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:

FDOT District 5: Incompetence Over Ingenuity – Every.  Damn.  Time…

Hanlon’s razor is a philosophical rule of thumb that reminds us “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” 

A logical means of eliminating unlikely explanations for human or organizational behavior, similar to the popular reinterpretation of Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law, which says, “Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.”

Instead of naturally assuming someone is out to get you, this heuristic encourages us to consider stupidity before malevolence… 

I was reminded of that maxim last week when it was reported that the Florida Department of Transportation is continuing its ill designed $13 million assault on commonsense along A-1-A from Ormond-by-the-Sea to the Flagler County line. 

An engineering nightmare that is systematically destroying the smooth flow of traffic on the busy oceanfront highway. 

According to a disturbing report by Molly Reed of News6:

“Employees at Lagerheads Bar and Grill say that while a major construction project is underway, not only are temporary barricades surrounding the property, but FDOT has also installed a permanent curb that blocks off their main parking lot entirely.

“People just ride past because they think we’re closed,” said Shannon Gutierrez, an employee at Lagerheads.

Despite appearances, Lagerheads employees Shannon Gutierrez and Bri Brannan say the restaurant is open. But the perception of being cut off has already taken a financial toll on their 30 employees and 20 musicians.

“Having to be cut back from 30 to 40 hours a week, people are now getting 18 to 25 a week, and some of our employees are single moms,” Gutierrez said.”

Essentially, the FDOT project has completely eliminated the popular beachside restaurant’s main parking lot, leaving only a small ten space lot down the hill behind the building. 

Why would a state transportation agency turn a small locally owned restaurant into what appears to be an inaccessible island to passersby?

According to the report, “News 6 emailed FDOT with several questions about the project and the curb installation. A spokesperson confirmed that Lagerheads’ parking spots are in FDOT’s right-of-way and that parking there “is no longer available.”

Now, many are asking: Is it a meanspirited lack of concern – or bureaucratic incompetence?

In addition, employees claim FDOT promised the restaurant a “Miami curb” – a sloping gutter system that can serve as a functional compromise when correcting accessibility issues like this.

That didn’t happen.  

Sounds like someone at FDOT District 5 dropped the ball.  Repeatedly… 

For over a year, residents and business owners from Ormond Beach to Daytona Beach have been unified in their utter distain for the $20.5 million abomination that FDOT committed on A-1-A. 

That includes the $9.2 million obstacle course that is now east/west Granada Boulevard through the city’s heavily traveled downtown, a barely navigable roadway ostensibly engineered to “encourage safer driving speeds and enhance pedestrian safety.”

Bullshit.

For many motorists, FDOT’s handiwork has become a daily nuisance – a dangerous impediment to the smooth flow of traffic on Ormond’s increasingly clogged streets and thoroughfares – a nonsensical slalom course complete with whoop-de-doos, moguls, “bulb-outs,” chicanes, and concrete extensions along the shoulder. 

As a result, the curb is increasingly marred with tire scuffing where vehicles have left the driving surface. 

Last year, FDOT was required to make expensive modifications to a section of the project after Chris Mavronas, owner of Steve’s Famous Diner in Daytona Beach, rightfully complained he was losing business after a raised median blocked customer access to his parking lot. 

Just down the road at the Bellaire Condominiums, the homeowner’s association reported that the roadwork had increased danger to motorists, describing the response of residents to the changes on A-1-A as “Absolute utter shock at the idiocy of it.”

Sound familiar?

By any metric, the project has been a five-alarm foul-up from its inception – one of those “only in government” fiascos – where bureaucrats analyze what works, conduct expensive engineering studies, investigate ways to expedite traffic, alleviate congestion, and enhance pedestrian safety – then do the exact opposite.

According to a social media post from Lagerheads, since the media attention, FDOT officials have been at the restaurant trying to find a workaround for the parking problem…

I’ll bet they have. 

But how many of these expensive gaffes are we going to be on the hook for?

In my view, it is time for state Sen. Tom Leek (who sits on the transportation appropriations committee) – and the always lethargic Rep. Bill “The Sluggard” Partington (who, unlike Sen. Leek, doesn’t appear to do much of anything in Tallahassee) – to get off their backsides and make official inquiry into the gross maladministration at the FDOT District 5 office in DeLand. 

How many more businesses will have their existence threatened before someone does something about this?

Our elected representatives should demand better for frustrated constituents and small business owners who have been repeatedly victimized by the bureaucratic incompetence of an uncaring and inaccessible state agency that has lost the confidence of those they exist to serve.

Volusia County Council: Smoke, Mirrors, and Data Center Bans

I’m not sure who wrote it, but I recently read an insightful essay on the politics of distraction and how those in power use it to capture our focus, especially during election cycles or times of controversy.

“Political distraction is not noise — it’s design. It’s a governing method — one that trades clarity for control. When citizens lose focus, power concentrates.

In modern democracies, control over attention has become control over accountability.”

On the eve of last week’s primary election, the Volusia County Council voted to enact a ban on “large-scale” data centers, defined as “…a single location, with a data center on site, that has an anticipated monthly peak load of 50 megawatts or more, calculated as the highest average load over a 15-minute interval.”

According to reports, under SB 484 – which was recently signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis – these mega data centers are exempt from the overreaching preemptions of SB 180 – bad legislation which essentially removed all local growth management regulations and gifted the real estate development industry carte blanche to build when, where, and what they want.

These large-scale facilities house servers, storage systems, networking equipment, and other IT infrastructure that process massive quantities of digital data.  Depending on the size and type, data centers often consume enormous amounts of water and energy, emit sustained noise, and can produce noxious fumes from generators and industrial HVAC systems that make them incompatible with residential and commercial areas. 

Despite attempts to mediate these environmental impacts, data centers are an infernal nuisance for their neighbors but remain a necessity in our digital world. If you watch Netflix, search the internet, use social media, or are reading this blog, a data center is in the chain.

Fortunately, massive 50 MW or greater data centers are few and far between.

In my view, that’s why the specificity of a “large scale data center” ban was a cheap political ploy during a hard-fought election season for Volusia County Council members who have ignored our environment, weakened conservation programs, and made low-impact development practices optional and are now hoping we forget those insults as they seek reelection. 

The ensuing political theater provided an opportunity for more hot air from the dais and the chance to appear as though they listen to the concerns of their constituents who spoke in opposition to data centers. 

They don’t.

In my view, it was a meaningless gesture orchestrated for the eve of a primary which resulted in incumbents rightfully struggling for their political futures.  

After all the pap and fluff, the ban will only apply to unincorporated Volusia County and will be limited to one area north of Ormond Beach which is zoned I-2 (Heavy Industrial) that cannot accommodate a large-scale center. 

In my view, rather than focus on the low hanging fruit of “large-scale” centers, our elected officials in both Volusia County and the municipalities should be working on broad regulations for the various range and types of data centers that will inevitably seek to locate here.  

These should include changes to zoning and comprehensive plans directing where centers can be located, along with “pay your own way” requirement and ratepayer protections for power, utilities, and infrastructure; strict environmental and nuisance abatement protections, a means of enforcing the rules once a data center is built, and a provision that data centers will not be eligible for tax abatements, incentives, or non-disclosure protections.

In Volusia County, each municipality will need to address data centers on their own. 

Recently the City of Ormond Beach passed an 18-month moratorium on all types of data centers, Flagler County approved a one-year moratorium on new data centers in unincorporated areas, and the Edgewater City Council is placing a referendum on the November ballot that would prohibit the construction, expansion, or operation of new data centers anywhere in the city.

In DeSoto County, commissioners recently approved a one-year moratorium on new data center applications – but explicitly exempted projects already in the approval process – to include rezoning for a massive 4,000 MW 800-plus-acre data center project proposed earlier this year. 

The “hyperscale” facility has been described by industry experts as “one of the largest data center projects on earth.”

I appreciate the outpouring of support for Volusia’s ban by well-meaning environmentalists and citizens who are fighting hard to protect our quality of life in a place where common sense is under constant siege. 

In my view, this was just ‘bidness’ as usual’ for these masters of political distraction and procrastination… 

Do you think Councilmen Don “Motocross” Dempsey, David “No Show” Santiago, or Danny “Gaslight” Robins give two-shits about prohibiting data centers in Volusia County or anywhere else?

When was the last time that bunch of malleable shills told a developer with a profit motive what they can and cannot do on land they own, regardless of how onerous the civic and environmental impacts? 

How about our wholly compromised Florida legislature who continue to preempt local control and defund essential services during this period of explosive growth? 

Do you think they have our best interests at heart? 

Of course, the ‘mantra’ remains – “Property Rights Rule!”  Except for existing residential property owners who always come up short to those with a very lucrative chip in the game…

Here in the Biggest Whorehouse in the World, money talks – and I’ll just bet those who build and operate data centers of all types understand how to apply it to maximum effect…   

As I understand it, the majority of data facilities currently operating in Florida have an operating capacity of 12 MW or less.  I suspect we will see centers without the “large-scale” definition as specified in SB 484 – and Volusia County’s ban – coming to our region in the not-too-distant future…   

The next “hot button” distraction to divert attention away the political inattention to real threats to our lives, livelihoods, and environment: Flock cameras and tag readers…

While the bulldozers roar.

Quote of the Week

“A member of the Deltona City Commission is in the clear.

City Commissioner Dori Howington is not facing any charges resulting from an incident with one of her peers at City Hall in the spring.

The State Attorney’s Office has filed with the Circuit Court its intention not to charge Howington for allegedly touching Commissioner Emma Santiago on the shoulder and allegedly making a threatening statement against her.

“After reviewing the available evidence and considering the totality of the circumstances, this Office concludes that the interests of justice do not support the formal filing of criminal charges in this matter,” wrote Assistant State Attorney Nicholas Kramperth in a memorandum dated July 7. “This determination should not be interpreted as condoning the reported conduct, but instead reflects an exercise of prosecutorial discretion consistent with the purposes of criminal prosecution and the furtherance of justice.”

The touching incident took place May 5 at Deltona City Hall, where the two women encountered each other and “a verbal altercation” ensued. This encounter followed from the City Commission’s meeting the evening before. The account was part of a report taken by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and included in “a non-arrest affidavit” listing two possible charges against Howington. The possible charges then pending against Howington were battery and corrupt by threat of a public servant.” 

–Reporter Al Everson writing in the West Volusia Beacon, “Deltona elected official escapes charges,” Friday, August 21, 2026

I wonder if the State Attorney’s Office ever gets tired of playing WWE referee to the Lost City of Deltona’s seemingly endless horseshit histrionics and political chicanery? 

During a May 2026 meeting, during an audit report, Commissioner Emma Santiago set the stage by challenging Commissioner Howington’s job as chief financial officer for the Volusia County Clerk of the Court by asking for a legal opinion on a potential conflict of interest.

Why? Because the Clerk has ancillary dealings with the City of Deltona (and every other municipality in Volusia County).

During the subsequent exchange on the dais, Mayor Avila claims he overheard Howington say, sotto voce, “I’m going to get that bitch…”

That set up (literally) a verbal confrontation between Howington and Santiago the following day in a non-public area of City Hall – an exchange that was suspiciously captured on video by Mayor Avila (?) – who secreted himself behind a corner, hiding like the proverbial owl in the ivy, to surreptitiously record Howington’s communications without her knowledge or permission.

During the exchange, Howington could be seen lightly placing her hand on Santiago’s shoulder and allegedly said, “I know where you live.” As a result, Commissioner Santiago filed a criminal complaint charging Howington with battery and corruption by threats to a public official. 

According to media reports, Ms. Santiago’s complaint was forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office for review. 

It was clear that the junta of compromised dullards who call the shots on and off the dais in Deltona wanted Commissioner Howington gone – and they didn’t particularly care what skeevy tactics they had to employ to accomplished it. 

At the time, Commissioner Santiago’ husband, Volusia County Councilman David “No Show” Santiago – a strange little man and perennial politician who is currently running for reelection against J. David Sosa – weighed in, huffing-and-puffing in mock indignation that Howington should resign.  

I’ve said this before, but the question remains valid this election season – 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, petty dustups with constituents, manipulating Deltona politics, and destroying the reputations of anyone who crosses them.   

In my view, the goal of Deltona’s insiders was ensuring that Howington was no longer an impediment to their political benefactors in the development community…

It was a heavy price to pay for challenging the status quo.    

Last week, the State Attorney’s Office announced it would not be pursuing a criminal prosecution in the matter – and Deltona voters signaled they have finally had their fill and sent Mayor Avila to the ash heap of history in his three-way race with Vice Mayor Maritza Vazquez and newcomer Jason Voelz.

Good.  On both fronts.

I hope the longsuffering residents of the Lost City of Deltona – and Volusia County’s District 5 – finally get the responsive, accessible, and community-focused representation they deserve. 

That begins at the ballot box in November.

And Another Thing!

“Getting to Yes (22 parcels, 14 of them in a CRA): With one exception, these are non-conforming lots, from 2,500-4,800 square feet.  Most of these parcels are vacant and of a similar size to their neighbors. While some could be considered for divestment to abutters, perhaps some could be considered for in-fill housing.

To smooth the way for in-fill housing, consider development of a program called Getting to Yes. This would be a program with pre-approved building plans designed to take the pain out of activating these parcels with housing. This would not be an affordable housing program, but rather a parcel activation program; houses could be more affordable if they are smaller and easier to build.”

–Civic Activist Anne Ruby, in a report presented to the Daytona Beach City Commission, “Study of Property Owned by the City of Daytona Beach,” Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Last week, one of the biggest assets the City of Daytona Beach has on its side – civic activist Anne Ruby – presented her in-depth study of vacant city owned properties.  Most important, Ms. Ruby may have planted a viable seed for supporting desperately needed neighborhood infill and redevelopment opportunities in the community.

The innovative concept is called “Getting to Yes,” an urban revitalization process which has seen success in South Bend, Indiana.  The program facilitates small to middle scale housing development in neighborhoods, primarily on small or non-conforming city owned lots which may remain vacant due to configuration, size, or current regulations.

The South Bend program supports neighborhood infill and economic opportunities for locals by offering a set of pre-approved building plans matched to the lot at no cost.  In essence, the city provides qualified applicants with a catalog of high-quality architectural designs – complete with preapproved building and site development approval – which results in significant time and cost savings for those seeking to build on languishing lots.  

According to a report by Rich Caroll writing in the Ormond Beach Observer, Ms. Ruby’s study “…found the city owns 385 parcels. Of those, 84 were identified as properties that could potentially be returned to the tax rolls after additional review. Twenty-two properties — including 14 within Community Redevelopment Areas — were placed in the “Getting to Yes” category. Most are vacant, nonconforming lots between about 2,500 and 4,800 square feet.

Ruby proposed developing pre-approved building plans designed specifically for small lots, such as a 50-by-50-foot property. Instead of requiring a property owner to begin the design and approval process from scratch, the city could have several house designs ready for use.

“The advantage of trying to get to yes would be that it would streamline the path to construction,” Ruby said. “It would be easier to build.” 

In my experience, commonsense solutions rarely originate in the cloistered confines of government offices – and good ideas never come from the unimaginative “that’s the way we’ve always done it” lockstep conformity of a strict regulatory environment.

It is said, “the antidote to stagnation is innovation.” 

In my view, the City of Daytona Beach was smart to engage with Anne Ruby.

Clearly, Ms. Ruby understands the importance of collaborative government, the ability to learn from others – seeing a need and seeking solutions outside the bureaucratic box – then pushing hard to see programs implemented locally that have been successful in other communities.    

That is the essence of citizen engagement, and few do it better that Anne Ruby.

Unfortunately, Daytona Beach isn’t the only area government that seems incapable of embracing new ideas, perspectives, and experiences – preferring to buy more time and distance with expensive studies – paralysis by analysis – then allowing the results to molder on a groaning shelf next to other unread reports in a dead records morgue…

According to the Observer’s report, “Commissioner Paula Reed said the concept could help residents who may own property but don’t know what they can build on it.

“I love your suggestions,” Reed said. “The report is great. I think if we were to take your suggestions, it would be proactive on our part.”

According to the report, the “Getting to Yes” program remains in the conceptual stage, and Ms. Ruby’s study suggests further evaluation of potential projects, annual reviews of city-owned properties, and plans for surplus properties in the city’s inventory.

Commissioners have expressed interest in holding a workshop to learn more about how the concept could benefit Daytona Beach.

Time is of the essence.

With area business owners and residents actively rallying to secede from the beachside and be annexed into Ormond Beach – and neighboring Daytona Beach Shores looking to ditch the “Daytona Beach” boat anchor and try their luck as “The Shores” – in my view, our “powers that be” should be lobbying local elected officials to embrace innovative suggestions for improvement regardless of where they originate.  

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