During the Washington Post’s investigation into the Watergate conspiracy, a high-ranking FBI official, decades later identified as Mark Felt, surreptitiously provided key information to reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein regarding the Nixon administration’s involvement while operating under the now infamous pseudonym “Deep Throat.”
The revelations helped to confirm the reporter’s suspicions – exposing what was arguably the biggest scandal of the last century – and ultimately resulted in the resignation of a sitting United States president.
Interestingly, Woodward and Bernstein met “Deep Throat” in a darkened parking garage. . .
Sound familiar?
This week, Pat Rice, editor of The Daytona Beach News-Journal, published some disturbing photographs depicting the unfinished interior of the Protogroup’s languishing hotel and condominium project – which remains virtually stagnant at the epicenter of our core tourist area.
According to the report, these compelling photographs and other revelations received by Mr. Rice, originated from someone close to the project who wished to remain anonymous. . .
In addition, Mr. Rice detailed some troubling information regarding the condition of internal fixtures – including what appeared to be rusting pipes associated with the fire suppression system – and “surface rust” on two escalators that have been stored under tarps on the first floor of the south tower.
Look, I’m no expert on the construction of skyscrapers – in fact, I don’t know which end of a hammer you blow in – but does storing expensive escalators in a corrosive salt mist protected only by a blue tarp – or potentially installing a rust-pitted moving staircase in a “luxury” hotel, sound right to you?
Me neither. . .
Maybe it’s just my debilitating paranoia, but when you assemble the mysterious puzzle pieces of setbacks, slowdowns, allegations, lawsuits and revelations that have surrounded this project from its inception – one gets the idea maybe all is not as it seems.
In fact, the intrepid civic activist, Paul Zimmerman, president of Sons of the Beach – whose only motivation is preserving our quality of life – has been sounding the klaxon for months.
To make matters worse, I recently read a disturbing social media post from someone purporting to have inside information alleging serious irregularities surrounding the project – which, if true, would not bode well for the future of the already overdue towers.
I’ve learned to take things I read on the internet with a grain of salt – unless and until they comport with other material evidence at hand – but every time we see workers slap another coat of paint on the corroded reinforcing steel on the “north tower” – residents become increasingly uncomfortable.
I’m glad that people seemingly ‘in the know’ are beginning to speak out.
It takes courage to come forward with information vital to the well-being of our community – and it can be extremely intimidating, especially when one looks at how whistle blowers are treated in Volusia County government and beyond.
The fact someone with internal knowledge brought this to Mr. Rice’s attention should not be looked on lightly.
When one feels an ethical obligation to expose acts and omissions they believe are contrary to the public interest, be it in public or private organizations – it comes at great personal expense – and exposes whistle blowers to retaliation, the potential loss of a hard-earned career and the destruction of personal and professional relationships that results in ostracism and isolation.
That’s a heavy price to pay for doing the right thing.
But, in the end, sunlight is always the best disinfectant, and, as Einstein said, “To remain silent is to be guilty of complicity.”
As Mr. Rice pointed out, everyone hopes the Protogroup’s project is a “resounding success” – because the alternative is grim – and I’m not sure our beleaguered beachside can withstand another blow.
In my view, based upon the News-Journal’s excellent reportage – and the various rumors that are swirling throughout our worried community – perhaps it’s time our ‘powers that be’ consider investigating these serious concerns – then take steps to enforce whatever neutered performance guarantees they agreed to back when everyone who is anyone in the Daytona Beach elite were soaking themselves in a fit of excited incontinence over the ‘next big thing.’
“Trust is a fragile thing – difficult to build, easy to break. It cannot be bargained for. Only if it is freely given it can be expected in return.”
–Peter Lerangis, The Sword Thief
According to the Chinese zodiac, 2020 is the Year of the Rat. . .
Despite the rat’s unappealing reputation here in the west – the rodent ranks first among the twelve zodiac animals.
How the rat received that premiere distinction is an interesting story:
According to folklore, the exalted Jade Emperor – who, in Chinese mythology, ruled heaven and earth thousands of years ago – decreed that the place of each animal on the calendar would be decided by the order in which they arrived at his celestial party.
Needless to say, all the animals were excited to meet the Heavenly Grandfather as the Emperor was known, and the Cat asked the Rat to wake him from a nap so he would not miss the opportunity to ascend into the heavens and attend the grand soiree.
After thinking about it, the Rat feared he would seem unattractive to the Emperor when compared to the handsome Cat, so, he intentionally let the Cat oversleep and miss the party altogether.
Then, after outwitting the Cat, the Rat tricked the Ox into giving him a ride to the Emperor’s home in heaven. . .
Just as the pair arrived at the Emperor’s gilded door, the Rat jumped off the beasts back, landing ahead of the Ox, and scurried forward to gain the advantage and became the first animal to the enter the party.
Needless to say, the Ox never trusted that rat bastard again – and the vicious animosity that still exists between cats and rats is notorious. . .
I was reminded of this ancient tale of treachery and betrayal after reading The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s first editorial of the new decade, “Build trust in 2020,” which spoke of the ultimate importance of local efforts to restore the public trust and rebuild confidence in our local government in the coming year.
I agree. Wholeheartedly.
Unfortunately, it appears the Halifax areas current oligarchical system, which bears no resemblance to a representative democracy, coupled with an almost pathological need for secrecy – something at odds with our sacred principles and open government laws – has isolated a worried constituency from their elected and appointed representatives – isn’t going to change on its own.
For instance, earlier this week, WFTV’s intrepid investigative reporter Mike Springer – whose smarts, perseverance and grasp of the important issues ranks him among the best in the business – produced a disturbing story on his attempts to gain hard answers to where some $90 million in Community Redevelopment Funds were spent in the Main Street CRA.
According to the report, a tour of the area found abundant evidence of blight, dilapidation and civic neglect permeating the redevelopment area – to include numerous vacant storefronts, graffiti and pole banners in the Surfside Village historic district that were so tattered and faded the signs were unreadable. . .
The short question being how – with nearly a hundred million dollars over the transom since 1992 – could this relatively small area of our beachside still be an atrophied wasteland?
Given that the City of Daytona Beach has stopped formally communicating with the working press, Springer dutifully attempted to contact “Communications Manager” Susan Cerbone – a professional mouthpiece who is paid handsomely to guard the gate from pesky reporters and inquisitive citizens – by email for “three straight days.”
Really?
In a brazen display of just how far senior officials at City Hall will go to avoid external scrutiny – Ms. Cerbone (by email, of course) questioned what Mr. Springer’s “story was about” and, rather than be interviewed in an open, professional and transparent way, directed that the reporter tip his hand and forward a list of questions for review.
Weird.
When Springer explained he was investigating “The Main Street CRA and how the city has used the money to reinvest and develop that district,” and logically asked to speak with the city’s redevelopment director Reed Berger – Cerbone mysteriously stopped communicating altogether.
It appears Mr. Springer has hit upon something that the City of Daytona Beach would prefer remain in the shadows. . .
The bureaucracy’s obvious unwillingness to provide an open accounting of where $90 million in public funds went – which actually equates to some $120 million over thirty years – and how, decades later, the redevelopment district (along with much of our core tourist area) remains mired in malignant blight and economic stagnation – is incredibly telling.
And frightening.
The citizens of Daytona Beach – and beleaguered Main Street merchants – deserve answers.
In my view, it is clear why Mr. Berger – who has stood unconscionably idle while the beachside and beyond deteriorated – wouldn’t want to answer a reporters pointed questions.
I don’t blame him.
But that’s his job, dammit.
At some point, shouldn’t responsible elected officials and municipal administrators come to the realization that perhaps the City’s Redevelopment Director should be held personally responsible for – I dunno – Redevelopment?
Whatever.
When it comes to matters of trust, a lack of substantive communication between elected and appointed officials and their baffled constituents typically doesn’t promote public confidence.
In fact, it destroys it.
It’s a big part of why Volusia County’s desperate push for a half-cent sales tax was soundly defeated last year – and the reason the referendum will go down in flames again if the same incompetent assholes remain in power when the question is returned to the ballot.
And the ongoing shit show that is the Volusia County Council – under the miserable reign of our doddering fool of a county chair, Ed Kelley – whose biweekly Captain Queeg impression has broken our faith and turned the legislative process into a tasteless joke – isn’t helping to repair our horribly damaged relationship with those who accept public funds to serve in the public interest.
This complete lack of values-based leadership and cult-like addiction to secrecy at all levels of government is perhaps the most troubling issue facing Volusia County residents – one that our current crop of rats have proven unable or unwilling to escape.
In our democratic system, just power is derived from the consent of the governed, and we don’t have to accept this – or stand by while those who have abused our sacred trust attempt to ameliorate their sins, rewrite history and stand for reelection.
I hope you will remember where true power lies come November.
It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the newsmakers of the day – the winners and losers – who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life, or detracted from it, in some significant way.
Let’s look at who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:
Asshole Daytona Beach Downtown Development Authority
“Sham: Cheap falseness, not genuine, having such poor quality as to seem false, a trick that deludes”
–Merriam-Webster
Despite the death song of some downtown merchants, and the growing protests of long-time residents, it is painfully clear that the City of Daytona Beach is moving full steam ahead with an asinine plan to destroy a serviceable streetscape on Beach Street and replace it with something, well, different.
When the process begins in a few weeks, I think it’s safe to say that not all of the small businesses that currently occupy downtown storefronts will be there when the project ends sometime later this year.
And maybe that’s part of the plan?
I cannot imagine how it must feel to put your blood, sweat and tears into something you built – only to have your own municipal government actively work against you – with the only logical explanation being that your shop or service doesn’t comport with some wealthy insiders “vision” of what they ultimately want downtown to look like. . .
Now, apparently to soften the blow of a terminal diagnosis, the City of Daytona Beach is announcing grand plans to “help” downtown merchants by suddenly changing tack from a cloistered, fuliginous, information black hole to what is now being described as a culture of “consistent communication” and a willingness to listen to “impacted groups” and solicit feedback.
My ass.
In my experience, the only accurate predictor of future performance is past behavior, and anyone paying attention can call this sham a mile away. . .
Given the experience of some merchants during the Orange Avenue reconstruction – which began in August 2014 yet wasn’t finished until 2017 – and myriad other projects that drag on for months, even years, beyond estimates, nobody is holding out much hope for the proposed Beach Street “improvements” timeline.
And don’t get me started on the Tom Staed Veterans Memorial Bridge fiasco – a county project which, despite daily fines, finger pointing and official promises – has remained perpetually under construction since 2016. . .
Now, to calm the fears of some Beach Street merchants – or to salve their own tortured conscience – Daytona Beach officials are saying all the right things, promising to assist struggling businesses, and, now that the city has awarded the $4.4 million job to P$S Paving, actually listen to their concerns. . .
Bullshit.
The Daytona Beach Downtown Development Authority, which just happens to be chaired by an attorney with Cobb Cole (a firm representing everyone who is anyone in the downtown development game), are exporting dollars to a Ponte Vedra Beach based marketing agency while flogging “special events” as a means of providing palliative care for the doomed – a too little, too late hospice for retail used-to-be’s.
One concerned reader forwarded me a copy of a colorful brochure, apparently sent by the Downtown Development Authority in resident’s water bills, touting Christmas events on Beach Street.
It arrived on December 31st. . .
Wow.
Clearly, a select few in the Halifax area aristocracy have definite plans for what our downtown will look like over the next decade – including which businesses will be allowed to prosper and which will wither.
I believe their dream of creating a “destination” ultimately includes the commercial development of City Island – the real estate is simply too valuable – and all the right players are on-board – which means the rest of us are just along for the ride. . .
If it’s any consolation, in my view, the die was cast on the fate of downtown Daytona long before what passes for public discussion even began – and was cemented when His Royal Majesty J. Hyatt Brown callously held a proposed $750,000 children’s splash park in the “Brown Esplanade” hostage to the lane reduction project.
Unless the street project moved forward – the splash pad would be “eradicated.”
(And I’m a mean-spirited ogre? Whoa.)
To ensure there was no confusion where our exalted Ruling Class stood, J. Hyatt was bolstered in his hostile demand by our High Panjandrum of Political Power, Mori Hossieni, as the two titans rose before their hired chattel and gave them not-so-subliminal marching orders.
The great Bob Dylan said, “he not busy being born is busy dying” – and, in my view, that moment at the Daytona Beach City Commission meeting of December 18, 2019, marked the birth of “Hyattona” – and the death of anything that doesn’t comport with one man’s vision for the rest of us.
Angel Louis Fuchs
“Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
— Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ozymandias”
Unfortunately, the Halifax area elite could give two-shits when it comes to curating our community history – and the memory of those who took us from a salty patch of palmetto scrub, across the Bell Curve of civic success, to where we are now.
Instead, Volusia County’s self-aggrandizing ‘powers that be’ seem more interested in assuring their own legacy (and currying favor) through the deification of our present-day pompous political insiders.
Even if their strange idea of civic glory only lasts a few decades.
In the 1960’s, a small group of local businessmen, led by the venerated J. Saxon Lloyd, formed the Civic League of the Halifax Area – one of those “membership by invitation only” secret societies that, to this day, continue to serve as the puppet masters who form public policy in their own image – and to their own advantage. . .
The Civic League, and those “Rich & Powerful” political insiders who populated it back in its heyday, were of the opinion that a clique of power brokers was more effective at community decision-making than our democratic system of politically accountable representatives, “which change administrations every year, because it will be permanent.”
(What’s changed?)
No one was more ingrained in the local power structure of the day – or more dedicated to the future success of east Volusia County – than Halifax area business leader and community activist, Lou Fuchs.
In fact, Mr. Fuchs is the late uncle of the esteemed Dr. Hal Kushner, a former Vietnam Prisoner of War and true American hero, whose ophthalmology practice has served residents of the Halifax area since 1977.
It is reported that, as a boy, Dr. Kushner spent a couple of summers working at his Uncle Lou’s linen service.
Given the importance of Mr. Fuchs personal and professional contributions to our areas progress, the Daytona Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce named one of their most prestigious honors “The Lou Fuchs Leadership Award” – a prize which now appears on the political resume of every Old School Volusia County “mover and shaker” worth their salt.
In fact, the honor was so exclusive that recipients were nominated and selected solely at the suggestion of previous award winners.
Unfortunately, I guess Lou’s contributions to the halcyon days of the “World’s Most Famous Beach” just don’t measure up to those of our current nobility – who have successfully built a “New Daytona” in the piney woods west of I-95 – then collectively turned their backs while the rest of our once vibrant community, including our beleaguered beachside, decomposes into dilapidated oblivion. . .
In keeping with their obsequious trend of renaming awards after our present crop of uber-wealthy overseers – it was announced this week that the Chamber has callously shit on the revered memory of Lou Fuchs – and will now refer to the honor as “The Glenn Ritchey Leadership Award.”
Jesus.
What happened to honoring Mr. Fuchs’ dedication and contributions?
Hell, what happened to the common human emotion of shame?
The Chamber’s unabashed brown-nosing follows closely on the heels of their equally boot-licking move to rename the annual “Enterprise Award” after the current King of Kings J. Hyatt Brown. . .
(Which, by the by, will be bestowed on the do-nothing, publicly funded Team Volusia at the Chamber’s elegant soiree later this month. . .you read that right.)
Damn. . .
Sorry, Lou. Your legacy is lost to whatever passes for our malleable and capricious history now.
In the end, I wonder how the Halifax area’s mutable historical record will remember this damnable period of our civic, social and economic existence – and the contributions of our current crop of Exalted Monarchs and their shameless “Pretensions of Greatness”?
Quote of the Week
“Deltona, where the trust of the commissioners and city manager was lost a long time ago, only added to that mistrust.
When I read the Opinion page (“Big News: It’s Amazon”) and it lists all the “obvious people” who were aware of what was going on, I just shook my head.
The residents were told: Non-Disclosure Agreement, we can’t say anything.
When you’re approving $2.5 million in incentives, the residents have a right to know a bit more than “We can’t say anything.”
The city’s DeltonaTV page posted “It’s all pretty exciting #amazon is coming to #deltona and the residents FAITH in City of Deltona, Florida has never been stronger.”
Really?
In my opinion the city missed a big opportunity to regain some of that FAITH and residents trust.”
–Dayle Whitman, Deltona, The Daytona Beach News-Journal Letters to the Editor, “Deltona’s Amazon secrecy strained trust,” Sunday, December 29, 2019
Well said, Dayle. Thank you for your important contributions to the betterment of Deltona and beyond.
Also, a Barker’s View tip o’ the hat to Mr. Andy Brachhold of Daytona Beach for mentioning this humble blog in his recent News-Journal editorial, “Keep Beach Street unique and vibrant.”
Sincerely appreciated!
Besides, anytime my name is evoked (without spitting on the ground in disgust) it apparently pisses off all the right people – that can’t be a bad thing. . .
And Another Thing!
Look, I get it.
And, I admire the effort.
Recently, it’s become increasingly clear that a few of our Halifax area aristocrats and their fawning minions are enlisting the help of others in the community to answer my hypercritical screeds on social media.
The typical response usually takes the form of reminding me that I “don’t speak for everyone,” and end with some tripe about “how dare you besmirch the altruistic efforts of the Great and Powerful J. Hyatt Brown to gift us nice things and elevate us from this foul and fetid wasteland.”
Then, they question what I’ve done in my life to better our community. . .
Unfortunately, my detractors – who always telegraph their intent by admitting they were “asked to comment” – seem to come from that segment of the population who still equate the quality of a person’s civic vision with the size of their bank account, and belittle my supporters with arrogant comments like, “I pay more taxes than most of you combined!,” then remind everyone of their former relevance and standing before they were hypnotized by daytime television. . .
Because they obviously don’t have a clue about current events, local politics or the innumerable problems brewing outside the guarded entrance to their tony gated community.
I suspect we’ll see more of this orchestrated resistance to my rambling thoughts and jaded opinions on the issues and newsmakers as our local governments – and those organizations and hangers-on who make their living suckling greedily at the public teat – egotistically succumb to the need to answer my rants.
Look, I live for the feud – so keep them coming.
Frankly, I enjoy the challenge – because it validates in my own inflated ego that Barker’s View is making a difference in the life and direction of our community – and I’m flattered that anything I could write would result in this much angst in the Ivory Tower of Power.
Maybe our “Rich & Powerful” should consider the source – then think long and hard about the source of this growing civic frustration.
Despite the incredible popularity of this site, I remain, quite simply, a half-drunk everyman – a star-crossed rube banging out my political vexations – then floating them out on the ether, hoping against hope to encourage a larger discussion in the community.
And, maybe it shouldn’t be so dreadfully easy for a few well-heeled insiders to use influence and backroom deals to force their myopic vision on everyone else?
I’m positive that our democratic system of governance works better with the open debate of competing ideas – an all-inclusive discussion that incorporates a variety of opinions into public policy design – a process which values the diverse input of all stakeholders, rather than succumb to the dictatorial edicts of a few.
In my view, at this dawn of a new decade, it is not the loquacious blathering of some ‘keyboard warrior’ like me that our wealthy overseers need to worry about as they frantically work to protect the status quo.
As I said in my New Year greeting earlier this week – it is the awakening that is slowly taking place across the breadth of Volusia County that threatens their grip on power – and, at the end of the day, our haughty ‘powers that be’ will have no one to blame but themselves.
In my view, the thousands of independent thinkers who read these posts every month – who share these views throughout the community, form their own opinions, then vote their conscience at the ballot box – will ultimately return power to We, The People and set a bold new course for inclusion, fiscal responsibility and equality in local governance.
That’s all for me. Have a great weekend – and a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year – everyone!
As we enter the dawn of a new decade, I want to sincerely thank the loyal Barker’s View readers – the independent thinkers who consider my views, form their own opinions, then vote their conscience.
God knows I’m not perfect – and I understand these hypercritical political screeds and weird thoughts on our lives and livelihoods here on the Fun Coast are not for everyone – but, with your help, I believe there is an awakening taking place across the breadth of Volusia County.
Since its inception, this small blog site has now hosted hundreds-of-thousands of page views and, for good or ill, the content continues to grow in popularity with thousands tuning in each month.
Although we don’t always agree, I believe the success of Barker’s View is in driving a larger discussion of the issues – and in letting our ‘powers that be’ know someone is watching from up here in the cheap seats.
The fact so many of you seek out a genuine alternative opinion on the issues of the day tells me that this experiment is making a difference in the life and direction of our community.
I appreciate that.
2020 holds the exciting potential of fresh beginnings – and an election that may well begin our transformation from the oligarchical rule of a few, to an inclusive system where values-driven elected officials represent the very real needs of all constituents.
We’ll talk about that potential – and much more – in the coming year.
As a child of the 60’s, I can look back and see how far we’ve come in realizing the technological advances enjoyed by George Jetson and his “space age” family – conveniences that were unimaginable in a time when television was still black and white, no cell phones, personal computers, tablets, robots, 3D printing, eReaders, computer-aided design, or the everything all the time marvel of the internet.
While flying cars are still a ways off – autonomous drones are evolving into the workhorse of the sky – and moving walkways are now commonplace. The Jetson’s “Televiewer,” which allowed George to read the news off a screen is antiquated, and robot vacuum cleaners are de rigueur in any modern home.
As advances in robotics and artificial intelligence are incorporated into business and industry, George’s envious workweek of three, three-hour days spent pushing buttons is increasingly becoming a reality as the challenges posed by flesh-and-blood labor are solved by automated ecommerce systems.
After all, high-speed robotic arms and scanners that power packaging and palletizing lines – then unload, scan, sort, store, select, load and ship orders without any human intervention beyond computer programming – don’t call in sick, take a bathroom break, require vacation leave or file for workers comp – and they never hire labor attorneys. . .
Once these direct labor jobs are automatized, retailers and their logistics providers see a reduction in indirect labor costs – such as supervision, human resources, housekeeping, quality assurance, inventory management, safety and security – limiting expenses to the essential functions of equipment programming and maintenance, operational engineering and information technology support.
Studies by respected market researchers have shown that up to 32 percent of workers doing routine, repetitive and predictable tasks will need to transition to entirely different occupations by 2030 due to automation.
With the industry in flux, why are Volusia County economic development shills focused on pursuing warehouse and distribution operations under the nonsensical guise of “high paying jobs”?
Look, I’m no expert on the operation and management of large distribution facilities – just a blowhard with an opinion on everything – but I can read and understand trends, and so can our self-styled business recruitment gurus, who have built a cottage industry serving as a conduit between our money and the next big thing.
It doesn’t take a logistics engineer to understand that, with hundreds of new consumers moving into Central Florida every day, online retailers – and established brick and mortar chains – will build their warehouse and distribution centers exactly where corporate analysts believe it will best serve their order-fulfillment needs in the most economically efficient manner possible – and they don’t need the input of some sketchy public/private “economic development” consortium – or our hard-earned tax dollars – to do it.
Clearly, distribution centers are the low hanging fruit of the economic development game in an era where publicly funded corporate welfare has reduced negotiations to filling the slop trough with our money.
Following a clumsy roll out orchestrated by Team Volusia just before Christmas, on Thursday, the City of Deltona finally announced what everyone with two synapses still firing have known for months – Amazon will open a massive distribution center at North Normandy Boulevard and East Graves Avenue.
So much for those super-secret “non-disclosure agreements,” that, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, apparently weren’t worth the paper they were printed on:
“Elected officials and employees at the city and Volusia County knew.
Representatives from the Florida Department of Transportation knew. CareerSource Flagler Volusia, Team Volusia and Enterprise Florida all knew. Local marketing executives and RMA, a Pompano Beach-based consulting firm, all knew.
And a lot of their friends and business associates knew too.
Some even told The News-Journal — but wouldn’t allow themselves to be quoted.”
Wow.
So much for the personal integrity of those who hold positions of trust in our community.
I don’t agree with the whole Secret Squirrel gamesmanship when public funds are involved – but, if that’s the law – follow it, dammit.
These jabbering assholes have the self-restraint of Kristen Wiig’s Saturday Night Live character, “Surprise Party Sue,” who loves to be in on the secret, yet can’t physically control herself from spilling the beans.
Welcome to Volusia County, Mr. Bezos – the rules are different here. . .
My God. What a shit show.
I guess getting a jump on the competition in Volusia County really is all about who you know, eh?
Following the grand reveal, the Deltona City Commission made good on a promise to offer Amazon (who last year reported annual revenues of $232.9 billion) a healthy incentive package worth some $2.5 million in ad valorem tax rebates over five years – provided the ecommerce giant agrees to produce 500 jobs paying storeroom wages.
I don’t mean to denigrate the behemoth’s ultimate contribution to the local economy (especially to the personal pocketbooks of those “friends and business associates” of our high and mighty elected and appointed officials who got an unfair heads-up) – but, with rent in greater Deltona averaging $1,114 – I just don’t see $2,600 a month as living high on the hog – especially in an unstable environment where human employees are rapidly becoming an operational and financial inconvenience in the age of automation.
And I don’t see the need to give the biggest business in the universe one dime of public funds.
The site is located almost equidistant between all major population centers in Central Florida with immediate access to I-4 – and had anyone bothered to ask – I’ll just bet Amazon, or any other mega-retailer looking for an order fulfillment advantage – would have paid the City of Deltona handsomely for the privilege of locating on the most suitable real estate in the region.
But we’ll never know.
We also don’t know what a 1.4 million square foot distribution warehouse looks like in five, ten or fifteen years – or what happens once Amazon’s initial infrastructure investment becomes antiquated and overburdened.
In fact, a lot of unanswered questions remain.
In my view, one thing is crystal clear following this ham-handed process – Team Volusia’s fumbling president, Keith Norden, proved once and for all, that – beyond over-dramatizing Team Volusia’s intrusive meddling in municipal affairs – and taking eleventh-hour credit for the “major get” – he and his senior staff don’t have the acumen to pour piss out of a boot with the instructions on the heel, much less advocate to the financial advantage of long-suffering Volusia County taxpayers.
Congratulations, Deltona.
Be careful what you wish for – you just might get it.
It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the newsmakers of the day – the winners and losers – who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life, or detracted from it, in some significant way.
Let’s look at everyone who helped foster the success of this blog site during the past year as we proudly unveil the 2019 Barker’s View Honor Roll – the only award in Volusia County you can’t buy!
I’m fond of an expression that some purport to be an ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.”
Be it a blessing or a bane, we long-suffering denizens of Florida’s fabled Fun Coast most definitely live in a fascinating era – something akin to the old Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disney World – careening through a political maze, white knuckled, only to find the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. . .
Whatever.
But the one constant on this wacky political thrill ride is that, regardless of our unique hopes, dreams and vision, we all coexist on this salty piece of land, and, each in our own way, want what’s best for the place we call home.
From what The Daytona Beach News-Journal have dubbed our “Rich & Powerful,” the movers and shakers with infinite power and influence – to those of us who struggle mightily just to eke out a living in this weird economy – all while coughing up exorbitant taxes and fees – we are all collectively dedicated to the proposition that we can be better, that we deserve better.
So, it’s my pleasure to honor all those who fight the good fight – who persevere, overcome and make a life here in Volusia County – those who courageously stand for public office and endure the slings and arrows of harsh criticism – those who have devoted their professional lives to public service – and those who pay the bills and suffer in silence.
This includes those hardworking civic activists who fight valiantly, time and again, to protect our quality of life – from beach driving to environmental advocacy and beyond. In my view, these grassroots efforts form the very backbone of our community.
When I began trying to provide a genuine alternative opinion four years ago, I could not have imagined how many of you would take the time to read, to welcome my perspective and consider these diatribes for what they are – and what they are not.
Thanks to your engagement, this blog continues to open doors and influence opinion – and I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people – including a few of our “movers & shakers,” some of whom still have the humility and sense of humor to laugh at themselves and our situation.
Invariably, whenever I meet people who are familiar with Barker’s View, including those in powerful public positions who I frequently write about – they are incredibly kind to me – and take the time to offer their own unique opinions of the issues, point out where we differ or agree and provide constructive criticism for the blog.
So, it is appropriate that as we start a new decade, we recognize those who have impacted our civic lives – positively or negatively – in a significant way over the past year.
The problem with lists is you will invariably miss someone important – and if I have overlooked your contribution, please forgive me. It was not intentional.
While this Honor Roll isn’t all inclusive, it begins and ends with YOU – those who read, contribute, opine, comment, argue, agree, disagree, disparage, elevate, share, find solutions, think deeply, offer criticism, offer hope, offer a word of encouragement – political allies and foes alike – especially the one’s who “get it,” and can still be my friend when the debate is over.
All of you.
But most of all, the faithful readers of Barker’s View – the independent thinkers who analyze and contemplate my often warped thoughts on the issues and newsmakers of the day – often vehemently disagreeing with my assertions – and use these screeds to continue a larger discussion in the community, an important exercise that can lead to new ideas and solutions to the myriad problems we face.
With over 382,000 page views since our inception – including readers from 81 countries from around the globe in 2019 alone – I couldn’t possibly know everyone who regularly accesses this site, but it is important to me that you know how much I appreciate your interest.
Whether you hate everything I stand for – or support an alternative point of view in a place that desperately needs someone to question the status quo – I am forever thankful for your attention, insight and critique.
You are making a difference in our beautiful community.
The only thing I can promise you is that, in the coming year, I’ll be here, watching from the cheap seats – a rheumy-eyed witness to the machinations of our local governments – providing you, the devoted members of the Barker’s View Tribe, with my jaded opinions and skewed perspective on the issues of the day.
As always, I appreciate your taking the time to read and consider.
And for your support and friendship.
That’s all for me – here’s wishing everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2
Here’s wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and all best wishes for a healthy, happy and most prosperous 2020!
The Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde once said, “With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.”
As we grow older, some of us gain perspective as well – a civic point of view based upon our memories of the past.
On Sunday, The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s editorial board took a long reach in a piece entitled, “Beach Street renaissance,” which began:
“There was a time when Beach Street was the thriving heart of Daytona Beach — a place where people could live, work, shop, eat and have fun, all within walking distance.
And that time is … about five years from now.”
The fact is, when I was a young boy, downtown was exactly as described.
A flourishing place – anchored by the major retailers of the day – with a plethora of boutiques, restaurants, specialty shops, upscale clothing stores, a movie theater and rows of beautifully appointed windows displaying the merchandise within.
At the end of any shopping trip, if you were “good,” your mom would take you to the toy store at Dunn Brothers. Extraordinary.
Across the street was an attractive park, complete with landscaped greenspace, interesting monuments, a bubbling artesian spring which flowed cool sulfurous water into ponds surrounded by inviting benches – all interconnected by meandering walkways.
An almost universally shared experience enjoyed by everyone who came of age in the Halifax area in the 1960’s and early 70’s.
Suddenly, everything changed.
In the fall of 1974, for what I’m sure was the best of intentions, our ‘powers that be’ welcomed the Volusia Mall on what is now West International Speedway Boulevard – and, within the year, both Sears and JC Penny closed up shop and relocated to shiny new stores at opposite ends of the mall.
And, downtown Daytona Beach joined thousands of other traditional Main Streets and business districts across the nation in a slow, but steady, descent into neglect and squalor.
Once bustling sidewalks became the realm of homeless mendicants – with the accompanying sights, sounds and smells that registered the death knell of a once proud and prosperous civic core – while dying shops who were left behind tried in vain to remain relevant in a disloyal retail environment they couldn’t possibly understand or change.
Despite fits and starts, Beach Street would never again see the level of success it enjoyed prior to the day the fabric of our community changed forever.
However, the bones of something great remained.
A beautiful riverfront with beachside access, ample natural spaces, a historic baseball park, a nearby marina and fashionable buildings which retain the class and appeal of a time that simply cannot be recreated.
It was the perfect canvas for a resurgent effort to rebuild and revitalize downtown – and perhaps the rest of our beleaguered community – with a ‘whole community’ vision that would incorporate the best ideas, efforts and input from those of us who call the Halifax area home.
Those who remember what was, and envision what could be. . .
Something we could collectively take credit for with “Look what we did!” buy in.
A collaborative process that allows residents to take ownership and build pride in place as they help revitalize a civically important area following years of strategic rot.
But that’s not how things work here.
Screw your “community building” bullshit, Barker.
We know what’s best for you – and we have the money to prove it. . .
So, we are forced to watch the behind-closed-doors birth of “Hyattona” – a contrived community center all built to adorn an out-of-place, unimaginative glass and steel monument to one man’s self-importance – a classless modern monolith that will house operations for His Majesty King J. Hyatt Brown’s billion-dollar insurance intermediary.
Once again, our elected and appointed officials are following in lockstep conformity – oohing and ahhing with each new reveal – acting as though they haven’t been given the script in advance as they rubber stamp the next demand and acquiesce to secretive projects proposed by Consolidated Tomoka, pushing ahead with plans for P$S Paving to narrow Beach Street while developers announce yet another “dense cluster” of hotels, boutiques, parking garages and specialty shops which will, of course, compliment the Brown & Brown headquarters.
Back in the spring of 2017, I explained a theory based upon mounting evidence that our ‘powers that be’ secretly constructed a “Grand Plan” for the future of the Halifax area – something those of us who pay the bills and suffer in silence knew nothing about.
In my warped mind, this well-orchestrated blueprint was hatched by a few of Volusia’s powerful political insiders – the uber-wealthy donor class who have gained near total control of our democratic processes through massive campaign contributions to hand-select candidates – and are using the resultant political clout to craft our community in their image.
As the onion is slowly peeled on what our future will look like – I hate to say I told you so – but it looks like my weird suspicions were true – and I suspect we will see City Island in play soon. . .
No one really cares what you and I think about the revitalization of our downtown.
Because it’s not about us.
In my view, the new concept community of “Hyattona” was set in stone the minute Mr. Brown stood before the Daytona Beach City Commission last week, and, for the umpteenth time, arrogantly waved his money under their noses (“We don’t view the $18.3 million as a gift, we view it as an investment”), after all it’s one thing to “gift” a park to the residents of Daytona, but quite another to use that “gift” to demand tax funded maintenance, ramrod an intrusive road project and procure other expensive public concessions and ancillary development to benefit your new office building.
Word to the wise: Whenever someone repeatedly reminds you, to the penny, how much he or she has “gifted” you, it comes with strings attached. . .
Interestingly, the same area of downtown currently being developed in honor of one man’s legacy is set atop the ruins of another man’s search for civic immortality.
Way back in 1914, Charles Burgoyne, an uber-wealthy Daytona Beach printer, paid for street lighting and contributed money for many civic improvements – including a 10-foot-wide paved sidewalk known as the “Burgoyne Esplanade” – between Orange Avenue and Bay Street, along with a thriving music venue, a park pavilion and free concerts at his mansion.
Following Mr. Burgoyne’s death in 1916, his wife, Mary, lived in the rambling mansion – “The Castle” – for another 25 years until she and two servants were unceremoniously evicted by the new property owner, a Jacksonville businessman, and moved to a beachside apartment.
Then, the mansion, with its ornate wall and outbuildings, was demolished and hauled away – while property developer, Burgoyne Properties, built and leased twenty commercial buildings on the site of Mr. Burgoyne’s legacy. . .
Perhaps Mr. Brown, and the other ‘movers & shakers’ who are forcing their self-serving vision on the rest of us in downtown Daytona and beyond should realize that, in the end, all fame is fleeting – and forcing change on a suspicious and unwilling constituency only lasts as long as voters permit it.
It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the newsmakers of the day – the winners and losers – who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life, or detracted from it, in some significant way.
Let’s look at who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:
Before we get this weekly hayride started, I want to take a minute to say thank you to every member of the tribe who rode to my aid during a pretty dark week here at Barker’s View HQ.
As most of you know, I was recently named in a spurious complaint to the Florida Commission on Ethics – false allegations which specifically targeted Holly Hill City Manager Joe Forte – accusations which were summarily dismissed following a preliminary investigation by state officials.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal and other local media outlets responsibly covered this ugly issue – but it didn’t help salve the heartbreaking reality of being wrongly accused.
I’m all washed up – a retired has-been with no relevance – but Mr. Forte remains very much in the fray.
Knowing the depth of his character and commitment to good governance, the fact Mr. Forte will be forced to forever explain this senseless stain on his otherwise stellar record of honest and ethical public service troubles me to the core.
While the experience only served to further harden my manners – and lower my already whale shit opinion of mankind – I know this unfortunate episode truly weighed heavy on a man of Joe Forte’s integrity.
My spirits were buoyed beyond belief by the response of Barker’s View readers – even from some of you who abhor these screeds and despise everything I stand for – who raced to defend my honor.
When the chips were down, you showed up.
I’m humbled by that.
As the great Texas folklorist J. Frank “Pancho” Dobie said, “You’ll do to ride the river with. . .”
Thank you all from the bottom of my beat-up old heart.
Enough of that maudlin crap – let’s get things started, shall we?
Look, this week’s A&A is a long one – so don’t think you have to eat it all in one sitting.
This isn’t “Mrs. Petrie’s Rum Nut Plum Raisin Cake of the Season” – just my goofy views on life here on the Fun Coast – so feel free to savor it, in moderation, throughout the Holidays. . .
Angel Deltona City Commission
Well, the hyper-dramatic Grande Révélation didn’t quite go as planned. . .
Just yesterday, antsy taxpayers in Deltona were all set to learn the identity of the company they are gifting massive “economic development” incentives to – but, alas, secrecy prevailed as Team Volusia announced that, because of “unforeseen delays,” the mysterious “client” has opted to remain in the shadows.
Unfortunately, the ham-handed “emergency meeting” on Thursday left the Deltona City Commission looking like a troupe of buffoons as the rug was pulled out from under them – and exposed Team Volusia president and CEO Keith Norden as an addled, ill-informed stooge. . .
But, at the end of the day, the Deltona City Commission did the right thing.
Look, I get it.
I don’t agree with it. But I understand the pressures.
Earlier this week, members of the Deltona City Commission preliminarily ponied up some $2.5 million in tax incentives for an entity that hasn’t even been identified yet. . .
What else were they going to do?
Call it a sign of the times, I guess.
We live in an era when local governments are asked to handover hard-earned tax dollars to a mysterious business enterprise, shrouded in secrecy, and touted by “economic development” types as the next best thing to sliced cheese – a one-sided transaction long on faith, but with very little hard information – other than a promise of storehouse jobs paying around $32,000 annually.
That’s hardly the “high paying” careers we are promised, ad nauseum, by those who are paid handsomely to separate us from our tax dollars in the name of business recruitment.
In my view, those who the good people of Deltona have elected to represent their interests were right to wait until the operator of the massive distribution center is ready to reveal their true identity – and prove their corporate commitment to seeing the project to fruition – before final authorization of $2,479,966 in ad velorem tax rebates for the still undisclosed company.
In my view, companies like Amazon, and other mega-online retailers, didn’t dominate the marketplace by selecting locations for their logistics and distribution centers by throwing darts at a map – or listening to the pap and fluff of some Team Volusia shill. . .
I suspect, under the right circumstances, whomever this secret enterprise is would pay the City of Deltona if it meant getting a profitable location in the very epicenter of Central Florida.
But that’s not how the game works. . .
Now, people like Chris Wimsatt, vice president of business development at Team Volusia – who makes a fine living getting politicians to throw our money around – will paint a rosy picture of all the wonderful things Deltona can expect once they host a massive industrial warehouse.
In an article heralding Deltona’s incredibly expensive corporate welfare offer, Wimsatt said, “Clearly it’s something that is a game-changer for the county and the city, and we think a wonderful catalyst for further development.”
My ass.
“Game-changer,” “springboard” and “wonderful catalyst” – all the bullshit adjectives and contrivances from the Team Volusia playbook were trotted out for the benefit of elected officials and their constituents – who are only now coming to the realization they are being asked to give massive tax breaks to someone who hasn’t even introduced themselves.
Trust me. It’s a frigging warehouse – not a panacea for all the social, civic and economic ills that continue to plague Volusia County like a grotesque disease – and I hope everyone keeps that in mind.
Clearly, questions are beginning to outnumber answers – and this shell game isn’t exclusive to Deltona. . .
In my view, it should be criminal for any government entity to give away millions in public funds, tax incentives and infrastructure improvements unless and until all the players have been properly identified, and those of us who pay the bills know exactly who – and what – we are being saddled with.
If we’ve learned anything this year, it is the importance of transparency in maintaining the public trust – and these Secret Squirrel “nondisclosure” games which statutorily cloak negotiations involving millions-of-dollars of OUR money don’t instill confidence in those of us who pay the bills.
I don’t know about you, but I’m damn tired of Team Volusia and others pissing my money away on project’s that would have naturally settled here without their insidious meddling and horseshit hype.
Angel First Step Shelter
After a decade of anguish, political posturing, back-biting and intrigue, this week the beleaguered First Step Shelter – the Halifax areas premiere life enrichment and personal development seminar for the urban outdoorsman – opened to much fanfare in the hinterlands west of I-95.
Here’s wishing the shelter’s convoluted “leadership” conglomerate – a weird amalgam of the First Step Shelter Board, Catholic Charities, an Executive Director, etc., etc. (all of which are totally subservient to Daytona Beach City Manager Jim Chisholm) – a hearty congratulations and best of luck going forward.
They’re going to need it. . .
My sincere hope is that First Step is a rousing success, because, God knows, the homeless population that has besieged our core tourist area and beyond – and the long-suffering residents and businesses that have been forced to tolerate it – deserve a break.
We need these community-based services desperately – and I encourage everyone who can to donate whatever possible to the effort – because failure is not an option.
However, I’ll withhold judgement until we see the tangible results of our already sizeable investment. . .
This week, as everyone who is anyone was backslapping, cutting festive ribbons and celebrating the Grand Opening; I was quietly reminded of the story of the boy and the Zen Master:
On his sixteenth birthday the boy gets a horse as a present. All of the people in the village say, “Oh, how wonderful!”
The Zen master says, “We’ll see.”
One day, the boy is riding and gets thrown off the horse and hurts his leg. He’s no longer able to walk, so all of the villagers say, “How terrible!”
The Zen master says, “We’ll see.”
Some time passes and the village goes to war. All of the other young men get sent off to fight, but this boy can’t fight because his leg is injured. All of the villagers say, “How wonderful!”
The Zen master says, “We’ll see.”
Angel International Speedway Boulevard
“It’s not me. It’s you. . .”
Like some faithful but aging lover who has been kicked to the curb in favor of a younger, more attractive flame – watching the abandonment, and ultimate demise, of our main thoroughfare saddens me.
Recently, News-Journal Business reporter Clayton Park published an excellent piece entitled, “Ale House eyes Tomoka,” reporting efforts by the chain to potentially relocate its Daytona Beach eatery from its long-established location on ISB to a “new standalone” restaurant at the now fashionable Tomoka Town Center.
If things gel, Ale House will join a host of other former ISB residents – from Ross to Barnes & Noble and Hobby Lobby – that have left their roots and moved to the bustling 170-acre mixed-use development on Boomtown Boulevard near the LPGA/I-95 interchange.
If you ever question why I read and digest everything I can get my hands on regarding Halifax area business and politics, it is because sometimes I find a pearl in the remains of this rotting oyster of ours – an insight so profound that it speaks to the very heart of the myriad issues facing Daytona Beach and beyond.
In this case, Mr. Park included a very revealing quote by Dick McNerney, a clearly astute commercial realtor with Adams, Cameron & Co., who remarked that the restaurants move “makes perfect sense.”
“Everything around there is old and tired,” he said of the area next to the I-95/International Speedway Boulevard interchange. “By moving to Tomoka Town Center, they’d be getting a nice clean new facility.”
Wow.
I understand that no one wants to be left behind when the Gold Rush starts, but at the end of the day, what are we becoming?
As “New Daytona” continues to emerge from the pine scrub west of town – with elegant gated developments and a “theme” subdivision which has created a vast faux-beach community – coupled with a surfeit of restaurants and retail on the frontage road just east of our sparkly new Tanger Outlet – one gets the idea that New Daytona’s sandy Phoenix remains on the rise.
Yet, a short drive east finds the rust and rot of our once vibrant beachside – the grim and very visible consequence of multi-layered political dysfunction, gross mismanagement of public funds and resources, and a wanton neglect by greedy property owners who consistently put profits over progress.
And don’t forget the serious issues facing Midtown – which has, for years, suffered from inattention – virtually deserted by those who are elected and appointed to help solve the acute needs of its long-suffering residents.
Now, ISB has been formally identified as “old and tired” by those in the know.
As the burial shroud is slowly wound round our once grand gateway (just as our never-ending I-95 interchange is coming to completion) we can fondly remember west ISB in her heyday, when she was once new and vibrant. . .
As the big money continues its rapid move west, so does the focus and attention of our “movers-and-shakers” – you know, the Chamber of Commerce set, our goofy elected officials and their friends in high places, like the CEO Business Alliance, etc.
Like victims of a contagious pandemic of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, city and county officials – and those who make their living grubbing from government coffers – will conveniently forget the fetid mess on what remains of the beachside and beyond as developers continue churning ecologically sensitive land west of the Interstate into the “Next big thing.”
For now, we can just be comfortably anesthetized by the ‘big doing’s’ on Beach Street – pie-in-the-sky plans for a “dense cluster” of retail shops, a hotel (with rooftop pool!), parking garage, plazas and multi-family housing between ISB and Bay Street – as our “Rich & Powerful” tell us what our tawdry little lives will look like in the future. . .
Your input wasn’t needed, so tough shit, you nay-saying residents and business owners.
(Don’t take my word for it, look at the beautiful architectural renderings, with happy shadow people idling away the afternoon, strolling among posh boutiques and palm-lined boulevards – “doing lunch” and spending their disposable income from those good “high paying” warehouse jobs on wine, cheese and tchotchkes.)
Whatever.
I just wonder, in the aftermath of this Bacchanalia of Building in the hinterlands west of town, if any thought or planning has been given to what the rest of our beleaguered community – and our dying tourism and hospitality industry – will look like when the party’s over?
Asshole Team Volusia
Sometimes I wonder if those who have been elected and appointed to represent Volusia County municipalities – the mosaic of unique communities that make us such a special and eclectic place to live, work and play – remember who they work for?
Earlier this month, our soi-disant Gurus of Economic Development over at the taxpayer funded Team Volusia – that laggardly camarilla that seemingly exists as an international travel agency for president and CEO Keith Norden and his coterie of high flying bon vivants – exerted their power with what amounts to a hostile takeover of the local Economic Development Practitioners Council.
In Volusia’s labyrinth of redundant “economic development” teams, councils, chambers, millionaire cabals, cliques and committees, the Practitioners Council is comprised of business recruitment professionals who are actually employed by the municipalities – those who are truly engaged in bringing new enterprises and encouraging capital investment in your community and mine – a heretofore independent arm of “Investor” cities who contribute heavily to keep Team Volusia alive.
Now, following a curious near unanimous vote of our municipal practitioners – the Vice Chair of Team Volusia will serve as “Co-Chair” of the Practitioners Council, to, among other demands, “facilitate the mutual exchange of information between our investors and staff of Team Volusia Economic Development Corporation, including without limitation information regarding potential prospects, sites, and opportunities.”
Co-Chair?
Am I the only one who sees these shameless power-plays for what they are?
I mean, why can’t our highly-compensated and ostensibly smart city managers recognize Team Volusia’s strategic overreach for what it is – then put their foot down and say, “enough is enough”?
And why do our elected municipal officials continue to throw good money after bad subsidizing this unnecessary sham?
In my view, so long as one red cent of public funds is being spent on this charade (Ormond Beach alone spends some $25,000 annually, which, as a citizen, makes me an “Executive Level Investor”) then Team Volusia works for us – the long-suffering taxpayers of the municipalities who contribute – and this aggressive takeover of our independent local practitioners should not stand.
I guess it makes things infinitely easier when every local practitioner is required by committee bylaws to share their leads and prospects with the Team Volusia staff (who always seem to play things close to the vest) so that Norden and Company can take credit at the eleventh hour. . .
Bullshit.
Look, I don’t know about you, but I tend to judge organizations by their attention to the small, but infinitely important, aspects of their business – elements that demonstrate the groups professionalism and commitment to their stated mission.
For instance, a cursory glance at the Team Volusia website finds that substantive information hasn’t been updated since 2018 – nearly two-years – which immediately telegraphs to me, and any site selector who stumbles over it, that Team Volusia could care less. . .
I defy you to find any summary of meeting agendas or minutes for the Team Volusia Economic Development Corporation – a “public/private” partnership that is subject to Florida’s open meetings law – on the website, or anywhere else for that matter.
And don’t get me started on the false narrative created by the “Volusia’s Largest Employers” list in the Site Selection area – or the fumbling, stumbling performance of senior Team Volusia officials before the Deltona City Commission yesterday. . .
Why would our municipal officials continue to invest in a “corporation” that can’t muster the ‘management and leadership’ to maintain a professional web presence?
In total, Team Volusia has proven, time and again, that it is more interested in lavishing the VIP treatment on its upper echelon – and hosting elegant soirees for all the right last names – rather than focusing on the job at hand.
To show you just how incestuous things have gotten here in Fantasyland – the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce is set to bestow its contrived “Enterprise Award” – this year obsequiously renamed in honor of His Magnificence King J. Hyatt Brown – on Team Volusia at the Chamber’s Annual Celebration of Mediocrity gala next month.
Yeah. You read that right.
Criteria to be determined, I guess. . .
If you are a dues paying member of the Regional Chamber of Commerce – a business owner who contributes to our local economy with your hard work, sacrifice and creativity – maybe your company should analyze the return on investment?
Perhaps it’s time to ask, “What have you done for me lately?” or why your hard-earned membership fees are being spent on frivolous cocktail parties – where sycophants and politicians laugh at rich people’s jokes – and dubious awards for wholly ineffective publicly funded economic development shills?
“A Major Award”
I mean, our Regional Chamber of Commerce couldn’t find one private employer in all of Volusia County to honor?
Really?
Not Foundation Risk Partners (having Charlie Lydecker carry home the J. Hyatt Brown Award would be rich, right?) Not Security First Insurance? Not Synergy Billing? Not B. Braun? Not Costa Del M- (oh, sorry. . .)
Hell, not one established business which employs our residents, supports the tax base and forms the backbone of our local economy?
Wow.
Look, if any Chamber member is interested – save your $125 per seat fee for the gala. Instead, you can join me at my local watering hole and buy me highballs while I get sloppy drunk and humiliate your staff and openly disrespect your contributions to our local economy.
Hell, we’ll make a night of it!
In my view, that would be less embarrassing than sitting in an elegant banquet hall being publicly slapped in the face by the Chamber’s leadership as they present a fabricated award to a quasi-governmental agency and openly ignore the efforts of struggling local businesses trying to stay afloat in this terribly difficult marketplace.
And people still wonder why Volusia County remains a cautionary tale among the real players in Central Florida business and industry?
My God.
Get rid of this shameless scam. Now.
Quote of the Week
“Finally — what the heck?! Why can’t the Volusia County Council get it together and find out why we don’t have a bus going to the Tanger Mall and shops?
If the council and cities are going to keep giving builders the go ahead to keep building more and more houses then they had better start giving people more options for riding the buses. Oh, by the way, when people keep building more houses, apartments, condos and businesses this becomes a big city complex and that’s what we are becoming so leaders better adjust their outlook for public transportation.”
–Joy Putnum, Ormond Beach, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal Letters to the Editor, “Growth brings big changes to Daytona,” Saturday, December 14, 2019
I’m afraid, Ms. Putnam, despite your spot-on appraisal of our bleak future, that the Volusia County Council doesn’t give a damn about your valid concerns – or the general public’s ability to access the very shopping and entertainment venues they helped pay for with their hard-earned tax dollars.
You see, when developer shills have their hand out – the rallying cry is “high paying jobs!” – but once the check is cashed, no one really want’s you to have public transportation to those retail positions – because they fear a bus will also bring “undesirables” to their idea of a tony shopping experience.
We can’t have the Great Unwashed Hordes mingling amongst the gilded ones, now can we?
To his credit, Volusia County’s preeminent political pundit, Big John, has worked diligently to see public transportation extended to Tanger Outlets and beyond – and I have it on good authority that County Manager George Recktenwald is actively working behind the scenes to bring a Votran bus to the Tomoka Town Center area early next year. . .
Keep your fingers crossed.
And Another Thing!
Please join Barker’s View on GovStuff Live with Big John today beginning at 4:00pm!
We’ll be talking local politics – and taking your questions on the issues of the day – on “The fastest two-hours in radio!”
Listen locally at 1380am “The Cat” – or worldwide at www.govstuff.org (Listen Live button).
If you would like to participate in this wide-ranging forum, please call in at 386-523-1380!
I would really enjoy hearing from you – and learning your unique perspective on the issues that effect our lives and livelihoods here on the Fun Coast.
That’s all for me – have a great weekend, everyone!
“I think we here in Volusia are in compliance today, it’s a good learning opportunity for us to take a look at where we can improve, and by all means we’re going to make sure we always meet the mandates that are set forth through policy.”
Greg Akin, Chief Operating Officer, Volusia County Schools, as quoted in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Grand jury slams school safety,” December 16, 2019
“I think”?
You think our schools are in compliance with the mandatory safety and security provisions set forth in the aftermath of the atrocity at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas?
My God. . .what the hell is he blathering about?
Last week, a report was released by the statewide grand jury impaneled in February and charged with investigating the implementation of legislative recommendations and physical security mandates contained in the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Safety Act.
According to the report, the panel heard evidence of widespread noncompliance in school districts around the state, describing some security plans as being, “held together with nothing more than chewing gum, duct tape and hope.”
Sound familiar?
It should.
Because recent violent incidents at several Volusia County schools, including an ambulatory drunk, armed with a pocket knife, that penetrated the gauze-like security protocols at a local high school before taking a seat in an occupied classroom – and the frequent no-holds-barred brawls among students that turn a “learning environment” into a prison riot – and you get the idea Mr. Akin, and the other unqualified jack-legs responsible for our children’s safety, are clueless.
Social media is abuzz with horror stories of bullying and violent physical altercations – to include anecdotal tales of headlocks, choke-holds and students dragging other students across under-supervised lunchrooms by their hair – closed-door interrogations of victims by administrators, and a host of other frightening scenarios that play out daily on school campuses across Volusia County.
The fact is, even the best safety and security measures are only as good as the professionals who develop, test and implement them.
In my view, here in Volusia County Schools, the legally-defined security specialist role has become a catchall – a negligent afterthought – and the glaring lack of leadership and expertise is self-evident.
This lack of professional competence and concern is exemplified in Mr. Akin’s nonsensical, CYA statement to The Daytona Beach News-Journal. It seems no one at Volusia County Schools understands that doing the bare minimum to meet what they think the standard may be isn’t enough.
Lives are a stake. Dammit.
One would have thought that given the grave urgency of protecting our schools our new Superintendent, Dr. Scott Fritz, would have made immediate modifications to the district’s seemingly non-existent safety and security function.
It’s called hitting the ground running – prioritizing urgent issues before an emergency – and taking bold, decisive action to establish a culture of accountability and telegraph what is important to students, teachers and staff.
He didn’t.
Instead, following Dr. Fritz’ first goal setting session, the News-Journal reports that we can expect three priorities in the new year – in-house vaccinations for middle schoolers, the possible consolidation of the historic Osceola and Ortona elementary schools (leaving the beachside with a K-8, similar to what Holly Hill residents were saddled with), and the expansion of the bureaucracy with a “Deputy Superintendent” and “Chief Information Technology” position. . .
Not one word in the newspaper about our immediate need for the restoration of order on our school campuses or implementing something that vaguely resembles a security and safety program manager.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss?
I have publicly asked Volusia County School Board chairman Carl Persis to take official action to recruit a professional security expert with the training and experience to secure the high-risk, dynamic environment of a school campus – someone with a proven track record of developing the passive and active safety and security procedures necessary to protect the thousands of lives placed in the district’s care each day.
And the mettle to enforce them. . .
To date, Chairman Persis has proven a massive disappointment – a perennial politician who plays lip service to concerned constituents – and I have seen absolutely no substantive progress on this most important issue since my reasonable request weeks ago.
In my view, it is time the statewide grand jury starts handing down criminal indictments of any senior administrator, or elected school board member, in any district in the State of Florida who fails to thoroughly implement the essential statutory mandates of the MSD Public Safety Act.
These do-nothing incompetents – as recipients of public funds – should be held personally responsible for the reprehensible environment we are forced to subject vulnerable children to each day.
We simply cannot wait for the unthinkable before Volusia County – and other districts around the Sunshine State – pull their collective head out of their ass and do their jobs.
The tools are in place – the strategies have been clearly spelled out in state law – and these best practices have been paid for and sanctified with the blood of innocents.
Barker's View 