Hi, kids!

Happy Thursday, to all who celebrate…

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:

Courage and Cowardice in the Lost City of Deltona

I was recently on an airplane enroute to Orlando International Airport from LAX.  To avoid building thunderstorms over the Gulf Coast, the flight deviated along the Florida-Georgia border before turning south and traversing the spine of Florida just east of Lake City, Gainesville, Ocala, and Leesburg.

Slumped in 21-F, I gazed out the window, noting the striking difference between established neighborhoods – treelined streets and large verdant lots – and the sheer number of massive developments that are metastasizing across the width and breadth of the state.

The new subdivisions clearly differentiated from existing homes by the mitochondria-like matrix of zero lot line cracker boxes swirled in a way that shoehorns the maximum number of structures onto every denuded acre.

Equally prominent were the large black gashes in the barren landscape where heavy equipment is taking large bites from the margins of unspoiled greenspace – slash-and-burn land clearing that churns the earth to muck.  Once the land is stripped of trees and vegetation, fill dirt is trucked in to elevate homesites – forever changing the topography of the land – and destroying what environmentalists call the “natural infrastructure” that helps control flooding, provides wildlife habitat, and recharges our water supply.

From the literal 30,000’ view, it is disturbingly clear that the Sunshine State is screwed…

Last week, in yet another sneak attack (this time camouflaged as hurricane recovery legislation) on charter government and the home rule right of Florida counties and municipalities to determine their destiny, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 180, a law that literally handed greed-crazed developers the keys to the kingdom.

Inconceivably, this overreaching special interest preemption limits changes to virtually all local comprehensive plans, land development regulations, procedures for the review, approval, or issuance of site plans, development orders, or building moratoriums, retroactive to August 1, 2024.

For an added kick in the crotch to local governments, the law empowers developers to file civil actions to obtain declaratory and injunctive relief – along with recovery of attorneys’ fees – if a city or county fails to announce its intent to repeal any lawfully enacted ordinance the developer finds subjectively “restrictive or burdensome” within 14 days of receiving written demand and then repeals the ordinance within 30 days.

The local impacts were immediate.

Within hours of Gov. DeSantis’ signature, the City of Deltona received notice of intent to file suit under the terms of Senate Bill 180 from an Orlando law firm representing a multi-unit developer challenging an ordinance unanimously passed by the City Commission last December. 

Trust me, that’s just the beginning…

To their credit, on Monday, a majority of the Deltona City Commission courageously passed a temporary building moratorium on a 4-3 vote – a bold move that has nothing to do with rebuilding after recent hurricanes – as city officials attempt to do the will of their constituents and tap the brakes on growth while determining solutions to persistent stormwater and flooding issues.

Following passage of the nine-month pause on applications for new residential construction, the city’s schlub of a mayor, Santiago Avila Jr. – who joined Vice Mayor Davison Heriot and Commissioner Emma “No Show II” Santiago in attempting to defeat the measure – wrung his hands and mewled to reporters that he’s afraid state legislators won’t like him anymore.

During his tone-deaf virtue signaling, Mayor Avila had the stones to talk about his “oath,” (an inconvenience he’s repeatedly ignored to the financial detriment of Deltona taxpayers) while moralizing to his fellow elected officials:

“I took an oath of office, to vote the way I am supposed to as far as abiding by the law.  What we just did right now, in my opinion, is malfeasance, and it’s dereliction of duty. It’s unconstitutional, and it’s wrong. It’s a lot of political play. Instead of playing these games, we should concentrate on our impact fees, getting them fast-tracked.”

That’s rich coming from Mayor Avila…    

Then, a clearly rattled Avila tried his best to capitulate to those in Tallahassee who are actively trying to crush Deltona’s ability to control their destiny, “We are literally touting that we have just passed an unconstitutional resolution, ordinance, whatever you want to call it, and we’re kind of saying, ‘Hey, Governor, we’re here, and we want to pick a fight with you.’ Ask the speaker of the House on that one.”

A day later, Avila hyper-dramatically announced on Facebook (?) he will refuse to sign the ordinance passed by majority vote of the Deltona City Commission – saying it would constitute malfeasance and invite a legal challenge – and suggests the “Commission designate another official, should they choose to proceed.”  

This coming from the same debt-dodging hack who used Deltona resident’s hard-earned tax dollars to fund a political junket for him and his wife to Washington – then hired a high-priced mouthpiece (again at taxpayer expense) to claim Avila didn’t know the city had a travel policy…

Kudos to Commissioners Dori Howington, Maritza Avila-Vazquez, Stephen Colwell, and Nick Lulli for having the courage of their convictions and standing with citizens threatened by development-induced flooding, inadequate infrastructure, and spineless politicians like Mayor Avila (and others behind the scenes) who are more interested in feathering their political nests than protecting existing residents.   

Now it is time for We, The Little People to demand that these craven shills stop weakening the concept of home rule with heavy handed legislative tactics for the enrichment of their political benefactors and use the power of the ballot box to hold these bought-and-paid-for prostitutes at all levels of government politically accountable for their despicable actions.  

In my view, if we are to preserve local control of planning, development, and self-determination in accordance with a community’s vision and character, it is imperative those do-nothings at the Florida League of Cities, Florida Association of Counties, and our local elected officials get off their asses and let those marionettes in Tallahassee know that existing residents should have the basic right to regulate growth that will impact their lives and livelihoods. 

“High Paying Jobs” vs. Historic Trees.  Guess who won?

The lede typically reads, “Volusia County offered $500,000 in performance-based incentives the company would receive only if it makes good on its pledge to create 1,000 jobs,” or “The City of Deltona dangled a carrot of $2.5 million in performance-based incentives if Amazon were to make good on its pledge to create at least 500 jobs that paid at least $15 an hour plus benefits…”

The locations change but the story remains the same. 

A local government willingly concedes something of value – typically our hard-earned tax dollars – to a corporate entity on the subjective promise of “high paying jobs.” 

According to statewide economic studies, Volusia County has a high percentage of working households who are considered asset limited/income constrained, families who earn above the federal poverty level but are unable to afford basic living expenses.

That means keeping a roof over your head and putting food on the table is getting increasingly difficult, especially in an artificial economy where your local government picks winners and losers with lavish “incentives” that your struggling Mom & Pop business could only dream of.

As a result, We, The Little People willingly acquiesce to these corporate giveaways (what else are we going to do?) while our economic development guru’s lull us into a false sense of “progress” – a civic fallacy based upon toxic optimism that has gotten so far afield here on the “Fun Coast” that we are now led to believe a specialty grocery chain signals regional rebirth and prosperity for all…

As development spreads like wildfire across Florida, the “incentives” gifted to developers increasingly involve irreversible environmental sacrifices, ecological devastation that will ultimately cost each of us far more than another corporate welfare cash incentive…  

Last week, the “jobs” ruse was rolled out to devastating effect when the DeLand City Commission voted 4-0 (with Commissioner Dan Reed absent) to permit the wholesale destruction of 62 historic trees to make way for another industrial and commercial “park,” this one to be constructed near Cassadaga Road and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Beltway. 

During the discussion, City Commissioner Richard Paiva whined about the weighty decision that had befallen the elected body, “These types of decisions are a little challenging for us because I get reminded by people who object that we are Tree City USA.”

“This is not easy,” Paiva said, “but in this case, if we say yes to trees, we’re kind of saying no to business and to jobs.”

Bullshit.

According to a report by Robin Mimna writing in The West Volusia Beacon last week:

“To move forward with the project, the developer, Longleaf Four LLC, (really?) proposed a mitigation package that includes a 1:1 replacement for each historic tree removed, thousands of additional inches of trees planted across the site, and the preservation of a 10-acre wooded parcel in unincorporated Volusia County — home to an estimated 562 live oaks, turkey oaks and longleaf pines, that will eventually be annexed into DeLand.

Because DeLand’s code does not typically allow preserved trees to count toward mitigation, the city previously amended the project’s Planned Unit Development to permit off-site preservation.”

In response, Dr. Wendy Anderson, professor and chair of environmental science and studies at Stetson University, a member of the Volusia County Soil and Water Conservation Board, and a candidate for the District 1 Volusia County Council seat, explained to city officials that the mitigation plan offered by the developer represents the bare minimum required under current regulations.

“The ‘solutions’ offered to the Tree Advisory Committee were presented as some big concession, but in reality, it’s just the bare minimum required under development regulations,” Anderson said.

“These trees provide shade and help capture stormwater,” she added. “We already have stormwater mitigation systems — why not integrate the existing natural infrastructure?”

Now that their elected officials have proven what’s important to them, and what is not, residents of DeLand can say goodbye to that which defines the character and charm of their community. We now live in a foul age where the shiny nugget of 1.5 million square feet of industrial warehouse space and some out-of-state developer’s notion of homogenized sameness beats historic hardwoods every damn time…

Quote of the Week

“Media reports document 90-100 seasonal lifeguard vacancies in 2022, 2023, and 2024. In the past year, County Councilman Troy Kent made numerous inquiries into Volusia’s ongoing lifeguard shortage. The Ormond Beach City Commission recently sent a letter to the county questioning unstaffed lifeguard stations.

Specifically, Neptune Avenue, with a large county-leased parking lot and an A1A traffic light for pedestrian crossings, has a lifeguard only on weekends and some Mondays. That means Ormond beachgoers north of Granada should never go into the water on weekdays. Yet many of them do, at Neptune, Amsden, and Standish approaches.

Deputy County Manager Suzanne Konchan has responded: The county is budgeted to staff all towers seven days a week, but there have been fewer numbers of seasonal lifeguards available during the spring/summer season. (Historically, lifeguards were staffed every half mile, within sight and sound of each other’s calls for emergency backup.)

Today, mobile units patrol extensive stretches of beach to cover the gaps.

The lifeguard shortage has been addressed with increased recruiting and training, increased salaries, benefits, and bonuses. Scheduling strategies have been updated. Proactive efforts now encourage the return of lifeguards from previous years.

Lifeguard deployments are based on data analysis of historical crowds and rescues, placing resources in areas of high beachgoer density with off-beach parking availability. A tiered priority system considers rescue history, environmental conditions, and swimmer density patterns.

But if fewer beachgoers go to unguarded beaches, low counts on those beaches become a self- fulfilling prophecy. And after years of high vacancies, new recruitment strategies are needed.”

–Former Ormond Beach City Commissioner & Civic Activist Jeff Boyle, as excerpted from his op/ed in The Ormond Beach Observer, “Lifeguard shortage still not addressed,” Tuesday, July 1, 2025

In his cogent piece in the Observer, Mr. Boyle noted the shocking fact that last year there were nine drownings on unguarded Volusia County beaches, 13 in 2023, and eight deaths in 2022.

Those grim statistics represent lives lost, and families destroyed, on Volusia County beaches.

That’s unacceptable.

“A study by Simmrin Law identified the 10 most dangerous beaches in America, factoring storms, lightning, shark attacks, and surf-related fatalities. Ranked: New Smyrna Beach (1), Daytona Beach (3), Ormond Beach (6), and Ponce Inlet (7).”

Damn.

In an equally stunning and short-sighted cost cutting measure, this week Flagler County Administrator Heidi Petito announced the county is considering ending its annual grant to Flagler Beach which pays half the cost of the city’s lifeguard program.

According to a report in FlaglerLive.com, the cost sharing agreement between the city and county has been in effect since 2017, and “Last year Flagler Beach’s 31 lifeguards conducted 241 rescues and took 1,800 preventive actions, with zero drownings…”

In addition, “Since 2017, when the city and the county signed a joint agreement ensuring that the county would contribute 50 percent of the funding, lifeguards have conducted 1,132 rescues, with zero drownings in the guarded portions of the beach.

There have been zero drownings along the guarded beaches since 2009, the earliest year of USLA data. In contrast, there have been seven drownings on unguarded portions of Flagler County beaches over that span. (The United States Lifeguard Association calculates the chance of a drowning off a protected beach at 1 in 18 million.)”

The $106,000 annual county contribution only covers lifeguard salaries, not equipment or other needs of the program.

Find the disturbing article here: https://tinyurl.com/28p8c4eb

According to reports, Petito’s unilateral decision to cancel an interlocal agreement – public policy approved by the Flagler Board of County Commissioners and Flagler Beach City Commission – came as a surprise to elected and administrative officials at both the city and county.   

Perhaps this is clapback from the BOCC’s recent rejection of Petito’s beach management plan which called for a half-cent sales tax increase. Last month, Commissioner Greg Hansen said that without the sales tax hike, Petito’s proposal would require a “…plan that cuts programs, cuts people, and eliminates jobs,” to generate the $12 million annually for beach management and preservation. 

For the record, this isn’t the first time County Administrator Petito has blindsided her bosses… 

In March 2024, she fired off a brusque missive to School Superintendent LaShakia Moore suggesting Flagler County would be reducing or eliminating its $1.4 million commitment to the School District as part of a decade old 50/50 cost-sharing plan, most of which funds the School Resource Deputy program.

Chaos ensued and the displeasure from both sides of the dais was immediate.

In my view, someone should give Ms. Petito a quick lesson in effective communication strategies – the ability to build trust with citizens, stakeholders, and other government entities – while increasing transparency and collaboration with those elected officials who are ultimately politically accountable for her actions.   

And Another Thing!

According to the Florida League of Cities, “The most precious powers a city in Florida has are its Home Rule powers. The ability to establish its form of government through its charter, and to then enact ordinances, codes, plans, and resolutions without prior state approval is a tremendous authority.”

In its purest form, most would agree that the fundamental right to self-determination – the ability of citizens in counties and municipalities to govern themselves – free of outside interference from the state in the pursuit of their community’s economic, social, and civic development, is critical to our representative form of governance where the ultimate power is derived from the people.

Increasingly, that sacred right to self-determination is under direct attack by state legislators’ intent on preempting local control – a process once narrowly focused on limiting inconsistencies in state and local laws – now used as a cudgel to crush local decisions as a means of running interference for their political benefactors.

Like their “friends” in the uber-powerful real estate development industry…

In my view, these blanket special interest preemptions represent a classic quid pro quo corruption of the system – with crafty legislators couching sweeping attacks on home rule as “hurricane recovery” laws and claims they are protecting Florida businesses from “burdensome local regulations” and interference in a free market (pa-lease…). 

Don’t take my word for it.  A cursory review of campaign finance reports from jurisdictions across the width and breadth of Florida show that real estate development interests make significant political contributions to hand-select candidates and political action committees who are favorable to their interests. 

I think that’s called a ‘return on investment,’ all perfectly legal under our skewed campaign finance laws.

In my view, the problem comes when an industry with massive impacts on the civic, economic, and environmental health of communities stack the deck with a slate of “rent a representatives” – then use tactics like preemption to wrest local control away from the most responsive (and politically accountable) level of government.

In a 2023 article in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, we learned that 42% of Florida lawmakers had personal ties to the real estate development industry. 

That disturbing fact concerned Ben Wilcox, research director for Integrity Florida, who said at the time, “There’s really been a concerted effort (in recent years) by the Legislature to hold down local government. It’s all part of the legal corruption that goes on in state government: legalized bribery. The corruption is not always illegal. Sometimes it’s legal corruption.”

Unfortunately, here on Florida’s “Fun Coast” it’s not much better at the local level, where each election cycle the same influential last names shower massive campaign contributions on their shills, ensuring at least a subliminal obligation that ensures issues effecting their bottom line goes their way. 

Every. Damn. Time…

The next time the Volusia County Council has a development-related issue on (or off) the agenda, I encourage everyone to watch for themselves the strategic foot-dragging, parliamentary procrastination, and outright hostility from those compromised lackeys who have helped facilitate overdevelopment at every opportunity.

Now we’ve reached the nadir of special interest preemptions – totally eliminating local control of growth and development – even as existing residents face the very real threat of persistent development-induced flooding in a state surrounded by water and increasingly covered with impervious surfaces. 

And the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season is just heating up… 

It’s true.  Here in the Biggest Whorehouse in the World, those with the gold make the rules.

With next year’s elections beginning to attract candidates – including some perennial pro-development political hacks seeking another bite at the apple – I encourage you to begin sorting the wheat from the chaff, do your homework, ask the tough questions, and prepare to use the power of the ballot box to take back local control of our civic destiny. 

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