Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way:

Volusia County District Schools: Here We Go Again?

Buckle up, y’all…

My literary hero Dr. Hunter S. Thompson had an interesting theory on the education of children.

“Children are like TV sets. When they start acting weird, whack them across the head with a big rubber basketball shoe…”

The reality is far more complex and expensive – both financially and societally. That’s why communities take such a profound interest in the administration of their schools and the educational system that shapes our children – and our future.

Residents and city officials in Ormond Beach are still reeling from the lack of transparency, baldfaced lies, and bait-and-switch tactics they experienced from Volusia County Schools Superintendent Carmen Balgobin and her administration during the blundering merger of the city’s only beachside school, Osceola Elementary, with Ortona Elementary in Daytona Beach.

When the district’s three-card monte flim-flam was over, Riverview Learning Center – an alternative school for students of all grades with intense emotional, conduct, and behavioral needs – was moved from Daytona Beach to the former Osceola campus…

The swap came on the recommendation of Superintendent Balgobin, who is married to Riverview’s principal Thomas Soli.

The decree left area residents fuming that they weren’t given sufficient notice – or even the courtesy of an explanation – by district officials.  The arrogant lack of community input left many feeling blindsided by the idea of placing the “alternative” facility in the long-established Seminole neighborhood that surrounds Osceola’s campus.

It was perceived as a monarchical edict, a “done deal” that was forced on the community by a faceless bureaucracy in DeLand.  In my view, that overwhelming sense of betrayal was a significant factor in the defeat of former District 4 School Board member Carl Persis, who spent much of his last year in office sheepishly apologizing for the district’s frequent “communication mistakes” on every media outlet in the region.     

Here we go again… 

Earlier this week, I learned that plans are afoot in Balgobin’s Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand to uproot the Riverview Learning Center and move the facility from the Osceola campus to a wholly inappropriate location at Holly Hill School, a traditional neighborhood school serving students from Kindergarten to Fifth grade.   

You read that right.

Preliminary information suggests the Osceola campus will be abandoned, razed, and sold – no doubt to a real estate developer who will shoehorn “residential units” on the property and forever change the character of one of Ormond’s most established beachside neighborhoods.

As I understand it, (and I’m not sure I do?) the “plan” calls for a building on the Holly Hill campus to be wrapped in barrier fencing, a very visible means of physically separating students placed at Riverview from the small children attending the K-5 school. 

In keeping with the “Alligator Alcatraz” feel of the barricaded new facility, none of Holly Hill School’s communal areas, cafeteria, or clinic will be shared with Riverview. 

I’m certainly not a child psychologist, but it seems interning students accused of conduct violations and quasi-criminal behavior behind a perimeter fence on an active elementary school campus will leave students on both sides of the secure compound naturally suspicious of the other.

In my experience, suspicion leads to fear and alienation…

The venerated Holly Hill School was initially established in 1885 – before the city’s incorporation in 1901 – and has served generations in that tightknit community in various iterations ever sense. 

Throughout its history, the city of Holly Hill has stood behind its school, actively participating in its programs, raising funds, and supporting its students in a variety of ways.  As evidence of the community’s enduring pride in its namesake, it was recently announced that – thanks to a generous $50,000 donation from Chuck Heinmiller, a retired city employee – the original Holly Hill School building (once known as “Volusia County School #32”) is being renovated and moved to a place of honor outside the Holly Hill History Museum.   

In my view, the secrecy surrounding this ill thought move is a mirror image of the spiteful tactics used on neighbors, parents, and staff two-years ago.  As this cockamamie “plan” progresses behind closed doors, key stakeholders in Holly Hill have not been told about the Riverview move, and I suspect they won’t be until it is too late. 

Sound familiar Ormond Beach?

If history repeats (and it always does in Volusia County), residents and city officials in Holly Hill will have the decision foist upon them in a midnight social media post…

In my view, Superintendent Balgobin continues to suffer from a raging superiority complex – bolstered by self-nominated awards and dubious accolades – a façade that drives her grandiose illusions of infallibility that allows the same mistakes to happen over-and-over again.

Is there another explanation? 

Unfortunately, the majority of our elected representatives on the Volusia County School Board have fallen victim to a weird authority bias.  Despite all evidence to the contrary, they believe Balgobin knows best, refusing to set reasonable public policies to stop the internal and external dysfunction, as the long series of blunders, gaffs, and “communication mistakes” that erode public confidence continue unabated.

Fortunately, District 4 School Board member Donna Brosemer now represents the residents of Ormond Beach and Holly Hill – an independent servant/leader who is about as far from the namby-pamby acquiescence of Carl Persis as one could hope – a true conservative voice who works hard for her constituents, not the administration…   

Trust me, she’s no pushover.

I suspect Ms. Brosemer will ask the tough questions and serve the best interests of Holly Hill residents – and the students, teachers, and staff of Holly Hill School – and help meet the needs of those who would be incarcerated behind physical and psychological concertina wire at the next iteration of Riverview.

In my view, perhaps the Volusia County School Board should be taking a hard look at Superintendent Balgobin’s top-heavy coterie and start paring the thick rind of fat off that bloated bureaucracy in DeLand, then reinvest those funds in an appropriate (and permanent) facility to serve the needs of Riverview students and staff and stop playing this asinine game of “musical campuses” once and for all.

Daytona Beach: “Without Accountability, There is No Trust…”

“Without accountability, there is no trust, and without trust, there is no leadership.”

–Dave Ramsey

The mounting questions regarding the financial oversight and purchasing policies of the City of Daytona Beach deepened last week as taxpayers were galvanized by a scathing report from the city’s internal auditor.  Add to that the abrupt departure of Chief Building Official Glen Urquhart, who submitted his resignation last week amid a wider state audit of city finances, and it is apparent all is not well within the cloistered confines of City Hall…   

After months of conjecture regarding the use of city purchasing cards, the troubling findings of Internal Auditor Abinet Belachew were the last straw for two Daytona Beach City Commissioners.   

During last week’s City Commission meeting, Mr. Belachew – the city’s no-nonsense bean counter with a passion for protecting public funds from waste, fraud, and abuse – reported on his review of the city’s take-home vehicle program (which costs taxpayers some $315,000 annually), along with an examination of the spending habits of the Daytona Beach Fire Department over the last five-years.

The audits were the latest in a series of reviews that have exposed purchasing anomalies, travel irregularities, a lack of proper documentation, inadequate oversight, and outdated/ignored policies that, in some cases, made it nearly impossible for Mr. Belachew to differentiate legitimate expenses from possible theft.

According to reports, Mr. Belachew determined that the Fire Department used public funds to purchase more than $50,000 worth of food and beverages – some from fast food locations – along with $500,000 for what was described as out of policy “vehicle maintenance expenditures” between 2021 and 2025.

In keeping with a process previously approved by the City Commission, Mr. Belachew submitted his draft report to City Manager Derek Feacher and Fire Chief/Deputy City Manager Dru Driscoll on February 20 – well in advance of its public release – which allowed time for the administration to submit challenges, provide evidence, and formulate corrective action plans, if necessary.

According to a report by investigative journalist Eileen Zaffiro-Kean writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, in his formal response, Mr. Feacher reiterated his commitment to ensuring fiscal responsibility citywide:

“I reaffirm my unwavering commitment to accountability, transparency, and responsible stewardship of public resources,” Feacher wrote. “The audit’s conclusion that no fraudulent activity was identified demonstrates both the integrity of the city operations and our dedication to safeguarding taxpayer funds.”

Feacher went on to write that he won’t tolerate any misuse of public resources.

“We recognize the importance of addressing identified internal control gaps,” he said. “These findings are taken seriously, and corrective actions are being pursued promptly and diligently wherever warranted and if it is a cost benefit to the city.”

Feacher said he directed staff to take immediate action to ensure timely and accountable implementation of necessary corrective measures.”

Unfortunately, it appears Chief Driscoll took a more defensive tone after Mr. Belachew reported that during his review, he received unspecified internal and external “allegations” regarding the department’s leadership, along with concerns about retaliation for bringing issues to light… 

According to the News-Journal’s report, when Commissioner Quanita May asked about Driscoll’s accountability in the matter, the Fire Chief resorted to counteraccusations.

“I find it disturbing we have someone in charge of this department who’s not aware of this spending,” May charged.

Copies of about 30 receipts Belachew provided to a few reporters on April 2 are initialed “DD,” suggesting they were fire department purchases made or approved by Driscoll. The receipts are mainly for large food and beverage purchases in 2024 and 2025, everything from pizza to donuts to sandwiches to $114 worth of food from an Olive Garden restaurant.

Driscoll said Belachew’s report disparages firefighters who have nothing to do with purchases that are made by the administration.

Driscoll also said Belachew’s $50,000 tally for fire department food and beverage expenditures over a five-year period is about twice as large as it should be. Driscoll said he’s determined the total for his department is around $26,000.”

In turn, Belachew reminded everyone that he provided Chief Driscoll with a draft of his report well in advance of its release and any discrepancies could have been addressed and corrected based on sound evidence. 

“I clearly indicated my willingness to revise the report if supported by evidence,” Mr. Belachew said.

I found it odd that rather than defend his department using verifiable justifications, receipts, evidence of internal controls, and articulable needs, “Driscoll said he would welcome a third party, such as a state auditor, checking behind Belachew’s audit of the Daytona Beach Fire Department.”

It appears Chief Driscoll is about to get his wish…

According to reports, a “team of state auditors” arrived at City Hall last month and began a proctological examination of city finances and internal controls.  The “probe” comes after a tetchy exchange between city administrators and the Florida Joint Legislative Auditing Committee last December over the city’s inability to spend down excess licensing and permitting fees.

That ongoing review apparently led to Chief Building Official Glen Urquhart submitting his resignation last Friday. 

In a letter announcing his departure, Urquhart both defended his management of the department and cited “…ongoing concerns regarding workplace conditions, including unnecessary pressure, unreasonable requests, extreme micromanaging and personal attacks affecting both my professional integrity and my family, I have determined I can no longer continue in this role.”

State officials, citizens, and some commission members have been openly critical of purchases and oversight in Urquhart’s department.  According to reports, excess permitting fees were used to obtain a fleet of unmarked Ford F250 trucks and a boat, along with a previous request for a $1 million “mobile command post,” and a disastrous attempt to buy an asbestos-laden four-story building on Beach Street ostensibly to house the permitting and licensing division…

For the past two-years, Commissioner Stacy Cantu has openly questioned city spending and it appears she has finally seen enough. 

According to the News-Journal, “I don’t understand why no one is being held accountable,” Cantu said. “This is the taxpayers’ money, and we’re not holding anyone accountable.”

Shortly after saying that, Cantu called for Feacher’s ouster. She said she could give a list of reasons “a mile long” why Feacher’s contract shouldn’t be renewed next month.

“I’m done with this,” she said. “It keeps going on and on.”

Commissioner Cantu motioned to fire City Manager Deric Feacher with cause.  The vote failed 5-2, with Ms. Cantu and Commissioner May on the losing end…

Given Mr. Urquhart’s brusque departure during an active audit, perhaps someone who accepts public funds to serve in the public trust will do just that and determine what the city’s former chief building official meant by “unnecessary pressure, unreasonable requests” during this period of explosive growth…  

Per usual, as internal and external pressure mounts, the wagons are being circled at City Hall.  Some commissioners are now scolding the watchdog for barking, questioning the accuracy of Mr. Belachew’s findings.  An age-old bureaucratic defensive maneuver that entrenched insiders believe will prevent the inevitable.  

It won’t…

Meanwhile, Mayor Derrick Henry is doing what he does best – spewing empty platitudes – attempting to placate his angry constituents with a liberal application of more hot air, “Moving forward from this night we have to find a way as a city and a commission to move forward that’s more professional and proficient.”

“I do believe that the citizens of Daytona Beach deserve some things that are better than they are now.  We have some oversight issues that are problematic. But I’m not going to let anyone sell me on the idea that our city is in great decay when the reality is we have made a rapid and tremendous ascension. In a lot of ways, that need to be celebrated. So, those things that we don’t have right, let’s just get them right and continue to push forward, into our destiny.””

Whatever you say, Mayor… 

If you live, do business, or pay taxes in the Halifax area, you’ll want to stay tuned to WFTV-9’s impressive investigative journalist Demie Johnson who broke the story of Daytona Beach’s purchasing and oversight issues last year. 

This one bears watching.

Quote of the Week

“Last week Blaise Ingoglia, Florida’s chief financial officer, invited Flagler County’s top elected officials to their own public flogging. They had all submissively trooped into a room at the Hammock Beach Club for Ingoglia’s latest campaign stop disguised as a press conference–county commissioners, Palm Coast City Council members, constitutional officers, all of them wondering who Ingoglia was about to destroy next for what he calls “overspending.”

Gov. DeSantis appointed Ingoglia CFO on July 21. Since September, he’s been holding pseudo press conferences around the state to flog local governments over their excesses. He holds up rectangular flash cards to the camera to show by how much. Jacksonville: $200 million. Hillsborough, $279 million. Alachua, $85 million. Seminole, $48 million. Manatee, $112 million. Miami, $94 million. Miami-Dade, $303 million. He’s done at least 14 of these.

Last week it was Flagler County’s turn: $59 million.

The figures are supposedly the result of what he calls “high-level spending comparisons and audits.” Audits take weeks and months. These aren’t audits. They’re back-of-the-envelope tabulations a high school intern can do in five minutes based on Ingoglia’s crackpot formula: calculate population growth and inflation, add a 10 to 15 percent inefficiency factor, and compare that to actual general fund budget figures between 2019 and 2025. If the difference exceeds Ingoglia’s arbitrary benchmarks, it’s overspending. It’s robbing taxpayers. It’s fraud.

It’s a brilliant rhetorical appeal to taxpayers’ outrage. It’s also bullshit.”

–Editor Pierre Tristam writing in FlaglerLive, as excerpted from his op/ed “CFO Blaise Ingoglia’s Disinformation Campaign at Local Governments’ Expense,” April 4, 2026

Please find Mr. Tristam’s editorial here: https://tinyurl.com/2k6b92bu

If it isn’t painfully obvious, I’m not a journalist.  At best a dilettante editorialist, at worst a blowhard with internet access. 

I simply assume no one in their right mind would ever mistake these rambling screeds for fact-based reporting as my jumbled thoughts bounce around the page like a tilted pinball machine with a lot of flash, bells, and whistles.

The fact is, these loquacious diatribes are just one man’s thoughts on the news and newsmakers of the day – neither always right, nor always wrong – musings that I hope will foster a greater discussion of the issues we collectively face.  

It’s important that I (and you) recognize my limitations because the alternative is grim: Self-deception – lying to yourself – distorts reality and allows us to create false narratives that justify our thoughts and actions, even when the evidence contradicts them.

Last week in this space, I commented on a recent dog-and-pony-show starring Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia that rivaled anything P.T. Barnum could have produced.  A staged magic act during which he eviscerated Flagler County elected officials while claiming an “analysis” (that he conjured out of whole cloth) had determined the budget set by the Flagler Board of County Commissioner’s was “excessive” and “wasteful.”

Per the current political climate where the state rules local government by abject thuggery, Flagler County elected and appointed officials sat like stone-faced gargoyles and dutifully took their beating – with the feckless Flagler County Chair Leann Pennington using the confusing presentation for political capital by sycophantically praising Ingoglia’s message – without seeing a shred of evidence in support of his position…

According to an article in The Daytona Beach News-Journal last week, Pennington “…reiterated her long-held concerns regarding “rising project costs, increased staffing, and the overall growth of government.”

The problem is/was – CFO Ingoglia has failed to produce a legitimate budget analysis to confirm his claims of widespread waste and abuse in Flagler County…   

According to the News-Journal, “Ingoglia said at the time that he reached that number from a basic calculation: He compared how much the county spent in 2019 compared to what it spent in 2025-26, factoring in population growth and inflation. He didn’t mention the inflation rate.

In his March 26 press release, Ingoglia said Flagler County added “80 full-time administrative employees to accommodate a 32,564 increase in population growth” in the last six years. The CFO did not specify which county government positions were filled, whether they were high-level positions, nor what the employees’ salaries were.”

Unfortunately, no one from the CFO’s office is returning phone calls from legitimate journalists seeking specific answers regarding the multiple municipal and county “audits” that prompted Mr. Ingoglia’s statewide “FAFO” tour of shame…

What gives? 

It is increasingly apparent that Mr. Ingoglia’s Flagler County appearance was part of his publicly funded campaign tour – little more than political legerdemain embroidered with well-orchestrated smoke-and-mirrors – where he uses the same script and large billboards (with even larger numbers) around the state to stir what he calls a “property tax revolt.”  

Now, Florida’s CFO is fanning the flames by calling out local government spending while ignoring the state’s own pernicious pay-to-play scheme, one that routinely sells our quality of life to the highest bidder.

Unfortunately, the obsequious acquiescence of local elected officials who took their beatdown with “Thank you, sir.  May I have another?” obedience was extremely telling.  On Monday, Flagler County officials finally found their backbones and came to the stark realization that Ingoglia’s claims were fabricated horseshit.

According to a follow up report in the News-Journal, Commissioner Greg Hanson summed it up, “There is nothing (in Ingoglia’s report) that we can look at and say, ‘well, we can fix this or we can fix that,’” Hansen said. “There is nothing there. It’s a fluff report.”

“He went to call Ingoglia’s visit a “complete campaign trick.”

For his part, Commissioner Andy Dance explained that a one-size-fits-all formulation doesn’t work for all counties in the state, claiming all Ingoglia did “was come in and just blow apart our trust from the community.”

He’s right.

In my view, the initial silence (and subservience) of local elected representatives was a gross disservice to their constituents – who are being manipulated by Ingoglia and his political theater ahead of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ politically motivated swansong: A cockamamie plan to destroy local growth management regulations and force large, unresponsive bureaucracies on Florida residents by exsanguinating their local governments through the elimination of property taxes.

I don’t always agree with Pierre Tristam’s thoughts in FlaglerLive, but his thorough examination of CFO Ingoglia’s true motivations is spot on:

“That’s Ingoglia’s end game: to trample local governments in a mush of malicious disinformation and reckless anti-government rhetoric on his way to his own electoral glory. Don’t fall for it. Our local governments aren’t the fraud. Blaise Ingoglia is.”

And Another Thing!

There is a theory being debated in legitimate scientific circles that our universe is in actuality an algorithmic simulation.  A computer-generated virtual world where our sense of “reality” is no more than a digital imitation, controlled by an unseen mind, or perhaps directed by some elaborate code running on futuristic hardware. 

Scoff all you want, but do you have a better explanation?

Each morning when I open the newspaper – or sit through one of those interminable freakshows that pass for public meetings around these parts – the invariable assault on my senses tells me there’s more to that weird “simulation hypothesis” than we might imagine… 

For instance, last week the insufferable Dan Bilzerian, a self-described social-media influencer, professional poker player, and “one of the most powerful forces in the entertainment business” (or, as I refer to him, “An antisemitic douchebag who represents all that’s wrong with the 21^st Century”) has – for reasons known only to him – announced he is running for Florida’s 6th Congressional District.

You read that right…

If you live anywhere on Florida’s “Fun Coast,” that should sound familiar.  The 6^th District covers an area roughly from South Daytona to just south of St. Augustine, along with a large swath of Central Florida to the west, or as we call it, “home.”  

According to an article by Mark Harper in The Daytona Beach News-Journal last week, “Bilzerian, 45, of Las Vegas, Nevada, is a Tampa-born trust-fund celebrity, “the King of Instagram,” professional poker player, and entrepreneur with a messy business background whose criticism of Jews and Israel has brought allegations of antisemitism.”

“Yes, I’m running,” Bilzerian told The News-Journal in an April 1 text message. “Getting everything in order now.” 

He said he would be “happy” to talk about the race “as soon as I’m officially registered which should be within a week at the latest.”

As it turns out, Bilzerian’s threat wasn’t some sick April Fool’s joke…

The seat is currently held by the always controversial (and ridiculously bombastic) Randy Fine who is being challenged by a mediocre field that includes Republicans Aaron Baker and Charles Gambaro, and Democrats Jennifer Jenkins, Ronnie Murchinson-Rivera, Eric Yonce and Robert Cooper, II.

When he’s not playing his obnoxious role as a “hedonistic playboy,” bragging about the number of women he beds each night (an impressive nine one evening…by Dan’s count), Bilzerian finds time to offer his goofy opinions on world events and U.S. foreign policy, to include his opposition to Israel’s self-defense following Hamas’ murderous reign of terror on Oct. 7, 2023, claims that President John F. Kennedy was murdered by Israel’s Mossad, denying the Holocaust, railing against Operation Epic Fury in Iran, and inciting hatred by referring to Congressman Fine as a “fat jew.”

For his own contributions to the betterment of society in these United States, in 2017, Bilzerian founded Ignite International Brands Ltd., described as “a vape, cannabis and alcohol company.”

The News-Journal reports, “Federal prosecutors have alleged his father, Paul Bilzerian, actually ran the company behind the scenes. Paul Bilzerian, a corporate takeover specialist who had been convicted of securities fraud in 1989 and has been living abroad since his release from prison, was again indicted by the Department of Justice in 2024 on charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States stemming from his original conviction.

The Securities and Exchange Commission obtained civil judgments totaling $62 million against the elder Bilzerian, who has “evaded enforcement of the judgments,” a justice department news release states. The judgement now exceeds $180 million.”

Now, Mr. Bilzerian wants to get his snout firmly wedged in the public trough as the most unlikely of candidates for Florida’s 6^th District…

How does this happen? 

Are we living in some strange video game? 

An artificially created animation generated and controlled by an unseen (and obscene) intelligence with the ability to engineer the most bizarre computational scenarios imaginable, then inject them into our physical experience?

Your guess is as good as mine.

I couldn’t make this shit up if I tried…  

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