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: A “Priority Problem”  

“Board member Donna Brosemer said she vacillated between no and letting voters decide. But she believes the district has wasted money.

“I think about how many times we have to redecorate executive suites because we don’t like the color or we don’t like the furniture,” she said.

“I do not see a revenue problem for this district. I see a priority problem,” Brosemer said. “I believe strongly that this is on us to fix for the teachers.”

–Volusia County School Board Member Donna Brosemer, as reported by The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s Mark Harper, “Volusia School Board won’t ask voters to support tax hike,” Thursday, May 14, 2026

“The Singularity” is a sci-fi-esque term used to describe the increasingly probable theory that technological growth will soon accelerate to a point where it overtakes human control, cutting us out of the loop, leading to the destruction of civilization and eventually biological extinction.  

(Call me a paranoiac, but I’ve always suspected that Roomba and Alexa are plotting against me whenever I leave the room…)

The singularity hypothesis suggests that when technology reaches the point where it perceives its environment and begins taking autonomous actions to adapt – every self-replicating iteration learning, remembering, and functioning more like a human mind, but at unimaginable speed. 

Each version becoming “smarter” until a “superintelligence” emerges.  An “Artificial Intelligence” that ultimately surpasses human brainpower making us, well, obsolete.

Other experts believe the opposite, that AI will fail to match the requisite “human-level intelligence across all cognitive domains” resulting in decreasing returns.  Without that, some scientists are convinced AI will eventually level off, never reaching the cognition and general intelligence of the biological brain, ultimately becoming little more than a convincing imitation.

Like some people you probably know…

Last week, Volusia County District Schools reached what I call the “Stupidity Singularity.” 

That point where the arrogance and ignorance of a cloistered bureaucracy exceeds all logic – and the self-serving administration abdicates responsibility and votes itself into obsolescence – eliminating the need for a superintendent, general counsel, senior administrators, or an elected oversight board, for that matter.   

During the same meeting where Superintendent Carmen Balgobin overstepped her non-political administrative role by actively lobbying to suppress a ballot initiative that would have allowed Volusia County voters to decide whether to approve a small property tax increase to pay for teacher salary improvements, the School Board voted 4-1 to approve a $121,000 annual contract with a private firm to produce public policy, administrative guidelines, board bylaws, procedures, and forms.

You know, all the things we hired Superintendent Balgobin – and those overpaid denizens of the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand – to accomplish when they’re not knitting together positive academic statistics, nominating each other for awards, and telling us how great they are… 

In my view, the reason we employ these highly compensated senior administrators – some 38 Chiefs, Executive Directors, Directors, Coordinators, and Administrators by my count – is to use their institutional knowledge, professional skills, stakeholder relationships, and local insight to craft unique policies and procedures that best serve Volusia County students and staff.

That is literally why their positions exist within that thick rind of fat sitting atop the district’s bloated bureaucracy in DeLand.  

Instead, the horribly conflicted District/School Board General Counsel Dr. Gilbert Evans will apparently sit around, polishing a wingback chair with his backside, while an Ohio-based contractor sends him boilerplate templates (formulaic pap in place of his own intellectual product) – canned policies and one-size-fits-all administrative guidelines the Volusia County School Board will later rubber stamp on a 4-1 vote.

I’m not an attorney, just another rube wandering the wilderness, but while breezing over the contract, I found it interesting that the company included a caveat making it clear they have “…no obligation to verify or approve the accuracy, validity, or completeness of the District-Specific Materials.”

Which (I guess) now makes Dr. Evans an extremely well-paid proofreader?    

To her credit, District 4 representative and true servant/leader Donna Brosemer was the only member of the School Board to vote “No” to farming out policy and administrative responsibilities to an out-of-state company…

During public participation, the incredibly bright Kim Short, a civic activist who serves on the Education & Workforce Committee for five area Chambers of Commerce, lambasted Superintendent Balgobin and her dutiful minions on the School Board, saying aloud what everyone watching was thinking:

“Tonight you paid for a service for yourselves.”   

To her credit, Ms. Short rightfully decried the fact that, as the district’s senior administration continues to grow, students are faced with dwindling resources and instructional staff.  She then asked the most pertinent question of the evening:

“What’s wrong with all of you?

In my view, aside from the obvious arrogance of power, overconfidence, hubristic egotism, and overweening sense of invincibility that permeates the Balgobin administration, I think the answer to Ms. Short’s question is that many of our elected and appointed officials overseeing Volusia County Schools possess the financial IQ of wallpaper paste… 

Unfortunately, Ms. Short’s righteous admonition was met with a dismissive snicker from the egoistical Balgobin, in my view, a pretentious poseur who seems pathologically incapable of using constructive criticism to her advantage or listening to the concerns of her increasingly bewildered constituents.   

As a result, her administration has become a top-heavy echo chamber where elected officials receive only that information the Superintendent wants/allows them to hear – controlling the narrative in support of the Board’s long-standing tactic of strategic ignorance and plausible deniability – which provides political insulation when things inevitably turn to shit.

That’s a recipe for disaster in a public school system with an annual budget of $1.4 Billion…      

In my view, the toxic “culture” fostered by Superintendent Balgobin has created an environment where a false sense of bureaucratic infallibility, bolstered by contrived “accomplishments,” provides the camouflage that masks serious leadership and communications issues, long-term problems that continue to impact staff morale, learning opportunities, and financial stewardship.

How long will Volusia County taxpayers allow this travesty to continue?

I encourage you to educate yourself on the myriad issues facing Volusia County Schools – attend a School Board meeting and voice your concerns – then vote your conscience to change the culture and trajectory of our incredibly challenged public school system.  

Our children – and those who teach them – deserve better.

Note: With just two-days’ notice to concerned families, this afternoon, the district will hold a “Community Reimagining Discussion” (whatever the hell that means) to provide information on the asinine (and potentially dangerous) mistake of collocating the Riverview alternative learning center on the Holly Hill Elementary School campus. 

As I understand it, the “plan” is to cordon off a compound with fencing in an effort to physically separate older Riverview students with documented disciplinary and behavioral issues from young children attending Holly Hill Elementary.   The meeting will be held on the school campus, 1500 Center Avenue, Holly Hill, beginning at 5:30pm.)  

Palm Coast Councilman Charles “The Toady” Gambaro: Pollyanna Politics in Palm Coast

“Do you want me to be diplomatic or be Mike Norris?,” the Palm Coast mayor this morning asked the three dozen people gathered for the groundbreaking of the $125 million “loop road” that will connect Matanzas Woods Parkway to Palm Coast Parkway through thousands of acres set for the development of 22,000 homes.

The question answered itself. The only filter Norris favors is on his cigarettes.

“I don’t support this project, and I’m going to fight it all the way,” Norris said, discarding the speech city staff had written for him and looking at a stone-faced audience. “For the representatives from Rayonier, don’t think that you’re going to do what was done on this side of the railroad, on that side of the railroad. We’re not going to stand for it. Pringle Branch is part of the Pringle Branch Forever forest out there, and we’re going to cut a line right through it. I understand the state’s priority as far as putting corridors in, out to 2209. I can understand that. But when you cut through and you drain the swamp, I don’t agree with that. I grew up in a swamp, and this is not something that I can support.”

–Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris, as quoted by FlaglerLive.com, “Palm Coast Mayor Norris Turns Loop Road Groundbreaking Into Lashing of Western Expansion and Developer,” Thursday, May 14, 2026

Anyone who pays attention knows that Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris can be confrontational – especially when it comes to threats posed by malignant growth and the outsized influence of developers on local government.    

For his refusal to ‘go along and get along,’ Mayor Norris has garnered more than his share of scorn and ridicule from his “colleagues.”

You’ll see what I mean in a minute…

In my view, Mike Norris is an excellent example of the courageous no-nonsense plain talkers We, The Little People need standing in the breach between mercenary development interests and our dwindling quality of life. 

Elected officials who are not afraid – or financially beholden – to those who would pave over every square inch of greenspace with an impervious blanket of 3/2 wood frame zero-lot-line cracker boxes, sacrificing our natural resources and our children’s future, on the altar of greed.

Last week, Mayor Norris stood firm against the coming “western expansion,” massive development in areas west of U.S. 1 on timberland owned by Rayonier and set to be developed by a subsidiary known as Raydient. 

According to FlaglerLive.com, the development will include “The 6.2-mile “loop road,” so far entirely funded by taxpayers, is to eventually connect with State Road 2209, itself connecting I-95 south of Jacksonville to Orlando and planned as an additional hurricane evacuation route, though the plan is conceptual for now.”

During a recent meeting, the Palm Coast City Council was told by staff that some 547 miles of the city’s existing roadways are in desperate need of resurfacing.  According to a recent analysis, a fifth of arterial roads and half the residential roads have a pavement condition index of “fair to poor.”

What? 

You want current streets and thoroughfares widened, reengineered, or properly resurfaced before any “loop road” is built to accommodate more growth?   

You’re tired of waiting through three cycles of a light at (insert intersection here) and want greater civic focus on improving existing transportation infrastructure before adding even more traffic?

Tough shit.  “We’re expanding west, Rube.  If you’re not growing, you’re dying…”

So much for “growth pays for itself,” eh? 

Apparently, things took an unctuous turn at the groundbreaking ceremony when appointed, not elected Palm Coast Councilman Charles “The Toady” Gambaro – a sycophantic developers stooge and current candidate for Florida’s Sixth Congressional District – launched himself to the podium following Mayor Norris’ remarks so he could kiss the collective ass and smooth the feathers of Raydient executives.

According to the report, Gambaro told FlaglerLive.com, “What we saw today was an absolute lack of leadership,” he said. “It’s disgraceful, and quite frankly, it just shows that Mike Norris continues to be an embarrassment for our community.”

“Gambaro had all but jumped from his seat to take the mayor’s place after the smattering of applause that accompanied Norris off the podium after his three-minute speech. Gambaro wasn’t part of the lineup of speakers (only City Manager Mike McGlothlin had preceded Norris), but he said he had to speak.

“Going to jump in here and end on a positive note,” Gambaro told the audience. “Everybody’s done a great job. Everybody’s worked hard. This project is important for our community for a lot of different reasons, but I want to end on a positive note. There’s no reason to be negative here, okay? Everybody has their own opinions, but this is a time to celebrate a major achievement for our community. We must remain positive. Our residents want us to remain positive as we move forward.”

Ah, another sighting of that foul bird the shameless brownnosed shill in the wild…  

Councilman Gambaro should understand – his claustrophobic constituents don’t want faux positivity and political platitudes – they want those who were elected to stand firm and protect their quality of life from unchecked overdevelopment.

Now.  Before it’s too late.

If you live in the Sixth Congressional District (south of Saint Augustine to South Daytona, inland to the outskirts of Ocala, Leesburg, and Sanford, to include the city of Daytona Beach) I encourage you to do your homework.  Learn the “who’s who” of developer-funded campaigns, and consider the source of those canned endorsements, pap, and fluff from compromised finger-puppets who take their marching orders from deep-pocketed political donors.

Let’s start electing people at all levels of government who care more about us than those special interests who buy-and-sell them like chattel…  

Quote of the Week

“We’ve all heard the mantra: Property Owners’ Rights.

However, both are property owners.

Regarding Tomoka Oaks — because “the system” favored the developer (it almost always does) those homeowners who bought/own property on the golf course will now see their property value decrease significantly. As well, all Tomoka Oaks residents and nearby residents will see their quality of life deteriorate.

The system needs more balance where the rights of the incumbent property owners (homeowners) are considered equally. Right now, they are not.”

–Ken and Julie Sipes, Ormond Beach, Letters to the Editor, Ormond Beach Observer, “Developer Rights vs Homeowner Rights,” Tuesday, May 12, 2026

When an asinine plan was announced that would have allowed a foreign bulk fuel supplier to build a 20-million-gallon petroleum storage and distribution terminal adjacent to the Ormond Beach Sports Complex, the city’s municipal airport, and the coming monstrosity that will be Ormond Crossings, I decided to have some fun. 

As an inveterate smartass, I facetiously wrote that I planned to take advantage of Florida’s “anything goes” development strategy and have my postage-stamp residential property here in the Northbrook neighborhood rezoned to accommodate an industrial medical waste incinerator.

Right smackdab in my weed strewn backyard.

My entrepreneurial vision was to construct a batch load, direct fire industrial medical waste incinerator running 24/7 at a constant 12,000-degrees – capable of destroying all regulated medical waste at the molecular level – to include pathological refuse, amputated limbs, rotten organs, biological tissue, bloody gauze, gowns, and dressings – you name it!

I saw it as a “win-win,” as land use attorney’s always say (right after they forcibly bend elected councils/commissions over a barrel – then hold them hostage with the threat of a lawsuit – just before their developer client is gifted carte blanche to build what, when, and where they want…)

Hell, I was even prepared to throw some serious coin around. 

You know, make lavish campaign contributions to local and state incumbents as a means of smoothing out the humps and bumps of having my side yard classified as a Subtitle D landfill where the resultant cremated dust and ash could be dumped. (MBA’s call that “collocating complementary industries” to reduce cost and increase revenues. Ma Barker didn’t raise no dummy, y’all…)

Alas, my dream of becoming a titan of industrial waste disposal was not to be…

Well-meaning elected and appointed officials were quick to explain that local, state, and federal environmental protections, comprehensive plans, and zoning districts prevent discordant and environmentally impactful operations in residential neighborhoods.

Apparently, they have these things called “land use regulations” that are designed to protect the health, safety, welfare, and property values of surrounding homes from intrusive or incompatible uses.  

Who knew?

So, why do those same protections never apply whenever a speculative real estate developer decides their “property rights” trump those of existing homeowners?

In many instances, regionally impactful projects revert back to historical changes to land use regulations that were approved decades ago – rezonings that no longer comport with the character, density, and infrastructure of the modern community – yet the development is invariably rubber stamped without question.

Why is that?

In my view, the inherent inequity in “property rights” is an excellent question to ask those members of our state legislative delegation at their next reelection campaign stop.

We deserve hard answers from those bought-and-paid-for finger-puppets who went to Tallahassee and sold out their constituents, preempting local growth management regulations to the state, ignored flooding and density concerns, and continue to burden our natural resources and overtaxed infrastructure, while stuffing their campaign war chests with developer dollars.

As I once understood it, Equality Before the Law meant that everyone faces the same legal rules and processes – regardless of wealth, status, or political power. The concepts of isonomy, fairness, and impartiality that contrast with the outsized influence and skewed playing field inherent to oligarchies.  

Now an antiquated notion that no longer applies here in The Biggest Whorehouse in the World…

And Another Thing!

“Suzanne Scheiber is founder and president of Dream Green Volusia, which describes itself as “a grassroots non-profit organization working on environmental issues across Volusia County.” She is also a member of the Charter Review Commission.

She said a main concern she has with the proposed amendment is that the County Council would get to decide how the land is used, not the public. Another concern is that the county could use the lands for a public purpose.

She believes the public should decide how the conservation land is being used, since taxpayers are footing the bill for purchasing the land.

“There’s not protection if the County Councils of the future … can vote to sell the land or develop it. The people that voted to tax themselves should be able to determine (the future of the land),” she said.”

–Environmental activist Suzanne Scheiber, Ormond Beach, as quoted by reporter Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Would amendment actually protect Volusia lands? Critic says no,” Monday, May 18, 2026

From protecting Ormond Beach’s Scenic Loop, standing for flood victims in Edgewater, and championing the preservation of environmentally sensitive areas for future generations, the intrepid Suzanne Scheiber and her grassroots advocacy Dream Green Volusia has been on the front lines of conservation efforts throughout the region.

Most recently, Ms. Scheiber served as a member of the Volusia County Charter Review Commission. 

The Volusia County Charter requires that the County Council assemble a Charter Review Commission at least once every 10 years to “examine the Charter, ordinances, and workings of Volusia County’s government and, if needed, recommend Charter amendments to be placed on the general election ballot.”

After eight-months of deliberation, “public input,” and anticipation, the fifteen member “Blue Ribbon” panel – led by prominent land use attorney Mark Watts (of course it was) – came up with five bureaucratically neutered charter amendments for the Volusia County Council to consider putting on the ballot in November.  

On Tuesday, the Volusia County Council held the first of three required public hearings on the proposed amendments.

When you remove the housekeeping measures, the remaining ballot questions are essentially limited to removing We, The Little People’s ability to elect our County Chair, whether to compensate elected officials for “work-related” expenses (despite the fact they already receive a paycheck), and a backhanded means by which the Volusia County Council can sell conservation properties that we were promised would be held in “perpetuity” i.e., forever, despite the fact the lands were purchased by taxpayers under the voter-approved Volusia Forever program.

In my view, this is the pernicious result of another “public policy by ambush,” this time orchestrated by Councilman Don Dempsey who, after ramrodding his pet publicly funded motorcross facility on land purchased with Volusia Forever and ECHO funds (?), concocted a tempest in a teapot about tying the hands of future councils from impacting conservation lands as they fight to stave off a contrived Armageddon scenario.   

At the end of a March VCC meeting, Councilman Dempsey pounded his little fists, dug in his heels, and bellowed that he didn’t like the idea of a council in future millennia being contractually blocked from building a nuclear reactor in Volusia County should the need arise…

By Dempsey’s weird logic – when fossil fuels are exhausted and the Floridan aquifer runs dry, “Fun Coast” residents 1,000 years hence will be doomed to a Mad Max dystopia – all because we prehistoric Volusians perceived an existential threat of our own and selfishly voted to conserve some ecologically sensitive greenspace in a previous epoch when every inch of ground around us was being slashed, burned, and churned into a black muck to accommodate more, more, more growth…

Bullshit.  

There’s a reason why Volusia’s “Old Guard” wants to keep the preservation of so-called “conservation” land out of our hands and under the control of compromised elected officials.

Trust me.  It has nothing to do with protecting environmentally sensitive areas for future generations.  In my view, what we are witnessing is a brazen attempt to provide a legal loophole for future development, commercial extraction of resources, and conversion to incompatible uses.

In keeping with the letter and spirit of Volusia Forever, Ms. Schieber and other area environmentalists are asking that our elected officials put a charter amendment on the ballot mirrored after a similar measure approved by Alachua County voters in 2008.

The Alachua amendment establishes a registry of protected public places, and states that listed properties “…may not be sold, or converted to a use that will result in a loss of a value or values for which a property was placed on the registry, except by a majority vote of the electors voting in a countywide referendum election.”

Of course, Ms. Schieber’s suggestion that taxpayers have a say in how lands purchased with our tax dollars are ultimately disposed of was immediately pooh-poohed by county staff, who now claim the Alachua amendment would be unlawful here, should it ever be challenged…  

Why would anyone challenge letting the people vote?

According to the News-Journal, the county issued a statement explaining “…Volusia County Charter Amendment’s land registry proposal complies with state law. The Alachua-like amendment like Scheiber suggested would not, according to the county.”

Why? 

Apparently, a similar measure in Sarasota County faced a legal challenge, “because the provision deprived the County Commission of its authority under state law,” according to the county. “The court further noted that requiring a referendum to sell the property also violated state law for the same reason.”

Of course it does.  Because whenever the needs of We, The Little People conflict with the wants of special interests, we lose.

In my view, that makes the entire charter amendment process – like the voter-approved provisions of Volusia Forever – an orchestrated sham. 

At best, the ludicrous “Dempsey Amendment” makes conservation in Volusia County a bait-and-switch confidence scam – at worst, a “good old boy’s investment club” – where you and I provide tax dollars to purchase environmentally sensitive land at a premium, then a future council (read: wholly-owned developer shills) can sell the properties to their political benefactors for pennies on the dollar to facilitate the for-profit motives of future speculative land developers.

Here’s a charter amendment to consider: How about we return a government of the people, by the people, and for the people to Volusia County? 

Let’s replace this flagrant kleptocracy that exists to serve the wants of the few with the representative democracy so many have sacrificed so much to preserve.

Vote like your quality of life depends on it. 

That’s all for me. 

Here’s hoping you have a meaningful day of solemn reflection, remembrance, and gratitude for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our rights and freedoms this Memorial Day.