s behest. In turn, DeSantis enjoyed private flights and a golf simulator at Hosseini’s expense.”

–Reporter A. G. Gancarski, writing in FloridaPolitics.com, one of the most respected media outlets covering government, politics, policy, and lobbying in the Sunshine State, “Gov. DeSantis reappoints Mori Hosseini, Fred Ridley to UF Board of Trustees despite Santa Ono snit,” Tuesday, June 9, 2025

Wait.  Did I read that right?

“…with the Governor backing a $92 million highway interchange at the ICI Homes developer’s behest. In turn, DeSantis enjoyed private flights and a golf simulator at Hosseini’s expense.”

Wow. No mincing words, no “allegedly,” no chocolates and flowers…

In most places that value good governance, that shocking revelation of quid pro quo politics by a respected Northeast Florida journalist would have resulted in outrage from those who pay the bills.

The acknowledgment that massively expensive infrastructure beneficial to well-heeled benefactors is up for sale to the chum who offers the best spiffs, like private jets and expensive toys. But not here.

We’ve become inured to the stench of transactional politics in Tallahassee. 

Florida.  The biggest whorehouse in the world. 

The rules truly are different here…

And Another Thing!

One need look no further than the Lost City of Deltona – now the largest municipality in Volusia County by population – for all the frightening earmarks of a city in crisis.  

A key symptom of a civic malignancy on the heart of a community is when the elected body cannot form a quorum; and it appears the majority of those the taxpayers of Deltona cast their sacred vote for simply cannot be bothered to show up…   

Or is there something more sinister at play?

According to a report by Al Everson writing in the West Volusia Beacon last week, in the hours prior to the Deltona City Commission’s June 2 meeting, City Clerk Joyce Raftery began receiving calls from elected officials begging off that evening’s public meeting, “They said they had family issues. One didn’t feel well.”   

Huh.  It’s almost as if someone coordinated it, eh? 

In total, four of the seven, including Mayor Santiago Avila Jr., abdicated their sworn obligation to conduct the people’s business – a position for which they receive public funds to serve in the public interest – which means the City Commission failed to achieve a quorum, and the meeting had to be cancelled.

Why the last-minute exodus?

In the Beacon’s report we learned, “Among the items on the agenda of the June 2 meeting were an ordinance to ban the opening of new medical-marijuana dispensaries in Deltona and consideration of a moratorium on new development. The proposed moratorium on new construction and development follows from stormwater problems in various parts of the city, especially after hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022 and Hurricane Milton last October.

Ahh.  The old ‘one-two’ of the “M” word and Impact Fees…   

According to an excellent report by WFTV-9 reporter Demie Johnson, “Hundreds of new homes have already been approved in the city so far this year, according to Commissioner Dori Howington. Meanwhile, hundreds of existing homes are still dealing with the effects of flooding from the past few storm seasons.

“We can’t sustain that with the infrastructure we have, and if we aren’t charging enough in impact fees, then the developers aren’t doing it which means our residents have to pick up the pieces,” said Howington.

Howington said the cost to develop in Deltona hasn’t gone up in a decade. It’s an issue the city has been working to address since December. Because there hasn’t been much movement, she’s suggesting a temporary pause on building altogether.”

In turn, Commissioner Howington made a valiant effort to call for a special meeting of the Deltona City Commission. 

Unfortunately, her attempts were ignored…      

Last Friday, Greg Gimbert, administrator of the popular social media civic forum Volusia Issues, expressed the concerns of many when he asked Volusia County Councilman David “No Show” Santiago – who many believe is the behind-the-scenes Pied Piper of Deltona Politics – why his wife, Deltona Commissioner Emma “No Show II” Santiago, and his acolyte Mayor Avila, failed to appear? 

“It’s frustrating to watch people take the check but not do the job. Thank you for adding them. David Santiago do you think you can get your wife and your boy to show up for work?”

In a revealing reply, Councilman Santiago explained:

“My wife is an independent woman who makes her own decisions. Not sure what you mean by my boy. Maybe there is a possibility they disagree with what Dori is proposing? Maybe they feel this doesn’t need a special emergency meeting and could be addressed at the next regularly scheduled meeting and save tax dollars? Maybe this is all to build up someone’s popularity tactics. Maybe people are waiting to see what the Governor is going to do with SB 180 which can make this a waste of time? One thing that I do know is that I don’t speculate and or guess what others think because most of the time it’s incorrect. Have a good day.”

Disturbing. 

I have a few “what ifs” of my own, like maybe someone functioned as a conduit to prevent a quorum and circumvent the discussion of impact fees and a development moratorium?

Or maybe they took a page out of Councilman “No Show” Santiago’s pernicious political playbook – sitting on their ass, refusing to participate, and spinelessly sidestepping controversial issues until they see which way the political wind is blowing?   

In a curious twist, during a workshop on Monday evening, the Deltona City Commission took action to direct that an ordinance authorizing a nine-month building moratorium be drafted for consideration – to include a timeline for approving the measure before July 1 – along with provisions for repealing the measure should a developer sue the city (inevitably).

According to Commissioner Howington, the city currently has 23 development applications awaiting approval, and “The proposal for a temporary moratorium puts a pause on everything new coming at us,” she said. “It does not impact commercial or industrial development.”

“I’m hearing from residents. They want to take a pause.”

In a follow-up report by the West Volusia Beacon, we learned, “The vote was 5-0. Two members of the governing body, Vice Mayor Davison Heriot and Commissioner Emma Santiago, were absent.”

Go figure…

During the workshop, Deltona’s City Attorney Gemma Torcivia stressed the importance of having a quorum at the required special meetings to ensure timely action on the moratorium.

Time will tell. 

Perhaps last week’s exodus from the dais by Deltona officials was just another symptom of the epidemic of mass political cowardice – the inability of compromised elected officials to take a position in front of their frightened, frustrated, and claustrophobic constituents – taxpayers desperate for solutions to the disastrous effects of overdevelopment?  

In my view, that virulent malady seems to be spreading like a cancer through councils and commissions across Volusia County…

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…

The Miller Lake Twenty-Three – A Demand for Justice in Orange City

Waterlogged residents throughout Volusia County cheered the news that twenty-three current or former property owners in the Miller Lake (formerly Miller Pond) area of Orange City have filed a lawsuit alleging that Volusia County and ten commercial property owners failed to manage stormwater drainage systems contributing to devastating lake flooding. 

According to a report by Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Attorney Jack Taylor, of the law firm Morgan & Morgan, is representing the plaintiffs. The firm filed the 234-page lawsuit, including attachments, in Volusia County Circuit Court.”

In the preamble to the legal action, Taylor asserts “This is a case about property rights, mismanagement of stormwater infrastructure, and the consequences of development without accountability.”

That’s powerful.  Especially when so many property owners across the region have had their lives repeatedly upended by the effects of development-induced flooding.

In addition, the Miller Lake residents have filed a notice of tort claims against Volusia County for “mismanagement” of the lake, alleging that the county’s bungling “…has led to the rise of stormwater, persistent flooding, and damage to homes near Miller Lake.”

According to the News-Journal, “Plaintiffs bring this action to stop the continued intrusion of stormwater, to repair the harm already caused, and to reinforce a basic principle of Florida law: one property owner may not use another’s land as a drainage basin.”

For their part, to further isolate our county government from those it exists to serve, Volusia County officials circled the wagons in a canned email to the News-Journal, “Unfortunately, we cannot comment on current, pending, or threatened litigation matters.”

Bullshit.

In April, Spectrum News 13 reported that residents of the Miller Lake area are still experiencing the impacts of Hurricane Milton some seven months after the event.  Inundation that resulted in a drastic rise in lake levels that blocked access to their homes, rendered potable water wells useless, and left their property submerged in standing water.

Last December, during a townhall meeting to address the concerns of flood victims in West Volusia, county officials spewed more hot air – more of the strategic procrastination that has become their tired modus operandi – with Volusia’s Public Works Director Ben Bartlett falling back on more timewasting studies to tell everyone what they already knew:  

“What are some typical solutions you might see to come out of these studies? The first one is a traditional stormwater system, stormwater ponds to store the water during the event, gravity conveyance system to bring the water to the pond, and then some sort of gravity system with a positive outfall to take the water away,” Benjamin Bartlett said.”

We understand the basics of how a stormwater system works, Ben. 

So what do you plan to do about the ones that are overwhelmed due to massive overdevelopment and no longer serve their intended purpose across the width and breadth of Volusia County?

And how did we get in this disastrous predicament to begin with?

For the record, last month, the Volusia County Council finally got around to approving water-engineering studies of four areas in DeLand – that’s five months after Bartlett’s announcement – when they voted to hire a Texas consulting firm (?), to analyze stormwater issues and recommend workable solutions.

If history repeats (and it always does here on the “Fun Coast”) any “recommendations” resulting from the $828,010 in grant funded studies will be wholly ignored and quickly forgotten – but another year of foot-dragging inaction will have passed under the transom…   

Why is that?  

Perhaps these are questions Mr. Bartlett and other senior members of County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald’s coterie of enablers, and those elected puppets on the dais of power will be asked under oath as the Miller Lake lawsuit progresses? 

To add insult, in coming months, Volusia County taxpayers are going to hear of a pernicious plan hatched by something called the “sustainability subcommittee” of the Volusia Knights of the Roundtable – a political insulation consortium of county and municipal elected officials – that will suggest a 2026 referendum to increase our sales tax ostensibly to pay for “stormwater and flooding” solutions. 

In January, after the Volusia County Council’s obstinate “Old Guard” callously suppressed an attempt by Chair Jeff Brower to implement a temporary building moratorium until desperately needed infrastructure needs could be met, we learned in a News-Journal report:

“At-Large Representative Jake Johansson pointed out that the Volusia County Elected Officials Roundtable, which brings together cities and county leaders, has formed a subcommittee that will address flooding concerns. Johansson is serving as co-chair.

He talked about the importance of collaborating with city leaders on issues like a moratorium.”

Instead of “addressing flooding concerns” as promised, it appears all Jake the Snake Johansson and his fellow tone-deaf knights could come up with is raising taxes on goods and services for every man, woman, and child in Volusia County? 

I don’t know about you, but with Volusia County’s budget now topping an astronomical $1.3 billion – I think we’ve all given enough of our hard-earned money to the same blundering dullards who got us into this mess in the first place… 

Folks, this isn’t about flood control – it’s about another revenue source for this horribly bloated bureaucracy.  

I commend those inundated homeowners in Orange City and their intrepid team at Morgan and Morgan for standing up to those do-nothings in the Ivory Tower of Power at Volusia County government and let them know there is some shit we won’t eat.

In my view, it is time for victims of overdevelopment and bureaucratic ineptitude to hold those who knew of the devastating consequences of fill-and-build sprawl, and did absolutely nothing to mitigate it, legally and politically accountable for their strategic negligence.    

Clash of the Titans – The Sound of Distant Thunder

Things turned ugly this week when Florida’s State University Board of Governors morphed from a pro forma rubberstamp into the role of interrogators on Tuesday as they dug deep into the political leanings and past practices of former University of Michigan president Dr. Santa J. Ono, who was recently selected by unanimous vote of the University of Florida Board of Trustees to assume the 14^th presidency of UF.

It was the first time in history that the 17-member Florida Board of Governor’s failed to approve the leadership recommendation of a university’s trustees… 

Normally, I could care less – the only thing that kept me out of college was high school – but Ono’s appointment was publicly supported by several of our local “movers-and-shakers” who draw a lot of water in Volusia County…

According to a report this week in FlaglerLive.com, “Tuesday’s 10-6 vote was a major rebuke to the UF Board of Trustees, which last week unanimously selected Ono for the post, and trustees Chairman Mori Hosseini, an influential Republican donor with longstanding ties to the state university system.

Ono, an immunologist who recently stepped down as president of the University of Michigan, drew fierce criticism from high-profile conservatives inside and outside of Florida for such issues as his past embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs, as well as his handling of on-campus protests following the 2023 attack by Hamas in Israel.”

Find the rest of FlaglerLive.com’s article here: https://tinyurl.com/y5vsay4t

In recent weeks, conservative critics have slammed Dr. Ono’s nomination – including Donald Trump Jr., who took to X last month to lambaste UF’s “decision-makers,” and referred to Ono as a “woke psycho” – partisan denunciations that ultimately led the governing board to block Ono’s appointment earlier this week.

Regardless of the reasons (or rhetoric) Ono’s controversial nomination set up a clash of the titans involving some of our area’s heaviest hitters – including the heaviest of the heavy, our High Panjandrum of Political Power Mori Hosseini – who chairs the University of Florida’s Board of Trustees – and former Florida Speaker of the House Paul Renner, who was among those leading the charge against Dr. Ono’s appointment.  

In addition, influential local insurance executive Charlie Lydecker – in my experience a good guy and member of the State University Board of Governors (who also served on the UF presidential search committee) questioned the intensity of the board’s withering interrogation of Ono.

“Critics’ probing of Ono was so intense that it sparked heated pushback from Lydecker, who said the Board of Governors was intended to “ratify, up or down” a selection unanimously made by UF’s trustees.

“This is not a court of law. I’ve been on this board for five, six years, and we have never used this as a forum to interrogate and in this case, it feels to me patently unfair,” Lydecker said. “Candidly, this process does not feel fair to me.”

According to FlaglerLive.com, Mr. Hosseini also questioned the board’s motivations and “…called the skepticism around Ono “heartbreaking” and pointed to former President Ronald Reagan’s metamorphosis from a Democrat who supported unions to one of the nation’s most beloved Republicans. He said the Board of Governors needed to rely on UF’s trustees, who stepped in after questions were raised about former UF President Ben Sasse’s short tenure.

“The board of trustees are there as a backstop. So if this man doesn’t do what he says he’s going to do, we’re there. We’re your boots on the ground … That is the basis of this board of governors and yet you all decided today is the day we’re going to take somebody down,” Hosseini said.”

Adding to the intrigue, during the discussion, board member Eric Silagy – past chairman, president, and CEO of Florida Power & Light – asked Mr. Hosseini (who was conspicuously seated next to Dr. Ono) about “a number of detractors in this process” who may have been sniffing around the UF presidential post themselves…

“Who on the board of governors wanted to be president of the University of Florida?” Silagy asked.

“Paul Renner,” Hosseini said, sparking an immediate response from the former House speaker.

“I did not initiate that,” Renner said.

Renner said a UF trustee asked him about the presidential post.

“I contacted the governor’s office. I was told to go talk to Mori Hosseini, and he said he wasn’t interested, and that’s the end of it,” Renner said. The conversation took place before DeSantis appointed him to the Board of Governors in February.

“Under no circumstances, would I serve at this time at the University of Florida,” Renner said.

Whoa.

For his part, it appears Dr. Santa Ono is now damaged goods as his critics tout the board’s vote as “a massive win for conservatives,” while progressive academics around the nation chide him for playing the politics of appeasement and “selling his soul” to secure the UF appointment.

As one gloating University of Michigan professor still sore about Ono’s attempt to jump the Blue State/Red State gulf put it, “Karma caught up with Ono…”

Governor Ron DeSantis didn’t openly oppose Dr. Ono’s appointment – choosing instead a delicate tightrope act between his biggest donors/supporters and Ono’s equally influential detractors. 

But once the deed was done, Gov. DeSantis took a short victory lap in the form of a post on X by newly hired state staffer Jordan Schachtel:

“Santa Ono is OUT. The Florida Board of Governors has voted to Reject Ono as President of the University of Florida. 

Florida has voted to reject wokeness, DEI, CRT at our flagship university.  Go Gators!”

According to a report by NBC News, the rejection of Ono “…put DeSantis in a thorny political position, and it was a notable outcome in a state Republican ecosystem generally defined by donors and influential figures’ getting their way.

One of DeSantis’ longtime biggest political supporters — Mori Hosseini, the billionaire chair of the University of Florida Board of Trustees — strongly backed Ono’s bid to become president of the state’s flagship university.”

Something tells me that won’t soon be forgotten, and that distant thunder may well be the rumble of war drums…

Look, I don’t presume to know the behind-the-curtains dynamics at play in Tallahassee, Gainesville, and beyond (and I really don’t care) – but influential donors/insiders like Mr. Hosseini aren’t accustomed to being told no – or publicly humiliated by a politically appointed board of governors.

In my view, this sets up a classic power struggle that is ripe for serious repercussions during an already strange time in Tallahassee…

Stay tuned.

Quote of the Week

“The Palm Coast City Council is moving forward with two of the three impact fee studies, one of which will increase the fire service fee by 117%.

The council is reviewing the impact fees for transportation, fire service and parks and recreation. At the June 3 council meeting, the council unanimously approved the first of two votes raising the fire service and parks and recreation fees. The transportation fees were sent back for more revisions, which will reviewed on June 10.

Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri said it is the council’s job to make sure its position is legally defensible if the council is going to increase the impact fees at such high rates.

“We have to make sure that we are buttoned up every which way to Sunday on this,” she said.  “And I just don’t think we’re there yet.”

Typically, Florida law prohibits increasing impact fees by more than 50% of the current rate but once every four years and increases must be phased in over a two- to four-year period. But the state statute does provide an exception, if a municipality proves there are “extraordinary circumstances.”

–Reporter Sierra Williams writing in the Palm Coast Observer, “Palm Coast Council votes to increase developer-paid fire service fees by 117%,” Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Florida residents don’t hear much from real estate developers.  

For the most part, their lawyers, lobbyists, and elected shills do the talking for them…

Unfortunately, you and I are shut out of the discussion – silenced by the roar of bulldozers churning acres of greenspace into a foul black muck, the acrid odor of splintered hardwoods burning to ash, and the resultant dust storms that blow across the denuded landscape – all before construction of more, more, more zero lot line cracker boxes “starting in the mid $300’s” begin to blanket the land.

Oh, on occasion We, The Little People kick and bitch – approaching that wall of silence comprised of our elected representatives – our fears falling on deaf ears blocked by wads of campaign donations and the subliminal return on investment that accompanies each dollar. 

And the lucrative status quo prevails…

But if you want to see what an angry hornet’s nest looks like, just mention the concept of a temporary building moratorium until infrastructure can meet demand – or suggest an increase in impact fees to pay for needed improvements – then look out. 

Suddenly, the development community mobilizes, literally building a steel curtain around City Hall, and begin broadcasting stories of the economic Armageddon that would result from even a tap of the brakes on growth. 

Complete with tall tales about how raising impact fees to reduce the burden on existing residents would actually result in homeowners paying more in the long run…

My ass.

On Monday, ahead of a vote by the Palm Coast City Council to increase impact fees for transportation, fire service, and parks and recreation, a cast of development-friendly mouthpieces took to the airwaves on WNZF Radio’s “Free for All” talk show.  

Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner (boy, he gets around, huh?) – who apparently retained his role as a shameless developer shill – used the forum to tell flashlight under the chin scary stories of what happens if developers are required to pay their fair share for the impacts of growth:  

According to the Observer report, “Renner said “dollar for dollar,” impact fees are passed on to the new homeowners, “artificially” increasing the property’s cost. That higher home value then likewise will increase the property assessments of surrounding homes, eventually leading to current homeowners paying more in property taxes, he said.”

Meanwhile, spinmeisters from the Flagler Homebuilders Association tag-teamed with Renner, claiming the studies Palm Coast relied upon to establish the “extraordinary circumstances” necessary for the more than 50% increase were “full of holes,” comparing them to “Swiss cheese,” and crying the Poor Mouth Blues over increased construction costs.

Admit nothing, deny everything, make counteraccusations, eh?    

To her credit, Palm Coast Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri brought a modicum of common sense to the discussion by pointing out the burden already borne by existing taxpayers:

“Current Palm Coast residents will also feel the effects if the fees aren’t increased enough, either, she said. According to the recreation impact fee studies, she said, increasing the fire service fees just 50% would mean the city would need to recoup $3.9 million over 10 years from current residents to make up the difference. 

“You’re just moving it from one column to the other,” she said. “We know we’ve got expansion related costs. And expansion related costs should weigh on the shoulders of the people that are coming in more so than the people that are already here.”

And the beat goes on…

And Another Thing!

…before it is an honor, leadership is trust; Before it is a call to glory, Leadership is a call to service.

…before all else, forever, and always, leadership is a willingness to serve.

—Father Edson Wood, OSA, Chaplain, United States Military Academy

The first week of June…  Wow, how time flies. 

In two months, Good Lord willing, I’ll turn 65 and officially become a senior citizen. 

A Florida Senior Citizen.  The worst kind….

As a pending geriatric with my productive life behind me, I now look back on so many wonderful memories of a lifetime spent in public service with a small municipality – the privilege of doing work worth doing for people who genuinely appreciated the effort. 

I wouldn’t change a minute of it.

This week, our local news was filled with the shining faces of high school and college graduates receiving their diplomas, the culmination of a journey that began in earliest childhood, now preparing for the great adventure of ‘what comes next.’

From the precipice of old age, by squinting hard enough, I can look back into the murky distance and remember that special time in my life when anything seemed possible, and I never regretted my decision to serve a small community, and all the trials, errors, blunders, and triumphs of overcoming significant challenges for the greater good.  

After all these years, I still believe in the importance of ethical, responsive, and transparent public servants working to ensure essential service delivery and good governance. My hope is that some of today’s altruistic and enthusiastic graduates will answer the high calling to public service – devoting themselves to a cause greater than their own self-interest.  

In my beloved profession of law enforcement, we continue to experience a nationwide crisis of recruiting and retaining qualified officers.  In my experience, it has never been easy to find candidates with the innate attributes necessary for the difficult, dangerous, and demanding work – now made worse by the gross villanization of law enforcement in the wake of hyper-politicized events across the nation. 

I’m not going to lie; as police administrators, we’ve brought some it on ourselves… 

It’s a hard dollar, and it always will be. 

Those who serve in law enforcement with honor, courage, and a personal commitment to protecting their communities remain my personal heroes and they have my enduring love and respect.

In my view, another growing civic crisis is the quality and caliber of those standing for local elective office on the various city and county councils, commissions, and boards that make important policy decisions that affect our lives and livelihoods and allocate our hard-earned tax dollars. 

In my view, those with the impulse to serve, a fire in the belly, that was once a hallmark of community involvement have largely been replaced by head-nodding sycophants with a proclivity for quid pro quo transactional politics. 

An institutional (and individual) willingness to serve the highest bidder, rather than the personal instinct to improve the quality of life, well-being, and economic prosperity of their neighbors.   

The problem isn’t limited to local governments.

The sordid stories out of Tallahassee exposing the machinations of state legislators, and scandals that now reach the Governor’s office and the Florida Attorney General, are increasingly prevalent and corrosive to the public trust. 

At the federal level (as is our luck), United States Rep. Cory Mills, who represents the 7^th Congressional District stretching from areas of Daytona Beach to Apopka, is now widely mocked as the “most corrupt Congressman in America…”  

Sadly, it appears the personal qualities of leadership, integrity, and selflessness are now seen as impediments to the lockstep conformity required to further the greed-crazed wants of their political puppeteers at all levels of government.

In the decade since I retired from municipal service, many things have changed, while some traditions, both good and bad, remain. 

In my view, the proliferation of a skewed campaign finance system that allows uber-wealthy “King makers” to conspire with horribly dysfunctional partisan political committees to hand-select malleable candidates – then underwrite their campaigns with massive donations from the various businesses and entities under their control – has completely compromised local elections here on Florida’s “Fun Coast” and beyond.

Add to that the vicious knife-fight that passes for modern political races – an unrestrained blood bath of dirty tricks, scandalous insinuations distributed on those infamous “glossy mailers,” gross distortions presented as fact, and cruel character assassination – shameful tactics that result in the personal and professional destruction of anyone who dares challenge Volusia’s “Old Guard,” and you begin to see why elective service in these parts is not for the faint of heart…   

Once elected, their likeminded “colleagues” – politicians often supported by the same donors and special interests – convince them that the elected body should be a clubbish, homogenized, and well-choreographed echo chamber, where protected (and highly compensated) senior staff create public policy behind closed doors, and the elected officials are expected to rubberstamp it.

To enforce compliance, the compromised majority begin passing rules and “civility ordinances” to silence dissent on both sides of the dais, while strictly enforced conformism ensures the outcome of votes when everyone starts thinking alike.    

Absurd “rules” that permit our elected officials to stare catatonically into space like stone gargoyles – refusing to even acknowledge the presence of taxpayers who approach the gilded dais of power – let alone answer their questions and fervent cries for help.    

Fortunately, there are a few with the courage to stand for their constituents, demonstrate independence, and buck a compromised system that abhors individualism and free thought. 

For their resistance, these bold public servants who hold firm to their campaign promises are marginalized, maligned, and see their every idea and initiative crushed under the boot of those slavish loyalists who are passionately committed to preserving the stagnant status quo. 

Perhaps a new generation of aspiring servant-leaders – those who have seen the environmental atrocities and civic claustrophobia of overdevelopment, the corruption in plain sight, and the bureaucratic subservience to the profit margins of well-heeled political insiders – will rise and vow to return public confidence and respect to our government institutions through adherence to highest standards of integrity, transparency, and service over self.   

I hate to say it, but we’ve made a mess of things.

Now, it’s up to those who come next…

As policy analyst, educator, and former dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University reminded in his essay on civic participation, Reviving the Call to Public Service, in a thought by Margaret Thatcher on the fate of the Athenians:

“In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.”

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