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 School Board Member Donna Brosemer Speaks the Truth

Longsuffering stakeholders – those of us who pay the bills and have grown tired of the lack of transparency, quibbling, and obfuscation that surrounds the administration of Volusia County District Schools – welcome the no-nonsense straight talk of District 4 School Board member Donna Brosemer. 

It’s like a breath of fresh air blowing through the cloistered halls of a secret society that values controlling the narrative and abhors open and honest discourse. 

But is anyone listening?

During a recent public evaluation of Superintendent Carmen Balgobin’s performance, Ms. Brosemer seemed to understand that just because someone with a high opinion of themselves tells you how great they are, doesn’t mean that haughty self-assessment is true…

Unfortunately, Superintendent Balgobin’s façade of clarity and competence won over the remainder of our ovine elected representatives who, in lockstep conformity, baselessly issued rave reviews despite the ongoing controversies, quagmires, and lack of transparency that continue to plague Volusia County Schools.

Earlier this week, member Krista Goodrich (obviously pushed to the front by insiders too afraid to do it themselves) published a feelgood piece in the Ormond Beach Observer further insulating Superintendent Balgobin in the interest of “stability,” while marginalizing Brosemer’s concerns and contributions, dismissing her questions as a “negative narrative.”

“Headline-driven accusations may stir fear, but they don’t serve families,” Goodrich crowed.

I would submit that glossing over serious issues at Volusia County Schools (many of which predate Goodrich’s tenure) as a means of being part of the “in-crowd” isn’t healthy for student success either… 

As the self-described resident expert in commercial real estate transactions by public entities, perhaps in Ms. Goodrich’s next lecture she can explain how the Balgobin administration’s failure to perform adequate due diligence left Volusia County taxpayers holding the bag on millions-of-dollars wasted on properties in DeBary to fulfill School Board Chair Jamie Haynes’ “legacy”?

Or perhaps she could clear the air of rumors that low-performing students were reassigned to non-traditional schools and programs to bolster the almost unheard of graduation rates Dr. Balgobin is being recognized for?   

Because, if true, that’s the textbook definition of ‘manipulation.’

Find Ms. Goodrich’s piece here: https://tinyurl.com/h39mwdv5

We’re still waiting on a workshop for an explanation of Balgobin’s asinine attempt to keep a lid on things using the intimidation tactic of non-disclosure agreements – required of an astonishing 100 members of the public organization – a ploy that many believe is both unconstitutional and counter to Florida’s public records law. 

Because it is.

Inconceivably, the Balgobin NDA – apparently developed by School Board Attorney Gilbert Evans, Jr. (without the Board’s knowledge or consent?) – specifically prohibits the disclosure of “Information regarding the District’s financial operations, including budgets, funding sources, and allocation of resources,” including “Strategic planning documents and information.” 

The broad stroke of the Superintendent’s confidentiality pact expands to “Non-public communications between and among District personnel, the Department of Education, parents, students, and community stakeholders.”

In speaking the hard truth to her colleagues and constituents during a School Board meeting last week, Ms. Brosemer explained, “The Florida Constitution details that, in order to add a new category of what is confidential or exempt from public disclosure, a legislator must first file a bill that justifies its public purpose, and that bill has to be passed by a two-thirds majority of both chambers.  We’ve done none of that and are not even authorized to do it.”

She correctly added that the NDA’s are “a naked admission that the district is trying to hide or control information.”

Naturally, that revelation didn’t sit well with Balgobin and the Board’s horribly conflicted legal counsel…

According to a report by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer, Superintendent Balgobin explained, “You and I know, and several of you here, that we have had incidences of employees who’ve left and taken our software with them to other locations,” Balgobin said. “We’ve had employees that have worked in the legal department, and after they left, they discussed cases and specific information regarding (the district), so failure to act also, when you’re seeing such trailing events taking place, could put our organization at risk.”

In foolish bureaucratic fashion, rather than take action against those who steal software, pilfer intellectual property, or speak out of school (pun intended) – instead, Balgobin compelled one-hundred District employees sign an overreaching oath of silence?    

That doesn’t make sense. 

Speaking during board member comments, Ms. Brosemer explained “Either we rescind it, or it will be rescinded for us by a court or by the state, and could result in sanctions.  In addition to the Constitution, we have violated Florida’s legal doctrine against unconscionable contracts, the primary element of which is that one party has such a disproportionate advantage over the other party that the other party effectively has no choice but to sign, like the position our employees were in.”

As is typical with the Volusia County School Board – a group that never quite understood who it works for as the tail continues to wag the dog – when Ms. Brosemer asked for a vote to rescind Balgobin’s NDA and restore the public’s trust in district communications; her commonsense motion was met with 30-seconds of awkward silence.

Crickets, y’all…

Per protocol, the remainder of the School Board circled the wagons and attempted to explain the inexplicable, with member Ruben Colón prostrating himself before the Superintendent’s gilded throne and claiming he wasn’t sure if our duly elected representatives have the “authority” to rescind a monarchical edict from the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand. 

Really?

Perhaps Mr. Colón and his servile colleagues should take a look at the voter rolls and remember who elected them to high office – and why…

Ultimately, the Board agreed to discuss the NDA issue at a future “workshop” – you know, give Superintendent Balgobin and her coterie of senior administrator’s time to formulate more smoke-and-mirrors to marginalize and muzzle the outspoken Donna Brosemer – or, as Lawyer Evan’s explained, an opportunity “…to actually show Ms. Brosemer on where she’s incorrect on several of her assertions here.”

Bullshit.

The wide disparity between Ms. Brosemer’s accurate and honest evaluation of Superintendent Balgobin’s performance and those of her fawning supporters on the School Board is telling.  In my view, it speaks to the powerful external influences that need artificial stability and meaningless “high marks” at Volusia County Schools as an “economic development” enticement (read: to sell more homes…)

Even if it means glossing over recurrent issues that adversely affect students, staff, and stakeholders using congratulatory accolades, undeserved praise, and institutional groupthink.

In my view, given the shocking exposé by Gabriel Velasquez Neira writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week which explained (in part) how Volusia County Schools received an “A Grade” when “…nearly half of its high school students are still below grade level in mathematics and English,” now is the time for complete transparency and open dialog – not toadyism and ass-kissing flattery.   

As I understand it (and I’m not sure I do) it works like this: While some 53% of students in “traditional” Volusia County High Schools were “below or far below their grade level in mathematics,” that’s better than the 55% of all high schoolers in Florida who “are below grade level on standardized mathematics tests.”  Ergo, Volusia County gets a good grade because we failed at a lower rate than the state’s average in math.  The statistics are similar in other key subjects.

That’s something to be celebrated?

Add to that the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores for Volusia County students have been falling for the past four years (from an average 1,000 in 2020-2021 to 975 in 2023-2024) and the trend for Volusia County students appears grim.

What are the long-term consequences of graduating victims’ year-after-year – young people entering a competitive workforce or attempting higher education with substandard reading, comprehension, and mathematical skills – just so economic development shills have something to crow about, while senior administrators preen and peacock over a meaningless “grade”?

I’m asking.  Because the whole scheme seems immoral to me.

In my view, given the fact Volusia County Schools now commands an obscene annual budget of over $1.1 Billion in the face of declining enrollment – the rumored manipulation of graduation rates should be prosecuted – not celebrated.

With Districts 1, 3, and 5 up for election next year, it is incumbent that our elected representatives explain to Superintendent Carmen Balgobin who she was hired to serve – and enforce the limitations on her authority to implement restrictive public policies in secret – especially those that conflict with state open records law, and the public’s right to know.   

So Long Deltona Commissioner Nick Lulli.  We Hardly Knew Ye… 

Over the past week, I heard assorted reasons for Deltona Commissioner Nick Lulli’s sudden departure from elected office last week – everything from the usual political intrigue and dishing of unsubstantiated dirt – to the simple explanation that he bought a house outside District 6 and relinquished his seat as required.

Regardless, after just 10-months on the job Commissioner Lulli abruptly called it quits last week.  

I reached out and asked the normally communicative Mr. Lulli why it was necessary for him to take his leave, but he didn’t answer (which isn’t uncommon once people flee the public eye).  But it appears a change of address left him ineligible to serve.   

It’s been a wild ride for someone who got into local politics over an exorbitant water bill…

In November 2024, Mr. Lulli defeated controversial incumbent Jody Lee Storozuk with 51% of the vote.  During his short but eventful tenure, Mr. Lulli distinguished himself as one of the 4-3 majority to courageously oppose the overreaching preemptions of SB 180 and preserve the city’s home rule authority.   

Last Friday, Mr. Storozuk – who is a declared candidate for Deltona mayor – posted on social media that he has “thrown his name in the hat” to be appointed interim District 6 commissioner and serve until the seat is placed on the 2026 ballot.

In his announcement on social media, Storozuk accused Deltona City Manager Dale ‘Doc’ Dougherty of playing politics and “trying to change the rules for the selection process.” As Mr. Storozuk describes it, the City Manager is making an effort to “game the system,” in his view, to facilitate raising taxes and additional spending.

He didn’t provide specifics.

In addition, last week, former City Commissioner Julio David Sosa launched his own campaign for the temporary seat, calling on residents to contact the remaining elected officials and lobby for his appointment.  As an outside observer, I always thought Mr. Sosa had the community’s best interests at heart – smart, level-headed, and committed to shepherding his often-tumultuous city through the storms and into the light.

In November 2022, Mr. Sosa resigned from the Deltona City Commission to run for the District 5 Volusia County Council seat now frequently occupied by Councilman David “No Show” Santiago…

Other politically astute residents have suggested longtime Deltona resident Linda White for the position, someone who has been active in civic affairs and served as the city’s temporary City Manager in the late 90’s.  Maybe I missed something, but I haven’t seen anything from Ms. White that indicates she would be remotely interested in wading into that fetid swamp…  

Our lives and situations change, and that applies equally to elected officials.  In my view, it is a testament to Nick Lulli’s character that he did the right thing by his constituents and the City Charter.   

Unfortunately, the last thing the Lost City of Deltona needs is more instability and uncertainty, just when the majority seemed synchronized in daringly defending the city’s building moratorium from the threat of SB 180. 

By its recent example, Deltona became a statewide paragon of what it means to hold firm to a community’s civic values and right of self-determination.

Earlier this week, amid swirling rumors that the appointment of an interim District 6 commissioner is being manipulated both internally and externally, Commissioners Dori Howington, Maritza Avila-Vazquez, and Stephen Cowell pulled the increasingly common “my tummy hurts” and failed to appear at the scheduled public meeting.

That left Mayor Santiago Avila, Jr., Davison Heriot, and Emma Santiago – the three “No” votes against challenging SB 180 – alone on the dais, with Mayor Santiago gaveling the meeting to a close as soon as it opened citing the lack of a quorum.   

Now, anything’s possible.

Welcome back to the ‘bad old days,’ Deltona…

Volusia County Council of Cowards – When Public Hearings Become Inconvenient

If you are a Volusia County taxpayer – perhaps a flood victim who is demanding greater oversight of malignant growth and the rubber stamp approvals that facilitate it – just know it’s not about you. 

Never was.

The current iteration of the Volusia County Council has proven, repeatedly, that they have no time for the inconvenience of listening to the needs and wants of existing residents – or providing substantive opportunities for We, The Little People to be heard on issues important to our quality of life.

As I write this, the meeting is underway, but I’ve got a feeling that later today, our elected dullards will pass a county-initiated zoning ordinance amending how special exceptions are processed and approved under the zoning code. 

Why? 

Because those pro-growth shills on the Volusia County Council want to streamline the approval process for their cronies and political benefactors in the real estate development industry – while eliminating the ability of you and I to be heard on the potential impact of special exceptions on our lives and livelihoods. 

Of course, the ordinance is cloaked as a means of kowtowing to SB 180, which prohibits the imposition of “burdensome or restrictive” land use regulations – essentially allowing the greed-crazed cancer of overdevelopment to spread like wildfire – while unchecked developers haul untold millions out of the clear-cut remains of Volusia County.   

The proposed changes to the Volusia County Charter – Chapter 72 Land Use – will remove accountability from our elected officials by permitting them the benefit of plausible deniability, eliminate public hearings before the Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission and the Volusia County Council, and allow politically unaccountable county staff to approve special exceptions without oversight or public input.

Special exceptions will now be permitted “by-right” – meaning projects that can be approved without discretionary approval – and will include parking garages, excavation for stormwater ponds, hotels and motels, bars and liquor stores, glue factories, circus headquarters (which, I assume, covers county government facilities), convenience stores, tanneries, and warehouses, to name a few. 

Kudos to the tireless civic activist Cathrine Pante for sounding the klaxon on changes to Chapter 72 and the effective elimination of public input (and political accountability) by the Volusia County Council. 

In my view, with Council Members who have proven where their loyalties stand – to include Danny Robins, David “No Show” Santiago, Jake Johannson, and Don Dempsey – all up for reelection in 2026, the ballot box is the perfect forum for the silenced residents of Volusia County to let their voices be heard…

Quote of the Week  

“The Flagler Home Builder’s Association has served Palm Coast a 14-day violation notice, the first step in legal action over Palm Coast’s recent increase to impact fees.

The notice was sent to the Palm Coast City Council on Aug. 27, giving the city until Sept. 11 to repeal the impact fee ordinances passed in June. Palm Coast City Attorney Marcus Duffy told the council on Sept. 2 he and his staff are still analyzing the 19-page notice and will have a suggested course of action in the next week or two.

“If I have to call a shade meeting, I will call that, but I do not see calling that right now,” Duffy said.

A shade meeting is a closed-door meeting that is typically only allowed when the council is discussing active legal cases involving the city. Until Duffy requests a shade meeting, any discussion of the letting with Palm Cost City Council members will need to take place at public meetings. The next meeting is a workshop scheduled for Sept. 9 at 6 p.m.

In June, the Palm Coast City Council increased its impact fees dramatically, arguing the extraordinary circumstances of recent extreme growth and increased inflation costs over the last six years. Though the impact fees vary for type of development, for a single-family home, the impact fees increased by $5,881 across all three fees: impact, fire and transportation.”

–Reporter Sierra Williams, writing in the Palm Coast Observer, “Palm Coast Council to review options on Flagler Home Builder’s intent to sue at future meeting,” Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Most responsible growth management experts will tell you that impact fees – a method that allows communities to recover growth-related costs for infrastructure expansion and essential service delivery – are no substitute for sound planning practices. 

Let’s face it, across the width and breadth of the “Fun Coast,” the concept of proper “planning, zoning, and resource management” was swept away in a decade-long frenzy of explosive development – massive subdivisions that have left large swaths of our region blanketed in 3/2 zero lot line wood frame cracker boxes “starting in the low $300’s.”  

It gets worse.

According to an August report in the Palm Coast Observer, as of April 2025, Palm Coast has 18,883 residential units “in the pipeline,” some from development orders issued in the 1990s. 

“Of those, 13,335 have a final plat and technical site plan approval and could go into the ground immediately.”

In my view, allowing development orders to sit dormant for decades is asinine. 

So much for “planning,” eh? 

In June, in a rare break from the roil, internecine warfare, and abject dysfunction it has become known for, the Palm Coast City Council unanimously voted to substantially increase impact fees for fire, parks, and transportation infrastructure.  The attempt to recover the massive costs of overdevelopment came on the heels of last year’s 30% increase in water and sewer impact fees to keep up with growth and demand.

In keeping with the Florida legislature’s mercenary mandate to protect the interests of their political benefactors in the real estate development industry, in 2021, state lawmakers enacted a statute that requires impact fee increases of 25% or less be spread out over two years, increases of 25% to 50% must be implemented over four years – with raises of more than 50 percent specifically prohibited – unless a community can prove “extraordinary circumstances.”

The Palm Coast increases are set to take effect October 1.

In a recent statement to FlaglerLive.com, Palm Coast Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri (who recently announced her candidacy for the Flagler County Commission) wrote:

“It’s unfortunate that at a time when our city has experienced incredible growth and unprecedented increases in infrastructure construction costs, our homebuilder’s association would find it necessary to threaten us with legal action, rather than recognize the importance of growth paying for itself—which it never truly does.”

“Impact fees are a necessary cost of doing business, and they ensure that the city’s future infrastructure needs and public safety are adequately funded. Providing residents with fire stations and safe roads is not optional – it’s our duty. Additionally, providing for parks and recreation keeps families healthy and active. It’s unfortunate that we, as public officials, have to defend our quality of life to the HBA – the same folks that earn money by selling houses in the very community we work so hard to keep safe and beautiful.”

Well said.

In my view, rather than recognize the burdens placed local government, and the consequences to claustrophobic existing residents, instead, the Flagler Home Builder’s Association uses the enforcement provisions of SB 180 like a cudgel:

“It is incomprehensible how over a 100% increase in impact fees with a $5,681 increase for a single family, 2,000 square foot home, could be anything but “more burdensome.” The Ordinances would, therefore, be found null and void ab initio.”

For now, it appears the City of Palm Coast is prepared to fight the HBA’s self-serving lawsuit and preserve the quality of life for existing residents in the face of the HBA’s aggression. 

Good luck, Palm Coast. 

You’re going to need it…

And Another Thing!  

“Manatee County voters snubbed Tallahassee last fall when they rejected Gov. Ron DeSantis’ hand-picked, pro-development commission candidates and instead elected a slate of grassroots Republicans who promised to rein in runaway growth.

True to their word, the new commissioners quickly moved to cap sprawl — vowing to raise impact fees on developers to pay for new infrastructure, pushing to restore wetland protections and halting some large-scale projects altogether.

But those steps have now put them on a collision course with the governor and the powerful real-estate industry closely aligned with his administration, which has pushed back at every turn.

In June, the governor vetoed the county’s $4 million in state budget requests after a commissioner criticized Senate Bill 180, a controversial pro-developer state law. More recently, his administration warned of “inevitable consequences” if Manatee raised impact fees.

And in July, he and his chief financial officer announced the county would be the first Republican stronghold targeted for an aggressive review by Florida’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency — known as DOGE — a program DeSantis styled after the Elon Musk-backed federal initiative to slash “waste, fraud and abuse.”

The escalating fight has become one of the sharpest examples yet of DeSantis using state power to quash local control, even in GOP-dominated areas. Political experts say the timing and tenor of the moves leave little doubt that Manatee’s growth-curbing agenda triggered the response.”

–Ryan Ballogg and Carter Weinhofer Bradenton Herald, Josh Salman Suncoast Searchlight, “DOGE audit makes GOP-controlled Florida county a test case for defying DeSantis and developers,” Saturday, August 30, 2025

Acts of tit-for-tat retribution and retaliation between rivals on all sides of the political spectrum have become such a part of the electoral landscape no one even notices anymore. 

Until it happens to you…

Dirty tricks, “lawfare,” glossy mailers, baseless allegations, innuendo, and other malicious weapons of mutually assured destruction are now the tools of the trade for anyone willing to wade into the fetid shit trench of modern politics.

Until recently, while it wasn’t unusual for our state government to mount brazen attacks on the ability of local governments to make growth management decisions that affect the future character of the communities they serve – typically they chose to take small bites at the apple by preempting local decision-making with piecemeal legislation.   

Now that SB-180 has been unmasked for what it is – a wide-ranging tool to completely undermine local growth management regulations and allow real estate developer’s carte blanche to build what, when, and where they want – Gov. Ron DeSantis and his tough-talking enforcers have proven that when it comes forcing the will of the state, even party allegiances take a back seat to compliance with mercenary quid pro quo legislation. 

The DeSantis administration is no longer discriminating along party lines when it comes to ensuring lockstep obedience.

According to Ballogg’s cogent piece, “It’s simple retribution,” said Martin Hyde, a former Republican congressional candidate who closely follows politics in the region. “The developers are very upset about losing their rubber-stamp status … DeSantis is sending down some kind of imperial threat.”

The governor’s DOGE team has insisted the audit is about accountability, not retaliation.

“Whether it is a Democrat majority county or a Republican majority county, I have issues with wasteful spending,” newly appointed Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia recently said at a news conference.”

Horseshit. 

This is what the weaponization of political power looks like, and local governments can either knuckle under or get “DOGE’D” by state “efficiency” regulators who are guaranteed to “discover” waste, excess, and abuse.

In doing so, they will use a subjective microscope that has yet to be trained on a state government that recently spent $450 million of our tax dollars constructing a federal immigration detention facility that reports indicate is now being emptied…

Rarely in modern times have the pernicious effects of special interest money and influence become so blatant and divisive at the local level. 

Now, the highest levels of state government are openly bullying cities and counties and sending a clear message about who’s in charge – and it isn’t our elected representatives in Tallahassee…

As a result of these overreaching ultimatums which enrich a few at the expense of many – big government preemptions enforced at the point of a spear – experts at the nexus of state and local government are warning municipal and county officials across Florida to stand firm in the face of this unchecked aggression, protect their Home Rule authority by all legal means, and preserve our sacred democratic principles.   

That takes guts.  And the support of the governed from whom all political power is derived…

Never forget that. 

Especially in the voting booth next year when we can explain to those arrogant incumbents in our local legislative delegation exactly who is in charge.

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

Community Note:

The 17th Annual Kailynne Quartier Memorial Ride takes place this weekend, Saturday, September 6, beginning at 9:00am, at the South Daytona Police Department, 1672 South Ridgewood Avenue, South Daytona.

The event is open to vehicles of all types for a donation of $20.

The police escorted ride will travel to the Half Wall Restaurant and Brewery in New Smyrna, the DeLand Police Department, and Teddy Morse’ Harley-Davidson at Destination Daytona.

Lunch to follow at the Piggotte Community Center.

Enjoy a great day for a great cause!