Today we remember.

Across the nation, Americans are gathering to mark 24-years since our nation changed forever – a vicious attack on our foundational principles – an attack on all of us…

Yesterday, a despicable coward carried out the vicious assassination of the young conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus. This craven act of extreme violence happened as Mr. Kirk engaged in the open debate of ideas, discussed opinions on the issues of the day, and explained political positions some disagreed with.

He was killed for practicing his inalienable right to free expression.

He was killed for speaking his truth…

On this day, I believe we best honor the memory of those bold and courageous souls who have given their lives to preserve our democracy and sacred freedoms by speaking out. Using our voices for positive change, engaging in peaceful dialog, furthering the discussion, and championing the cause of freedom and good governance.

It’s important. Now, more than ever.

Volusia County Council of Cowards – A New Low in Political Bullying

As a veteran observer of local government, with few exceptions, what I witnessed near the end of last week’s Volusia County Council meeting was perhaps the worst political gibbeting of a duly elected public official I have ever seen.

It was a frightening example of the fate that awaits those who refuse to conform, and a disgusting reminder of how mean-spirited and iniquitous the lockstep majority of our elected dullards have become in service to their influential overseers. 

Don’t take my word for it, down a strong dose of Emetrol and watch for yourself (beginning at 6:55:08): https://tinyurl.com/3spvwy6f

In my view, it was another malicious attempt to publicly castrate Chairman Jeff Brower in a cheap political bushwhack that shocked the conscience of many Volusia County residents.    

Last Thursday, during closing comments, Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins set a clumsy trap using his best Atticus Finch impression to accusatorily interrogate Chairman Brower about his appearance at an August meeting of the Edgewater City Council. 

After being invited by the Edgewater Council to appear at the meeting, Mr. Brower stood at the podium and enthusiastically supported the city’s opposition to SB 180, encouraged the elected body to stand firm with their previously imposed building moratorium in the face of widespread development-induced flooding, and suggested state legislators may face political accountability for supporting the overreaching bill.  

Droning on in his melodramatic style, Councilman Robins made a ham-fisted attempt to introduce his Exhibit “A” – a loaded “gotcha!” moment – consisting of an innocuous six-minute video of Chairman Brower speaking at the Edgewater meeting.  

It didn’t quite work out the way Mr. Robins would have wished…

For several awkward minutes, council members and the audience sat in uncomfortable silence as the dramatic anticipation drained from Robins’ skit when the county’s horribly inadequate audio/video system (per usual) failed to perform. 

(On the rare occasion when the system works, it sounds much like two dried gourds transmitting voice-like sounds across a stretched animal hide…)    

When the video finally aired (with sound, this time) the ‘proceedings’ devolved into an embarrassing clown show, with “Gaslight” Robins leading the troupe through their previously assigned roles.

During his scripted harangue, Councilman Robins accused Mr. Brower of having “diarrhea of the mouth” (that’s rich, considering the source), and claimed his address to the Edgewater City Council undermined the unanimous intent of the Volusia County Council to beg for “amendments” to SB 180, rather than stand firm against aggression and join with other local governments across the state who are considering a lawsuit against the preemptions to local control.

In a shocking demonstration of what obsequious cowards Robins and his “colleagues” have become – Mr. Robins mewled that, rather than defend local control and vehemently oppose the overreach of SB 180 – council members should be “walking on eggshells and kissing their (legislators) butts to get this through for our citizens, not campaigning on the dais with this much at stake.”

Read that again…

Not to miss an opportunity to grandstand, the always condescending Councilman “No Show” Santiago – perhaps the most compromised political hack on the dais – continued putting the boots to Brower with accusations and insinuations, lashing out in a pique, and charging that Brower is destroying the council’s “relationship” with the legislative delegation (what relationship?)

In turn, Councilman Don Dempsey (in my view, an elected official who lost all credibility the moment he manipulated a tax supported environmental protection program to fund his pet motorcross facility at public expense) got in on the act, painting Brower as having mutinously gone “rogue,” theatrically accusing him of breaking the law, and berating Chairman Brower for having the temerity to speak his mind and champion the rights of local government to self-determination.    

The entire scene was stupid, meanspirited, and ugly.

With everyone’s patience waning, “Gaslight” Robins finally revealed his true intent – making a motion (naturally seconded by Santiago) that the Council write a smarmy letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Lieutenant Governor, and the local legislative delegation, clarifying Volusia County’s submissive position on SB 180.

In fact, it was a not-so-veiled suggestion that Gov. DeSantis remove Chairman Brower for his opposition to the legislative preemptions (and serious local consequences) of the controversial new law.

In a clearly rehearsed pivot, Councilman Jake Johansson – who is currently running for State Senate – was gifted the role of Deganawida, calming the turbid waters by suggesting it was inappropriate for the council to “tell daddy we’re arguing” by formalizing internal issues in a letter and airing internecine spats with the state.

Unfortunately, the damage to the credibility of the Volusia County Council (and the public trust) was done.

It was a dogpile – a vicious and well-choreographed personal attack – cruel retribution for Brower’s vocal opposition to Robins’ asinine push to cut public hearings for special exceptions – something Brower rightly labeled “malfeasance” for elected officers of a charter government.

More prearranged theatre acted with excruciating pomposity by the likes of Danny Robins and David Santiago, all because Chairman Brower showed the personal and political courage to passionately stand for the needs and wants of his frightened constituents on the most critical issue of our time.

To their immense credit, on Monday evening, the Edgewater City Council boldly voted 4-0 to join the statewide coalition of cities and counties seeking to take legal action to defend their Home Rule right to self-determination. 

It was the right thing to do, and it took courage. 

History is never kind to cowards.

Something tells me that the repulsive political ambush we saw last Thursday won’t soon be forgotten by Volusia County voters; waterlogged residents who are sick and tired of watching their quality of life destroyed by craven politicians, and the greed-crazed special interests that facilitate their betrayal. 

Ormond Beach Mayor Jason Leslie – The ‘In-Crowd’s’ Budgetary Punching Bag

My wife, two feral dogs, and I share an arrogantly shabby cracker box up here in north Ormond Beach.   

There’s no gate on our neighborhood, and the ‘Old Barker Place’ isn’t much to look at – a wood frame 3/2, kept upright up by the termites and carpenter ants holding hands – subject to all the joy, heartbreak, and crippling expense inherent to enjoying what remains of the American Dream here in the Sunshine State. 

It isn’t much, but it’s our little sliver of the pie…  

It’s home.

I’ve spent the bulk of my life in Ormond Beach, grew up on the north peninsula when Halifax Drive was little more than a two-lane fire trail north of Granada Boulevard, and a drawbridge spanned the Halifax.  My small elementary school class at St. James would sometimes walk over the old bridge to enjoy the Christmas display at City Hall or visit a small pet shop downtown.   

Our playground on the church property was in the shadow of The Casements, just behind Billy’s Tap Room, where Mr. McDonald would occasionally be called upon to retrieve our kickball from the roof…    

Natural dunes and wild palmetto scrub stretched all the way from my childhood backyard to a thin ribbon of asphalt that was A-1-A, then an idyllic path through the sea oats led to the best beach in Florida…     

A very different place than today.

The late great political commentator Big John used to euphemistically poke fun at our infamous pomposity here in the “Birthplace of Speed” – referring to us as “The Fingerbowl District” – always theatrically pronouncing it “Or-mond.”

Still makes me chuckle…  

I can attest that Ormond Beach has always had a streak of pretentiousness.  A snobbish air that comes from our long and storied association with affluent residents from John D. Rockefeller to the modern-day gazillionaires (and those who pretend to be) who call our community home.

We were special once.  That was a point of civic pride…  

Not anymore. 

In my view, now the political atmosphere is no different than tumultuous places like the Lost City of Deltona and Palm Coast – with little dissimilarity from anywhere else in the greater Halifax area.  Don’t take my word for it, drive south on Atlantic Avenue from Granada Boulevard and tell me what sets us apart?    

Now that our once quaint community is trapped in the pincer of explosive growth – with little civic vision beyond the monotonous proliferation of strip centers, itinerant chain restaurants, and storage facilities that have made our community just another homogenized “everyplace” – our elected “leadership” prefers the distraction of spiteful bickering over problem-solving and fiscal stewardship.   

The result is a tragic cycle of backbiting and internecine conflict which regularly pits freshman Mayor Jason Leslie against the techy trio of Commissioners Travis Sargent, Lori Tolland, and Kristin Deaton who form the city’s mean-spirited “in-crowd.”

The inexperienced Mayor Leslie’s learning curve has become something to be exploited.  Branded a “newcomer,” Leslie has become the political whipping boy – nasty treatment never more evident than during what passed for the city’s “budget hearings” and the Commission’s horribly ham-handed failure to select Ormond Beach’s employee benefits provider.    

Adding to the chaff, someone strategically placed a false Facebook post claiming Mayor Leslie wanted to cut funding for youth sports programs. 

It was a baldfaced lie, but it had the desired effect:  Paint Mayor Leslie as the bad guy, then make him deny it in front of an angry crowd…   

It also created an opportunity for Mayor Leslie’s detractors on the dais to berate and lecture, accusing him of sowing confusion with “false and incomplete information,” with Budget Advisory Board member Josh Pringle publicly dressing down the Mayor for communicating with his constituents in the Ormond Beach Observer, “…leadership by the mayor through the media is not leadership at all.”

“Creating buzz in the Observer or on Twitter is not leadership of this city,” Pringle chided. “The community loses when our leadership is absent.”

City Attorney Randy Hayes got his licks in, placing a memorandum in the Commission’s agenda package lobbying for a tax increase while criticizing Mayor Leslie’s attempts to find deeper cuts. 

According to Hayes, Commissioners were encouraged to vote for the tax increase due to “…financial risks and liabilities associated with the mayor’s intention to seek deep reductions in the millage rate and the budget, and the uncertainties those reductions would have on the ability of the city to deliver quality services to residents.”

“Sound fiscal management and responsible leadership require it.”

For her part, Commissioner Lori Tolland – who directed that Mr. Hayes missive be read aloud by the city clerk – accused Mayor Leslie of threatening Ormond Beach’s quality of life by even suggesting a tax cut (?). 

“Let me be perfectly clear from the start: I’m not willing to compromise the quality of life for our residents because of misinformation or any political maneuvering,” Tolland crowed. “The conversation that we’re having tonight about cuts is very frustrating, and it really stinks.”

It stinks all right…because it’s manufactured bullshit.

At the end of the day, Ormond’s “In-Crowd” got what it wanted – a 6.94% tax rate increase – with an annual budget now set at $143 million.  According to a report in the Ormond Beach Observer last week, “From the 2020-2021 fiscal year to 2025-2026, the budget has increased by about 48%.”

In just five-years?

Perhaps Attorney Hayes can address that in his next fiscal epistle? 

In my view, most disturbing is how senior staff and those lockstep conformists on the Commission ostracized Mayor Leslie during the process – painting him as the monster in their bureaucratic scary stories that always accompany the mere mention of reducing the tax burden on already strapped residents.

Quote of the Week

“A split City Commission Tuesday night, Sept. 9, voted 3-2 against joining a coalition of municipalities in a legal challenge against SB 180.

Mayor Fred Cleveland and Commissioners Valli Perrine and Brian Ashley opposed the joining the lawsuit; Vice Mayor Lisa Martin and Commissioner Jason McGuirk voted in favor.

Residents and commissioners alike voiced their disapproval of the new state law, but diverged on whether joining the lawsuit was best course of action.

South Florida attorney Jamie Cole, of Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman law firm, is organizing the initiative, which has garnered support from more than 15 local government entities (both counties and cities). In Volusia County, Edgewater and Deltona have joined the coalition.”

–Reporter Brenno Carillo, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “NSB City Commission votes 3-2 against joining coalition legally challenging SB 180,” Tuesday, September 9, 2025

With Mayor “Floodin’ Fred” Cleveland and Zone 1 Commissioner Valli Perrine up for reelection next year, it looks like the citizens of New Smyrna Beach have some decisions to make.

In my view, the gross inaction earlier this week by Mayor Cleveland and Commissioners Perrine and Brian Ashley to tuck tail and opt out of a coalition of communities across the state who are fighting the pernicious effects of SB 180 on Home Rule made those choices crystal clear…

To their immense credit, Vice Mayor Lisa Martin and Commissioner Jason McGuirk stood for the protection and quality of life of their residents in bravely voting to take the fight against the state legislature’s base aggression to court.

Inconceivably, despite the widespread effects of massive development on the residents and character of his community – and the fact SB 180 has effectively repealed all of the city’s previous efforts to mitigate flooding with development and stormwater management regulations – Cleveland, Perrine, and Ashley mewled the same frightened runes:

“How about we study our options a while longer?  If we wait and play to their ego, maybe they’ll eat us last?” and “Let’s ‘work with’ our local legislative delegation (the same arrogant aggressors who passed the law) to lobby for “amendments” sometime next session, you know, while the bulldozers roar…”

Instead of standing up for his constituents, it sounds like “Floodin’ Fred” got scared after listening to those handwringing pantywaists on the Volusia County Council:

According to Mayor Cleveland, ““I don’t want us to be on the blacklist of those that get punished, one way or another, under the radar.  A majority of our county commissioners have said to me we will get punished (if the city joined the lawsuit). And it’s not right, I don’t like it, but it’s human nature … I’m concerned about a suit being our first best step.”

Have we reached a place where political bullying – the thuggish use of “blacklists,” retribution, and punishing communities by withholding the allocation of public funds as a means of ramrodding bad public policy is what passes for “governance” in Tallahassee?   

In my view, silencing dissent and ensuring conformity with whispered threats is counter to our democratic principles and speaks to the brazen hold influential special interests have on our elected officials.

Chilling…

Fortunately, Volusia County is blessed with a core group of resolute civic activists and environmentalists who are standing boldly on the frontline, defending our right to self-determination, and protecting what remains of our sensitive wild places from overdevelopment (Read: Greed).

Earlier this month, The Sweetwater Coalition – a small grassroots environmental protection advocacy – filed a “Verified Complaint for Declaratory Judgement and Injunctive Relief” in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Orlando. 

The filing seeks an injunction to prevent damage to Spruce Creek and its unique wildlife habitats from ongoing construction activities related to the controversial Pioneer Trail/I-95 overpass.

Rather than fret about being “punished” by state elected officials then cowering like frightened rats in the shadows – the Sweetwater Coalition and others took action – standing tall to defend our quality of life when we need it most.

I find great inspiration in committed citizens who stand alone for that which they believe is right, honorable, and fair – unafraid of speaking truth to power despite the consequences.

These brave souls set the example of courage and citizenship for our timid “elected representatives” who have no problem defecating on the right of We, The Little People to participate in our government – then kowtow to state overreach – spinelessly kissing the sizeable asses of their powerful bullies using political placation and appeasement.

This isn’t “politics as usual.”

Use your voice.  Speak out.  Vote.

And Another Thing!

“Ormond Beach resident Connie Colby said she hadn’t heard anyone coming forward asking for the ordinance and its long list of changes.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. … What I see is 228 pages (the length of all the agenda item materials) creating a free-for-all, and that bothers me a lot because the document itself is kind of difficult to understand,” Colby said.

District 4 Councilman Troy Kent also said that he hadn’t had anyone, developer or resident, ask for the changes. He opposed cutting down on the public and the County Council’s ability to have a say in some types of development.

“I have received, I think, hundreds of emails on this Chapter 72 change, and I believe 100 percent of them have been against doing it,” Kent said.”

–Reporter Sheldon Gardner, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Volusia Council OKs rules that reduce public oversight in zoning code,” Friday, September 5, 2025

“The people who speak out don’t represent half a million people…”

–Councilman David “No Show” Santiago, the well-compensated political hack who occasionally represents Volusia County Council District 5, Thursday, September 4, 2025

Last Thursday was a banner day for our elected dullards on the Volusia County Council.

In one malevolent sweep, a 4-3 majority of compromised shills arrogantly ignored the concerns of concerned residents seeking to stop a brazen move by Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins to silence citizen input and eliminate politically accountable oversight for special exceptions to the zoning code. 

After easing the way for their political benefactors in the development industry, the same self-righteous majority publicly embarrassed themselves with a badly choreographed attack on Chaiman Brower for standing firm with his constituents.

Following a clumsy and blundering process that took three meetings to still get wrong, Councilmen Danny Robins, Jake Johansson, David Santiago, and Don Dempsey, haughtily snubbed the capacity crowd, the hundreds more watching on YouTube (?), and the twenty-two valiant citizens who lined up to voice their opposition to the amendment.

Disregarding the fact many citizens took time away from work to travel to DeLand at 9:00am last Thursday – Councilman David “No Show” Santiago condescendingly labeled attendees as “Brower’s followers” – then sneeringly denigrated their participation from the dais as inconsequential. 

For his part, single-issue Councilman Don “Dirt Track” Dempsey branded residents who speak out on issues that affect their lives and livelihoods a “Mob,” announcing he doesn’t represent their interests. 

Of course, not – he represents himself.   

Now that Councilman Dempsey has all but assured a publicly funded motorcross track for his family and friends, he could care less about listening to your piddly-ass problems with land use, development-induced flooding, and exorbitant taxes and fees.  

And the suppression of the public’s right to participate in their governance continues…

From beach driving and access, to flooding and malignant overdevelopment, transportation infrastructure, environmental destruction, and other issues of pressing concern for Volusia County residents, the majority of our elected officials have become wholly-compromised sock puppets – craven cowards – whose bought-and-paid-for priorities have nothing to do with those of their longsuffering constituents. 

Know your role and shut your pieholes.  Public input is no longer needed – or tolerated…  

That’s all for me.  Never forget.