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:

Patriot Day 2026: A Time to Remember  

Tomorrow is Patriot Day – September 11th – when we honor the memory of the nearly 3,000 innocent victims who died in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon, and those who perished when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

This day is also when we solemnly remember those valiant first responders who laid down their lives, courageously giving the ‘last full measure of devotion,’ and those who continue to succumb to illnesses related to their extraordinary service at Ground Zero.     

These vicious attacks on our nation by radical Islamic terrorists awoken us to our external vulnerabilities – and demonstrated how, in our darkest hour, American’s forget our differences and come together to protect those freedoms we hold dear.

With our nation so terribly divided by literally everything – race, age, gender, political affiliation, ideology – let us remember that this is the day we have set aside to honor those we lost and commemorate those shared values that bind us together as Americans, demonstrating to the world our collective resolve, and our enduring love for this great nation.

Never forget.

Tetchy Ormond Beach Officials Say “No” to Daytona’s Beachside Refugees

One bit of political theater gave rise to another last week when the Ormond Beach City Commission found it necessary to tell Daytona’s beachside residents they would not be welcoming them to what the late, great Big John referred to as the “Fingerbowl District.”

I think they knew that…

Last month, a group of frustrated Daytona Beach residents and business owners known as Daytona Beachside United began collecting petitions with the stated goal of “de-annexing” the beachside and allowing the area to incorporate as a separate city or become part of neighboring Ormond Beach. 

In my view, it was a highly effective way of calling attention to the blight, neglect, and myriad civic issues that continue to plague Daytona’s forgotten core tourist area as the big money moves west along Boomtown Boulevard…

According to a recent article by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer:  

“We deserve better,” said Sonja Sailor, one of the residents who organized the initiative. “We just want to keep our beachside clean and safe for our residents. We want thriving businesses. We don’t want no more neglect to the Boardwalk or beachside, and we want to have a quality of life. I don’t think that’s a lot to ask for from the city, and we figure if the city can’t help us, then it’s time for us to annex either into another community, or annex ourselves under a special act.”

In addition, civic activist and beachside business owner Louie Louizes said, “Ormond Beach doesn’t have people doing drugs on the sidewalks and stuff like that, and their roads are all nice and everything’s clean,” Louizes said. “The problem I have with the city is all they’re doing is developing west on LPGA, and they forgot about the crown jewel, which almost made everything here Daytona Beach is the Boardwalk. We’ve been left in the dust.”

I thought it was genius political satire – using exaggeration and irony to shine a bright light on the long-term issues dragging down what was once the World’s Most Famous Beach – a place where citizen input and dissent is typically ignored.

Given the media attention, widespread discussion, and well-deserved bureaucratic embarrassment the Beachside United’s nascent secession effort has garnered, it’s working…

Unfortunately, it appears the art of political sarcasm to draw attention and shape public perception was lost on stodgy Ormond Beach officials, who seemed genuinely perplexed by the facetious request to incorporate Daytona’s beachside. 

For instance, Commissioner Travis Sargent used the ridiculous discussion to curry political favor with those who worked to defeat Mayor Jason Leslie by attempting to spin a tempest in a teapot ahead of his own showdown with challenger Jennifer Bright for the Zone 2 seat in November.

During the August 25 Ormond Beach City Commission meeting, Commissioner Sargent got his knickers in an oddly indignant twist and engaged in some cheap political theater of his own, claiming he received “emails and phone calls” (?) after the beachside annexation suggestion was reported by WFTV. 

According to reports, when Mayor Leslie was approached with the idea of annexing Daytona’s beachside, he told the media outlet he was “interested” in the idea and would pass it along to city staff.

That apparently stirred the incendiary ire of the peevish Commissioner Sargent…  

“In the city of Ormond Beach, we are a city manager form of government,” Sargent crowed. “It takes three people to direct staff … I’m very sorry to the residents that this may have caused confusion for.”

Really?

For his part, Mayor Leslie explained “I didn’t really even know what it was because I didn’t know anything about it, and that was followed up by people from the media contacting me,” Leslie said. “…  there’s no conspiracy behind it, and I wasn’t trying to do something that was out of line. It was just me thanking the residents of Daytona Beach for thinking of us, of holding our city to a high standard, and thank you to everybody who makes this place a great place to live.”

In a silly ‘look at me’ pique, Commissioner Sargent turned what should have been a lighthearted moment – a unifying source of civic pride – into a prime example of all that’s wrong with Ormond Beach’s bickersome elected officials.

That includes kicking lame duck Mayor Leslie when he’s down…

Why?

Perhaps Daytona’s disenfranchised beachside might want to consider annexing into “The Shores” – an upscale community so tired of that dilapidated boat anchor to the north that they’ve put a referendum on the ballot to drop “Daytona Beach” from their name altogether? 

Having lived in Ormond Beach for over 60-years, I can report that once you scratch the carefully crafted civic façade of snobbish superiority, you’ll find the community has many of the same civic issues facing Daytona Beach and beyond.

In many ways, the political atmosphere in Ormond Beach has become similar to tumultuous places like the Lost City of Deltona and Palm Coast – no longer the special place I once knew, with little contrast from anywhere else in the greater Halifax area – now that our elected officials have become uninspired rubber stamps for the developers who fund their political ambitions.

Now that our once quaint community is trapped in the pincer of explosive growth on all fronts – with no shared vision beyond the monotonous proliferation of sprawling subdivisions, strip centers, itinerant chain restaurants, and storage facilities that have made our community just another homogenized “everyplace” – our elected “leadership” prefers the distraction of spiteful backbiting over strategic planning and placemaking.   

Now, we face two-years of Mayor-elect Lori Tolland – the perpetual victim of any land use attorney who rattles their saber – mewling her tone-deaf monologs and telling existing residents how much she hates overdevelopment, but votes for it every damn time… 

In Ormond Beach politics, you’re either part of the cliquish “in-crowd” or you aren’t.  The mercenary wants of developers and corporate executives who stroke campaign contributions now take precedence over the needs of We, The Little People. 

In other words, the stagnant status quo wins again…

Bunnell’s Secretive “Project Butterfly” Exposed – The Reality is Far from Idyllic… 

Each week, long-suffering residents of Florida’s “Fun Coast” are reminded we are mere pawns in a much larger game. 

We live in a weird place and time where plans that directly affect our lives and livelihoods are negotiated behind closed doors by those with a chip in the game, special interests who don’t give two-shits how their for-profit scheme will impact the rest of us.

Rather than listen to citizen input and openly discuss the potential impacts of projects in the sunshine, our “economic development” shills misuse competitive protections to keep projects cloaked in total secrecy. 

They use mysterious cryptonyms like “Project Butterfly,” while the beneficiaries clandestinely work out details with appointed officials in effective darkness, using a perverse bureaucratic sleight-of-hand that often has elected officials voting on projects of significant regional impact with little (if any) information on which to base a decision.    

The resulting sense of alienation and betrayal between citizens and those we elect to serve our interests is destroying public confidence in an environment where public policy is formed in seclusion, and greed is the operative ethic.

According to a disturbing piece by Pierre Tristam writing in FlaglerLive! entitled, “How Bunnell’s Backroom Bootlickers Sold Out West Flagler for a Trash Mountain,” that secret squirrel intrigue took center stage last week when the City of Bunnell Planning Board arbitrarily ignored the fervent pleas of residents and farmers to green-light a massive “610-acre commercial garbage dump in the heart of West Flagler’s agricultural community.” (Find more here: https://tinyurl.com/mv8rp8dt)

You read that right.

The board approved a “solid waste management facility” at 518 County Road 45 on property currently used as a sod farm.  According to reports, the area is zoned “Agriculture and Silviculture” under the City of Bunnell’s land development code.

Shockingly, the regionally impactful project was approved just 24-hours after the secretive “Project Butterfly” was publicly revealed by Bunnell City Manager Alvin Jackson, giving citizens little time to study the dynamics of the project, or present a proper defense.

What is the benefit to Bunnell residents who will be required to live and farm near a commercial landfill? 

The newly formed corporation that will operate the dump will reportedly pay a $1.50 per ton “host fee” to the city, although there is currently no written contract specifying the terms, ensuring adjustments for inflation, etc. 

According to a previous report in FlaglerLive!, “The meeting was attended by as many people standing as were sitting–the most heavily attended planning board meeting since the same board recommended approval of the city’s and one of Florida’s largest industrial rezoning in history last year.

Three and a half hours later, a motion by Chelsea Herbert to deny the application failed for lack of a second, a Herbert motion to table it for a month or two to give the public an adequate opportunity to study up on the proposal also failed.

Cory Romaniuk’s motion to approve the landfill carried 3-1.”

The six-person board sat with just four voting members after Lyn Lafferty (one of the landowners of parts of the 610 acres) and Chair Gary Matsen, were absent…

Despite pleas from the crowd – to include the concerns of Flagler County Chair Leann Pennington and Commissioner Andy Dance – the planning board ignored the fact that by the city’s own land use rules, the City Commission is the proper regulatory venue for commercial landfills.

In my view, something stinks in Bunnell – and I’m not talking about the coming olfactory offense wafting off 610-acres of fetid waste (from who knows where?) rotting in the Florida sun… 

For reasons they claim were purely economic, the Planning Board ignored the potential environmental impacts to surrounding farms and landowners, to include water contamination, the safety of food products, wildlife, property values, and quality of life.

Not to mention the potential traffic impacts of an estimated 15,000 loads of waste entering the site off S.R.-100 each year.

According to FlaglerLive!, “The question never asked or answered all evening was where would the overwhelming majority of the garbage would be imported from, as it would have to be if the facility is to live up to its promised numbers, and whether rail transport will be part of transfer process.”

Why the rush to approve a massive garbage dump in the heart of Flagler County’s historic agriculture belt before the first independent environmental study or economic analysis is complete?  

In my view, these backroom machinations are inherently unfair, especially when statutory protections are misused to keep citizens in the dark this deep into the planning and zoning process… 

Shielding trade secrets, protecting proprietary information, and maintaining a competitive advantage during the exploratory phase is one thing – announcing a proposed 610-acre landfill to citizens, generational landowners, and commercial agricultural interests just 24-hours before the first and final vote of an unelected regulatory board is counter to the concept of transparency, fairness, and government in the sunshine.

Quote of the Week

“A lobbying group for real estate agents just put $10 million into a campaign to pass Amendment 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would dramatically cut and cap local property taxes across Florida — while also forcing steep cuts to local government services and further consolidating governing power in Tallahassee.

Just-posted campaign finance reports show that the Florida Realtors parked the $10 million late last week in “Vote Yes on 3.” It’s a political committee the real estate lobbying group recently set up that can be used to pay for television commercials, neighborhood canvassers, and other campaign expenses in support of the November ballot measure, which will need support from at least 60 percent of voters to pass.

It’s the first major infusion of cash into the campaign for Amendment 3, which Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature rushed onto the ballot during a 27-hour special session in June — despite widespread confusion, even among the legislators who voted for it, about how the plan would actually work.”

–Reporter Jason Garcia, writing in Seeking Rents, “Real estate agents just put $10 million into campaign to pass property tax amendment,” Monday, September 7, 2026

Cui bono is a Latin phrase that means “Who benefits?”

It is often used as a reasoning tool, suggesting that those responsible for a certain crime or event are typically the ones who stand to gain the most from it.

In a December 2025 article by Keith Griffith writing in Realtor.com – an industry magazine founded by the National Association of Realtors – we learned that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ asinine “plan” to drastically cut and ultimately eliminate property taxes could result in an immediate 7% to 9% increase in home prices…

According to the news outlet, Amendment 3’s tax shift will also “…come at a heavy price for renters and first-time homebuyers.”

Interesting.

That would explain why Florida’s influential real estate and development industry is backing this horribly flawed constitutional amendment which, if passed by 60% of Florida voters in November, would gut the ability of local governments to fund essential services during a period of explosive growth – to include law enforcement, fire, emergency services, roads, utilities, community events, senior centers, etc. – along with a host of other impacts which would seriously impact our quality of life. 

For instance, last month, the independent, non-partisan, and non-profit Florida Policy Institute issued a dire warning: “If Amendment 3 passes in November, some public hospital districts in Florida will lose over half their revenue, resulting in less access to care, increased wait times, less staff availability, and decreased funding for community care and programs that serve Floridians with low income.”

According to the FPI study, the potential impact on Volusia hospital districts over the next three years would be $23,859,338, and an estimated $323 million statewide.

If you thought wait times at area emergency departments are long now – have a seat… 

The goal of Florida’s proposed tax shift – transferring the burden from occupied residential properties to commercial property owners, renters, businesses, industry, fees, assessments, and other taxes – has nothing to do with saving Floridians money and everything to do with consolidating power in Tallahassee, ultimately replacing our hometowns with an inaccessible amalgam of bureaucracies. 

Even local legislators who claim they were strongarmed by Gov. DeSantis into putting the half-backed referendum on the ballot during a 27-hour special session earlier this year say the ballot measure will place Floridians in a “bad situation.”

In a June 2026 article in the Ormond Beach Observer, Rep. Chase Tramont was quoted:

“When my vote took place a few weeks ago in the special session, it was not for the policy itself,” he said. “If it had gone through the legislative process as a legislative bill to be implemented right away, it wouldn’t have passed the House — I doubt it would have passed the Senate. The vote was to allow you to decide for it.”

Whether or not the amendment passes will come down to “massive education efforts,” Tramont said. People need to know what services will have to be cut, or, how funds will be replaced to keep them.

“So, is it really a tax relief?” Tramont said. “My fear is that it can hurt the lower-income people, because you get a lot of low-income homes and trailer parks that don’t pay any property taxes. Now all of a sudden they’re not exempt from getting an assessment to that property. Now, you’re going to get people on fixed incomes. It could be a bad situation.”

In my view, Floridian’s deserve true tax (read: spending) reform – that includes ‘right sizing’ government at all levels – and getting a handle on the out-of-control quid pro quo corruption in Tallahassee.   

This isn’t it.  

I hope you will consider the source of this ill-thought and suspiciously rushed initiative – and those mercenary special interests who stand to benefit the most.  Learn all you can about the flagrant power grab that is Amendment 3 and vote like your quality of life depends on it.

Because it does.

And Another Thing!

“We need to have students over 1500 SAT…there are not very many over 1500 in the state of Florida…for us to keep our ranking, we have to get it [students] [from] out-of-state because all these students we get from out-of-state, they have a higher SAT than in-state.”

–University of Florida Board of Trustees Chair Mori Hosseini, urging the Florida Board of Governors not to place limitations on out-of-state admissions, citing that there aren’t enough in-state students passing standard admissions exams, Wednesday, September 2, 2026

According to a report by the College Board, of all 2025 graduating high school seniors in Florida (estimated at 205,000 last year) just 6,029 students earned a 1400-1600 on standardized scholastic assessments.  

In Volusia County, half of all high school students are below grade level in Mathematics and English. 

That’s a problem for state universities now operating under a last-minute mandate issued by the State Legislature (Tallahassee’s new modus operandi) which requires they accept lower performing in-state students at the risk of diluting the academic standards of Florida universities.

According to a report in the Florida Phoenix last week, reporter Jay Waagmeester explained the legislative intent “Put simply, the BOG, which supervises the State University System, can deny a university’s attempt to increase out-of-state tuition fees if the school enrolls more than the system-wide cap of non-Floridian students — now a max of 10% of the student body systemwide.”

For his part, Mr. Hosseini called the political intrusion in the admission process a “travesty,” and said he planned to “talk with legislators about addressing the policy during the next legislative session.”  Let’s hope he “talks” to legislators – and those school board members around the state who seem content with the erosion of academic standards – behind that ornate woodshed where he keeps the campaign donations…    

During the discussion, Florida State University Board of Trustees Chair Peter Collins said, “I think the question you have to ask yourselves is, how good do you want us to be? And if you don’t want us to be great, yeah, we can start admitting a lot more students that don’t meet the criteria. But I don’t think that that should be the goal.”

In turn, Mr. Hosseini voiced concern for Florida universities standing under the current national ranking system, “To achieve higher national rankings, a university may be incentivized to enroll fewer students to avoid disrupting its average academic performance, Hosseini said.

In pursuit of earning a top-five ranking, Hosseini said, “what is going to happen is this: If we can’t get the students out of state that are high GPA and high SAT/ACT, then what we are going to do is bring the number of students down so the percentages don’t affect us.”

If I understand correctly, Mr. Hosseini’s underlying point seems to be that Florida’s school districts aren’t producing a significant number of students with the scholastic aptitude necessary to compete with out-of-state applicants for admission to their own state’s places of higher learning. 

Now, we risk eroding academic excellence and jeopardizing national rankings to meet the politically motivated mandates of the state legislature.

I’m glad our High Panjandrum of Political Power, Mori Hosseini, said it and not me… 

Whenever anyone else points out the fact Volusia County District Schools have become more focused on image over substance – repeating, ad nauseum, the gross fabrication that Volusia County Schools earned back-to-back “A” grades – they are pilloried as naysaying assholes (or worse) and set upon by Superintendent Carmen Balgobin and her coterie of obsequious ass-kissers in the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand…  

In the view of many, Florida’s false imprimatur of educational excellence is based on a skewed system where districts that obtain just 65% or higher over twelve categories are considered “A” rated by the Florida Department of Education.

Volusia County Schools squeaked by with a mediocre 66%…

It is refreshing to see Mr. Hosseini say the quiet part out loud. 

For far too long Florida’s education policymakers have made it easier for rank opportunists like Superintendent Balgobin to give the false impression students are achieving academically simply by reducing performance standards. As a result, while school “grades” continue to increase – student comprehension in key subjects remains dismally low. 

That’s called lowering the bar – a malignant mediocrity that will have cascading repercussions for Florida’s university system and our states national/global competitiveness.  

Regardless of those frightening statistics, Volusia school administrators take perverse pride in the fact that, at the beginning of the 2025/26 school year, some 53% of students in traditional high schools were “below or far below their grade level in mathematics.”

Which is slightly better than the statewide average 55% of high school students who rank below grade level on standardized mathematics tests. 

That makes us the winner? 

As an uneducated rube and a mathematical illiterate, college was never in my cards.  As a lifelong experiential learner, I graduated magna cum laude from the School of Hard Knocks – the most expensive education there is…

That’s one reason I hold those with advanced degrees in high esteem – and why I worry about Florida’s future at the nexus of lower student expectations and reduced university entrance requirements – simply to accommodate the political whims of a compromised state legislature that has proven, time and again, that its hypocrisy knows no limits…

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

Note to Readers:

Barker’s View will be on hiatus next week – a short ‘pause for the cause.’  

During the break, please feel free to enjoy some past screeds from the copious BV achieves at the bottom of this page.  Sometimes it’s fun to take a look in the rearview mirror and with the clarity of hindsight analyze what’s changed and what remains the same here on Florida’s “Fun Coast.”   

All the best,

MDB

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 Schools: Abdicating Moral Responsibility Puts Children at Risk

In my view, organizational self-deception – defined as “a collective, systemic process in which members unconsciously manipulate, filter, or ignore information to maintain a favorable but inaccurate perception of the organization’s performance, risks, or professional ethics” – ultimately undermines trust and transparency when the ruse is exposed. 

In my experience, focusing on personal and professional self-preservation over substantive results, masking problems, avoiding responsibility, pointing fingers, manipulating facts, and the need to marginalize and suppress dissenting voices is dangerous, particularly in a setting where the safety and education of our children are at stake.

Recently, Mike Micallef, the wholly unqualified chief communications officer for Volusia County Schools, sent me an invitation (on social media?) to “…sit down with me and members of our Cabinet team for an open, candid conversation to answer your questions and provide any context needed to clear up myths or misinformation.”

I guess something I said hit close to home… 

His request for a “candid” conversation was in response to my pointed criticism of Superintendent Carmen Balgobin’s ridiculous “positivity movement” – a perverse toxic optimism that continues to ignore serious challenges and promote the canard that Volusia County Schools “earned” back-to-back “A” grades.

The fabricated claim of academic excellence is based on a skewed system where districts that obtain just 65% or higher over twelve categories are considered an “A” rated district by the Florida Department of Education. 

Volusia County Schools squeaked by with a one over par 66%…

I have no intention of sitting down with Mr. Micallef – or anyone else in the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand.  Because I don’t trust them.

Here’s the latest incredibly disturbing reason why.

Last week, news broke of a five-year old kindergartener who was sexually assaulted by a 5^th grade student with a history of sexual violence.  The victim was attacked at Pathways Elementary in Ormond Beach during a district sanctioned after-school program presented by an outside provider in September 2024.

According to an unsettling report by Mark Harper writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, the assault occurred when a “substitute paraprofessional employed by the Volusia district was in charge” and allowed the older boy to escort the younger child to the restroom.

“Once inside the bathroom and away from any adult supervision, L.P. sexually assaulted E.C.,” the suit states. “L.P. cornered E.C. in a bathroom stall and blocked his exit. He exposed his genitals to E.C. and attempted to force (the kindergartener) to perform oral sex. Terrified, E.C. refused (the older boy’s) demands.”

I won’t get into the horrific details of the circumstances surrounding the attack as graphically described in a report by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department, but the victim escaped his traumatizing ordeal by crawling under a stall door.   

In my view, the secondary failure of Volusia County Schools was allowing the student (who admitted to perpetrating the crime) to remain on the school campus for five days following his attack on the kindergartener. That’s the statutory definition of criminal child neglect.

According to the News-Journal, “A Volusia Circuit Court complaint filed on Aug. 26 alleges the principal and other school district officials engaged in “bureaucratic maneuvering and attempts to distance” the district from responsibility for the Sept. 19, 2024, assault, which happened during an after-school program at Pathways Elementary in Ormond Beach.

“While (the 5-year-old victim’s) family pleaded for action, the School Board did nothing to remove (the perpetrator) from campus despite the known threat he posed to (the victim) and other students,” the complaint states.”

Shockingly, Mr. Micallef refused to respond to the News-Journal’s request for comment – an opportunity to calm the fears of parents and answer a shocked community’s growing questions.  Instead, the district’s “chief communications officer” quibbled something about “a district practice against commenting on pending litigation.”

Perhaps most disturbing, the report indicates that once advised of the assault, school officials at Pathways immediately began distancing Volusia County Schools from the incident by laying blame on the private contractor of the after-school program. 

According to the report, Volusia County Schools administrators Kristy Castellano and Carrie Crkvenac assured the victim’s parents there would be “consequences” for the “outside entity.”  

In addition, “Pathways Principal Kevin Berry also called the parents, using similar language and offering “a completely inadequate ‘safety plan’ to ensure” the boys would “not cross paths on campus,” rather than suspending or expelling L.P., the suit claims.”

Disturbing.

According to the report, the aggressor was removed from campus only after “intense, sustained pressure” from the victim’s family, attorney and law enforcement,” when Patty Corr, the district’s chief operating officer, announced the repeat offender would be transferred to another school.

In my view, the lawsuit accurately calls the district’s administrative bungling in the aftermath of the child’s violent sexual assault what it was, a “self-serving attempt to distance the School Board from a program advertised by the school, held on school property, and staffed by a School Board employee.”

Further, the suit describes the district’s gross negligence as “…a years-long failure to act on known sexual misconduct by the same student, on the same campus, involving the same method of isolating a 5-year-old child in a restroom, followed by the same tactic of demanding secrecy.”

If proven true, that level of culpable negligence and deflection of blame in an elementary school (or anywhere else) is unconscionable. 

In my view, in the interest of safety and accountability, everyone responsible for the district’s blatant failure to protect vulnerable students – to include Superintendent Balgobin – should be terminated and summarily investigated by the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Professional Practices.

This abject dysfunction and pathological avoidance of responsibility cannot continue.

Kudos to News-Journal reporter Mark Harper for having the courage to tell this difficult story, and to the victim’s parents for exposing the district’s mind-boggling response to child safety concerns by demanding justice for their son’s continuing trauma.   

Now that the story is out, how will our ‘powers that be’ in the chamber of commerce set – those influential insiders who so willingly feed into Balgobin’s “positivity movement” when it serves their mercenary interests – spin this latest horror show?

What marketing nuggets will School Board member Krista Goodrich and her puppeteers mine from the inept mishandling of a violent on-campus sexual assault and the subsequent administrative cover-up so they can sell more 3/2 wood frame cracker boxes by touting an “A” district?    

In my view, District 4 School Board member Donna Brosemer is right – it is time our elected representatives stop the grandstanding and cheerleading and get serious about their statutory obligations.

Safety is a fundamental prerequisite and moral obligation in education.

This dangerous incompetence cannot stand. 

Here’s a candid question perhaps Chief Micallef can answer for all of us:

How long will School Board Chairman Ruben Colon, the administration’s hatchet-wielding Krista Goodrich, mewling Jamie Haynes, and lame duck Jessie “Whackadoodle” Thompson, support Balgobin & Company’s continued dysfunction, cover-up, and self-serving distractions?

Volusia County students, parents, teachers, and staff deserve better. Now.

City of Daytona Beach: Time to Clear the Air at City Hall

After months of rumor and speculation – much of it fueled by an active criminal investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Statewide Prosecutors Office – last week, we learned that a concurrent external audit of city finances by the Florida Auditor General is now complete.

That’s good news.  Initially, residents were told the state audit of the city’s finances could take “a few years” to complete… 

According to a recent report by WFTV-9’s intrepid investigative reporter Demie Johnson:

“Although the state audit is complete, the findings will not be released immediately. The report is currently undergoing review and will then be presented to state leaders before the city receives the results.

Once the city receives the audit, city leaders will have 30 days to respond. The audit will then become public record. The separate criminal investigation by FDLE and the Attorney General’s Office is still ongoing.”  

Public sector audits ensure accountability, transparency, adherence with public finance regulations and identify waste, fraud, and abuse.  An important safeguard that provides independent, objective, and verifiable information to We, The Little People who pay the bills.

That allows citizens to hold government officials politically accountable for their stewardship at the ballot box.   

While I understand the importance of taking time to verify audit findings and allow the City of Daytona Beach to offer mitigating information, given the unusual circumstances, citizens deserve timely answers to valid questions surrounding city spending.  

Frankly, given the state government’s own abhorrent financial practices, I’m not sure how the Florida Auditor General had time to give Daytona Beach such a thorough proctological exam…

In my view, Tallahassee is the Biggest Whorehouse in the World – an open sewer of graft, quid pro quo corruption, cronyism, and good old-fashioned transactional politics.  That foul oligarchy controlled by influential insiders has resulted in many losing trust in the process by which state and local government hold themselves accountable.  

For instance, earlier this year, Florida’s recently elected CFO Blaise Ingoglia crisscrossed the state with his dubious dog-and-pony show labeled the “FAFO Tour” during which he claimed massive waste and overspending by cities and counties. 

Come to find out, it was all hype and horseshit…

After Flagler County officials rightfully pushed back against claims of “wasteful” and “excessive” spending, CFO Ingoglia’s calculations were exposed as little more than a wild-assed guess.  A politically motivated lie used to push Gov. Ron DeSantis’ horribly flawed property tax shift now known as Amendment 3 by fabricating sensationalized “audit” results.

In my view, that didn’t engender trust in the state’s ability to objectively investigate local governments…

Adding to the growing speculation in Daytona Beach, last week state investigators launched another round of subpoenas, this time requesting information on Mayor Derrick Henry’s payroll records, direct-deposit information, bank accounts, and routing numbers. 

This marks the fourth time investigators have subpoenaed information regarding Mayor Henry… 

According to the report by WFTV, “In April, 9 Investigates reported that Henry and six other city leaders were required to turn over their electronic devices to investigators.

In May, prosecutors asked for receipts and written justifications for Henry’s city credit-card transactions.

Then, in June, another subpoena ordered the city to provide records showing who requested and made changes to remove references to the mayor’s wife’s business from his official city biography page.

So far, state investigators have not announced any findings involving Henry or any other Daytona Beach city official.”

I understand the time involved in conducting in-depth investigations – especially complex cases involving public integrity and financial crimes.  Unfortunately, protracted examinations can make the process seem like it is dragging on indefinitely, which can lead to claims the system is being abused for political purposes – especially when one group of politicians investigates another.

No one can say Daytona Beach officials didn’t have it coming…

During a December 2025 appearance by Mayor Henry and city officials before the Florida Joint Auditing Committee in Tallahassee, the bipartisan oversight committee determined there were “a series of troubling financial management practices” that no longer appeared to be “isolated incidents.”   

In response, Daytona Beach City Commissioner Ken Strickland got frustrated and threw some sharp elbows, admonishing “Tallahassee needs to mind their own business…” 

That didn’t sit well with Sen. Jason Brodeur, who sent Daytona Beach officials an ominous message, “The appropriate response to us is not pound sand.  The appropriate response to us is how can we work with you to figure out the best use of taxpayer dollars. I was interested before on behalf of the taxpayers. But now I’m real interested.”

In turn, Rep. Chase Tramont (with all the faux indignation he could muster) piled on, “I would remind the commissioner that oversight IS our business.  Our business is to protect the taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud and abuse. Our business as legislators is oversight. Our business is to hold you accountable when you aren’t managing your business properly.”

Which is complete bullshit. 

If Rep. Tramont started ferreting out all the open “waste, fraud, and abuse” in state government he would have a long white beard by the time he finished prosecuting those elected and appointed thieves who treat state coffers like feral hogs at a smorgasbord… 

Regardless, Daytona Beach officials have no one to blame but themselves. 

Now, citizens deserve credible answers to the serious questions that have swirled around City Hall for years.    

The sooner that happens, the better… 

Quote of the Week

“A state grand jury found the DeSantis administration “misappropriated” taxpayer money when it diverted $10 million from a Medicaid settlement into the Hope Florida Foundation, arguing the transfer was “part of a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities,” according to a copy of the sealed grand jury report obtained by CBS News Miami.

The grand jury report said the money, which was supposed to be used to provide health insurance for poor children, was instead hastily passed through multiple organizations before eventually landing in the bank accounts of two political action committees and the Republican Party of Florida. Those funds were then used in 2024 to defeat Amendment 3, the citizen initiative to legalize marijuana in Florida.

“Despite our finding that the money was misappropriated, we find insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally,” the report concluded. “Nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida… or had any memory of who made it.”

“We recognize that this would be an impediment to criminal prosecution,” the report noted. “While we can’t prove who is responsible, we can plainly see that taxpayer money was misused for political purposes and we would like to see changes made to prevent this from happening again.”

The grand jury identified the nexus for much of the activity surrounding the transfer as the state’s current attorney general, James Uthmeier.”

–Reporter Jim DeFede of CBS News Miami, “Grand jury: DeSantis administration misappropriated $10 million,” Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Find the rest of the shocking report here: https://tinyurl.com/rxrc2a63

In April 2025, Orlando Sentinel editorialist Scott Maxwell said of the building Hope Florida scandal, “State Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, said the money-moving “looks like criminal fraud by some of those involved.” And House Speaker Daniel Perez said the transaction “looks as if it could be illegal.”

Roger Stone, the often hyperbolic ally of Donald Trump, went so far as to predict that both DeSantises and A.G. Uthmeier “are going to prison.”

For the first time in my life, I agreed with Roger Stone… 

In 1985, Sol Wachtler, Chief Judge of New York’s State Court of Appeals, explained in an interview that prosecutors have so much control over grand juries that “…by and large, they could get them to ‘indict a ham sandwich’ if they wanted to.” 

Except in Leon County, Florida, that is.  Especially when the biggest names in state government are directly implicated in a “sophisticated scheme” to misappropriate $10 million in taxpayer funds for political purposes… 

According to the leaked report, the grand jury said, “Despite our finding that the money was misappropriated, we find insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally. Nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida.”

Where does the “buck stop” in Tallahassee?

I’m asking.

After 31-years in law enforcement, I can report that criminals rarely take responsibility for their crimes, and a convenient memory shouldn’t be a successful defense in the hands of a competent prosecutor. 

In my view, the illegal diversion and misuse of public funds for political purposes represents a criminal fraud, and some high-level big shots in Tallahassee should be going to jail.

Instead, the CBS report concluded that the grand jury made two “suggestions,” apparently in an attempt to protect what remains of the tattered public trust in the aftermath:

“The Florida Legislature should enact a law to prevent this situation from occurring,” the report noted. “For example, a law that says any monies received by the state from any source must be deposited into the General Fund, and there should be real consequences for anyone violating this law.”

The grand jury also said the Legislature “should enact clear laws setting requirements how [groups like Hope Florida] can use taxpayer funds, ensuring usage of said funds are tracked and monitored, and providing consequences for violation of these mandates.”

The grand jury ended its report reaffirming its belief the $10 million was taxpayer money that was misappropriated.”

“As taxpayer money,” the grand jury found, “it should have been treated as such instead of being allocated for partisan political purposes and without transparency.”

Suggestions rather than indictments? 

Really?

We already have clear and applicable statutes in the books to prevent what occurred. 

In my view, laws are only effective if they are enforced firmly, fairly, consistently, and impartially – that includes holding high-ranking government officials and well-connected insiders accountable using the same standards applied to the rest of us.

Either the rule of law applies to everyone, or it should apply to no one.

This isn’t partisan politics as some with a chip in the game would have us believe. Republican lawmakers brought the allegations forward and conducted cursory committee hearings in April 2025.

In my view, this is a textbook miscarriage of justice – the “too big to prosecute” fallacy that is destroying faith in our representative democracy and exchanging it for an oligarchy.

Sadly, we are all so focused on the latest contrived political distraction – the manufactured ‘crisis du jour‘ like data centers and Flock cameras – to give two-shits about the continuing corruption in Tallahassee and beyond…

What the hell have we become?

As Dr. Hunter S. Thompson said, “In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity…”

And Another Thing!

Earlier in the week, this little blog I keep hit a significant milestone: 1,000,000 all-time views.

In blogging parlance, a “view” counts each time someone reads an individual post, not the total number of visitors.  

After a decade of writing Barker’s View, some 620,000 people have stopped by to read one or more of these long-winded screeds one-million times…

Wow.   It doesn’t mean much to anyone else, but I find it incredibly humbling. 

None of it possible without you, the loyal members of the Barker’s View tribe. 

Since its inception, I have never asked for a subscription fee from the thousands who view this blog site each month, and I don’t accept advertising revenue. No ‘elite’ status or special insights behind a paywall, what you see is what you get…

Given the hypercritical nature of the site – just one man’s jaded opinions on the issues of the day, neither always right nor always wrong – I always felt monetizing the site with ads and “paid political announcements” from candidates and political committees would cheapen the message.

Besides, I’m certainly not a ‘professional journalist’ – merely a dilettante editorialist, a frustrated blowhard – writing my thoughts down and passing them around.  A means of keeping idle hands busy, stirring the pot in a constructive way, and (hopefully) prompting my neighbors to consider a different take on the civic issues we collectively face.  

After a lifetime spent clawing my way to middle-management in local municipal government and hanging on by my fingernails – literally the Dilbert Principle in action – the process of putting my thoughts and hard-earned experience on paper continues to be incredibly cathartic for me.  

Now that my productive life is over, this blog has restored a much-needed sense of purpose, and contemplating the issues then crudely crafting my thoughts keeps my Gin-soaked mind limber.

With this milestone, I am reminded how much I appreciate the many wonderful, often unlikely, relationships this blog has helped me build along the way. 

Truth be told, I have great friendships with some of those elected officials and “movers & shakers” I frequently take to the woodshed.  Some I’ve known since we were kids growing up together when the Halifax area was a very different place.  

While we don’t always agree, the insight and contributions those still in the arena bring are invaluable, and I appreciate their acceptance of these barbs and criticisms with due consideration and such good humor.   

It has been my long-held belief that everyone wants to be heard – to have our opinions considered and valued – especially by those we elect to represent our interests and establish public policy.

Thank you for listening to mine.

I sincerely appreciate the thoughtful feedback, the differing opinions, clarification of the fine points, and even the scathing “hate mail” I often receive when I hit a nerve – or gore the right ox…   

Thanks for keeping me honest.

If you read Barker’s View, I assume you are an informed and engaged citizen who cares about the myriad issues we face here on Florida’s “Fun Coast.”  Smart people who analyze problems three-dimensionally and look beyond the white noise of politics to consider the hidden reasons and consequences, rather than accept the canned narrative or well-crafted party line. 

I hope you remain active and involved, run for elective office, serve on a committee, volunteer for a cause that moves you, participate, vote your conscience, challenge the status quo, stand up, speak out, and contribute your important voice to the discussion. 

Thank you all.

Your consideration of an alternative opinion and dedicated readership does this beat-up old heart good…

Cheers to a million more!

That’s all for me.  Have a great Labor Day Weekend, y’all!