“Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?”

 “Hot ashes for trees?  Hot air for a cool breeze?”

 “Cold comfort for change?”

Wish you were here, Pink Floyd

On Wednesday, the DeBary City Council voted down a motion opposing development on the Gemini Springs Annex.  It would have been no more than a symbolic statement, really, but perhaps a starting point to correcting the sins of the recent past.

But no.  It seems the majority of elected officials in DeBary just want to “move on.”

I guess they do.

It’s like a hit-and-run driver trying to put as much time and distance as possible from the carnage he caused.  Don’t talk about it.  Don’t accept responsibility for it.  Just get away from it.

Unfortunately, this debacle is not something you can simply ignore, or run away from.  This is a criminal quagmire of personal, political and corporate corruption and represents the vilest instincts of elected and appointed officials laid bare.

And it has destroyed the public’s trust in their government.

Even with the white-hot spotlight of public scrutiny shining down, DeBary City Councilman Chris Carson continues to whistle past the graveyard as he insanely suggests that the City can simply “build around” the controversial 102 acres of conservation lands that were recently transferred to the County of Volusia by the St. John’s River Water Management District.

Perhaps it’s time Councilman Carson and the others come to the sobering realization that they are in real trouble here.  And so is their community.

With the exception of Mayor Clint Johnson, the City Council is under active criminal investigation by the Office of the State Attorney and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and suspicion about who knew what and when is growing by the hour.

Rather than do the right thing and begin purging City Hall of the half-bright shysters who thought up and perpetrated this patently corrupt plan to surreptitiously acquire and radically develop the Gemini Springs Annex as part of a much larger “transit oriented development,” these clowns act like it’s business as usual.

They fiddle while DeBary burns.

Then, in perhaps the most unbelievable, and undeniable, act of this entire squalid affair, this week we learned that DeBary officials knew as early as April that the Henin Group – DeBary’s most prolific developer –  turned nearly 30-acres of virgin forest along the banks of Konomac Lake into a moonscape.

No permits.  No environmental impact analysis.  No relocation of endangered species.

No nothing.

They just willfully and wantonly – and I believe with a well-formed criminal intent – raped the land and left a fetid gouge of muddy wasteland behind.

Thanks to the excellent investigative journalism of Daytona Beach News-Journal reporter Dinah Pulver, we know that the approximately 64-acre site is earmarked to become a residential subdivision known as Riviera Bella East; however, city and state officials say the Henin Group has not submitted final subdivision plans to the city or applied for an environmental resource permit from the St. Johns River Water Management District.

According to the News-Journal, Henin Group CFO Mike Kalin would have us believe that this is all a big “misunderstanding” – and that the developer didn’t realize a permit would be required to clear the land.

Yes, you read that right.

After being in the property development industry for over 20-years, THE HENIN GROUP DIDN’T REALIZE THEY NEEDED A PERMIT TO STRIP CLEAR 30-ACRES.

Of all the mendacious, deceitful, double-dealing shit that has been forced down the throats of the good people of DeBary, this takes the cake.  Hell, this takes the whole bakery.

Many smart people are shaking their heads – and everyone wants to know the score.

According to DeBary’s shameless “Growth Management Director” Matt Boerger, on April 13, Florida Power & Light contacted the City of DeBary to report the land clearing which resulted in silt runoff into a holding reservoir FP&L uses at its nearby power plant on the St. Johns River.

That’s April 13, 2016, boys and girls.  Two months ago.

You might remember it was early May when Dinah Pulver first broke the story on the City of DeBary’s hiring of John Miklos – the chairman of the St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Board and owner of Bio Tech Consulting, Inc. – to quietly ramrod the acquisition of the disputed 102-acres of the Gemini Springs Annex.

At that time, the entire city staff – including disgraced former City Manager Dan Parrott – either knew or should have known that the Henin Group had illegally scoured some 30-acres of virgin forest off the face of the earth – and no one said a word.

According to City Councilman Rick Dwyer – who, in my view, has been the only sitting elected official who has shown even a scintilla of leadership since this ugly debacle started – is quoted as saying that he isn’t “at all happy” with either Jerome Henin or city staff.

From the “painfully obvious” file, Councilman Dwyer said, “I’m upset as well that the moment we learned of this we didn’t go out and make sure there were no other activities.”

No one even left the office.

According to the intrepid Matt Boerger (you know, the guy responsible for “managing growth” for the good citizens of DeBary) when he learned of the clearing he told the developer to “get erosion control up along that dam.”

But when Henin dismissed Boerger as the ineffectual piss-ant he is and continued to churn the land into primordial ooze, Boerger got tough.

He “reminded the developer about the permit.”

Finally, in early June the City got around to issuing stop work orders.  (After the work was done, and the developer continued to give his middle finger to the lethargic directives of city officials.)

However, the order which stopped construction at a nearby Henin development was quickly rescinded when the company agreed to submit a stormwater pollution prevention plan and also to file a final subdivision plan by June 27.

Man.  Those DeBary officials are tough sons-of-guns when they have to be.

Prior to my retirement from law enforcement, my agency had responsibility for enforcing city codes and ordinances, including the issuance of tree removal permits.

If someone took down a specimen tree – such as a historic live oak –  without having first received an appropriate permit they faced tough fines and sanctions.  Including the angry scorn and ridicule of their neighbors.

One tree is a travesty – 100 trees is a “misunderstanding.”

Interestingly, in defending his company’s actions, Kalin noted that, “We didn’t ignore them. We were talking to the city,” he said. “That’s the city’s power vacuum, that nobody is talking to each other.”

I believe that.

In my view, this is a government so dysfunctional and broken that it is ripe for exploitation.

When a power vacuum exists – one in which there really is no one minding the store – shrewd developers and other unscrupulous bastards who make their very bread-and-butter off the public tit will invariably take advantage of it.

The long and short of it is this:  Those who were elected, appointed, and paid with public funds to work in the public interest simply abandoned their sworn responsibilities and let the wolves feed.

Absolutely no one stood up to lead, protect or guide a community in crisis.

No one.

We now know that Dan Parrott was a congenital liar and a shameless jack leg – a gutless bum more interested in safeguarding his own self-interests than protecting his community.  When the walls started to close in, Dan did what any craven low-life would – he ran out the back door with a sack full of taxpayer money in the form of severance and other lucrative payouts.

Only in government service do you voluntarily quit a job and receive severance?

Since when are public officials under active criminal investigation simply allowed to write the terms of their exit to their personal advantage?

Talk about a leadership vacuum.

When Jerome Henin was running wild on Fort Florida Road – Matt Boerger didn’t have the common pluck to even leave his office.  He just sat there – sternly reminding the developer of his permit obligations while the excavators and bulldozers roared.

How about Roger Van Auker?  Do you think he was going to step up to the plate and demonstrate some leadership for the citizens who pay his lucrative public salary?

Hardly.

Ladies and gentlemen, Roger Van Auker – DeBary’s own Transit Oriented Development Marketing Director (who was handpicked by Dan Parrott) is the former Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Henin Realty Group!

I don’t make this shit up, folks.

Now, I’m not suggesting Van Auker had an obligation here (but he did); however, I seriously question whether or not Roger ever left Henin’s employ?

How about Mayor Clint Johnson – one would think that he would have risen to the emergency, took the reins, and actually lived up to his sworn obligation to provide political leadership and aggressively defend his community.

No.  Hizzoner was preening for the media on a makeshift junk-boat that he would have us believe he was going to navigate across the open ocean.

He’s been effectively neutered anyway.

The Mayor’s goofy larking about has resulted in an iron boot placed firmly on his throat, now totally controlled by the whims of his fellow elected officials and one vote away from being cashiered.

Where I come from, in the aftermath of the wholesale destruction of environmentally sensitive property, no one – and I mean no one – would have been permitted access to this tract of land.

In my view, this is a crime scene.

Until a forensic examination of the land can be completed by law enforcement, foresters, wildlife experts and the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, absolutely no one should be permitted near the area – especially not the offending developer.

The News-Journal is reporting that Governor Rick Scott’s Wildlife Conservation Commission assigned an officer to the case who was “in training” until Friday.

Apparently, this is the sense of urgency Slick Rick and the boys put on the wholesale destruction of endangered species and their habitat, virgin forest, and environmentally sensitive wetlands.

Now that Mr. Henin has improved his 30-acres on the shores of Konomoc Lake – now that he has made Riviera Bella more marketable with a “water front” component, now that the damage is done – the City of DeBary lets him destroy any physical evidence on the property by leveling it off, sowing grass seed and generally tidying things up.

Sickening.

According to the wildlife commissions spokesman, City officials are scheduled to do another site visit and report their findings back to the FWC.

How convenient.

Do you really think the City of DeBary is going to find ANY evidence of wrongdoing?  I’ll bet you a donut they don’t find a single Gopher tortoise or eagles nest within a mile of that mess.

If this isn’t the very textbook definition of governmental malfeasance and misfeasance – at multiple levels – I don’t know what is.

And where in the hell is the federal government?

Folks, if this “Debacle in DeBary” hasn’t exposed anything else – it has splayed wide open the complete ineptitude, incompetence and even open complicity of certain government regulatory agencies.

One would think with as much publicity as the out-of-control chaos in DeBary has garnered in recent weeks, the Governor would have personally ensured that FWC and any living remnants of the former Department of Environmental Protection (if there are any) would be dispatched immediately to investigate.

Not in an administration where greed-heads and habitual environmental criminals reign supreme, and anyone who questions their motives are marginalized and considered a hindrance to “progress.”

Who do we complain to?  The St. Johns River Water Management District?

How about John Miklos?

How can good people stand idle?

How can those we pay to protect us and our natural resources abdicate their sworn responsibility?

How?

 

 

 

 

 

“It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.”

The War Prayer, Mark Twain

When I was a kid back in the 1970’s every evening my family would gather around the old Zenith and watch legends like Chet Huntley, Frank McGee and Walter Cronkite report the news and opine on the latest shenanigans from Washington.

I would sit in the family room on the freshly raked shag carpet (remember raking your carpet?) and split my attention between the black-and-white images on the set and the maniacal ravings of my father, an ultra-conservative former Marine Corps officer, who would sit in the same spot on the couch each night – still wearing his suit and tie – drinking Dewar’s scotch and railing at the news of the day.

In fact, these nightly sessions formed my earliest geo-political views and gave my dad and I a life-long bonding point – for instance, we both hated George McGovern, and for most of 1972 I was convinced my family was moving to Mexico City if Nixon lost the White House.

No matter what else was going on in our lives, after dinner we sat down together to watch, discuss and interpret the nightly news.  Invariably, our conversation would turn to the issues of the day, and my father would use images from the broadcast to underscore why, for instance, I would never wear bell-bottom pants, or all the reasons why the United Nations was the greatest force for evil in the world.

There was a little comic relief too.

Remember when we used to elect colorful characters to high office in this country – then follow the lawn dart trajectory of their political careers like a bad soap opera?

Guys like Arkansas Congressman Wilbur Mills and his infamous tryst with stripper Fanne Foxe, or Jim Traficant of Ohio, whose horsehair toupee looked something like a rabid raccoon coiled precipitously on his head.

Those were the days.

You knew the bastards were crooked to their very core, but there was an entertainment value there that could not be ignored.  Hell, when Traficant was released from federal prison in 2009, over 1,200 people turned out to welcome him home – complete with a lavish banquet featuring an Elvis impersonator.

Over 30,500 Ohioans voted for him – as a convicted felon – in his 2010 Congressional race.

Or how about that randy South Carolina Congressman John Jenrette, husband of Playboy model Rita Jenrette, who made up the Washington “power couple” who allegedly had a late night romp – in flagrante delicto – right there on the Capitol steps?

Classic.

One of the best of these lovable scoundrels was Michael “Ozzie” Myers, an oafish Pennsylvania Democrat who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976.

When he wasn’t fist fighting in Washington-area bars, Ozzie was busy gorging himself on cash bribes from fancy Arab sheikhs (who just happened to be undercover FBI agents engaged in a public corruption sting known as “Abscam.”)

During the federal investigation, agents captured a grainy videotape of Congressman Myers making the ill-advised but infinitely true statement, “Money talks in this business and bullshit walks.”

Indeed.

Now, no one ever accused me of being the sharpest knife in the drawer – I’m dull-normal at best, most likely “feeble minded” on the Stanford-Binet scale – so I have to read and research everything I can find on a given topic before forming even a semi-educated opinion.

But when someone tells me “money talks” – I get that.  Clear as fine Swarovski crystal, baby.

Especially when it comes to the political process.

From the earliest days, I suspect our Founding Fathers knew in their hearts that our democratic system – one in which the majority elects a select few to represent their interests – was ripe for exploitation and corruption.

I’m sure, like us, they hoped for the best but expected the worst.

As our system of governance matured, it became increasingly apparent that the people get what they deserve in terms of the quality and integrity of their elected representatives.

In 1877, President James Garfield wrote:

“Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress.  If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption.  If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature.  If the next centennial does not find us a great nation, it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.”

At some point, the “one person, one vote” concept just didn’t fit the bill for a small but well-heeled segment of our society.  The wealthy needed a way to insert cash and “in kind” services into the political process as a means of securing influence and access to the halls of power.

After all, most politicians won’t accept an open-handed bribe – but when it comes to campaign contributions – well, that’s just a perfectly legal portal for civic-minded folks interested in good government to do the right thing.

Nothing wrong with that – the cost of doing business.  Right?

Right.

Hell, it’s become a rite of passage in this country.  You remember the first presidential candidate you ever voted for – and the first dollar you ever contributed to a political campaign.

In my view, our campaign finance system has become the front door of quid pro quo public corruption, and most power brokers and influence peddlers don’t even bother to hide their involvement anymore.

In a system that is utterly corrupt, the working theory has always been that its best to do as others do – anything else would only draw attention, and who needs that, eh?

The process for financing political campaigns at all levels transcends party or ideology, and any attempt at reform is doomed from the start – usually by the very elected officials who rely on huge sums of money for their political survival.

It’s like asking a hungry pig to cut off his own slop spigot – not likely.

In Volusia County politics, the practice of purchasing governmental influence, power and access has become so ingrained in our process that it is rarely even discussed anymore.  We just accept it, knowing full-well that each election cycle the same oligarchy will carefully hand select the make-up of our county council, city commissions, school board, etc.

Now, money doesn’t necessarily ensure the outcome of elections – sometimes candidates get whipped who outspend their rivals – but that’s a rarity.

Big money stacks the deck in favor of certain candidates and it fundamentally skews the playing field.  You have to pay to play, and the massive campaign accounts of some local candidates are simply mind-boggling.

We have already seen several viable and very qualified candidates drop out of important local races citing “personal reasons.”  I suspect these exits have more to do with the candidate’s fear of not attracting sufficient resources in an environment where a powerful few give obscene amounts of cash to their anointed ones.

For instance, County Council candidate Al Smith has collected close to $40,000; Carl Persis, candidate for the Volusia County School Board, has amassed over $92,000 and County Chair candidate Ed Kelley has almost $74,000.  In fact, several county candidates have over $100,000 in the bank.

One candidate, Lisa Lewis, who is running for the rather innocuous Supervisor of Elections post, collected $10,000 in one day from various corporate entities, all listed at the same Beville Road address of Mori Hosseini’s ICI Homes and Intervest Construction.

And that’s the common thread.

When you review the individual campaign finance reports, you find that the bulk of these contributions originate from the same individuals – or corporate entities controlled by them.

Now, who am I to tell you – or J. Hyatt Brown – that you shouldn’t donate your hard earned money to the candidate of your choice.  After all, local elections are all about supporting friends and neighbors who stand up to serve, and that’s a noble endeavor.  Like you, I will continue to provide financial support to candidates who I feel best represent my interests.

There are issues that are important to me – beach access, crime, quality public amenities, growth management, the protection and conservation of our natural resources – and if a candidate is like-minded, then they get my financial support, and my vote.

However, there is a point where I draw the line.

A few hundred bucks to the good of the cause is one thing – ten thousand dollars to a single county council candidate is something completely different.  When campaign contributions become more about ensuring commercial self-interests – rather than financing healthy, issues-based political races – the process becomes dysfunctional.

Look, I may be a nut-job, but I’m not naive.

Modern political campaigns cost money – it is essential to getting the candidate’s message out.  There are the ubiquitous yard signs to purchase, media advertisements, t-shirts, bumper stickers, brochures and meet & greets.  These cost money – and those who have the largest war chests have the ability to simply out pace their opponents on the campaign trail.  Especially late in the game.

In my view, the infusion of big money – and I mean big money – into individual local campaigns by a few exclusive insiders who have proven time-and-again that their motivations are purely self-serving is wrong.  It tips the balance in favor of a select few extremely wealthy corporate interests in an environment where the average per capita annual income is around $24,000.

The net-net of these large investments to ensure the outcome of local races is the very foundation of the “benevolent dictatorship” I keep belching about.

As I’ve said before, people like J. Hyatt Brown, Lesa France-Kennedy, and Mori Hosseini are highly successful for one reason only – they don’t spend a dollar without knowing exactly what the return on that investment will be.

These are extraordinarily smart and savvy businessmen and women who are extremely adroit at building – and keeping – personal wealth.  You don’t need an MBA to understand that you don’t last long in business throwing good money after bad.

I don’t know about you, but when I spend money, I expect something in return.

In this case, the local donor class make massive campaign contributions with the full knowledge that their personal, civic and professional interests will outweigh those of John Q. Public each and every time.

What do you think they consider an appropriate return on their investment?

The 1976 United States Supreme Court decision, Buckley v. Valeo, defined the standard for quid pro quo corruption as, “The reality and appearance of improper influence stemming from the dependence of candidates on large campaign contributions.”

In an effort to more narrowly define that language, in the 2014 landmark ruling by the court in McCutcheon v. FEC, which essentially eliminated aggregate limits on campaign spending, corruption was redefined as “a contribution to a particular candidate in exchange for his agreeing to do a particular act within his official duties.”

Is what we experience in Volusia County quid pro quo bribery – dollars for political favors?

I don’t know.

I certainly hope not.

What I do know is that whenever deeply ingrained political insiders consistently infuse huge sums of cash into the coffers of pre-selected candidates, it undermines the fundamental right of the average citizen to participate in the political process in any meaningful way.

After all, our democratic system is based on the very concept of equality.

I also know that when these very same powerful insiders appear – individually or en masse – in the Volusia County Council Chambers, invariably – and I mean 100% of the time – the issue, project or development they support is handed to them on a gilded platter.

Now, I may be crazy, but I’m not a fool.  And neither are you.

As you prepare to cast your ballot this summer, ask yourself this: Why would a few uber-wealthy power brokers spend a small fortune to support select candidates for local elective office?

Why?

Because maybe old Ozzie was right.  Ultimately, in the business of politics, money talks.

 

Regardless of how you feel about the Hope Place homeless assistance center at the former Hurst Elementary School, the recent maneuvering of Volusia County government underscores the way things get done in our benevolent dictatorship.

I happen to believe that transitional housing for struggling families and at-risk teens is a true community need, especially considering that the Volusia County School Board has classified over 2,000 students as “homeless.”

I also believe that if anyone other than county government were funding the project, the $3.5 million set aside for renovation of the abandoned school facilities could build one heck of a stand-alone shelter just about anywhere.  Regardless, it’s clearly a good thing for our community.

That’s right.  I can support Hope Place with all the smug self-righteousness I want.

The fact is, it doesn’t affect me in the least.

I write this while sitting comfortably in my Ormond Beach home, safe in the knowledge that these poor souls won’t be sheltered within 10-miles of my backyard – and trust me – they won’t even share the same universe with homes in Plantation Bay.

It’s one of the great benefits the affluent with a social conscious enjoy – they can make decisions for others without ever once getting their hands dirty – or compromising their own property values.

I first learned of this plan back in December when the Daytona Beach News-Journal did a story on Halifax Urban Ministries, a faith-based non-profit that has been engaged in homeless support services in Daytona Beach for many years, and Forough Hossieni – the wife of ICI CEO and uber-rich power broker Mori Hossieni – having selected the former Hurst campus as the ideal site for Hope Place.

Now, I’m just rambling here – but it took the County of Volusia four long years from the time the St. John’s River Water Management District transferred the environmentally sensitive Gemini Springs Annex just to formally accept the property.  The fact is, had the City of DeBary’s attempt to exploit the land for private development not been exposed – I’m not sure the County would have ever gotten around to actually receiving the conservation lands.

It literally just sat there.  For four years.

But in just six short months County government identifies the Hurst Elementary site as a suitable location for a homeless assistance center.  It purchases the property from the School Board (with the structures valued at $1.3 million alone) for the bargain basement price of $200,000, negotiates a land transfer and operations contract with Halifax Urban Ministries, allocates $3.5 million for renovations, overrides the recommendation of the Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission and unanimously votes to approve the project.

That’s a lot of moving parts.

Guess when it comes to “doing the right thing” County Manager Jim Dinneen can really get the job done, huh. . .

It’s amazing to me how quickly the marionettes in Volusia County government can move when the right people are working the strings.

Ah, but all was not smooth sailing.

Old Isaac Newton taught us that, “To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction” and the laws of physics can’t be fooled.  When people feel that something is being rammed down their throats – trust me – there is going to be a reaction.

In May, citizens in the Derbyshire area came out en masse to voice their fierce opposition to the plan to establish the Hope Place campus in their neighborhood.

You’ve heard of the classic pejorative “NIMBY”?  Well, Hope Place is literally in their backyard.

From fear of crime and aggressive vagrants infiltrating their already challenged neighborhood –  to questions about how the shelter will ultimately effect property values and what impact the facility will have on their quality-of-life – the citizens very passionately made their case before the Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission.

The Commission, which serves as an advisory board to the Volusia County Council on planning and zoning issues, actually listened to the very real concerns of persons living in the area and voted 4-2 against changing the zoning of the Hurst Elementary property from single family residential to public use.

The zoning change was necessary for the project to move forward.

At the time, Halifax Urban Ministries Executive Director Mark Geallis was quoted in the News-Journal as saying that he had no idea there was such anger over the proposed shelter:

“I was shocked and very saddened that people did not seem to want to listen and consider the community as a whole.”

That seems disingenuous to me.

Perhaps what Rev. Geallis failed to grasp is the fact that when people feel put upon by powerful forces the first thing they want to do is explain their position, discuss their fears, and communicate their thoughts and reasoning.

When people feel disenfranchised they actually want to speak and be heard.  They want someone, anyone, to listen to their concerns and alleviate their anxiety.  They want others to care about their side of the equation.

While I know this sounds like a quaint concept – people actually want to believe that their elected and appointed officials will take their opinions into consideration before making a decision that will have a very real impact on their lives and livelihoods.

What they don’t want is to be lectured on how “shocked and saddened” those who stand to benefit from their sacrifice are.  And it’s hard to consider the “community as a whole” when you’re the one with a hostel for the destitute in your backyard.

(And you can throw as much Chanel No. 5 on that hog as you want – for good or for ill – it’s still a homeless shelter.)

Like most decisions that are made by the Volusia County Council – Hope Place was a foregone conclusion before it was ever placed on the public agenda – and our council members neither want or need your input.

In fact, they consider actually communicating with those most affected by their decisions to be a hindrance to the process.

They know what’s best – so sit down and shut up, you ignorant naif.

All you know, or need to know, is that Mr. and Mrs. Hossieni think this would be a good idea – and if your neighborhood is irreparably impacted, then suck it up for the good of the “community as a whole.”

Stop being a selfish asshole.

If you balk or actually become an obstruction to the “plan” – the powers-that-be will marginalize you with righteous indignation and that oh-so haughty air of self-important superiority.  How dare you stand in opposition to the Common Good.

Then they will get in their Range Rovers and drive back to places like Plantation Bay and Breakaway Trails where the gate always closes behind them.

Now, it’s one thing for the influential few to have a good idea for the rest of us – but in order to actually implement “the vision” they need their elected handmaidens to actually get things done.

After all, they are not spending their money – they’re spending yours.

(Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are sizable endowments and corporate donations in the mix.  There are naming rights at stake here. . .)

That the residents of Derbyshire – as taxpayers and citizens of the County of Volusia – had the out-and-out cheek to even question the outcome of this predetermined “decision” came as quite a surprise to County Chair Jason “I didn’t run for the money” Davis:

“It’s a done deal.”

 “Contracts are sitting on desks.  The wheels are in motion.”

County Councilman Doug Daniels was even more to the point:

“You don’t have to be a political genius” to figure out that this will pass unanimously.

“This is going to pass.  Get used to it,” Daniels said.

Indeed.  Get used to it. . .

Chairman Davis told the News-Journal that constituents have called “begging” him to block the project with his vote.  But Davis pompously advised that he has been “shooting back a question about where they were when decisions were being made earlier this year.”

You mean back in May, Chairman Davis?   When residents were climbing the walls and marching with flaming pitchforks at the Planning and Land Development Commission meeting?

Or when the citizens of Derbyshire were developing petitions, holding neighborhood meetings, wearing shirts emblazoned “NO 2 HOPE PLACE,” speaking to the media, screaming from the rooftops, attending planning sessions, and distributing fliers to anyone and everyone in the area?

Where were they?

Chairman Davis, are you actually insinuating that ANYTHING these good folks could have said or done would have changed the outcome of last Thursday’s vote one iota?  Really?

How stupid do you think we are?

Listen up you half-bright, self-important shitheel – you know, and I know, that this decision was cinched the exact second the Hossieni’s insinuated themselves into the process, and the fix was in when the council chambers were stacked to the rafters with the movers-and-shakers of Volusia County’s ruling class.

Stop insulting us with your damnable condescension, Mr. Davis.  You’re not that smart – we know it, and you know it.

Your foul term is rapidly coming to a close – and your reign of incompetence will be long remembered as the worst, most ineffectual period in the history of Volusia County.

You’ve been an abject embarrassment to yourself and those who trusted you.  Unemployment is tough when you suddenly have no friends and no visible means of support.  Enjoy.

Hell, even Doug Daniels had the common decency to drop out of the race and slink away in a fit of shame and self-loathing.

As usual, when all was said and done, Volusia County took a good thing and sullied it with their patented “my way or the highway” approach to non-participatory governance.

Now, the County would have us believe that they will include deed restrictions in the land transfer to Halifax Urban Ministries as a means of limiting and controlling activities on the property.

They have also assured everyone that the Sheriff’s Office will make near constant patrols of the grounds and aggressively deal with any issues that arise.  Trust me when I say that Derbyshire has suffered from crime and the fear of victimization for a long, long time.  I seriously doubt a homeless assistance center is going to alleviate that.

And even if the facility does have the potential to improve issues in the area, the problem is – no one believes the County’s half-baked promises anymore.

We have been lied to so frequently and so blatantly by that little screw-worm Jim Dinneen and our elected officials that we no longer possess the capacity to take anything they say seriously.

In fact, we begin to question ourselves.

The citizens of Volusia County have, over time, developed an institutional distrust of County government, and our elected officials seem oblivious to the fact that they have lost even a shred of credibility with their constituents.  The only ones who seem to care at all are the power brokers who bought and paid for them – like teamsters looking after their mules.

Sad, really.

Now, all you do-gooders can go back to your ivory towers and slap each other on the back – maybe even erect a few monuments to your own self-importance (after all, what good is doing good if you can’t put your name on it, eh?)

At the risk of sounding like the paranoid asshole I am, I still ask myself – Qui Bono?

Who benefits?

The homeless?  Down-and-out families?  Unsheltered teens?  Or does someone else have their eye on a slice of this $4.5-million-dollar pie?

Time will tell, I suppose.

At the end of the day – the good people of Derbyshire will take one for the team – and the “community as a whole” owes them a sincere debt of gratitude.

You fought the good fight against the rich and powerful who felt they held the moral high ground.

Perhaps they did.

But you took a stand for what you felt was right for your families and just maybe there is some small victory in that.

If it’s any consolation, you never had a choice anyway.  Get used to it.

The wheels were already in motion.

 

 

(Photo Credit: Daytona Beach News-Journal)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the past week I’ve been enjoying the beauty of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina.  Although my family has lived in the Halifax Area for over 50 years, I was born in Tennessee and spent many summers there with my maternal grandparents.

It is a magical place.

I’ve always considered the Holston Valley a second home, and when the world goes crazy – as it certainly did last week – the mountains have become a wonderful escape and a place to clear what’s left of my mind and restore my broken spirit.

One of the great benefits of travel is the opportunity to see and contrast places different from your base.

It not only expands your “horizons,” as they say, it gives you the opportunity to do a little comparative analysis of how cities and regions differ from your own in terms of how folks live, work and play.

The community where my family keeps a small home plays host to a variety of heavy industry and significant regional employers, to include Eastman Chemical Company – a global specialty chemical manufacturer that employs some 6,800 people; Welmont Health Systems with 6,225 people on staff; Holston Medical Group which employs 5,300; BAE Systems, a facility manufacturing high-grade explosive compounds and ammunition for the military, which employs another 525.

In addition, the city is also home to Domtar, which produces 426,000 tons of xerographic paper each year with an estimated regional financial impact of over $1 billion dollars.

The net-net of this is low unemployment, low taxes, low utility bills, incredible educational opportunities, an expanding housing market and world-class recreation.

Why?  Because it is important to large regional employers that they have the ability to attract the best-of-the-best.

They do that by offering exceptional community amenities and opportunities – such as quality schools, exceptional health and medical services, upscale restaurants and shopping, outdoor recreation and upmarket housing.

And in a city some 52,000 I saw exactly two people that I would classify as “homeless.”

By giving back to the community, corporations make it a more attractive place for current and potential employees and service industries.  It’s the definition of a “win-win” proposition for well-managed communities.

Now, I’m not saying upper east Tennessee is utopia, or that having heavy manufacturing facilities in your backyard is everyone’s idea of quality living; however, I am saying that this is a prime example of a region that has learned to overcome the environmental and quality of life concerns that come with an industry-based economy.

In other words, visionary people played the hand they were dealt – and a strong, vibrant community is flourishing as a result.

Another thing I found refreshing was the stability of the local government – which I consider a prime litmus test of any community that wishes to attract and keep strong commercial investment (read: employers).

After all, no one wants to make an investment in a region where the powers that be can’t seem to get it together.  And week-in and week-out, Volusia County reads like a bad nightmare of governmental corruption, greed, influence peddling and just good old fashioned incompetence.

When you travel, you see places that you can point to and say “they got it right” – and there are a few examples of that here.  In my view, Deland and New Smyrna Beach are a two great local examples.

These communities have accomplished great things and held on to their unique identities despite the best efforts of Volusia County government to do everything possible to destroy public confidence and throw a monkey wrench in the economic engine that fuels our region.

As I’ve said repeatedly, in my view, the Debacle in DeBary best exemplifies everything that is wrong with local governance in Volusia County.

For example, last week the St. John’s River Water Management District’s Governing Board voted unanimously (with Chairman John Miklos recusing himself) to transfer the sensitive Gemini Springs Annex to the County of Volusia.

One would have thought that this would signal the beginning of the end of this sordid mess, but apparently not.

It seems the City of DeBary just won’t take no for an answer.

In perhaps the worst conceived move since city officials conspired with John Miklos to obtain sensitive wetlands for a transit-oriented development, on Wednesday the city council voted to modify its plans and continue pushing for a portion of the conservation lands to store and treat storm water runoff from their proposed transit-oriented development.

This move comes on the heels of perhaps one of the most controversial periods in the history of the City of DeBary – a time when we, the people, first saw the inner-workings of a small local government who lost its moral compass laid bare.

It’s like taking a look behind the scenes of a commercial slaughterhouse – it gives you a completely different perspective on those nice white, cellophane covered packs of T-bones in the supermarket meat case.

It’s something you simply can’t “unsee” – and we will never again look at our local governments the same way again.

Smart people would have used the SJRWMD ruling as a way of beginning the healing process – as a demarcation point from criminal insanity to the restoration of the public trust.

But nobody ever accused the DeBary City Council of being smart.

Note to Mayor Johnson and the DeBary City Council:  IT’S OVER.

After all that has transpired, why is that so hard to grasp?

These people are like recalcitrant children who, having been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, continue to try – ad nauseam – to get more goodies by simply wearing down their parents with repetitive and increasingly more ludicrous arguments.

In a Daytona Beach News-Journal article detailing the City’s pathological incoherence, Roger Van Auker, DeBary’s marketing director for the transit-oriented development district is quoted as saying:

“If the city could get “40 or 50 acres for green area and open space, I think that would be a win-win.”

 Are you serious?  Do you really expect anyone with the ability for cognitive thought to believe ANYTHING associated with this abomination could still be considered a “win-win,” Roger?

Hey, Mayor and Councilmembers, don’t you understand that Van Auker is a shill for an “unnamed” developer?

Can’t you grasp the fact that you are under criminal investigation because Van Auker and other staff members – working in concert with former City Manager Dan Parrott – breached the public trust and attempted to backdoor this horribly conceived and blatantly corrupt development behind the backs of you and your constituents?

Do you realize that through your acts and omissions you have ruined the good name of your community and destroyed your personal and professional reputations?

Dammit!  Are you that frigging stupid – or did the stars align in some perverse way to bring this many viciously corrupt politicians together in the same time and place?

It’s okay to admit that you are dumb.

It is a sign of personal growth to confess that you are an unwitting dupe; a hapless rube who has been hoodwinked by a cabal of cheap grifter’s with a slimy agenda.

In most situations ignorance is no excuse, but in this case, the elected and appointed officials of the City of DeBary are either painfully dimwitted – or shameless co-conspirators in the worst executed plot to exploit sensitive wetlands since Ponce de Leon washed up on a north Florida beach.

It just doesn’t seem to end.

In a ham-handed attempt to save what’s left of his foul career, on Wednesday DeBary’s Growth Management Director Matt Boerger continued to insanely flail and grasp – like a man drowning in swamp muck – as he offered increasingly absurd suggestions for keeping the ill-conceived development project on track.

Mr. Boerger – you have been exposed.  Please, Stop.  You are embarrassing yourself and the community who trusted you.  Do the decent thing and resign.  Crawl into whatever hole in the earth humiliated growth management directors use for shelter when they have been revealed as common sneak-thieves.

Now is the time for the DeBary City Council to do the honorable thing and fire Roger Van Auker, David Hamstra, and Kurt Ardaman – immediately.

And consider this a good start.

Begin the Purge.  Flush this foul commode while you still have the opportunity.

The fact of the matter is that the City of DeBary will never regain the confidence of its residents and business community unless and until these disgraced and patently corrupt individuals are expelled from City Hall.

Frankly, in my view, the fact that City Attorney Kurt Ardaman concealed his active business relationship with SJRWMD Chairman John Miklos should be grounds for disbarment.  At the least, he has exposed himself as an unethical scumbag who gives the legal community a bad name.

Ultimately, the Office of the State Attorney – and eventually the U.S. Department of Justice – will determine the facts and seek criminal accountability.

In the meantime, the elected officials of the City of DeBary need to demonstrate effective leadership by immediately terminating the public employment of any staff member who formulated, perpetrated or participated in this horrific fraud on the citizens of this good community.

At the very least, get their grimy snouts out of the public trough.

Now is the time to act, dammit.

My daughter and son-in-law lost a dear friend in the atrocity in Orlando and my heart hurts for them tonight.

While I did not know Antonio personally, I do know his brother James (also a career Army officer).

This horror – this abomination – strengthens my resolve to protect my loved ones in the face of radical Islamic terrorism – or any son-of-a-bitch who dares to raise his hand in anger to hurt or kill me or mine.

I beg of all my friends to refuse to fall victim to anyone – for any reason – be it ideology or criminal intent.

Think deeply about your decision – and if you refuse to be a victim – then purchase a weapon and train, train and train to be the hardest person anyone ever tried to kill.

May God take and keep Antonio in his loving embrace.

And may God have mercy on the soul of any bastard from hell who considers harming me or mine.

Rest in Peace my brother. Rest in peace.

In God’s name I pray that we increase our collective resolve and defeat these motherless bastards now before more innocent lives are lost.

I am angered and horrified beyond words this evening. Our nation once again came under direct attack by radical Islam and I do not have the words to describe my seething rage.

This war is now being fought by law enforcement on the very soil of our homeland, and I urge my brothers and sisters to be both vigilant and ruthless in your aggression in preparing for and responding to these cowardly attacks.

Train, train, train and train until your aggression is instinctive and your aim is true. Most important, NEVER be without the life saving tool of your trade.

It’s no longer if, it’s when.

If you are a civilian, I urge you to purchase a weapon and receive the best training possible. Obtain a concealed carry permit and learn the tactics and skills necessary to save your life and your loved ones should the unthinkable happen. (If you need a referral, please contact me.)

It’s important.

We live in a dangerous world – and as of 2:02am this morning – we live in a combat zone in the Global War on Terror.

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and the first responders who acted in the finest traditions of the police service.

May God bless you all. And may God bless Orlando.

When I was a kid they used to play horror movies on Saturday nights at the old Number 1 Drive-In theater in South Daytona.  They were the worst of the worst – poorly produced splatter films with names like “Blood Feast” and “Gore Girls” that drew you in with ingenious marketing strategies such as, “Absolutely no one will be seated during the last five minutes of this film!”

They weren’t so much frightening as they were revolting – the more nauseating the better.

Teenaged girls would squeal and snuggle close to their boyfriends, while us younger kids covered our eyes and peeked out through spaces in our fingers at the macabre scenes of violence and gore on that grainy big screen, all of us knowing full-well we wouldn’t sleep for a week.

You don’t see those movies anymore.  I guess the public has come to the conclusion that everyday life in 2016 will produce much more gut-churning terror on any given day than any low-budget spleen-eating necrophiliac can muster.

Besides, any adult found bringing impressionable children to those films today would be labeled and hauled-off to an insane asylum by the authorities.

Invariably, our ride home from the drive-in would involve speculative discussions of how the filmmakers delivered the on-screen special effects, “I heard they use chicken blood or something, and that looked like calf’s liver to me,” as a means of reinforcing that what we had witnessed was “just a movie.”

Sort of like during election years when we drag out that tired old saw, “There is more that unites us than divides us.”

I suppose it’s something of a feel-good salve for the blood sport of modern politics, where candidates – especially at the federal level – essentially engage month-after-month in publicly and mechanically disemboweling their opponents on the national stage.

You know, the old – “At the end of the day, we’re all one people” maxim – which is somehow intended to let us know that the horror we’ve just witnessed for the past year is somehow “okay.”

“We are all human beings here.  We’re not cannibals for Christ sake!  At the end of the day, we’re all one people.  Right?”

Right.

This morning I read an excellent piece in the Daytona Beach News-Journal by Tony Jarmusz, “Beach driving divides Volusia County chair candidates.”

In describing his take-away from yesterday’s Tiger Bay Club debate, Mr. Jarmusz writes:

“Gathered Thursday for the first time in a public forum, founder and chairman of Let Volusia Vote Greg Gimbert and Orange City Mayor Tom Laputka voiced die-hard support of protecting beach driving rights. Incumbent Jason Davis and Ormond Beach Mayor Ed Kelley were more open to economic development on Volusia’s shores, even if it curtailed some driving.”

While I agree with Tony’s take, I feel the differences separating these candidates go far, far deeper than beach driving.

Now, I have made no secret of the fact that I wholeheartedly support Greg Gimbert’s candidacy for Volusia County chair.  While I don’t know Tom Laputka from Adam’s housecat, I do know that Greg embodies the character, energy and visionary leadership that we need working for us in Deland.

In my view, the fact that Jason “I didn’t run for the money” Davis has the shameless gall to ask Volusia County voters to even consider a second term is, in my mind, lunacy – real deep-seated psychological stuff.

There is a pathology that afflicts certain people that makes them believe in their own mind that they have something to say.  I should know – I’ve suffered from it for years, but I just pass the symptoms off as my own guttural arrogance. . .

In Chairman Davis’ case, he has schlepped through the worst term of elective service in the history of Volusia County government – and trust me – that’s a hard won accomplishment considering some of the winners we’ve elected to county office.

Jason Davis’ political faults and foibles are legendary – and to rehash them here just seems redundant.  Suffice it to say that he started his political career as an “every man” who emerged from the grassroots to claim high office from a passel of insiders – then slowly transformed into everything he hated.

About the same time that he started wearing that weird Akubra hat, speaking in ridiculous soundbites and standing in rank support of Jim Dinneen’s mean-spirited leadership style, he lost most folks.

We realized he wasn’t who – or what – he said he was.

To no one’s surprise he supported the county’s efforts to give even more of our beachfront to speculative developers and did whatever it took to quash the Let Volusia Vote referendum denying citizen’s involvement in the future of their beach.

Including suing his own constituents.

The rich and powerful insiders privately considered him a rube and a buffoon who could be controlled by his ego, while the rest of us just stood by in utter disbelief that our Hobson’s choice ignored our interests and joined lock-step with Dinneen’s cockeyed “vision” of what’s best for us.

In fact, his only original thoughts were those hare-brained, get-rich-quick schemes he concocted at the expense of the rest of us.

Remember the great “Reef Balls” suggestion for cleaning-up Mosquito Lagoon?

How about Jason’s one-man-band act in Washington when he went behind everyone’s back and used the county’s lobbying firm to set up meetings with DeSantis, Mica, Nelson and Rubio to discuss his plan to extend Sunrail service to Deland?

(To their credit, the politicians in Washington dodged Davis like the plague and he was whipped like a snake when he returned home.)

And who can forget when he thought we would believe that unnamed “citizens” suggested he receive a $34,000 pay raise and be given the ability to render tie-breaking votes in private?

As I recall, the News-Journal reported that most of his fellow elected officials laughed maniacally in his face, while others called it a blatant attempt at “kingdom building.”

Regardless, this half-bright has had his bite at the apple.  His abysmal lack of leadership and consistently clueless reaction to the serious issues facing Volusia County tells you all you need to know about Mr. Davis’ prospects for a second term.

As regular readers of this forum know, I have written extensively on my thoughts on Ed Kelley, the perennial Ormond Beach politician who, in my view, is a hardcore shill for big time developers.

Unless you’ve paid for the privilege, Ed really doesn’t care what you think – because he doesn’t have to.

You don’t have enough money or sway to matter.

If I give him credit for anything – Ed tells you where he stands right up front.  If elected, Ed Kelley will sell your beach to the highest bidder so fast you’ll never even know what happened.  If he has proven anything, Ed will not hesitate to use the full force and power of government to the advantage of his influential friends and campaign contributors whenever, and wherever, there is a buck to be made.

And he does not give a damn if you like it or not.

In my view, the County Chair race is perhaps the most important local contest of the season.

While I don’t know Mr. Laputka, in my view, Greg Gimbert’s qualifications are clear.  Through his advocacy, Greg has proven that he cares about the citizens of Volusia County – not just the political powerbrokers who think nothing of dumping thousands of dollars in personal and corporate donations to buy easy access and influence.

I have seen his strong, collaborative leadership and unique ability to build consensus from differing viewpoints.  Perhaps most important, I have been impressed by his deep sense of civic pride and personal commitment to the highest ideals of the public service.

When Greg Gimbert tells you something – you can believe it.

Unlike some of his opponents Greg knows that character counts, and his impressive public service and activism has been marked by ethical leadership, accessibility, and a deep concern for the future of Volusia County.

Whenever a politician tells me that he’s in the fray out of concern for the legacy we are creating for our children, I know his heart and mind are in the right place.

It’s just one of the reasons I support Greg Gimbert’s candidacy for Volusia County chair – and why you should too.

 

(Photo Credit: Daytona Beach News-Journal)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only in Florida can you get up early, brew the morning coffee, and open your local newspaper to a front page piece on an eight-foot alligator walking around Lakeland dragging a human corpse in its mouth.

Unusual?  One would think.  Until you learn that last week two fishermen found another gator actively devouring a dead body in one of those open drainage canals in South Florida.

Must have been a shock for the wide-eyed tourists on Captain Jack’s Jungle Tour:

“Nothing to see here folks, happens all the time!  The cycle of life here in the subtropics – you live, you die, you’re consumed by a prehistoric apex predator in a fetid swamp west of Homestead.  Oh!  Look over there –  it’s a stork!”

Turns out, the sight of reptiles consuming human remains is not uncommon at all – just another one of those charming roadside oddities here in the Sunshine State, like Waldo’s giant rocking chair or the world’s largest chicken wing in Madeira Beach.

There are certain things that you just come to terms with when you live in Florida, like uninsured motorists and 90% humidity – and the frequent sight of drifters begging for change on the corner of most major intersections is one of them.

Anyone who lives in Central Florida – especially Volusia County – knows that we are basically a mosaic of small municipalities all living cheek-to-jowl while desperately clinging to the last vestiges of our unique identities.

Oak Hill is as different from Orange City as Edgewater is from Pierson.  Each has its own “feel” – from charming, tree-lined neighborhoods to light industrial concentrations to “Old Florida” beach towns – each community makes its own distinctive contribution to the whole.

Somehow, it works.  Not well.  But it works.

For good or ill, we tend to hang onto our civic personalities here like a Pitbull on a ham bone and the only thing we all have in common is that everybody hates the county.

If Volusia County government is involved in anything, trust me, it’s not done in a cooperative or collegial manner – and the homeless issue has been no different.  However, after much fighting and gnashing of teeth it appears there is actual movement on a long-awaited shelter to service east Volusia cities.

Mainly because the County is nowhere near it.

Unfortunately, there is clearly a trace of discontent and hard feelings lingering in the air as local leaders work through innumerable funding issues in the aftermath of the ugliness and backbiting at the start of this turbulent process.

You might remember that Daytona Beach and the Salvation Army came up with an emergency solution to the “Great Homeless Standoff of 2016” – that foul period earlier this year when normally nomadic “street people” set up a permanent encampment at the Volusia County Administration Building on Beach Street – ostensibly in response to the City of Daytona Beach’s ill-conceived plan to close bathroom facilities in a nearby park.

This stalemate with the great unwashed forced – and I mean forced – a larger discussion by leaders from the cities and county on a permanent solution to the “homeless problem.”

Naturally, those talks dissolved into a series of petty swipes and ultimatums with Volusia County setting arbitrary deadlines for Daytona Beach, Josh Wagner issuing personal insults, etc.

Initially, the county was willing to pay for the building housing the shelter, but not the day-to-day operations, yadda, yadda, yadda.  Add to that a bevy of self-serving “advocates,” parasites and other hangers-on mucking about in the debate and in the end – like peace in the Middle East – it appeared unlikely that progress on the issue would be possible in our lifetime.

Now, the City of Daytona Beach is poised to break ground on a “come as you are” homeless assistance facility on municipal land west of the city limits on U.S. 92.  In turn, the county may be asked to cover construction costs with operating expenses paid proportionally by east Volusia cities.

Now, I’m not one to give credit to the City of Daytona Beach – just take a drive around the neighborhoods and commercial corridors of the World’s Most Famous Beach and you’ll see why.

But in this case, I have to admit, they took the bull by the horns and made something happen.

However, I think the process leading to this point could have been more transparent – and this plan has been developed with little, if any, public input – just our money, not our opinion.  Typical.

(Perhaps our local governments have decided that working in the Sunshine is just too damn cumbersome, and who’s really held to account anyway?  Or maybe they’re just tired of being flogged like a rented mule every time an idea is debated – who knows?)

In the meantime, our leadership on the Volusia County Council took Daytona’s initiative as one more opportunity hurl cheap shots like beer-drunk wise-asses at a professional wrestling match.

Councilman Josh Wagner – the original King of Sleaze – recently opined in the Daytona Beach News-Journal that it is “unfortunate” that the planning process was less than open.  Nevertheless, he supports a shelter that would serve “the full homeless population.”

That is, he supports it until he changes horses in mid-stream and decides he no longer supports it.  Josh supports lots of things – then along the way he decides its more politically expedient to change his mind and screw those who supported him to the wall.

In my view, Josh Wagner is so crooked he has to screw his pants on in the morning, and he’s the only one in Volusia County who still thinks his opinion matters – it doesn’t.  This cheap, mean-spirited divisiveness has been the hallmark of his worthless political career.

Isn’t there a helpless waitress you need to have fired, Josh?

Whatever.  Just stay out of the way while the adults work the problem.

Heck, even our own cartoon character of a County Chairman, Jason “I didn’t run for the money” Davis admitted he was caught flatfooted.  While Mr. Davis is happy that “someone’s doing something,” he thinks it’s time “to be totally open and in the sunshine on this.”

That’s rich.

Jason Davis is a classless hack who’s been involved in so many backroom shenanigans and cockamamie schemes I’m surprised he can look in a mirror without breaking it.

And just when I was warming up to Doug Daniels he goes back on the shit-list for his spiteful suggestion that the shelter be placed in the old EVAC facility on Mason Avenue, rather than “out in the middle of the swamp.”

According to the News-Journal, Mr. Daniels stated, “I don’t think people will want to stay there.  If you don’t want to do something realistic, maybe you need to live with the problem.”  (For the record, the EVAC building is in Holly Hill – not Daytona Beach.)

Now, I’m one of the biggest misanthropes you know – but Doug’s remarks are insensitive even by my base standards.

Doug, I thought you quit?  I thought you found billable work in DeBary?  What gives?

Folks, it’s easy to sit in the cheap seats and lecture those who are actually in the arena doing the heavy lifting.  Trust me – I’m a master at it.  It’s how I pass my time when I’m not drinking.

The difference is that I’m a retired crackpot hunched over a computer keyboard, not an elected official actively accepting public funds with a sworn duty to provide visionary leadership and oversight for the rest of us.

At the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building it has become de rigueur to heap overweening criticism on the municipalities whenever they attempt, individually or collectively, to correct problems that rightfully should be shouldered by county government – like homelessness.

For instance, earlier this week Ormond Beach and Port Orange approved a request from the City of Daytona Beach to help fund extra beds at the Salvation Army for another 90-days.  Apparently, it was somehow determined that 22 of the 297 people who took advantage of the Ballough Road facility were former Ormond Beach residents while 18 of them last called Port Orange home.

Now, I think it’s great that the cities are finding a way to shoulder the collective burden in the complete absence of county leadership – but I’m just not sure how they determined the last permanent residence of these folks when proportioning the cost?

For the most part, the Salvation Army serves the long-term, habitually homeless – people who for one reason or another live on the street and move between zip codes and city limits like migratory birds.  Here today, there tomorrow.

Fixing a last known address for the purpose of divvying up the load sounds a bit dubious to me.  Oh, well.  If it works – it works, and you have to admit, it’s refreshing to see the cities ignoring the small stuff and focusing collectively on the big picture for a change.

It’s progress, but as usual, we’re not all on the same page – West Volusia just wants to do its own thing.

The City of Deland has announced it will be seeking county funds to improve “The Neighborhood Center of West Volusia,” a tony daytime facility which I have no doubt will one day have its own sidewalk wine bistro anchored by a Williams and Sonoma.

It’s just how they do things now.  I’m not knocking it – Deland has done it right.

Deland is hipsters with beards, tattoos and creatively douchey craft beers.  Here in The Dirty we’re working stiffs, bad chain restaurants and lukewarm Budweiser.

East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet. . .

Indeed.

For me, the positive take-away is that municipal leaders on both sides of the county are working hard to find positive, long-term solutions to a universal problem.  While they may look at the issue from slightly different perspectives, the debate of good ideas and collaborative problem solving is a positive step for the future of Volusia County.

Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished, and I fear those who have taken a leadership role in finding solutions will have to deal with the petty-minded denigration of those piss-ants in the halls of power in Volusia County government.

It goes with the territory, I suppose.

It is just one reason why no county council incumbent currently running for re-election should even be considered – and the remainder shown the door at the first opportunity.

These haughty obstructionists – at the direction of Jim Dinneen –  have done their level best to hamper any reasonable attempt to find common ground on problems from beach access to the homeless issue – real challenges that affect all of us.

Now, let’s show them the consequences of their arrogance at the ballot box.

 

(Photo Credit: WESH)

 

 

 

 

 

Sit down and buckle-up, kids.  This one’s gonna bounce around a bit. . .

It’s been just over six years since a statewide grand jury investigating public corruption alerted Florida residents to the hundreds of millions of dollars in “corruption tax” we pay annually in the form of fraud, graft, bid-rigging, quid pro quo deals and outright theft by government officials and contractors.

Needless to say, ethics and anti-corruption reform is long overdue in the Sunshine State, but for some reason we treat it like a prostate exam – we know it’s necessary, even beneficial in the long-run, but not right now, Doc. . .

Stories of public officials using their position of trust for private gain are legendary here, and we have all experienced the frustration of watching these cases go unprosecuted due, in part, to the double-standard which previously existed in Florida’s public integrity statutes.

You know the old adage, “If I did that, they’d put me under the jail”?  Well, it’s true.  They would.  But only because the rules for public officials have always been very different than those for everyone else.

Earlier this year – after a very tumultuous path – Governor Rick Scott signed a bill ordering changes to statutory definitions which lowered unusually high burdens of proof for Florida prosecutors in public corruption cases.

For instance, prior to the change, the state was required to enter the defendant’s mind and prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the individual acted with “corrupt intent.”

Now, the law more closely aligns with other criminal statutes by requiring prosecutors prove that the accused “knowingly and willingly” engaged in the criminal act charged.

The bill also expanded the scope of who may be prosecuted under Florida’s public integrity statutes to include contractors and consultants doing business with public entities.

Now, a full six years after the statewide grand jury sounded the klaxon – and three years after a study published by Integrity Florida, a government ethics watchdog group, determined that for the decade 2000 to 2010, the State of Florida ranked first in the United States in federal corruption convictions – we get a few watery amendments to corruption statutes.

That’s like throwing a deck chair off the Queen Mary and everyone knows it.

Hell, if the situation in the City of DeBary has proven anything it’s that quid pro quo corruption by certain gubernatorial appointees and others with a sworn duty to act in the public interest has become so brazen and bald-assed that the practice is now the accepted norm.

The bastards don’t even try to hide it anymore.

In my view, an opportunity for the proliferation of public corruption opened in the aftermath of 9-11 with the reorganization of federal law enforcement agencies.

At that time, the focus – especially for the Federal Bureau of Investigation – turned from white collar crime, bank robbery, violent drug crimes and public corruption investigations almost exclusively to counter-terrorism activities.

In 2002, former FBI Director Robert Mueller restructured agency assets and changed priorities from solving crimes to preventing domestic terrorist attacks.  This saw the advent of very effective tools such as Joint Terrorism Task Forces and intelligence fusion centers – essentially local, state and federal law enforcement agencies working cooperatively to exchange information and actionable intelligence on potential domestic and international terror threats.

There is no doubt that this change of emphasis was – and continues to be – both necessary and very effective in protecting our homeland from the clear and present danger of the active global jihad being waged by radical Islam.

However, like an egg-sucking dog, once some politicians get the taste for easy money it’s a hard habit to break.

Those with a criminal bent will always find a way to exploit weaknesses in the system, and corrupt politicians and public officials learned quickly – like titmice in a corn crib – that they were free to dance whenever the barn cat gets distracted by the bigger rats.

When they realized the shift in law enforcement’s focus, it’s apparent many Florida politicians didn’t just dance – they held a Mardi Gras Ball.

Still, in the 10-year period reviewed by Integrity Florida, 781 elected and appointed government officials were convicted of corruption crimes.

In my experience, rarely is a criminal apprehended on his first offense – and on a good day about one in four crimes are ever solved.  Imagine the number of violations that went undetected?

In a 2013 New York Times article, reporter Nick Madigan wrote:

“Florida, and especially Miami and its environs, has long had a reputation as a place where the odd and the eccentric mix with the furtive and the felonious. Last century, organized crime figures from Chicago and New York set up lucrative gambling, extortion and loan-sharking endeavors in Miami Beach and elsewhere, and beginning in the 1980s, South Florida’s economy, culture and reputation were transformed by drug trafficking.”

“With so much money sloshing about, it was perhaps inevitable that a parade of officials would enrich themselves illicitly at the public trough.”

Has Florida finally become a Kleptocracy?

In a recent bombshell media investigation involving the leak of 11.5 million documents, euphemistically known as the “Panama Papers,” we got a glimpse at how the uber-rich use offshore banking, tax havens and hard-to-track corporation to their advantage.

When the report hit, the world learned of a secretive shadow economy involving high-ranking foreign government officials – including 12 current or former world leaders –  Russian oligarchs, international criminals, celebrities, sports figures and more than a few United States citizens who systematically exploit the secrecy and tax advantages of offshore banking and foreign corporate regulations to hide often ill-gotten personal wealth.

(As I write this it sounds like some weird Tom Clancy novel, right?)

Naturally, Florida plays a prominent role in all this – primarily in the form of “cash” purchases of real estate here in the Sunshine State.

The scheme is perpetrated when a foreign “investor” wants to purchase Florida real estate with cash.  The “investor” goes to a Florida law firm who in turn works through a Panama-based firm to establish an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands, where the owners of the new corporation are not required to reveal their identity.

In turn, the domestic law firm sets up a Florida-based company – which is wholly owned by the offshore entity – and the real estate then is purchased for cash through the domestic corporation.

The “investor” has effectively parked his cash in Florida real estate through an offshore company, owned by a Florida company.

According to the Miami Association of Realtors, these cash deals accounted for 53% of all Miami-Dade home sales in 2015 – and 90% of new construction sales.  It has been suggested that this huge influx of foreign money is a big reason the Florida real estate market has seen such a strong and sustained resurgence since the Great Recession.

And new construction seems to be very popular right now. . .

Given the fact that buyers can conceal themselves with shell corporations – and the cash transaction circumvents banking regulations designed to detect money laundering activities – if this isn’t criminal, it ought to be.

While there may be reasons for non-transparency in these transaction, for the life of me I can’t think of one. . .

You know, I’m not out to save the world – and my days of jousting with windmills are over.  But is it too much to ask that a public official – as a recipient of public funds – provide honorable, fair and effective service to their constituents?

I know in my heart from personal experience that the vast majority of elected and appointed public officials are honest, hard-working people who have a real desire to serve and make a positive difference, and the last thing I want to do is paint all government officials with the same brush – that would be unfair and wrong.

In fact, some of the finest people I have ever known were small town politicians and appointed officials with huge hearts and enormous civic pride who receive far less credit for effecting positive change than they should.

It’s a hard dollar even on a good day, and I have a tremendous amount of personal admiration for politicians who work hard to do the right thing.

Perhaps I have too much time to think, but when you consider the amount of funny money at play in Florida politics – much of it injected into the economy by speculative real estate development – you get the idea that maybe these things deserve a bit more scrutiny by state and federal regulators.

Especially when developers – in concert with local government – start moving on sensitive wetlands and conservation areas.

Governor Scott would pooh-pooh that radical thinking as an impediment to “economic development” and a bunch of dirt-worshiping tree-huggers standing in the way of progress.  (“I’m creating JOBS here!  And I don’t give two hoots if it paves over every gopher tortoise and “osprey” nest in the state!  Turtles don’t vote, dammit!)

Slick Rick never saw a development project he didn’t like – especially if his friends stand to make a butt-load of money off it.

Development isn’t just pouring concrete and hammering nails. There are a lot of other opportunities to make money on the periphery.  Like sutler’s following the troops, there are engineering consultants, environmental consultants, financial consultants, etc., etc.  – folks who help lay the ground work, obtain the permitting, provide site management, work the financing, amend the zoning, prepare the legal documents, distract advocacy groups, and generally ensure that the project meets the “regulatory requirements” needed to move the development forward.

You can’t swing a dead cat in this state without hitting a “consultancy” or “contractor” supporting real estate and property development interests.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not anti-business, I’m anti-crime.  Just give me a level playing field for everyone and I’ll shut the hell up and get hypnotized by daytime TV.

But, lets face it, some of this is getting too flagrant to ignore.  DeBary proved that.

Only in Florida would a sitting governor appoint an active consultant to chair the governing board of a regulatory agency that he actively represent clients in front of.

Read that sentence again.  (And, no, you’re not living in a parallel universe – this is Florida.  The rules are different here.)

It’s time we, the long-suffering people of Florida, begin the process of taking our municipal, county and state governments back from those who can’t grasp the concept that public service is a privilege – not a personal piggy bank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I admire people who stand out from the crowd through their own grit and determination.  My heroes have always been those who protect others and serve the common good, those who make a difference in…

Source: The Debacle in DeBary: In Politics, Self-Regulation is rarely effective…