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:

A Lack of Strategic Vision Compounds Perpetual Problems on Daytona’s Beachside

Last week, in a disturbing report from WFTV-9’s investigative journalist Demie Johnson, Daytona Beach residents were shocked to learn of the city’s surreptitious plan to acquire a commercial restaurant and adjacent property at the corner of A-1-A and Main Street. 

The purchase was apparently negotiated without the knowledge of the City Commission or the Community Redevelopment Board…

According to the report, city redevelopment officials planned to use Main Street CRA funds to purchase the building currently housing the Cruisin’ Café and neighboring lots for a reported $4.3 million.  

The “deal” is said to have been two-years in the making…

Unfortunately, it appears the secretive nature of the proposal blindsided the elected officials and CRA advisory board; a humiliating look for a City Commission wracked by lingering questions of the city’s financial stewardship amid various internal audits into potential waste, fraud, and abuse.

During the discussion, commissioners rightfully asked for another appraisal of the property – and more information on the city’s negotiations and future plans for the Main Street CRA – before taking the matter up at a meeting in March. `

As I understand it (and I’m not sure anyone does), the city’s redevelopment staff wants to raze the active restaurant as a means of removing a “blighted property” from the area (in my view, the equivalent of throwing an extremely expensive deck chair off the Queen Mary…)

According to reports, the interim plan is to turn the corner at the epicenter of our core tourist area into a multiuse park, using converted shipping containers to house food, entertainment, and other vendors, including the creation of 100 additional parking spaces in the area.

While listening to the CRA meeting, my underlying concern mirrored that of others who questioned the city’s long-term vision for Main Street and other blighted areas of our beachside.

This isn’t a law enforcement problem.  The Daytona Beach Police Department has worked diligently to target specific problem locations, improve safety, provide high visibility patrols, weave unobtrusive safety and security measures into the streetscape, and enhance quality of life.  

Unfortunately, without something to fill the resulting vacuum, their efforts are akin to pushing back the tide…   

Perhaps now is the time to try something different in the Main Street area?

For years, I have touted the positive change that can only happen when “economic development” types finally admit the patchwork approach isn’t working and stop doing the same thing over, and over again, while expecting a different result.  

Then having the courage to take a different tack.

Positive change occurs when city officials seek outside intervention, using proven urban planning, revitalization, and reinvention experts to establish a comprehensive vision for blighted areas working in collaboration with residents and stakeholders. 

That requires having the courage to stop the hoops, hurdles, and bureaucratic micromanagement then allow artistic urban designers the space and flexibility to create something special.

Whenever my wife and I travel, there are specific attributes in the places where we long to return – vibrant city centers, a distinct sense of place, eclectic eateries, bars, and entertainment venues, creative districts, gardens, and greenspace – well-thought communities with a unique civic spirit that can be felt in places like Charleston, Thomasville, Georgia, Winter Park, Raliegh, and Georgetown, South Carolina. 

Places that have built upon their regional culture and natural attributes, embraced those things that make the community unique, then use creative techniques to plan and build great streets with mixed-use commercial/residential space that complement the focus area, rehabilitate and infill surrounding neighborhoods, emphasize historic preservation, and enhance the local character with placemaking entrances, flowers, greenery, trees, and well landscaped streetscapes.

Rarely do these things happen organically.

They require inclusive strategic visioning, focused planning, and professionally managed implementation by a proven outside firm committed to partnering with residents, entrepreneurs, and creators at each step in the process.  

Just as blight can metastasize, so can urban revitalization and revival. 

With the right set of eyes, our core tourist area can become a sought after beachside village complemented by the revitalization of Main Street, returning the attractions and amenities that once made the World’s Most Famous Beach a global destination, and finally put a stop to the hangdog humiliation, hopelessness, and frustration that has crippled large swathes of the Halifax area for far too long.  

In my view, that doesn’t happen by wasting $4.4 million to eliminate a single eyesore, create a few parking spaces (for what?), while removing a valuable parcel from the tax rolls – especially without a viable plan for “what comes next” – beyond converted shipping containers and more of the same…

It’s Time to Let Volusia Vote on The Future of Clean Water Protections

During a recent discussion regarding the modification or elimination of Volusia’s venerated ECHO and Forever programs, arguments ranged from we may need to put wells on conservation land a hundred years hence, to the hackneyed refrain We, The Little People are too stupid to understand what we were voting for, and fanning fears that the program(s) have become too expensive for families suffering from Florida’s affordability crisis. 

I’m not sure why, but it appears some believe that legislatively prohibiting the practice of ‘toilet to tap’ (the disgusting process of converting reclaimed sewage into drinking water) – to include the strategy of injecting what is colloquially known as “poopy water” into the Floridan aquifer – is somehow mutually exclusive of other conservation programs.

It isn’t. 

In my view, we can (and should) have diverse conservation and protection programs working simultaneously and symbiotically to safeguard what remains of Florida’s fragile ecology in the face of malignant sprawl.

Unfortunately, when you consider the strong emphasis the Florida Department of Environmental Destruction has placed on its “potable reuse” program – a process defined by the state as the augmentation of a drinking water supply with treated wastewater – you can bet the revolting idea of turning treated sink, laundry, shower, drain and sewage waste into a potable water source to accommodate more, more, more growth is a very real option for those compromised shills in Tallahassee. 

Because I regularly bare jaded witness to the chameleon-like qualities of our local politicians – I see where they might perceive a transactional benefit in lending their support to a charter amendment banning ‘toilet to tap’ in exchange for repealing the perpetuity provisions of Volusia Forever.

For reasons I don’t fully understand (except to say strange things happen when an election is looming), earlier this month, several sitting Volusia County Council members and other area politicos – who I wouldn’t describe as “friends of the environment” – have publicly expressed support for the charter amendment banning ‘toilet to tap.’ 

My skeptical belief is our newfound “environmentalists” on the dais are secretly betting the issue will be a moot point the minute the Florida legislature preempts water quality and quantity regulations to the state – or they have inside information on changes to voter-approved conservation programs that will alter the concept of “perpetuity” to allow public infrastructure to be built on “protected” lands (no doubt to ensure concurrency for adjacent growth and density)…

Let’s hope my cynical instincts are wrong.

Regardless of the political motivations of our newly supportive elected officials in Volusia County government and the municipalities, it has been a long and valiant fight by local water quality advocates/environmentalists who see banning the disgusting process as essential to preserving our future health and water supply. 

In October 2022, the topic got so adversarial that a previous council took a formal vote forbidding Chairman Jeff Brower from even mentioning ‘toilet to tap’ at a public meeting… 

His “colleagues” said Chairman Brower was just being “political.”

Sound familiar?

Thanks to a strong push by civic activist Greg Gimbert and his intrepid grassroots advocacy Let Volusia Vote, there is growing community support for prohibiting the reuse of treated wastewater – either as potable water or injecting it into the aquifer – unless the process is voter-approved.

Earlier this month, Chairman Brower said, “There’s very few people that are excited about injecting cleaned-up sewage water into our aquifer,” making it clear that his support for a legislative prohibition on ‘toilet to tap’ hasn’t changed since he was administratively bound-and-gagged on the issue three-years ago…

According to an article by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer last week:

“County Councilmen Troy Kent and Don Dempsey voiced support for a charter amendment, and the council unanimously voted to direct staff to bring back information and a legal analysis on the issue.

“I’m in favor of letting the local people vote, because once they put that stuff in our drinking supply, we’re trusting the government science, and I don’t feel comfortable with that,” Dempsey said.” 

Council members will now wait for more information on what is legally and legislatively possible considering the prevailing winds in Tallahassee – that degenerate house of prostitution – where our “elected representatives” are busy gifting their political benefactors in the real estate development industry carte blanche to build when, where, and what they want by neutering the concept of local governance and Home Rule.

I hope you will lend your support to this worthwhile effort to protect and preserve our water quality, and the health of our children and grandchildren.  For more information on the charter amendment petition, find Let Volusia Vote at https://www.facebook.com/letvolusiavote  

Clean water is the most important legacy we can leave for those who will come after us.  I encourage everyone to sign the petition when it becomes available.

Quote of the Week

“When did it become the school district’s responsibility to decide for the taxpayers which nonprofits it would support and which it wouldn’t? Why are taxpayers in Edgewater or Ormond Beach contributing to a nonprofit in DeLand that will benefit almost exclusively DeLand residents.

If the school board was so anxious to rid itself of this property, why wasn’t it offered to the City of DeLand at some fire-sale price and allow them to arrange PAL use?

And this is not the first time such a donation has been made by the school district. In 2024 the school district donated six lots to nonprofit Homes Bring Hope to build affordable housing for six school districts employees, according to a September 2025 press release. These lots were in Daytona Beach near Bethune-Cookman University and Daytona State.

Would these lots not have been attractive to either university to purchase for future expansion, thereby recovering some taxpayer funds. The press release also begs the question “is our school district paying its employees so poorly that they require affordable housing?” I worked for Volusia County schools for 13 years; no one offered me or any of my colleagues affordable housing.

This (sic) point of this letter is not to question the validity or purpose of the nonprofits, but rather to bring to taxpayer’s attention the carelessness with which the school district, and by virtue of their votes on these donations the elected school board, are handling taxpayer assets.”

–Ormond Beach Resident and Volusia ECHO advisory board member Doug Petit, as excerpted from his editorial “Donating school property,” the Ormond Beach Observer, Monday, January 26, 2026

Call me a sentimental sap, but there was a time when residents could expect that those we elect and appoint to serve our community would steward our hard-earned tax dollars to provide effective and efficient public protection, ensure safe potable water, maintain adequate transportation and utilities infrastructure, educate our children, enact and enforce local ordinances that protect property values, conserve our natural places, and enhance our collective quality of life.

Perhaps naïvely, in my view, we have a right to expect those who accept public funds to serve in the public interest will maintain the integrity and value of publicly owned buildings and facilities and ensure a return on our investment when the asset no longer serves a public need.

Many years ago, local governments patented a technique I call “strategic neglect” – a malicious practice that withholds preventative maintenance and basic upkeep at certain public facilities – allowing them to rot in place until they reach such a deplorable state of dilapidation that demolition and replacement become the only viable option.

Unfortunately, the City of Daytona Beach recently used this unwritten negligence and abandonment policy to inflict irreparable damage on the historic City Island Recreation Center, a building erected in 1943 as a dance hall to entertain American service members during World War II.

That important piece of Halifax area history is never coming back – no doubt to be replaced by another city-owned commercial property that will succumb to the tragic start/fail/start/fail/start/fail cycle that continues to haunt much of Downtown Daytona.

Then, there is the problem of government entities and taxing districts simply adding aging or so-called “superfluous properties” to an arbitrary “surplus list” – which they feel authorizes bureaucrats to randomly decide which publicly-owned assets will be sold (often for pennies on the dollar), which will be given away, and who will be the beneficiary of this governmental largesse…

In November 2025, the unilateral donation of a 75-year-old gymnasium and adjacent property to the Deland Police Athletic League by Volusia County Schools raised the ire of taxpayers who are tired of the gross mismanagement of public assets by those charged with their stewardship.

According to Florida statutes, following an “educational plant survey,” a school board may dispose of property deemed no longer necessary for educational purposes after taking “…diligent measures to dispose of educational property only in the best interests of the public.”

To his credit, Mr. Petit made his thoughts known to the Volusia County School Board earlier this month – explaining that, as a taxpayer, he should decide which non-profits he prefers to donate to – and he doesn’t need the School Board making those decisions for him.

In addition, Petit advised the “…district should refrain from donating our property and make every effort to recover tax dollars whenever possible before they cut a program, an employee or make an appeal for more money.”

According to a recent report by Mark Harper writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “School Board member Donna Brosemer said she had similar questions about donations and had asked the district’s general counsel, Gilbert Evans, to look into establishing a policy on future donations. She questioned whether a school district partner or an organization that doesn’t have a direct relationship to the educational services the district provides would qualify under the law.”

Of course, other board members – like the always exasperated Jamie Haynes – suggests the donation to the Deland PAL is an excellent way of serving the needs of children after the school day ends.

According to the News-Journal, “That organization allows our students to go there after school every day, get tutoring help, also participate in clubs and activities, things they may never have an opportunity to do,” Haynes said. “They do cooking classes, they play sports outside.”

Volusia schools wasn’t putting any money into the old building, leaving PAL in an increasingly worsening condition without the ability to do anything about it. That’s how the plan was hatched to donate the building to the organization, allowing it to repair the gym and improve the grounds, Haynes said.

“I am very disappointed that individuals would think this is not supporting our children,” Haynes said. “This is 100% supporting our children, and every day, I would vote the same way again.”

What Ms. Haynes and some of her “colleagues” fail to understand is – regardless of the potential benefit to area non-profits – this property represents a publicly-owned asset, one bought and paid for with our hard-earned tax dollars.

In my view, the ultimate disposition of these “surplus” properties should not be determined by the arbitrary whims of administrators who subjectively remove our collective land and facilities from the open market and gift them to preferred charities in the absence of clear, fair, and equitable public policy.

And Another Thing!

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

–George Orwell, 1984

You don’t need the deductive reasoning of Hercule Poirot to deduce the trends and similarities in how local governments are actively working to silence opposition, gaslight constituents, position themselves as the “burning bush” of community information, and fight against what omniscient insiders in the “Ivory Tower of Power” describe as “misinformation.”  

The all-knowing bureaucracy is right, and the ignorant hoi polloi are wrong.

If being gaveled down and escorted out of a public meeting by law enforcement at the command of the chair, or having your social media content “monitored” by the Special Thought Police from some “public information office” doesn’t have a chilling effect on your willingness to speak out, then they will threaten to sue your eyeballs out (using your own tax dollars) if your refuse to cease and desist…

Some local governments are creating a sanitized echo chamber where citizens – from whom all political power derives – are expected to sit quietly while those we have elected to represent our interests engage in verbose oratories, petty bickering, and use parliamentary gymnastics to routinely delay, obfuscate, and procrastinate serious issues of civic concern for waterlogged Volusia County residents. 

Don’t take my word for it. 

Watch what passes for a Deltona City Commission meeting, any Orange City Council meeting conducted by Mayor Kellianne “My Name is MAYOR!” Marks, or an episode of that long-running tragicomedy that is the Volusia County Council and come to your own conclusion if public input is welcomed and considered where you live.   

The pernicious practice of silencing criticism now includes openly berating unpaid citizen advisory board volunteers for speaking their truth to power.  Publicly destroying their character and reputation with defamatory accusations and labeling them a “liar,” as these egotistical tools paint themselves as the heroes in their own counterproductive political theater…

Not so coincidentally, last week, Jason Volez, a candidate for Florida State Senate District 8, received a stern “cease and desist” threat from Deltona City Attorney Gemma Torcivia through her law firm, TG Law. 

As an outspoken critic of the City of Deltona’s perpetually troubled water utility – a problematic treatment, distribution, and billing system that is almost universally panned by its disgusted consumers – Mr. Volez has repeatedly sounded the klaxon on dangerous “forever chemicals” that have been detected in Deltona’s potable water supply.

In addition, Volez stands with the clean water advocacy Let Volusia Vote, and has vehemently opposed the City of Deltona’s plan to inject reclaimed water into the Floridan aquifer.  A practice many believe will result in widespread and permanent contamination of our collective water source.

That strong criticism by a citizen/candidate expressing a view counter to the official storyline didn’t sit well with embarrassed officials at Deltona City Hall…   

So, they used the full might and treasure of the City of Deltona to silence Volez – wielding the city attorney’s office like a cudgel, describing his views as “objectively false, unprivileged, and defamatory” – publicly besmirching his message while sending a chilling warning to any citizen who dares speak out on issues of community concern using follow our edicts and “govern yourself accordingly” intimidation.

I guess even voicing concerns about the very water our children drink is verboten.

If this tactic sounds familiar, it should…

Last fall, during a meeting of the New Smyrna Beach City Commission, thin-skinned Mayor Fred Cleveland openly fumed over social media posts he found offensive, which resulted in City Attorney Carrie Avallone dutifully (if not unconstitutionally) sending a letter on official letterhead to Volusia County Council District 3 candidate Bryon White – an candid opponent of overdevelopment and its effects on our natural places – demanding that he “correct or remove” statements critical of NSB officials from social media.

You read that right…

Perhaps more frightening, during a rambling diatribe against anyone who expresses a viewpoint different from those espoused by city spinmeisters – Mayor Cleveland ominously asked if one of the city’s two Public Information Officers could “monitor” the social media posts of residents and “set the record straight” with anyone who “berates” city officials or tries to “further an agenda.”

Yeah.  I know…

I suspect Mayor Cleveland’s rampant paranoia and willingness to silence critics with the full force of government isn’t an original thought…  

In my view, this increasingly blustery bullying sounds like a well-choreographed effort to push back against dissent, criticism, and citizen participation – probably concocted by one of those mutual admiration societies, leagues, committees, and councils of confederated local governments – typically comprised of elected officials who consider their vanity far more important than our constitutional protections.

Our right to speak our minds on matters of public concern is not subject to the filter of hypersensitive politicians, their highly compensated public mouthpieces, or anyone else – and taxpayers should not be expected to subjugate themselves to some monarchical edict handed down by egomaniacal hacks with a persecution complex.

This election season I urge you to ask questions of candidates.  Determine who they plan to serve – We, The Little People, or their own self-interests – research the records of perennial politicians, educate yourself on issues of local concern, then vote your conscience. 

Elections have consequences…

That’s all for me.  Stay warm this 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:

Bait and Switch: Weakening Conservation Protections in Volusia County

Forever

“For all future time; for always.  Permanent, continual, and perpetual.  Endless or indefinite; eternity.  The state or quality of lasting forever.”   

We all know what it means…

Twenty-five years ago, voters initially approved a concept known as Volusia Forever – described on the county website as a tax supported land conservation program that “…finances the acquisition and improvement of environmentally sensitive, water resource protection, and outdoor recreation lands, and the management of these lands as conservation stewards in perpetuity.”

In 2020, a profound 75.6% of voters reauthorized Volusia Forever in an effort to protect and preserve their drinking water, lakes, rivers, coastal waters, springs, woodlands, and greenspace in the face of aggressive development that continues to threaten access to passive outdoor recreation lands, foul the aquifer, and destroy sensitive wildlife habitat.   

Trust me.  75.6% of Volusia County residents can’t agree on whether they like ice cream – but they resoundingly want sensitive areas publicly acquired and conserved in perpetuity. 

Forever.  

For the past quarter-century, Volusia County residents have seen with their own eyes the threats we collectively face in an age of metastatic sprawl – perpetuated by a transactional political scheme – based on the shady concept of quid pro quo, “something for something.”

Now, several of those compromised shills that comprise the Volusia County Council of Cowards wants to arbitrarily change the rules on us.

Earlier this month, during a goal setting workshop Councilman Don Dempsey – who has spent the bulk of his term ramrodding his pet multi-million-dollar motorcross facility on land purchased with Volusia Forever and ECHO funds – said he wants to revisit the concept of “forever” and “perpetuity,” using the nonsensical argument that 75.6% of Volusia voters didn’t understand what we were voting for…

Bullshit.

According to an article by Al Everson writing in the West Volusia Beacon last week:

“Council Member Don Dempsey, for his part, urged his colleagues to consider time limits and the effects of use constraints on land set aside for conservation, and purchased with Volusia Forever dollars, as well as funds from state or federal agencies. Some uses and in-perpetuity clauses, he noted, are written into the covenants of land acquisitions, and such provisions.

“The voters never voted to make it in perpetuity,” Dempsey said. “Imagine 100 years from now we want to do a commercial well. … We’re basically making half of our county off-limits. … Farmers 100 years from now cannot water their crops.”

To borrow a phrase from big Jeffrey Lebowski, What in God’s holy name is he blathering about? 

In my view, there is something inherently deceitful about a self-serving politician – one with a history of working to weaken growth management measures and facilitate more, more, more sprawl – who presumes to tell me what I did or did not vote for when I cast my ballot. 

The condescending tactic raises its ugly head every time an elected official/special interest (the two terms are now interchangeable) decides they want to change a voter approved initiative that now impinges on their ability to get fatter.  

So, they quibble the nuances of ballot language, tell a few scary stories of potential unintended consequences, before finally claiming voters were too stupid to understand what they were voting for…

In my view, Councilman Don Dempsey and his bobble-head cohorts – Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins and Councilman David “No Show” Santiago – seek to weaken conservation efforts by questioning the appropriateness of certain parcels, insinuating the potential for abuse by property owners (something that wasn’t a concern when Dempsey’s motorcross acquisition was being considered), and opposing the issuance of bonds to finance the purchase of identified conservation lands.  

Why?  Good question…

According to a December 2025 article in the Ormond Beach Observer:

“In the Volusia Forever ballot initiative, it was stated that the county would borrow money through bonds to purchase land acquisitions, Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower said. Staff also explained that the council’s preliminary authorization on bonds would allow the money to be available when a purchase is approved.

Councilman Don Dempsey disagreed with this approach.

“I don’t like the fact that we can borrow into the future to buy more conservation land,” he said. “We’re already number two in the state. It scares me that we’re rushing towards a 50% acquisition rate, that we are going to basically encumber half of the property in the county.”

Robins agreed with Dempsey and Santiago.

“What I don’t want to see is take a good program like this and use it as the easy way out to not put in a development application because people don’t want to go through the squeaky wheels and deal with the development application in unincorporated Volusia,” Robins said. “I’m not saying I’ve seen it happen, but I do have ears and I’ve heard certain things like, ‘Hey, this is an easier way to do it, to get paid and stuff.'”

Per usual, Robins’ logic is clear as nutrient clogged mud in a Volusia County estuary.

What “Gaslight” Robins fails to mention is Volusia Forever has an extensive application process – which includes land evaluation and appraisal – along with a citizen advisory committee and staff reviews that guide the program, determine appropriate acquisitions, and recommend those properties to the Volusia County Council for consideration.

In addition, since the program’s renewal in 2020, Volusia Forever has successfully partnered with various state and federal organization, and the St. Johns Water Management District, to leverage tax dollars resulting in $4.00 from partner match funds for every $1.00 in taxpayer investment.  

Regardless, now that manipulating Volusia Forever is an official “goal” of the Volusia County Council, I’m told the discussion may come before the council in February.  That gives concerned citizens ample time to consider the true motivations of Councilmen Dempsey, Robins, and Santiago, then let their voices be heard.    

Why do you think these dull tools of development interests want to manipulate Volusia County residents into second-guessing why they taxed themselves to protect environmentally sensitive conservation lands from being churned into a muddy miasma to facilitate their greed-crazed ‘growth at all costs’ strategy? 

In my view, this bait-and-switch shim-sham will result in even more loss of the public’s trust – the same suspicion and doubt that resulted in Volusia County voters overwhelmingly nixing a shady sales tax increase ostensibly earmarked for transportation infrastructure…   

Regardless, these political sock puppets have repeatedly demonstrated they do not represent your interests or mine – and it is time to reject their unscrupulous horseshit once again. 

We know what we voted for.    

The people have spoken.  Twice.

Leave Volusia Forever and ECHO alone.    

Replacing Secrecy with Commonsense at Volusia County Schools

“I’m right and you’re wrong, I’m big and you’re small, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

— Narcissistic Headmistress Agatha Trunchbull in Roald Dahl’s Matilda

The operative ethic in the administration of Volusia County Schools is loose lips sink ships – and shady school administrators…

Unguarded discourse outside the confines of a professional spinmeister’s pap and fluff is never tolerated – and no expense will be spared when the district sees the need to defend Superintendent Carmen Balgobin’s subjective edicts from external scrutiny.

In fact, controlling the narrative and silencing contrary opinions has become the overriding focus of Superintendent Balgobin and her dwindling “cabinet” of obsequious drones – a well-crafted and intensely protected storyline (with Balgobin as the heroine) that has captivated the majority of our so-called “independent oversight” on the Volusia County School Board. 

Those sycophantic elected officials who prefer to rubber stamp the administration’s whims and wishes rather than question their purpose, expense, or legality…

For instance, last year, School Board member Donna Brosemer was shocked to learn some 110 non-instructional staff members had been directed to sign a non-disclosure agreement by the Balgobin administration – an overbroad gag order that silenced the release of information specifically made public by Florida’s open records law – something many saw as a means of bureaucratically silencing those who accept public funds to serve in the public interest.

To her credit, Ms. Brosemer didn’t take “shut up and know your role” for an answer – and she wasn’t intimidated by nasty glances and swipes from her “colleagues” – spending her own money to fight for her constituents by personally funding an independent review by outside counsel, all while being billed by the very administration she was elected to oversee to obtain public record requests.

The attorney hired by Ms. Brosemer came to a legal determination that the NDA was most likely “void, illegal and unenforceable under Florida law.”

In turn, the district used taxpayer funds to hire Aaron Wolfe, an attorney with Doran, Foxman, Sims, Wolfe & Yoon of Daytona Beach, to defend Volusia County School’s Attorney Gilbert Evans’ opinion that the Balgobin NDA was somehow legal and constitutional, even when employed by a tax supported entity subject to Florida’s open records law…

Now, after spending untold public funds to defend the controversial (and possibly unconstitutional) non-disclosure agreements, we learn that Volusia County Schools have now dropped Balgobin’s Code of Silence in favor of simply updating standards of conduct for district employees after the NDA’s “sunsetted” in December 2025.

Essentially, the policy requires that employees having access to “sensitive and confidential” information are required to “safeguard such information and must not disclose it outside the scope of their official responsibilities.”  Anyone found to have violated the policy will be subject to disciplinary action, including criminal prosecution.

The policy was last updated in 2002… 

According to a report by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer, “I’m happy to know that, ” said School Board member Donna Brosemer, who was a vocal critic of the NDAs last year. “I had understood also that the purpose of this language was to accommodate the concerns that the NDA was intended to address.”

Of course, there was some quibbling over wording – but it appears that after a costly fight to prove Ms. Brosemer wrong – and, by bureaucratic validation, that Superintendent Balgobin was right – at the end of the day, a commonsense policy tweak was all it took to bring the controversy to a close. 

On January 9, Ormond Beach’s own Senator Tom Leek filed SB 1620, a bill which would provide members of school boards with a Bill of Rights – including the ability to review district documents, seek information from staff without begging the superintendent’s permission, a specific prohibition on nepotism, and a ban on requiring or incentivizing any district employee from signing a non-disclosure agreement.

Sen. Leek’s bill is among the best legislation of this miserable session.

In my view, the bill validates Ms. Brosemer’s concerns.  More important, it protects School Board members who act in good faith to address controversial issues, provide oversight and accountability, and speak the independent truth to their constituents.

With luck, these legislative protections will put an end to the “Balgobin Way” – a terribly expensive and lopsided strategy that employs the full might of a tax supported behemoth to defend her monarchical decrees. 

Quote of the Week

“Councilman Troy Kent posed an interesting question today. He asked why citizens should trust their government.

It’s a fair question—and one a lot of people are asking. Troy meant it rhetorically, but since he raised it, let’s talk about it.

Why should residents trust a county government that is actively working to defund voter-approved conservation programs that passed with nearly 80% support?

Why trust a county government that eliminates all arts funding under the banner of “austerity,” while simultaneously appropriating ten times that amount for a motocross track and other pet projects?

Why trust a county government that cuts lifeguards and other public safety services?

Why trust a county government that silences citizens when it comes to development decisions that directly impact their homes, water, and quality of life?

Why trust a county government that won’t even defend its own home-rule authority—choosing instead to tuck tail rather than stand up to Tallahassee overreach?

On this one point, I actually agree with Councilman Kent: why should we trust them?

Especially when the same officials criticizing government waste are cashing not one—but two—taxpayer-funded paychecks every month.

Three county council seats are up for election this year. Accountability matters.”

–Volusia County Council District 3 Candidate Bryon White, writing in the Facebook forum, “Slow the Growth Volusia,” Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Whether you support Bryon White’s candidacy or not – his social media post was spot-on.

The man ain’t lying…

During Tuesday’s Volusia County Council meeting, the always meanspirited Councilman David “No Show” Santiago clenched his tiny fists and openly threatened a Volusia ECHO advisory board member (read: engaged citizen) who dared to share his perspective regarding a proposed strategic plan for the tax supported program.

According to the member’s communication with the council, he clarified that the Committee only reviewed a preliminary spreadsheet, not the final recommendations of the ECHO Vision 2040 Strategic Plan.  At least one member of the board disagreed and stood before the Council to share her own interpretation of the process, and the lack of objections during previous board meetings.  

In turn, Brad Burbaugh, director of Volusia County’s Community Services Department, which includes the Volusia ECHO program, described the Santiago pushed kerfuffle as a “mischaracterization.”

In my experience, differences of opinion and skewed personal perceptions happen.  In fact, the competition of ideas is what makes advisory committees so important to the legislative process.

Not in Volusia County…

Without due process or formal investigation, speaking from the dais, Councilman Santiago branded the civically involved committee member a “liar” – then threatened to make a motion to remove the citizen volunteer for not sharing something Santiago called the “principles that he believes in.”  (That’s a hoot!  “No Show” Santiago claiming to have “principles,” that’s rich…)

During his diatribe, Santiago spewed his version of what constitutes “misinformation,” i.e., any idea or information that does not originate with those faux “experts” that comprise their incredibly well compensated senior staff – or is first sanitized by those spinmeisters in the “Community Information” office – then threatened to take “drastic measures” to silence the voice of a concerned advisory board member who took a view contrary to county staff’s official line…

Maybe the opposing board member’s view was right – or maybe his perceptions were wrong – but he thought enough of his role and responsibility to buck ‘groupthink’ and write Volusia County Council members to express his view on the process that will shape the direction of a program vitally important to our quality of life.

For his trouble, an advisory volunteer was viciously rebuked, and his character openly besmirched by Santiago – a manipulative shit-heel and self-serving political hack – who crushes dissenting opinions by eliminating opposing voices from his echo chamber. 

After receiving implied pushback from some of his “colleagues,” Santiago relented and withheld banishing the dissenting board member. 

For now… 

In my view, Councilman Kent was right when he said no one trusts government anymore.

For damn good reasons – many well-articulated in Mr. White’s social media post.

In my view, the “trust issue” continues to loom over Volusia County like a multi-headed typhon, and each time residents are gaslighted, voter-approved programs are arbitrarily dismantled, civically engaged citizens are pilloried, pet projects prioritized, and our collective voices ignored while the mercenary whims and wants of their political benefactors take precedence, the public trust is further eroded.   

It’s true.  Accountability matters.

And Another Thing!

“The county makes clear in the agreement that it won’t have financial responsibility for any future operational costs.

“The county never shall be required to make any other payment as a condition for the admittance of any person to the facility,” the agreement states.

The new agreement also specifies that the First Step building will serve as an emergency shelter during disasters, extreme weather conditions such as cold snaps and hurricanes, and other crisis situations.

During those events the shelter will be required to expand capacity, maintain safety for everyone in the building, and provide access to food and water.”

–Reporters Eileen Zaffiro-Kean and Sheldon Gardner, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Daytona Beach homeless shelter set to get city and county funding for the next five years,” June 30, 2025

This week started downright frigid – dangerously cold – for those unfortunate souls who, for myriad reasons of insanity, infirmity, destitution, and addiction, find themselves without adequate shelter during life-threatening weather events.

In fact, last year, those of us with full bellies and a roof over our heads took comfort knowing that our ‘powers that be’ ensured the misnamed First Step Shelter – as a contractual obligation for extended public funding – would be required to serve as an “emergency shelter” during extreme weather conditions.

Once Volusia County assured us that First Step had been directed help those most at risk during dangerous weather – I didn’t give it much thought.  Then several members of the Barker’s View tribe reached out last week and asked if I knew why First Step Shelter wasn’t listed as a cold weather option for the homeless…

When temperatures fell and the winds increased on Sunday, a public service announcement appeared in The Daytona Beach News-Journal but failed to mention First Step Shelter as a winter weather shelter. 

The PSA explained that in Flagler County, The Sheltering Tree – housed at the Rock Transformation Center in Bunnell – would be open Sunday and Monday nights, with at least six pickup locations identified by address for transportation assistance.   

In Volusia, the options were The Bridge, operated by the Neighborhood Center in DeLand; with Halifax Urban Ministries coordinating East Volusia shelters “…in partnership with local churches and nonprofit organizations.”

According to reports, in Volusia, “When available, transportation assistance may be provided through Votran in coordination with community partners.”

That didn’t sound very reassuring. 

Neither did a disturbing report in FlaglerLive.com earlier this month where we learned of the changing dynamics of poverty in the region:

“Average occupancy at the (Sheltering Tree) shelter last year was 10 to 12 people. When it last opened in late December, it drew 26 people. It’s not your stereotypical homeless population anymore.

“We had two people come in from work the last days we were open, literally leaving work and arriving at 7 o’clock and leaving the next morning and going back to work,” says Martin Collins, vice president of the Sheltering Tree’s board. “Middle class people are finding themselves struggling with working class issues, and working class people are finding themselves struggling with poverty.” Others are living in their cars.”

After reading the News-Journal’s sheltering notice, I went to the First Step Shelter’s website where (not-so-shockingly) there was nothing to indicate they were accepting at-risk people during this week’s winter weather outbreak. 

However, I noticed that the “Mayor’s Gala” was prominently advertised front-and-center… 

The “shelter’s” asinine annual “we’ve got to spend money to make money” formal soiree set for February 7 at the tony Hilton Oceanfront Resort in Daytona Beach.

Unlike homeless persons seeking transportation to a warming room this week, a shuttlebus is being provided to attendees of the “Mayor’s Gala” to ensure everyone’s timely arrival for the cocktail reception beginning at 6pm…

Then, guests are off to dinner in the resort’s ballroom where they will be entertained by a musician amidst the whimsical theme “Under the Sea.” 

Swellegant…  

As questions continue to swirl around First Step’s commitment to emergency shelter operations, perhaps it is time for Volusia County – and the City of Daytona Beach – to ask their respective internal auditors to determine if the “shelter” is living up to the contractual terms and caveats agreed to before our elected officials decided to handover another $400,000 last year, $300,000 this year, and $200,000 annually for the remaining three years? 

Maybe next year, the theme of First Step’s “Mayor’s Gala” should be “Underwater: Struggling to Get Off the Public Teat and Stand on Our Own Two Feet…”

That’s all for me.  Have a great Rolex 24 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:

“A Money Pit”: Councilman Don Dempsey’s Folly Progresses in Volusia County

During the first Volusia County Council meeting of the new year, it was ‘bidness as usual’ when a measure to piss away $195,795 from Volusia ECHO funds to hire a contractor to provide advice to the county bureaucracy in developing a “P-3” – a public-private partnership (read: public funds used to underwrite a private enterprise) – ostensibly for the development and operation of Councilman Don Dempsey’s pet motocross facility.

The controversial and incredibly expensive folly was buried as Item H on the council’s consent agenda…

To his credit, Chairman Jeff Brower released the public information and input vacuum when he pulled the item for discussion. 

What ensued was a classic well-choreographed Volusia County Kabuki, fronted by perhaps the worst presentation by a publicly compensated official I’ve ever witnessed.

Trust me.  I’ve seen a few…

Our new “Assistant County Manager” Gus Zambrano earned his $185,000 salary by reading a PowerPoint, verbatim – its slides embroidered with nonsensical cartoon-like graphics – all to sell the notion of using nearly $200,000 in public funds to hire a private consultant to do the swollen bureaucracy’s work, construct a Request for Proposal, engage with bidders, and help select a private entity to operate the Don Dempsey Motocross and ATV/UTV Trail Riding Facility.

Yep.  Ol’ Gus is going to fit right in over there in the Ivory Tower of Power… 

Given the knowns and unknowns of the state’s push to reduce or eliminate property taxes – along with the council’s faux focus on funding core government responsibilities – Mr. Brower suggested the already purchased land would be an excellent location for a county owned park and supported the idea of opening the site to recreational riding.

It was apparent from the moment Mr. Brower pulled the item for discussion that the outcome had been determined well before the meeting began… 

Per usual, Councilman David “No Show” Santiago attempted to paint Chairman Brower as a liar for daring to question the project – manipulatively mewling about “deception” and “motives” – twisting inference, and claiming that because the project is exploiting Volusia ECHO and not the general fund, residents apparently don’t have a valid reason to oppose the $3.5 million+ expenditure.

Bullshit.

During what passed for public participation, “C.J.,” a citizen who identified himself as the owner of Pax Trax, a Flagler County commercial motorcross facility and a recognized expert in the sport, stood before the council and candidly explained – if Volusia County builds a track it will “shut me down” – claiming that motorcross tracks across the state are closing due to a lack of business, with several of the properties still up for sale.

In fact, the gentleman implored council members to fully understand what they were up committing to in operating a motorcross facility – explaining that if he felt a facility in Volusia was financially viable, he would have purchased the land and opened the business himself.

In an odd departure from the council’s standard practice of staring catatonically into space and refusing to acknowledge citizens who approach the dais, the track owner’s plea resulted in an agitated Don Dempsey doing the unthinkable and actually responding to the private operator’s grim prediction from the dais.

In a weird exchange, Councilman Dempsey challenged the industry expert, “You don’t remember our golf cart ride at Magic Mountain (?) three years ago where we talked about this very project?” 

In exchange, C.J. answered from the gallery, recalling he told Mr. Dempsey the project would be successful as a “night track,” before the exchange was shut down by Councilman Johansson, who knows that no good comes from openly discussing issues with constituents…

It was Councilman Dempsey’s weepy rant – arguing that concerned constituents are using his pet project as a bludgeon because he frequently votes against growth management measures and environmental protections that I found most disingenuous – and offensive to Volusia County taxpayers.

“I know a lot of people are mad at me because I vote against moratoriums and I don’t always vote the way the environmentalists want me to vote, and I can’t help but think, sometimes, that this is just a way of getting even with me.”

Say what?  How in the hell did Don Dempsey become the victim?

Councilman Dempsey’s “everybody’s pickin’ on me” pout turned into a self-serving tirade as he painted his effort as being exclusively “for the kids” – railing that the sport of motorcross is readily accessible to everyone (if you have thousands of dollars for specialty motorcycles, trailers, protective equipment, physical agility, etc., etc., that is…) and that denying the multi-million-dollar public/private facility would prevent eight-year-olds from practicing motorcross at night.

All Mr. Dempsey’s melodramatic diatribe lacked was Sarah McLachlan’s “In the Arms of the Angel” moaning gently in the background to have me bawling like a lachrymose grandmother…  

What a godawful farce. 

Don’t take my word for it. 

Watch it all for yourself here (the fun begins at 1:07:30): https://tinyurl.com/5t3tk4du

There’s something about watching a millionaire politician throw a selfish tantrum on the dais because he’s receiving moderate pushback against having a publicly funded motorcross facility built in his backyard that provides a disturbing insight into how our egomaniacal elected “representatives” think – and spend our money…

Ultimately, the always sanctimonious Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins (who last year ignored the $50 million annual impact of cultural events on Volusia County’s economy in his shortsighted charge to eliminate all previously budgeted arts funding) dismissed Chairman Brower’s commonsense argument as “political salad,” before arrogantly calling the vote. 

Like choreographed clockwork, the expenditure was approved 5-1 with Councilman Troy Kent absent due to a family emergency.  Now, having spent +/- $200K to hire someone else to write and administrate a simple RFP, that bloated bureaucracy in DeLand can go back to sitting on its thumbs, concocting their next nonsensical PowerPoint…

My God.

In my view, this farcical charade once again demonstrates just how far these flip-flopping shills will go to repay a cooperative “colleague” for his loyalty in helping smooth out the humps-and-bumps for their common political benefactors who control the rods and strings of government in Volusia County and beyond.

If you live and pay taxes in Volusia County – and believe as I do that the core tenets of Volusia ECHO and Forever programs have been highjacked in a crude effort to ramrod the Dempsey Family Motorcross Facility – I encourage you to vote your conscience, launch these slimy slugs onto the political ash heap, and return a sense of honor, integrity, and sanity to the Volusia County Council.

Policies and Guidelines: Improving Fiscal Oversight in the City of Daytona Beach

To say the initial probes by the City of Daytona Beach’s new internal auditor, Abinet Belachew – a hard-charging watchdog with a penchant for uncovering misspending while upholding standards that ensure the ethical stewardship of public funds – caught his elected bosses and appointed colleagues by surprise is an understatement. 

Dude kicked the proverbial door down – then hung the dirty laundry on the line for all the villagers to see…

Having just scratched the surface, Mr. Belachew has already uncovered potential misuse of city purchasing cards, travel irregularities, a lack of receipts and documentation, outdated or ineffective policies, and most recently, allegations of a scandalous liaison possibly involving a supervisor and subordinate, which may have involved the misappropriation of public funds.

Sadly, after his initial foray, Mr. Belachew reported that his efforts had been met with a disturbing degree of opposition and obstruction by some senior officials – something that often happens when the established status quo is challenged.  When some insiders questioned his audit results it appeared Mr. Belachew clearly felt the veracity of his inquiry was being disputed, which set up some tense public exchanges that made the elected officials visibly uncomfortable…

To their credit, the Daytona Beach City Commission recently agreed upon a set of rules to guide Mr. Belachew’s scope of responsibilities going forward, providing specific guidelines without neutering the purpose and authority of his vital role.

According to an informative report by Eileen Zaffiro-Kean writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal:

“At their Wednesday, Jan. 7 meeting, city commissioners adopted a 10-page governing policy that both Belachew and other city officials will operate under for auditing issues.

The policy will include everything from how long top city employees have to respond to one of Belachew’s audit reports to a detailed explanation of the internal auditor’s mission.

The mission of the city auditor is to provide independent and objective assurance and advisory services that enhance accountability, transparency, and efficiency; and to proactively identify risks, evaluate internal controls, and make practical recommendations that strengthen city operations, safeguard public resources, support effective governance, and prevent potential fraud, waste and abuse.”

Most important, Mr. Belachew will remain independent of senior administrators – reporting to the Mayor and City Commissioners – with established protections from undue influence on the “…audit scope, methodology, findings, conclusions, or timing of the audit.”

In addition, the new audit parameters ensure the City Manager and department heads have the opportunity to review and respond to findings in a timely manner – and provide answers which can be evaluated by the auditor.  Modifications to audit reports can be made based on valid explanations supported by sufficient evidence.

The new policy provides for a dedicated hotline that will allow residents and employees to report fraud, waste, and abuse – and if Mr. Belachew finds the complaint applicable to his office and a formal investigation warranted – he will notify the city commission who will determine how to proceed.

According to the News-Journal’s report, “The city auditor is authorized to conduct investigations of complaints received from city employees relating to acts or suspected acts by city employees or agents of gross mismanagement, malfeasance, misfeasance, gross waste of public funds, or gross neglect of duty related to financial and compliance matters.

When a city employee seeking to invoke the protection of the Whistleblower’s Act discloses information to the city auditor, the auditor is authorized to initiate an investigation.”

To ensure transparency, Mr. Belachew will coordinate with the city’s public information officer to post audit reports to the public website.

In my experience, financial audits and the independent examination of policies, protocols, and managerial practices help guarantee compliance with regulations, ensures best practices, safeguard resources, and establishes a culture of accountability that leads to better governance.    

Kudos to Daytona Beach – and those local governments who employ professional internal auditors – then allow that critical position the freedom and flexibility to publicly report their findings, speak openly to the media and answer constituent questions on matters of concern, and, by their personal and professional example, set exacting standards for the ethical and efficient conduct of the people’s business. 

Quote of the Week

“Since 2017, companies linked to a multibillion-dollar investment manager in New York have spent at least $230 million buying up more than 80,000 acres across north Florida — amassing giant tracts of largely rural land near Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Panama City.

That same investment firm now wants Florida lawmakers to make it much easier to develop that land.

Records obtained by Seeking Rents show that executives at Ruane Cunniff — a Manhattan-based firm that manages hedge funds, mutual funds and other investment vehicles — are behind an obscure entity pushing bills in the Florida Legislature this year that would enable giant landowners to have their properties rezoned for high-intensity development without a local public hearing or vote in the communities where the projects would occur.

The Ruane Cunniff-backed company has hired nearly 20 lobbyists in Tallahassee who have been quietly meeting with lawmakers in support of the legislation — which, if passed, could dramatically boost the value of the vast land holdings the firm has assembled in Florida over the past decade.

That’s not all. Separate records show that another corporate entity controlled by Ruane Cunniff executives recently began showering money on key figures in the Florida Capitol. That entity has made more than $150,000 in campaign contributions in the two months since House Bill 299 and Senate Bill 354 were filed in the Legislature — including $10,000 apiece for each of the bill sponsors.”

–Investigative Journalist Jason Garcia writing in Seeking Rents, a newsletter and podcast focusing on Florida politics, “A New York investment firm with vast land holdings across north Florida wants state lawmakers to greenlight giant developments,” Wednesday, January 7, 2026

If you care about the ongoing destruction of Florida through malignant development and the overweening greed driving it, you’re going to want to down a strong antiemetic and read Mr. Garcia’s shocking expose here: https://tinyurl.com/5buer3jx

On Tuesday, we denizens of the Sunshine State girded our loins as that Turkish bazaar that is the 2026 Florida Legislative Session began in Tallahassee. 

The opening session was marked by palpable tensions among leadership – along with a shocking lack of proposed legislation that would improve the average Floridian’s life and livelihood as our elected representatives work overtime to preempt local growth management regulations and pave the way (literally) for their political overseers in the real estate development industry. 

In my view, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ blatant snubbing of House President Daniel Perez – openly ghosting Perez ahead of the State of the State address, while giving Senate President Ben Albritton a hearty handshake – makes for good political theater, but this year, petty politics is the least of our concerns…  

As Gideon Tucker so eloquently said, “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session,” and here in Florida, that truism continues to hit increasingly close to home.

On Tuesday, the Senate Community Affairs Committee agreed to amend SB 180 – a law passed last year that essentially gutted local planning by preempting cities and counties from passing “more restrictive or burdensome” growth management regulations – and gave developers the ability to file suit if their plans were denied.

According to a report this week by Jim Saunders of the News Service of Florida, a recent legislative update from 1000 Friends of Florida explained, “The bill does not repeal SB 180’s (the 2025 law’s) retroactive provisions, instead shortening their duration,” the growth-management organization said. “As a result, communities like Orange County and Manatee County remain stymied on good-faith planning decisions unrelated to storm recovery, undermining voter- and community-driven local planning efforts.”

Not that any of that matters…

In the legislative spirit of ‘give with one hand and take with the other,’ if passed, legislation known as the “Blue Ribbon Projects” bill would cut out public hearings and citizen input to allow large-tract landowners holding at least 10,000 or more contiguous acres to do as they wish – further neutering the ability of local government to control growth and protect the character of their communities. 

Which brings Jason Garcia’s disturbing reportage on out-of-state carpetbaggers buying massive tracts of undeveloped property across the state – then showering Florida lawmakers with equally massive campaign contributions – into clearer focus… 

In addition, Mr. Garcia reports that there is a plethora of proposed legislation that would further preempt local growth regulation – such as one piece of work that would “…force cities and counties to approve any housing development up to 100 acres if half the property borders existing residential areas (Senate Bill 208). The House, meanwhile, is about to begin moving a bill that would essentially forbid local governments from enforcing strict wetland buffers that keep new development away from environmentally sensitive watersheds (House Bill 479).

“Other bills would let lawyers for developers and local government leaders do more negotiating in secret (Senate Bill 332, House Bill 655), make it easier for homebuilders to construct subdivisions on farmland surrounding cities (Senate Bill 686, House Bill 691), and set the stage for the potential elimination of all local urban-service boundaries (House Bill 399).”

According to historians, pirates and privateers began raiding what is now Florida about the time of the first European settlers, prowling the waters, plundering anything of value on land and sea in the name of King – or abject greed – and openly preying on the weak.

They’re still coming… 

Now, their gaudy costumes and sash replaced by thousand-dollar Georgio Armani suits and Gucci loafers, their trusty sword a Montblanc fountain pen – they’re “motley crew” a passel of bright real estate lawyers and brokers who cobble together LLC’s to facilitate enormous land acquisitions – a groaning chest of cash to buy the loyalty of those we elect to represent our interests. 

But what about “We, The Little People”? 

Where is the proposed legislation to ease our burden, protect our thin slice of the pie, stop this quid pro quo insanity in Tallahassee and beyond, and improve to our quality of life here on this salty piece of land we call home?  

Yeah.  We’re screwed.  Get used to it…

And Another Thing!

“After over 20 years of planning, the developers of Ormond Crossings have broken ground on the almost 3,000-acre community.

An event celebrating the recent groundbreaking of the first phase of the development was held on Monday, Jan. 12, at the Security First Insurance headquarters.

Ormond Crossings is a mixed-use project located south of U.S. 1 and along both the east and west sides of I-95, with land in both Volusia and Flagler counties. In addition to building about 2,550 residential units, Ormond Crossings will have a commerce park and a town center with retail, restaurants and outdoor areas. Planning for the development began in 2002 and is the result of a partnership with the City of Ormond Beach, Volusia County and Tomoka Holdings. The property was acquired by the Ford family, of DeLand, in 2016; they then sold it in December 2023 to Bradford Kline and Associates, of Maryland, for $62 million.”

–Reporter Jarleene Almenas, writing in the Ormond Beach Observer, “More than two decades in the making: Ormond Crossings finally breaks ground,” Monday, January 12, 2026

You read that right…

If you thought the once quaint and infinitely desirable jewel that was the City of Ormond Beach couldn’t get any more mundane, run-of-the-mill, or mediocre – guess what? 

You ain’t seen nothing yet…

For decades, forces beyond your control – with the acquiescence of visionless political hacks who infiltrated the Ormond Beach City Commission – have waited until market conditions were optimum to begin developing the community-changing behemoth that will be Ormond Crossings. 

In turn, our clueless ‘powers that be’ have prepared for the impacts of 2,550 new residential units, a two-million-square-foot “commerce park,” and town center with retail space by allowing the Florida Department of Transportation to narrow the main thoroughfare on east/west Granada Boulevard and A-1-A, impeding the flow of increasingly congested traffic with chicanes, bumps, nonsensical medians, and a slalom course of constricted lanes that will soon be overwhelmed by the addition of motorists from (enter name of a “new” or pending cookie-cutter subdivision here).

Twenty-years of so-called “leaders” who were gifted a vibrant palette filled with natural and civic amenities, rich in history, affluence, arts, and culture – features that the visionary private investor Bill Jones used to imagine and create the heart of our community on West Granada Boulevard – inspired placemaking that, unfortunately, did not extend beyond downtown…   

Rather than build on that success, those visionless dullards in City Hall – and developers who are allowed to do as they please – managed to paint a colorless tableau, filled with uninspired strip centers, where old growth forests, specimen hardwoods, and natural buffers are churned into a muddy moonscape to make way for another carwash, convenience store, or storage facility.    

According to the Observer’s report, “At the groundbreaking event, Ormond Beach Mayor Jason Leslie said the occasion marked a “major step forward for the future of our community.”

“Ormond Crossings began with a simple but powerful question back in 2004: What should Ormond Beach look like 20, 30, and even 50 years into the future?” Leslie said.”

Is this uninspired and unoriginal “sameness” something anyone in their right mind would have wanted a beautiful blank canvas like Ormond Beach to “look like” if they had a crystal ball? 

Does Mayor Leslie think now is the right time to greenlight another massive “city-within-a-city” regional development of monumental impact on claustrophobic existing residents, especially at a time when our aging infrastructure and “patchwork” repair and replacement strategy falls short of current carrying capacity, let alone the looming impacts of Ormond Crossings, Avalon Park, Plantation Oaks, pressure from Flagler County, Daytona Beach, etc., etc.?

In my view, this isn’t a “turning point” as Mayor Leslie suggests, given the timing, it is stupid, ill-planned, and inappropriate unless and until the underlying infrastructure issues are addressed – and ‘more of the same’ isn’t “visionary” – its conventional, homogenized, and monotonous.

Of course, none of that matters to those compromised shills who invariably fall for the huckster’s ruse of “high paying jobs” – a subjective marketing term so ubiquitous with artless politicians selling massive projects to their anxious constituents that it has become a sick joke. 

Unfortunately, Ormond Beach Mayor Jason Leslie – a chameleon-like politician who can clearly change his stance depending upon the composition of the room – is clearly no exception… 

According to the Observer, “A lot has changed in the past 20 years, the mayor said, but the vision for Ormond Crossings remains the same: to create a place where people can live, work and play in their community.

Leslie highlighted the economic development opportunities that will come with Ormond Crossings to create high-paying jobs for locals. Security First, he said, is an example.”

Perhaps Mayor Leslie should perform a simple cost/benefit analysis – preferably while he’s sitting through four or more signal cycles on Granada Boulevard and (enter any cross street here) – then determine how much more of our dwindling quality of life he and another out-of-state developer are willing to sacrifice on the altar of greed?

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

Note to Readers:

I want to thank multi-media journalist and host Charles I. Guarria for having me as his guest on The Opinion Guy Podcast this week. The eclectic program features a variety of news, arts & culture, sports, food, and local politics.  Please find the episode here: https://tinyurl.com/3m3fhuaz

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:

Local Hero Debbie Darino Forges Another Valuable Tool for Animal Protection

Debbie Darino is my hero. 

She is also a tireless champion for the prevention of animal cruelty – and for enacting laws that hold those subhumans who intentionally hurt or kill a defenseless animal criminally accountable for their despicable actions.

In 2019, thanks to Debbie’s diligent leadership, with the help of members of her animal rights group Justice for Ponce – a nonprofit formed after Ponce, a Labrador Retriever puppy, that was brutally beaten to death by a vile piece of human excrement just after midnight on April 8, 2017 – she successfully spearheaded the effort to pass “Ponce’s Law.” 

God’s work…

This important legislation increased penalties for animal abusers and launched a countywide online registry of people convicted of animal cruelty, ensuring these despicable individuals will never have contact with a defenseless pet again.

Now, Ms. Darino has successfully fought for a statewide database of known animal abusers which went online January 1.  According to reports, she is currently lobbying for a nationwide database of offenders to make certain they never have access to potential victims in the future.

The new registry is part of “Dexter’s Law,” legislation signed into effect in May 2025, memorializing a dog that was adopted from a shelter in Pinellas County, brutally killed, and found dumped in Fort De Soto Park four days later. 

The law also requires a 1.25 multiplier to the punishment of those convicted of aggravated animal cruelty.

In addition to her strong lobbying efforts, Debbie is founder and president of the Ponce Animal Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, that assists with the care of animals in need of medical procedures or emergency treatment. 

To donate to this most worthwhile organization, please go here: https://tinyurl.com/mvu5e4tm

Earlier this year, Governor Ron DeSantis honored Debbie as a “Florida Hero” for her tireless contributions to animal welfare – a most fitting tribute for her unwavering commitment to the protection of animals everywhere.    

Well done, Debbie!   

Florida Legislature Sells Our Future Water Quality to the Highest Bidder

Up yours, Florida residents. 

You will ultimately drink your own recycled sewage – and watch more of our environmentally sensitive waterways fouled and destroyed with runoff and other pollutants to make way for even more sprawl across the width and breadth of our state – and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.

Because bought-and-paid-for Florida legislators said so…    

If Rep. Randy Maggard of Pasco County and Sen. Stan McClain of Ocala (a residential building contractor) have their way (and they will), House Bill 479 and accompanying Senate Bill 718 will prohibit local governments from adopting any ordinances or policies regulating water quality or quantity, pollution control, pollution discharge prevention, or removal, including the delineation of wetlands.   

In my view, the true definition of self-serving was exemplified in a November 2025 report on the proposed bill by Jesse Mendoza writing in Florida Politics:

“Maggard filed a nearly identical bill in 2023 that died in the Water Quality, Supply & Treatment subcommittee. Reporting by Craig Pittman of the Florida Phoenix revealed the bill was filed after Maggard’s nephew removed an eagle nest on his property against regulations, leading to the realization that building plans for the property did not match wetlands mapping.

The 2023 bill also incited outcry among environmental advocacy groups, such as the Friends of the Everglades, that decried a lack of protection for existing local wetlands and water quality protection laws.”

You read that right.

If passed into law, the regulation and management of our drinking water will ultimately be impacted as the source is fouled when all environmental protections for sensitive wetlands, waterways, and estuaries are fully preempted to the state, i.e., a cheap brothel pimped by the development machine that owns the political paper on their elected handmaidens in Tallahassee… 

What?  You don’t want faceless bureaucrats in Tallahassee neutering important regulations that protect our most precious natural resources? 

You prefer that those elected and appointed at the municipal and county level retain home rule authority to preserve the character of our communities, set public policy that protects our homes from flooding, and ensure the quality and quantity of your families drinking water? 

Hard cheese, rube… 

In Florida, you pay to play.  Money talks and bullshit “public input” walks.

Once the law is passed, any local government who dares violate the state’s preemption will be summarily handed over to the Chief Financial Officer of Florida who will withhold any state funds to which the city or county may be entitled. 

Essentially punishing Florida residents by denying an equitable return of our tax dollars – public funds that are repackaged as state “grants” so legislators can come down with one of those giant cardboard checks, stage a silly campaign photo-op, and act like they’re doing us a favor.  

Shameless assholes…   

This should all sound familiar to waterlogged Floridians.

Last year, our craven legislators overwhelmingly passed SB 180 – a law cloaked as an “emergency management” measure to provide probable deniability, then sold as a means of assisting homeowners with expediting rebuilding following a natural disaster.

That was complete bullshit. 

After some twenty Florida cities and counties pushed back with legal action – and citizens besieged their local legislative delegations at town halls – compromised lawmakers finally confessed that the new law went too far in preempting local growth management regulations and have agreed to make a few tweaks to the law in 2026.

Don’t hold your breath… 

So, how do you think our local legislative delegation will couch this new preemptive law gutting water quality regulations to conceal its true purpose?  Legislation clearly designed to pave the way (literally) for more malignant growth by eviscerating local control of water quality and quantity?

For reasons known only to those mysterious puppeteers who keep us squabbling and divided – always expanding the partisan chasm that separates us as a means of controlling our destiny (and the results of elections) – the Florida legislature seems intent on pitting local governments against the state, asserting dominance by eliminating or reducing property taxes that pay for local essential services in favor of (who knows?).

All while abusively preempting local control of environmental protection, growth management, and development regulations to destroy the character of our communities.

In my view, the real reason is clear, and there appears to be no limit to how far these compromised shills in Tallahassee will go to centralize control and ensure the profit motives of those corporations, out-of-state hedge funds, and development interests who manipulate the process with massive campaign contributions and political donations.

If, as James Madison said, “All power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people” still stands as the foundational principle of our American democracy – then it is incumbent upon We, The Little People to reclaim our power – and ensure that our state government is working in the best interests of all of us, not just the mercenary special interests of their political benefactors.

That change comes at the ballot box. 

I say again:  Vote like your lives and livelihoods depend upon it… 

Volusia Residents and Visitors Deserve Answers on Beach Safety

On the day after Christmas, a Canadian visitor tragically drowned in the ocean after becoming caught in a rip current off Ormond Beach.  The sterile facts show that a 44-year-old man from Quebec was found floating face down in the water 150-yards offshore in the 200 block of A-1-A. 

According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Lifeguards immediately began CPR, but extremely soft sand made transport to a waiting ambulance at the nearest beach ramp difficult.”

Despite the heroic efforts of lifeguards and EMS personnel, the victim was pronounced dead at a local emergency room.

In a subsequent social media post by the Volusia Waterman’s Association – the bargaining unit representing employees of Volusia County Beach Safety – gave us the rest of this tragic story:

“It should also be noted that due to minimal staffing and secondary tasks, lifeguard patrol units had to be pulled from neighboring zones to assist with this call. At the time of the incident, the closest open lifeguard tower was more than 1.5 miles away. Swim near a lifeguard.”

In May 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law requiring that county sheriff’s assume responsibility for law enforcement in all unincorporated areas of the state, including beaches.  The law also prohibited county governments from maintaining any law enforcement agency not supervised by the county’s elected sheriff.

The law essentially eliminated the Volusia County Beach Patrol, long comprised of triple-certified law enforcement, lifeguards, and emergency medical personnel who patrolled area beaches.  As I recall, reports at the time indicated that not all of the former Beach Patrol members transferred to the Sheriff’s Office. 

In 2023, during a trial run of the county’s new split responsibilities for beach safety, WESH -2 quoted Sheriff Mike Chitwood, “There were a lot of rescues out there, a lot of EMTs out there. That’s what they’re supposed to do, and we’re out there doing the law enforcement. We’re doing what we do best. They’re doing what they do best. It’s a win, win,” Chitwood said.”

By July 2023, there appeared to be cracks developing in one side of the new beach safety equation…

At that time, in a disturbing exposé in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, reporter Sheldon Gardner explained that Volusia County Beach Safety and Ocean Rescue was experiencing a chronic shortage of qualified lifeguards.

By any metric, protecting 47-miles of everchanging coastline is a challenging task. 

That’s why (we’re constantly told) department directors responsible for these things are paid astronomical six-figure salaries to oversee – tactically, logistically, and administratively – the protection of Volusia County residents and visitors.   

During the summer of 2023, reports indicate protection was provided by what Volusia County Beach Safety estimated at 44 full-time lifeguards/EMTs and “about” 190 part-time lifeguards, many of whom operated on a weird “come as you want” work schedule.

Not so prophetically, nearly three-years ago, I ended a rant in this space on the frightening issue of beach safety with the warning:

“I fear if the Volusia County Council continues to do nothing, all beachgoing residents and visitors can do is wait helplessly – hoping their name doesn’t follow the next grim headline, “Another victim dies on Volusia County beaches…”

So, what has been done by Volusia County leaders to ensure adequate beach safety staffing in the nearly three-years since the state mandated split in responsibilities?

I’m asking.

It appears Sheriff Chitwood has lived up to his end of the bargain, providing effective law enforcement services on Volusia County beaches.  However, in the aftermath of the Christmas tragedy in Ormond Beach, and the disturbing remarks of the Volusia Waterman’s Association, many want to know what changes are planned to ensure that the “minimal staffing and secondary tasks” lifeguards face are not a contributing factor in the outcome of beach emergencies going forward.

In the meantime, my advice is to swim near a lifeguard (if they are not otherwise indisposed), and prepare to self-rescue… 

Quote of the Week

“Nicole Crosby, a St. Johns County environmental activist and political marketing consultant, called the “Blue Ribbon Projects” bill the Legislature’s “latest nightmare,” as it will make it easier for developers of large tracts to circumvent city and county growth-management regulations.

“We’ve had an increasing number of laws that are taking away home rule,” Crosby said. “I think that’s derivative of what’s happening locally, where the slow-the-growth movements are gaining control in their county commissions and their city councils. And so the outgrowth of that is these developers going to the state, and trying to grab control that way.”

–Nicole Crosby, St. Johns County, as quoted by Mark Harper writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Fears about overdevelopment likely to drive Florida politics in 2026,” Wednesday, January 7, 2026

In a sign of what’s to come, Sen. Stan McClain of Ocala (the same Stan McClain who wants to usurp our water protections…) and Rep. Lauren Melo (a real estate broker from Naples) have each filed bills establishing “Blue Ribbon” projects, essentially incentivizing largescale developments for landowners who control at least 10,000 or more contiguous acres.

Not many of those “land barons” around, beyond out-of-state development consortiums and hedge funds… 

Ostensibly, the measures would require participating landowners to conserve at least 60% of the property.

Don’t believe a word of it…

In an excellent December 2025 piece in The Florida Phoenix entitled “Florida lawmakers promote ‘Blue Ribbon’ developers at public’s expense,” veteran environmental reporter Craig Pittman summed up the proposed law perfectly:

“No more fighting a wealthy landowner in a packed public hearing, hoping to persuade your elected representatives to vote no. These bills would give an automatic green light to some big, bad projects, as long as they check a few boxes on a form.

“This is a real estate development bill unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” investigative reporter Jason Garcia said on his “Seeking Rents” podcast.

The bills call these big developments “Blue Ribbon” projects. The term implies they would win an award for excellence, like a prize pig at the county fair.

Instead, I think these two bills should win the award for the boldest, most brazen ripoff of the public in the 2026 session. The big landowners would be the ones resembling Porky and Babe, stuffing their snouts in the trough with no one to rein them in.”

(Find Mr. Pittman’s article here: https://tinyurl.com/ywydpkv8 )

As a longtime political voyeur, one thing I’ve learned is when politicians employ the persuasive technique of repeating your own words back to you (the term is called “gaslighting”) the hairs on the back of your neck should start to rise…  

Once approved, the “Blue Ribbon” legislation would require administrative approval by cities and counties if the development meets the hazy requirements of the legislation within just 60-days, essentially removing public participation from the equation.  As I understand it, after the approval period expires, if a development fits the loose confines of the law, the project would be automatically approved for the next 50-years.  

In keeping with the current push at all levels of government to eliminate our ability to voice our concerns and participate in the planning process, the legislation would permit “Blue Ribbon” projects to be rubber stamped by government administrators – not those we elect to represent our interests.

In his incredibly cogent article, Mr. Pittman explained the fallacy of the “conservation” aspect of the bill:

“Florida has been described as a sunny place for shady people. Why that’s not our official state slogan, I don’t know.

But bear that in mind when I tell you that the one part of these two pro-developer bills that sounds attractive is as full of holes as a block of Swiss cheese.

The bills say any landowner who wants to get these development favors must set aside 60% of their property as a “reserve area.” The sponsors have been promoting this as if we’re going to get a lot of free parkland. In fact, I’ve seen it referred to in some publications as a “land conservation bill.”

But it’s not.

The language in the “reserve area” part of the bill is as loose as the wobbly wheels on an old shopping cart. It doesn’t require the landowner to keep that 60% in one contiguous area. It could be scattered here and there across the whole expanse.

Even worse, it doesn’t require keeping the land in its natural state. You could build a power station, a pickleball court, or a retention pond and call it “a reserve area” and you’d be in compliance.

Heck, put in an 18-hole golf course for your big development and call it a “reserve area.” You’ve got to reserve a tee time, right?”

This one bears watching… 

And Another Thing!

It appears another John Grisham novel is taking shape after a suspicious mass exodus of employees over at Brown & Brown…

“(David) Howden and the individual defendants filed a blistering response to the lawsuit on Dec. 26, which said neither the company nor the employees did anything wrong and that Brown & Brown workers were leaving because of a “toxic” corporate climate and pay that was below industry standards.

The 72-page response said the employee exodus happened because employees “were so unhappy with Brown’s terrible management and poor, under-market compensation” that they were prepared to leave without having another job lined up.

“The context of the departures from Brown on December 18 is very different from Brown’s narrative of a pirate raid,” Howden said in the response. “Rather, it was a prison break.”

–Executive Editor John Dunbar, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Court grants temporary relief to Brown & Brown as ex-workers sound off,” Sunday, January 4, 2026

Please find the rest of the piece here: https://tinyurl.com/5n95tw3z  

Just three years after the Daytona Beach-based insurance intermediary Brown & Brown settled a four-and-a-half-year legal Battle Royale with top talent, some of whom went on to form the phenomenally successful Foundation Risk Partners in Ormond Beach, more drama and intrigue has befallen J. Hyatt Brown in his glass-and-steel monolith that overshadows his realm on Beach Street.

I found the accusations eerily familiar… 

According to a December 2025 News-Journal report, “Brown & Brown Inc. is alleging in a Dec. 22 lawsuit that 29 top former employees hatched a plot with a competitor to execute a “mass employee raid” targeting 200 of the insurance company’s workers from Massachusetts and offices across the country.”

The locally based insurance giant is also suing British-based Howden U.S. Services LLC, which has been accused by at least three other insurers of poaching workers in the past. The suit, filed in Massachusetts Superior Court for Suffolk County, does not say whether any local employees were affected.

The mass resignations took place on Dec. 18. In addition to Massachusetts, the suit says Brown & Brown staff in Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin resigned.”

According to the report, the lawsuit claims many of the alleged “coordinators” of the employee “raid” have “longstanding business and personal relationships” with Jim Hays, who owned Hays Cos., Inc. – a company purchased by Brown & Brown in 2018 for $750 million.

Additionally, the News-Journal reports “In August 2025, Howden announced that Hays would serve as vice chairman.”

Now, Brown & Brown alleges that after profiting from the sale of Hayes Companies to Brown & Brown, Mr. Hayes “…is now assisting Howden to illegally try to steal the business back.”

Look, I don’t presume to understand the nuances of the piratical, cutthroat, and incredibly lucrative nature of the international insurance labyrinth; however, (last I checked) we don’t have indentured servitude in this country. 

In my view, people should be free to pursue their trade – and be compensated for their skill and effort – when and where they want, within the confines of professional ethics and fairly entered contractual obligations.

According to Mr. Dunbar’s report, one of the alleged “masterminds” of the “plot” to lure Brown & Brown employees voiced his displeasure with Brown in Howden’s legal response:

“Donald McGowan, former regional president of Brown & Brown in New England, now with Howden, was dubbed a ringleader of the employee “raid.” He denies it in the Howden response.

“I had been unhappy with Brown, its management, its corporate governance, its stock price, its unwillingness to fairly compensate its employees, all while overcompensating the Brown family, for some time,” he states.”

I guess when your names on the door you can do whatever you want, but this isn’t the first time we’ve heard similar claims oozing out of Brown & Brown HQ…

During the four-years of legal wrangling that finally freed those former Brown executives who went on to form Financial Risk Partners, we heard similar tales of “betrayal” when, in 2009, J. Hyatt appointed his son, Powell Brown, to succeed him as CEO – an apparent reversal on a previous promise to Brown & Brown’s then-vice chairman to elevate him to the position.

In a revealing peak inside, made possible by legal filings and the excellent reportage of the News-Journal’s business editor Clayton Park, we also learned that some executives came to believe J. Hyatt’s kingdom wasn’t the “meritocracy” the organization had long claimed to be. 

According to a November 2018 story by Park writing in the News-Journal:

“Brown & Brown for many years under J. Hyatt Brown’s leadership had hailed itself as a “meritocracy” where employees earned promotions based solely on merit and ability.

“The sudden elevation of the younger Brown to chief executive “created a crisis of confidence in the current and future leadership of (Brown & Brown) that, in one fell swoop, shattered the trust of a workforce who was led to believe in the meritocracy Hyatt had preached,” according to the legal response.

“Right there, for the (Brown & Brown) world to see, merit and loyalty were discarded for nepotism,” the legal response states.

“The executive ranks of the company soon became the Brown family employment center, with Brown family children and relations being elevated to the highest positions in the company regardless of the merit,” the legal response adds.”

Eerily similar, indeed… 

According to the News-Journal, Brown & Brown recently won an initial victory in what will undoubtedly be a long and costly war when, in late December 2025, a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge issued a temporary restraining order against the 28 individual defendants and Howden U.S. Services LLC, prohibiting them from “…recruiting current Brown & Brown employees or soliciting Brown & Brown insurance customers.”

Like me, if you love a good legal thriller – an intricate plot interweaving boardroom intrigue and courtroom maneuvering – laced with some behind-the-scenes drama as billionaires bicker with billionaires, you’ll want to get the popcorn ready for this edge-of-your-seat clash of the titans…

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