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:

The Debacle at Daytona: Crossing the Rubicon

Primum non nocere

–The Golden Axiom of Chomal

One of the first lessons new medical professionals are taught is the honored concept of First, do no harm.  A precept often expressed as “given an existing problem, it may be better not to do something, or even to do nothing, than to risk causing more harm than good.”

In my view, that maxim should hold true for anyone in a profession that requires strict adherence to a strong moral code, and I cannot think of any pursuit worth doing that doesn’t incorporate guiding principles and values that shape ethical behavior in its practitioners.  

That is especially true for those who accept public funds and serve in the public interest.

My heart sank last week when the latest chapter in the Debacle at Daytona unfolded – first reported by the intrepid WFTV-9 investigative reporter Demie Johnson – regarding what many see as the retaliatory termination of Battalion Chief Andre Chaney, a 26-year veteran of the Daytona Beach Fire Department who was recently identified as a confidential whistleblower who has been assisting Internal Auditor Abinet Belachew in his inquiry into questionable spending practices in the fire department.   

Shockingly, Chaney was summarily terminated when he missed a “mandatory meeting” last month…  

  

As I understand it, Chaney believed he had received prior approval to skip the meeting in order to take his son to a doctor’s appointment. 

When the situation changed and he no longer had a family obligation, rather than attend the meeting, Cheney chose to teach at his part time job at Daytona State College’s fire training academy instead.

That apparently prompted a no-stone-unturned internal investigation that rivaled the Lindbergh case…  

According to reports, Deputy City Manager/Fire Chief Dru Driscoll believed the investigation proved Cheney lied about missing the meeting and he fired him for it. 

For his part, Chaney said he received a text message from a deputy chief before the meeting answering “Okay” to his request to be excused.  In my view, the deputy chief’s affirmative response could clearly be mistaken as approval – although the sender said he was merely acknowledging Chaney’s text.     

According to a report by Eileen Zaffiro-Kean writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week, “On April 17, the same day Driscoll and Matthews received their subpoenas from the state attorney general’s office, Chaney was given a written notice of intent to terminate his employment with the fire department.”

I find that troubling.

In my experience, absent serious progressive discipline, what may well have been a miscommunication between Chaney and a superior is hardly a terminable offense for a highly trained and experienced 26-year veteran. Especially one who has been providing substantial assistance to the city’s auditor as a documented confidential whistleblower…   

In my view, given the questionable circumstances – and the potential legal ramifications/financial exposure under state and federal whistleblower and witness protections – Chaney’s abrupt termination unavoidably smacks of the vengeful and self-protective elimination of a whistleblower.  

According to Demie Johnson’s report:

“City Auditor Abinet Belachew confirmed that Chaney is a whistleblower who supplied him documents for his investigation. In a lengthy public records request, Fire Chief Dru Driscoll asks Belachew for all documents, call logs, voicemails, texts, and online submission forms for his audit.

Driscoll also asks for:

“A list of all employees of the city of Daytona beach who have reported claims or allegations to the city auditor and a list of all employees who have been granted whistleblower status.”

Belachew reminds the city clerk that “there are ongoing criminal investigations.”

Belachew then gets an email from city attorney Ben Gross citing public records laws. Gross said

“Should you continue to maintain your position that all audit workpapers and notes remain confidential… I will be obliged to present this issue to the city commission.”

Belachew eventually turns over his material, and Chaney is sent a notice of termination the next week.”

Increasingly concerned residents recently learned that a statewide prosecutor issued subpoenas to Deputy City Manager/Fire Chief Dru Driscoll and Deputy Fire Chief Jessica Matthews related to the findings of a recent “P-card” audit in the department.  The subpoenas were signed by Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Richard Mantei, who earlier this year was appointed to lead Florida’s Public Corruption Unit by Attorney General James Uthmeier. 

Although it is no indication of their involvement in unlawful activity, the subpoenas compelled Driscoll and Matthews to appear earlier this week before an assistant statewide prosecutor and provide a sworn statement and other materials related to a “lawful investigation.”

To his credit, Mr. Belachew cited active criminal investigations for his reluctance to reveal the names of confidential whistleblowers to the fire department’s command staff and city administrators.  Rightfully, Belachew cited the logical, necessary, and statutory exception to Florida’s public records law which protects the integrity of criminal investigations – and the names of confidential sources – from public disclosure. 

According to a follow-up report by WFTV, “In one email, Gross warned Belachew that refusing to release investigative work could lead to criminal consequences.”

Something tells me city attorney Gross either knew, or should have known, about the statutory exception before he threatened “criminal consequences.”

The law works both ways…

In my view, Mr. Gross made a terrible error in judgement by forcing the identification of confidential sources assisting the city auditor in ferreting out possible waste, fraud, and abuse in the fire department and elsewhere.

Given the extraordinary scrutiny and resultant speculation, exposing whistleblowers to adverse employment action or worse represents the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.  A vivid demarcation from honest mistakes, oversights, and policy failures to credible questions of something more sinister…     

In most council/manager forms of government, the latter has sole responsibility for hiring and firing decisions.  While department heads can recommend employees for termination, the separation comes under the signature and authority of the manager, and never without permitting the employee adequate due process under the law. 

In fact, the road to hell is paved with the smoldering careers of feckless public administrators who engaged in retaliatory terminations without first consulting a competent and objective labor attorney… 

The disturbing firing of an identified whistleblower represents an escalation – a point of no return – for beleaguered City Manager Deric Feacher, his deputy, Dru Driscoll, and city attorney Gross, who are forever tainted with the stench of reprisal, revenge, and coverup while the city is under an apparent criminal investigation.

In a follow-up report by Central Florida News 13 this week, Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry said, “We are committed to cooperating fully with the legal process. I remain committed to transparency in all city matters, and I expect the city manager to hold individuals accountable who have come short of their responsibilities. However, we will not rush to judgement and will always support fairness in our pursuit of accountability.”

Mr. Mayor, did the same concept of fairness apply to Battalion Chief Cheney? 

I’m asking. Because, at best, the circumstances stink, as they say, like rotten mackerel in the moonlight…

According to Ms. Johnson’s report, State Senators Tom Wright and Tom Leek “…both called the situation wrong.”

“Every day it seems more and more information comes to light about how the City of Daytona Beach is being run. This is yet another disappointing example of the city’s failure of leadership. If true, this is wrong and cannot and must not be tolerated. It’s time for a change.”

Senator Tom Leek (R-Ormond Beach)

“It is my opinion that the City of Daytona Beach should be prepared for recourse in light of the fact that the state of Florida has the whistleblower act to protect those that take the courage to step forward when something is going wrong and potentially unlawfully wrong.

Further, the city would be wise to get prepared for additional subpoenas that are anticipated coming shortly.”

Senator Tom A. Wright

Look, it takes a helluva lot for me to agree with Sen. “Terrible” Tommy Wright – but he’s right… 

Florida’s Whistleblower Act protects public and private employees from discharge, suspension, demotion, or reduction in benefits when they report gross mismanagement or violations of law. In addition, there are strict statutory penalties for those who engage in the intentional intimidation of witnesses in criminal matters… 

Those protections ensure that public employees can disclose wrongdoing and expose possible acts of corruption, while promoting transparency and accountability, without fear of losing their jobs or being subject to other adverse actions.

In my view, now the irreparable harm is done, and the city’s internal auditing system will never again have the trust of potential whistleblowers. As City Commissioner Stacy Cantu has previously suggested, this alarming revelation will have a chilling effect on other employees who may fear coming forward.    

It also forces the hand of Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry and City Commissioners who – with the exception of Commissioners Cantu and Quanita May – have been content to politically procrastinate on the issue of City Manager Feacher’s continued fitness amid this raging dumpster fire that is quickly turning into a conflagration engulfing City Hall. 

A Safety Paradox: The Cost of Gross Incompetence in Ormond Beach

Those who are paid to think strategically call it the Safety Paradox – a counterintuitive phenomenon that occurs when efforts to increase safety actually create more dangerous conditions – a situation caused by a number of factors, to include piss-poor planning, “unintended consequences,” and old-fashioned incompetence.

Last week, flabbergasted residents and parishioners of Ormond Beach’s Prince of Peace Catholic Church on busy Nova Road, approached city and county officials to sound the alarm on a dangerous condition resulting from the $5.1 million “redesign” of Hand Avenue.

In short, an ill-thought median will block an entrance to the church, requiring that motorists accessing Prince of Peace make a U-turn on the incredibly congested thoroughfare…   

According to an article by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer, “The median, which is under construction, blocks the church’s entrance on Hand Avenue to drivers traveling east seeking to make a left-hand turn into Prince of Peace.

“We understand these projects are meant to benefit the broader community,” Prince of Peace Rev. Justin Vakko said. “However … the newly installed median directly in front of our west entrance has created a significant and unintended hardship.”

Look, I’m not a lawyer.  Just another rube wandering the wilderness, but I understand the legal and ethical obligation to act in a way that protects others from foreseeable harm. 

As I understand it, the “reasonable man” standard is a legal benchmark cited in negligence cases to determine whether a defendant breeched their duty of care.  The doctrine asks if a hypothetical ‘everyman’ – a person of reasonable intellect and ordinary “prudence and caution” – would have acted differently in a given situation. 

With that standard in mind, I was shocked to read the response church member John Malafronte – chairman of the church’s facilities committee – received after placing “numerous” calls to make Volusia County officials aware of the situation:

“When we started planning for our new store, we had to solicit input from our neighbors and businesses and hear their concerns,” Malafronte said. “We held open meetings for local residents and then asked the city of Ormond Beach for approval.”

The church wasn’t notified that its eastbound access from Hand Avenue would be impacted until the county placed the barriers for the new median.

After numerous calls to county staff members, Malafronte said he received a call back from County Engineer Tadd Kasbeer, who informed him the change was made for safety — and that those wanting to enter the church’s thrift shop can make a U-turn at the Wellington Station condominiums’ entrance.

“I asked him if there was an appeal process and he said no,” Malafronte said.”

Really?    

In my experience, when a fellow resident points out how a techy senior public official treated them when they pointed out a dangerous oversight – believe it. 

Rather than accept first-hand evidence of the inconvenience and safety hazard posed by forcing motorists to make a U-turn on Hand Avenue, County Engineer Tadd Kasbeer essentially explains “Don’t you understand, we had to make it more dangerous to make it safer!” then refuses a concerned citizen due process when he attempts to protect those who risk our lives transiting Hand Avenue. 

In my view, that’s not simple bureaucratic incompetence – it borders on the legal definition of gross negligence.

I don’t know about you, but I lost all confidence in Tadd Kasbeer when he was tapped to oversee construction of the Tom Stead Veterans Memorial Bridge in Daytona Beach.  The project that turned into an obscene joke, plagued by interminable delays and ham-handed missteps, ultimately taking nearly as long to complete as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

There were nonsensical ADA compliance issues, “superficial” (yet visible) cracks, bickering with contractors, simple misspellings on signage, etc., etc. – a comedy of errors performed by a confederacy of dunces – that would have seen most professional engineers seeking to put as much distance as possible between the problematic project and their future career path as possible.

But not here.

Instead, Mr. Kasbeer has remained firmly ensconced in Volusia County government – responsible for civil engineering during a period of explosive sprawl – unchecked growth that has resulted in widespread development-induced flooding, traffic gridlock, and growing civic claustrophobia as the bulldozers continue to roar…    

Given the almost criminal negligence committed by the Florida Department of Transportation on Granada Boulevard, A-1-A, and beyond – a careless redesign that fundamentally ruined the safe and smooth flow of traffic on increasingly congested Ormond Beach roadways – area residents have every right to up-in-arms over this latest monumental cluster on Hand Avenue. 

Here’s hoping Ormond Beach officials will listen to their concerned constituents and do more than send a tepid “pretty please” letter to Volusia County meekly asking that the Hand Avenue project be reworked by a competent traffic engineer before tragedy ensues…    

Quote of the Week

“Reports indicate the ruins of the Hewitt Sawmill site, built in the 1700s, may have been significantly damaged during the ongoing development of Sawmill Estates. The full extent of that damage remains unclear, but there is still an opportunity to prevent further loss. Ideally, the developer will work with local historians to protect what remains and incorporate the site as a meaningful community asset. Few places can offer residents the opportunity to live alongside and walk through a tangible piece of colonial-era history. This one can.

Local historians, as well as families who have lived here for generations, understand better than most what has already been lost. It is well documented that ITT Corporation bulldozed the remains of St. Joseph’s Plantation near Old Kings Road and Palm Coast Parkway. Once these resources are destroyed, they are gone forever.

Property rights have been a cornerstone of this country since the adoption of the United States Constitution, and they must be respected. But respect for property rights and preservation of history are not mutually exclusive. We can, and should, do both.”

— Flagler County commission District 2 candidate Greg Feldman, as excerpted from his op/ed in the Palm Coast Observer, “My View, Greg Feldman: Growth and heritage can coexist in Flagler County,” Friday, April 24, 2026

I don’t know Mr. Feldman, or anything about his campaign for the Flagler County BOCC, but he does a yeoman’s job threading the needle on the lopsided property rights v. historic preservation argument.

Unfortunately, it appears the “western expansion” of Palm Coast is coming, and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it. 

The preservation of our threatened historic sites be damned.  The future is paved with 3/2 wood framed zero-lot-line cracker boxes “from the $300’s…”

Given the way our state legislature has prepared the battlefield, absolutely nothing – certainly not commonsense environmental, archeological, or density regulations – will stand in the way of another 22,000 “dwelling units” and related commercial development, malignant sprawl that will nearly double the population of infrastructure starved Palm Coast over the next thirty-years.

The question, as Pierre Tristam, editor of FlaglerLive.com recently put it is:

“…can we preserve a few natural and historic treasures along the way? Old Brick Road is a national treasure. It is the last remnant of the Dixie Highway built in 1915 between Detroit and Miami. It is almost literally Flagler County’s equivalent of the Appian Way in Italy, the last remnant of a Roman road that, thanks to Roman engineering, endures to this day. Old Brick Road wasn’t built as well. Not even our interstates are built as well as Roman roads were. But close enough. It is being demolished by logging trucks, and the westward expansion risks reducing it to an enclave, starting with a planned highway that would parallel it way too closely and too many planned crossings of the road itself.”

To their credit, the Flagler Board of County Commissioners appears committed to preserving the county owned historic Old Brick Road (to the extent possible) using whatever limited local power hasn’t already been preempted by the state. 

That includes a possible agreement with the City of Palm Coast limiting at-grade crossings by requiring “flyovers,” ensuring adequate environmental buffers, placing limits on destructive utilities excavations, and assurances that the character of the increasingly fragile road and its surroundings will be preserved to the extent possible.   

Time will tell, but don’t hold your breath…

As Mr. Tristam so aptly put it, “Private development should not be subsidized at the expense of public treasures, though heaven knows this one has already been subsidized to the tune of $126 million so far (that state money Paul Renner’s generous cronyism appropriated on behalf of his friends at Rayonier for the “loop road” from Matanzas Woods Parkway to Palm Coast Parkway).”

For the uninitiated, former Speaker of the Florida House and developers shill Paul Renner of Palm Coast is a declared candidate for governor… 

Unfortunately, the evidence is now undeniable: Real estate developers (with the direct assistance of their bought-and-paid-for tools in the Florida legislature) have proven time-and-again they have no qualms destroying everything in their path – environmental, historical, cultural, old growth forests, wildlife habitat, and natural resources – in pursuit of more, more, more sprawl. 

Nothing of our heritage or unique environment is sacred, just something to be exploited.

Unfortunately, that’s nothing new.  

Now that our compromised state legislature has stripped virtually all local regulatory impediments to unchecked growth – and local opportunists like Volusia County Councilman Don Dempsey desperately trying to find a workaround to unambiguous terms like “perpetuity” and “forever” in regard to publicly owned conservation land – the deck is stacked in favor of speculative developers with a chip in the game.

In exchange, the quality of life of existing residents – and the future of our children and grandchildren who will be forced to live with the resultant environmental, historical, and cultural devastation – continues to be sacrificed on the altar of greed. 

I hope “Fun Coast” voters remember that at the ballot box this year.   

And Another Thing!

“Volusia County’s voters will decide on five proposed changes in the county’s home-rule charter later this year.

The 2026 Charter Review Commission [CRC] wrapped up its work April 13, when it issued its final report at its last scheduled meeting at Daytona Beach International Airport.

The charter amendments reported out by the CRC are:

— (1) Changing the method of choosing the county chair from a general election for a four-year term to having the seven-member County Council select one of its members to serve as chair for a one-year term;

— (2) Allowing members of the County Council to be reimbursed for work-related expenses;

— (3) Whether to eliminate now-obsolete language in the charter regarding the constitutional officers elected to serve in the county;

— (4) Whether to eliminate other outdated language now in the charter regarding the personnel and requiring a merit system for employees of the county government; and

— (5) Whether to establish a registry of county conservation lands and to provide for the addition or removal of such properties from the registry.”

–Reporter Al Everson, writing in the West Volusia Beacon, “Blue-ribbon panel OKs ballot measures for county charter,” Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Welp, there you have it, folks…  

By monarchical edict of the Volusia County Council, We, The Little People have been specifically prohibited from voting to protect our drinking water and limit future development by prohibiting “toilet to tap” – the practice of introducing treated sewage into our potable water supply – but a charter amendment to “reimburse them for work-related expenses” is a civic priority?    

Bullshit.

After months of deliberation – and many suggestions from concerned residents – at the end of the day, these lukewarm charter amendments (and a few equally tepid “policy recommendations”) represents the work product of Volusia’s “Blue Ribbon” 2026 Charter Review Commission. 

When you remove the housekeeping measures, these bureaucratically neutered ballot questions are essentially limited to removing We, The Little People’s ability to elect our County Chair, paying elected officials for “work-related” expenses (what the hell are their current county paychecks for?), and what appears to be a backhanded means for the VCC to offload conservation properties that we were promised would be held in “perpetuity” i.e., forever…   

According to the Beacon’s report, “Amendment 5 would create a registry of “conservation lands owned by the County of Volusia.”

The properties yet to be placed on the registry may not be added to the registry, sold or transferred unless the County Council approves such transactions with a supermajority vote, meaning a majority vote of its members plus one. Thus, with a seven-member council, a minimum of five members must vote in favor of the deal.

The conservation registry comes amid debate about the duration of terms like “in perpetuity” and “forever.”

Wait, do they mean the protections afforded by a “supermajority” of Volusia’s stagnant “Old Guard”? 

How many 6-1 votes has Chairman Jeff Brower found himself on the losing end over the past six-years anytime he tried to defend what remains of our environment, water quality, and greenspace?   

Whatever.

In addition, Amendment 2 would “remove charter limitations regarding reimbursement of work-related expenses incurred by County Council members. As matters now stand, council members receive salaries that are supposed to be “full compensation for all services and in-county expenses.”

As of 2025, the Volusia County Chair received $67,394.40 while individual council members command $56,162.00 in annual compensation.

For what?

This isn’t the first time this ludicrous notion of increasing the take for elected officials has come up. 

In 2020, that iteration of the Volusia County Council saw the handwriting on the wall and voted 4-3 to remove a ridiculous ballot question that would have drastically increased council salaries at a time when residents were out-of-work and losing their businesses due to the pandemic.

In my view, we should not pay council members anything beyond reasonable reimbursement for documented out-of-pocket expenses specifically related to county business that cannot be conducted during monthly meetings or workshops. 

That would exclude galas, “grip-n-grins,” political travel, what passes for “debates,” hobnobs, ass-kissing contests, and any other backslapping soiree staged for their own shameless self-promotion. 

Let’s make them whole.  Period.

Lucrative allowances for day-to-day “expenses” can quickly become something different when the public purse becomes their private piggybank.

In my view, if we’re going to continue pissing away good money paying salaries to elected officials (who are far more indebted to those special interests who stuff their campaign war chests), I suggest that the Volusia County Council consider a charter amendment setting attendance regulations. 

That includes establishing written procedures for approving authorized absences from council meetings, workshops, and ancillary committee assignments, such as the River to Sea Transportation Organization.

You know, rules that apply to anyone who receives public compensation to perform a service.

That’s fair to everyone.  For a change.

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