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:

State of Florida: Half-Baked Property Tax Shift Heads to Florida Voters

One year ago, lame duck Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a $1 million study to examine the wide-ranging effects of “eliminating” the property tax in Florida.  As a rule, before developing public policy government analyzes everything, ad nauseum – sending proposed legislation through countless committee hearings, budget studies, and legal reviews.

So why not get a comprehensive understanding of the fiscal impacts of upending Florida’s 150-year-old reasonably equitable system of funding essential local services?

Good question. 

Especially in light of the fact neither Gov. DeSantis, nor our local legislative delegation, have explained how our essential services will continue without adequate funding.  That’s because they don’t understand it either. 

If approved by 60% of Florida voters in November, the tax shift (not elimination) would fundamentally change governance in the state – transferring all power to Tallahassee – and have a detrimental impact on the responsive city and county services that protect your neighborhood and mine.

I became suspicious of Gov. DeSantis ambiguous “plan” last year when Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia busied himself traveling around the state (on our dime) promoting his bogus “audits” of some local governments – a complete shim-sham conjured out of whole cloth – a baldfaced lie that laid the groundwork for Gov. DeSantis’ half-baked call to “eliminate” most property taxes.

Damn the consequences.  Just vote to wipe away everyone’s tax burden – we’ll sell more homes to people moving here from out-of-state to ride the “Free Stuff!” gravy train.  We can sort the deleterious effects on public safety and our quality of life later…

According to a report by the Orlando Sentinel last week, CFO Ingoglia has yet to respond to serious questions regarding how much his “FAFO” dog-and-pony show has cost Florida taxpayers, why he pushed special legislation benefiting Disney while holding stock in the company (?), or “…who ordered armed officers to visit the home of a man who sent Ingoglia a postcard that said: “You lack values.”

Again, all good questions for Florida’s senior fiscal watchdog whose ethos seems to be “Do as I say, not as I do…”  

Earlier this week, while meeting in special session, the Florida legislature ignored the pleas of soon to be defunded first responders, law enforcement, and emergency medical personnel – essential services traditionally paid for with our ad valorem taxes. 

Instead, state officials pushed a modified plan that will amend the state constitution to raise Florida’s $50,000 homestead exemption to $150,000 on January 1, 2027, then $250,000 by January 1, 2028, effectively slashing revenues for local governments. 

Regardless of whether you favor the tax shift or disagree with the free ride for some while shifting the burden to others strategy, if approved, the measure will forever change the level of essential service delivery your family and mine currently enjoy.

According to reports, the legislature added protections for funding school districts and county constitutional officers, which include supervisors of elections, sheriff’s offices, and clerks of court.

In an article by Christine Sexton and Jay Waagmeester writing in the Florida Phoenix this week: 

“Despite the changes, though, the plan continues to face opposition from a disparate cohort of interest groups ranging from the Florida Association of Counties to the Florida Policy Institute.

The counties sent an email to association members following the vote, highlighting the changes made and noting that Tuesday’s vote was “not the end of the conversation, but the beginning of a new one.”

“County leaders should begin talking publicly about what local property taxes fund in their communities and what is at stake if those dollars go away,” the email reads.

“Floridians benefit from the services property taxes fund, and they deserve a clear-eyed accounting of what this proposal does and does not do, from the people who deliver those services every day.”

The nonpartisan, not-for-profit Florida Policy Institute dedicates itself to “advancing policies and budgets that improve the economic mobility and quality of life for all Floridians,” according to its website. Following the vote, the association put out a statement saying the proposal doesn’t represent a tax reduction but a tax shift.

“One that will force local lawmakers to cut local services that families rely upon or increase other taxes and fees to make up for the missing revenue,” Institute CEO Sadaf Knight said in a prepared statement. “In either case, everyday Floridians ultimately pay the price for the massive loss in property tax revenue.”

In the aftermath of the vote, similar cautions have been expressed by the Florida League of Cities, Florida Association of Counties, and even Florida TaxWatch – who said reductions in tax revenue, “…will simply be passed on to non-homestead property owners or replaced with other taxes, fees and assessments,” resulting in further inequity. 

According to the Florida Association of Counties deputy director of public policy Jeff Scala, “We know this is a tax shift. They’re framing it as a tax cut, but our small businesses, all businesses, they’re going to feel the pain. Renters, they’re not going to get an exemption.”

In effect, the foolish measure approved for the ballot by the legislature seeks to eviscerate the responsive, tailored, and accessible local services we have come to rely on while preempting ultimate power to Tallahassee. 

In my view, by any metric, Florida has become an open kleptocracy – an administration that pissed away hundreds-of-millions in public funds to DeSantis donors, on political posturing, and pet projects for all the right last names, all facilitated by state legislators now wholly compromised by insatiable real estate developers.

Almost immediately after the vote, the gaslighting from our elected officials in Tallahassee began – and anyone paying attention knows this has nothing to do with ‘letting the people vote’ on a reasonable tax relief package – as they would have us believe…   

Now, those “republicans in name only” who drape themselves in the term for political advantage are effectively defunding law enforcement and first responders – disregarding the party’s once venerated commitment to limited, efficient, and accessible government – under the guise of a radical tax shift. 

Exchanging responsive small government for a system of large, consolidated, and underfunded bureaucracies who will increase fees, sales taxes, assessments on commercial and rental properties, and finding other intrusive sources of revenue to fill the very deep void is not a Republican value…

In my view, some local governments have no one to blame but themselves for this existential crisis.

Many large and cumbersome bureaucracies have raised taxes, grown the size of government, continue to build Taj Mahal facilities, provide massive pay and benefit increases to senior administrators, while inflating their actual needs year-after-year.

But what about those small, nimble, and fiscally responsible counties and municipalities that provide fiscally effective and efficient services to their appreciative constituents who are being destroyed for the sins of others? 

This isn’t meaningful tax reform – it’s a shameless power grab.

Like development decisions, reducing government spending and demanding accountability should be a local responsibility, not a dictatorial state edict handed down from on high.  A choice We, The Little People should make at the ballot box every two to four years when we elect our neighbors to represent our interests on city and county councils and commissions. 

Let’s keep it that way.   

City of Daytona Beach: Another Tale of Two Cities…   

“Rand said the city should revisit its long-term vision plan and develop a clear 20-year roadmap with measurable benchmarks to help guide future growth.

“The board recognizes the existence of a vision plan that the city has,” Rand said. “We recommend that the city be more of a collaborative process for updating and refreshing the Daytona Beach plan. Clearly articulate a 20-year vision of Daytona Beach and establish measurable benchmarks and implementation goals.”

The board also emphasized that Daytona Beach’s beachside and mainland areas function as “two really separate economic machines” and require tailored strategies while still working together to achieve broader city goals.

“The beachside and the mainland, they’re very separate. However, they need to work together to accomplish the goals of the city,” Rand said.”

— Daytona Beach Economic Development Advisory Board Chairman Bob Rand, as quoted by reporter Rich Carroll in the Ormond Beach Observer, “Daytona Beach looks to sharpen economic development strategy with updated vision, targeted growth plans,” Friday, May 29, 2026

Which “long-term vision plan” is Mr. Rand talking about?

Is it the “shove ten-pounds of shit into a five-pound bag, growth at all costs” strategy?  Or the “let the beachside rot into obscurity until it becomes the cheapest real estate on the Eastern Seaboard” plan?   

Regardless, mission accomplished on both fronts… 

In May 2017, I published a piece in this space called “A Tale of Two Cities,” my jaundiced take on the dichotomy between Daytona’s downtrodden beachside and (at the time) the unbridled excitement surrounding the then yet-to-be constructed Latitude Margaritaville in what is increasingly described by realtors as “West Daytona.”

At the time, I opined on an article by The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s business editor Clayton Park:

“According to Minto’s overexcited Senior Vice President Bill Bullock, “How could you not be ecstatic?  On both the east and west of the interstate you’ve got incredible things happening – and they’re all complementary uses – it’s putting Daytona back on the map!”

Hell, yeah.  Ecstatic.

Then, I turned the page.

It was like listening to “Happy Days Are Here Again!” dissolve into that old Depression-era dirge, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”

In the Editorial section was an enlightening piece entitled, “End the Eyesore on the Boardwalk…”

Now, nearly a decade on, it appears the Halifax area’s “economic development” types are still trying to figure out exactly what to do with the festering carcass of our crumbling beachside.

An old, ugly, and intractable problem – an embarrassing shrine to human greed and government ineptitude – a turnip squeezed dry.  A grotesque thing many turned their back on in favor of the prosperity represented by the city’s rapidly growing western expanse of big box stores and 3/2 zero-lot-line cracker boxes “starting in the mid-$300’s.”

West Daytona represents Progress. Opportunity. Money. 

The other side of that same tarnished coin – our beachside – signifies blight, failure to thrive, economic challenge, bureaucratic roadblocks, and the resultant entrepreneurial frustration.   

The baggage of the past vs. the potential of future progress.

Sadly, it appears the Daytona Beach Economic Development Advisory Board suffers from a selective memory disorder – an inability to recall the myriad recommendations of independent studies that stretch back decades. 

Instead, it appears our stagnant economic apparatus wants to immortalize that sense of separation – preserving the stark division between two parts of a whole – a bicephalous monster, one representing prosperity, the other an economic boat anchor…

“The board also emphasized that Daytona Beach’s beachside and mainland areas function as “two really separate economic machines” and require tailored strategies while still working together to achieve broader city goals.”

In my view, that assessment perpetuates a decades-long failed strategy that culminated in the seminal study of the Halifax area’s predicament by the News-Journal’s investigative journalist Eileen Zaffiro-Kean in her excellent 2017 series “Tarnished Jewel: Daytona’s Troubled Beachside.”

That in-depth exposé laid bare the plight of the beachside, ultimately leading embarrassed civic leaders to form the “blue-ribbon” Beachside Redevelopment Committee. 

In 2018, the committee, comprised of the Halifax area’s best and brightest minds, presented its bureaucratically neutered findings to the Volusia County Council on its study of the historical challenges facing tourism, revitalization, and economic redevelopment from Ormond Beach to Daytona Beach Shores.

Following the presentation, then Volusia County Councilwoman Billie Wheeler told committee members:

“I am fighting with you on this,” Wheeler said. “This is my district, and we do have a plan of action, but I want to make sure it is not one of those plans of actions that goes on the shelf, and I can tell you I am 100% committed to doing whatever I need to do in collaborating with this group on getting things moving.”

So, what happened to the plan? 

Just as former Councilwoman Wheeler feared, it appears the study ended up on a groaning shelf in a dusty corner of a dead records morgue in DeLand – out of sight and out of mind – after serving its purpose of allowing our elected dullards to say, “See, we’re on top of the problem, folks!  Go back to sleep…”

I assume the now-forgotten Beachside Redevelopment Plan is bookended by the 2013 report by Strategic Advisory Group, an outside expert who conducted a painstaking analysis of tourism marketing and its importance to the economic viability of our beachside – next to the most recent analysis of the “Economic Value of Beaches in Volusia County” completed (and ignored) in October 2025 – along with Team Volusia’s “2030 Strategic Plan,” which still refuses to acknowledge Tourism/Hospitality among its “key target business sectors…” 

Whatever.

Why are our “economic development” types looking to “revisit” a “20-year vision for Daytona Beach” – consisting of typical governmental pap that does nothing but ensure absolutely no one can be held accountable for failing to meet nonexistent “benchmarks and implementation goals”?

In my view, rather than look at the area’s health and economic welfare holistically – incorporating the best attributes of both “Old” and “New” in a symbiotic strategy – focusing on the importance of our greatest natural amenity to revive our core tourist area – is the key to improving the health and success of the region.

So, why do our economic development gurus continue to perpetuate a divide? 

Had anyone bothered to mine the treasure-trove of historical data and empirical evidence now rotting in yellowed binders holding studies past, they would have come upon this timeless gem from the 2013 SAG report, which concluded:

“Without resources – leadership and economic – the overall tourism experience in Volusia County will decline.  An overall collaborative strategy is needed.”   

What’s changed?

According to the Observer’s report, “Rand said the board’s recommendations are ultimately aimed at creating a stronger and more resilient Daytona Beach through collaboration between city leaders, staff, and stakeholders.

“The board believes that the recommendations will contribute to a stronger and more resilient Daytona Beach,” Rand said. “Promote sustainable economic growth and long-term tax base expansion.”

What does that gross generalization mean for entrepreneurs and small businesses seeking an actionable strategy?

In my view, these dog-tired exercises only serve to give certain people titles – and ‘big shot’ board appointments to pad their personal marketing strategy.  In turn, they give us more platitudes – reconstituted crap and bureaucratese – that ignore the hard-earned lessons of the past.   

Good luck struggling Main Street merchants and longsuffering Beachside entrepreneurs. 

You’re gonna need it…   

Quote of the Week

“The Palm Coast Planning Board has approved adding commercial space to a part of the Lakeview Estates development, while denying a development amendment that would have removed green space from its other areas.

Lakeview Estates, located north of Matanzas Woods Parkway along Highway U.S. 1, is the development under construction on what was once the Matanzas Woods Golf Course, which permanently closed in 2007. Since then, Matanzas GC Palm Coast, LLC has purchased the property and been approved to develop a maximum of 272 residential units across the 280 acres.

Multiple residents surrounding the Lakeview Estates development showed up to protest the proposed changes, specifically those that would remove green space buffer.

“You would not want this in your backyard. We bought our house with a premise — and we were told — that it was green space. You could not build on it,” London Drive resident Anne Doherty said. “And now that’s being taken away.”

–Reporter Sierra Williams, writing in the Palm Coast Observer, “Palm Coast’s Lakeview Estates development OK’d for new commercial uses, but not removing green space,” Tuesday, May 26, 2026

In a dramatic scene routinely played out before councils, commissions, and planning boards across the “fun Coast,” claustrophobic residents stand before their neighbors on the dais and make impassioned pleas. 

Reminding the ‘powers that be’ of promises made when they bought their little slice of the pie – and how those assurances are being destroyed by buffer zone reductions, privacy concerns, toxic contamination inherent to building on former golf courses, transportation and utilities infrastructure, density, flooding, water quality, etc.

Last week, that sad vignette was staged in front of a packed hearing room as the Palm Coast Planning and Land Development Board considered land use changes proposed for the 280-acre site that was once the Grand Club Matanzas Golf Course which permanently closed in 2007.

According to reports, in 2021, the Palm Coast City Council approved a master planned development for the site allowing 272 “dwelling units” amid existing homes on several “tracts” around the meandering site, each with different designated uses.   

According to reports, the developer is seeking to amend the agreement and change a section of land along US-1 from “greenbelt” to “mixed use,” allowing for commercial development, which would require reducing a “view protection zone” from 150 feet to 100 feet.  That left some residents concerned their view will now consist of commercial buildings – not greenspace. 

The Carrot?  To sweeten the deal, the developer offered to donate Track 8 – an 11.2-acre parcel currently zoned for up to 51 townhouses with an estimated value of $1.5 million – to the City of Palm Coast for a community park.

The Hammer? “The applicant noted that if the amendment is denied, the developer retains the right to build 51 townhouses on Track 8, and the existing track limits remain unchanged.”

According to a report in the Flagler Bee, “The meeting, which ran nearly three and a half hours, ended with the board recommending approval of a land use change for one portion of the property while recommending denial of the accompanying zoning amendment, sending a mixed signal to the City Council, which will make the final decision.”

In my view, thanks to the state’s legislative intrusion into local planning and land use decisions – literally preempting choices that affect your neighborhood and mine to Tallahassee – local advisory boards comprised of citizens trying to help preserve the character of their community are caught between a frustrating rock and a hard place, their vital role now little more than a fading formality, another box to be checked… 

During the meeting, PLDB Vice Chair James Albano explained to his concerned neighbors: “We are volunteers. We are citizens in this community. We have faced some of the same issues that you face with developments going up in our backyards… We’re not here to represent the city. We’re here to look at things as a quasi-judicial board and vote based on facts, not heartstrings.”

But wouldn’t it be nice (just once) if the needs of existing residents who purchased homes – then had the rug pulled out from under them to facilitate more, more, more development – were considered before the next developer issues a “you do this, or I’ll do that, then you’ll really be screwed” ultimatum? 

Perhaps that’s something we should address with members of our state legislative delegation at the ballot box… 

And Another Thing!

I’ve mentioned this before, but I rarely write about the Lost City of Deltona in this space anymore. 

Whenever I do, I get a queasy feeling – like I’m pointing out something you don’t want to step in – a miasma of dysfunction and abject incompetence that continues to make the largest city in Volusia County by population the laughingstock of our metropolitan statistical area…

To be honest, I simply don’t have the countenance to kick a crippled community in the throes of a civic meltdown.  That’s not sporting – and it does nothing to help.  

In fact, it’s counterproductive and hardly fair to residents of what has become little more than a Banana Republic – run by elected officials in name only that take pride in lowering the bar – a place inhabited by repeat victims who long ago lost any influence over what happens to them.

The truth is that I have no more perception or awareness of most civic issues in Deltona (or anywhere else) than you do.  No preternatural prescience like a Cassadaga soothsayer – or a fortuneteller who gazes into a crystal ball and foretells the future.  

I simply have a different perspective on the issues. 

A view based on thirty-years in municipal government, seen through the prism of what I read, hear, or discern from those on the inside.  Insights gained from the rumors and conjecture of my fellow rubes who stand outside the closed portcullis and peer through the greasy pane of a cloistered City Hall hoping for a glimpse of the truth. 

That said, I saw the fate of Deltona City Commissioner Dori Howington, writ large, the moment she stood up to fight the forces of greed, pushing for a temporary building moratorium last year, then boldly walking point in the futile battle against SB 180, the state’s legislative preemption that virtually neutered local land use protections in Florida.

Other area elected officials openly warned their “colleagues” that opposing the state’s action could have grave consequences. 

Apparently, they were right…   

For instance, last September, a visibly frightened New Smyrna Beach City Commission voted 3-2 to opt out of a statewide lawsuit attempting to repeal Senate Bill 180 and preserve municipal growth management regulations and home rule authority for local governments.

The vote was based, in part, on New Smyrna Mayor Fred Cleveland’s public handwringing regarding serious repercussions from those very legislators we sent to represent our interests in Tallahassee…

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

In my view, that’s that not good governance and collegiality – it’s base thuggery…

Now, it appears Volusia County Councilman David “No Show” Santiago and his wife, Deltona City Commissioner Emma Santiago, have successfully delivered the personal, professional, and political coup de grâce to Commissioner Howington for her unwillingness to get along and go along with the whims of the ruling junta in the Lost City of Deltona… 

It was anything but graceful.  

According to an article by Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal last week:

“During a Deltona Commission meeting on May 4, Commissioner Emma Santiago, wife of County Councilman David Santiago, raised concerns about Howington’s role with the clerk’s office and supported getting an outside opinion about a possible conflict of interest.

The office has some involvement with the city’s finances, including withholding child support payments from employees’ checks.

Santiago told a deputy that the day after the meeting, Howington patted her on the shoulder and said “I know where you live” during a confrontation at City Hall. She also told a deputy that Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. heard Howington mutter a threat at the May 4 meeting after the commission voted to get an opinion on a potential conflict of interest.

The Volusia Sheriff’s Office forwarded charges to the State Attorney’s Office for review. The charges were simple battery and threatening an elected official or their family. As of May 29, the State Attorney’s Office had not made a decision on whether to move forward with the case.”

Rather than obtain an opinion from Florida’s Attorney General on the conflict-of-interest question, last week, Ms. Howington was summarily fired from her job as Chief Financial Officer with the Volusia County Clerk of the Court.

Not for job-related performance issues – Volusia County Clerk Laura Roth praised Howington’s contributions – but because of the petty allegations brought by the bumptious duo of Councilman and Commissioner Santiago… 

As a result, engaged citizens and activists from across Volusia County are now rightfully concerned about the danger to their personal and professional reputations should they be targeted by politically powerful forces for speaking out, seeking a place at the table, and having the courage to speak their truth to power. 

Hell, I’ve been the target of Councilman Santiago’s distortions and spooky ridicule myself. 

In fact, as a sitting elected official with more on his plate than perhaps he realizes (or cares), in March, Santiago took time to post the most cringeworthy diatribe I have ever received (and I’ve gotten a few). 

In a bizarre rant, the creepy Councilman Santiago explained he did “…some research and asked AI to suggest what you may look like during your “Blog Fiction Articles” writing time…”   

Flippin’ weird, y’all. 

At least I’m in good company. 

When local citizen and clean water advocate Greg Gimbert of Let Volusia Vote asked the Volusia County Council for a charter amendment to ensure treated sewage is never used to augment our aquifer – or sent directly to consumers (‘toilet to tap’) in Volusia County’s service area – Councilman Santiago (who is no stranger to defamation allegations) branded him a racist (for speaking Spanish to Deltona residents?) and a “con artist.”

Similarly, when engaged resident Doug Petit, a volunteer member of Volusia’s ECHO advisory board, questioned the process for developing the programs 2040 strategic plan, Councilman Santiago besmirched Mr. Petit’s good name by labeling him a “liar” from the dais.   

Add Dori Howington’s scalp to the extensive list of those who dared disagree with Councilman Santiago… 

Look, I’m not sure what the Santiagos’ do for a living (outside of dragging on the public teat) but they certainly seem to have a lot of time on their hands for political intrigue, getting in dustups with constituents, manipulating Deltona politics, and destroying the reputations of anyone who crosses them. 

I hope the longsuffering residents of the Lost City of Deltona, and Volusia County’s District 5, remember that come election time… 

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