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!