Everyone has heard the old Aesop fable about the boy who cried wolf – a tale of a mendacious young shepherd who found sport in falsely alarming the villagers that their communal flock was under threat.

You remember, the little bastard would sit up in a tree and scream, “Wolf!  Wolf!, while panic-stricken villagers quickly armed themselves with pitchforks and ran up the hill to protect the herd – only to find the sheep safely grazing nearby – and the boy laughing at them from his perch high atop the tree.

Well, as the story goes, this game went on for a while – until one day a big bad wolf skulked toward the sheep from the wood line – teeth bared and ready to attack.  The boy freaked out, scrambled up his tree and began screaming hysterically, “Wolf!  Wooooolf! Help!

A gentleman walking on the street heard the boy’s cries and asked, “What’s going on up there? 

Several more villagers became concerned about the commotion, but an elder calmed their fears, “Don’t worry, it’s just that asshole shepherd boy messing with us again – pay him no mind. . .”

 You know how the story ends.  It’s a moral as old as time.

But have you heard the old Barker’s parable, “Little Jimmy: The Lying Sack of Shit”? 

To make a very long and sad allegory short, Uncle Mark’s folktale involves an incredibly well-paid farm manager – Little Jimmy – who, over-time, develops a symbiotic relationship with a select few greed-crazed pigs and begins providing them with direct access to the feedtrough.

In turn, as the swine grow stronger, they protect the farmer from the rest of the hungry and increasingly angry animals on the farm.

The pigs know that if they throw a few extra carrots to the seven braying asses – powerful, but dumb beasts who have been tapped by the other animals in the barnyard to pull the cart, tend the fields, allocate the chicken scratch and ensure the welfare of the rest of the livestock – then they will also support Little Jimmy and let him pretend to run the farm.

So, Jimmy praises the not-so-bright asses for their good work, sets them apart from the rest, tells them how special they are and diverts their attention by spinning fantastic yarns about how important the gorging swine are to the farms viability.

As time goes by, the other animals realize they are suffering under a farm hand who now works exclusively for the pigs – pinching more-and-more of their feed to give to the pigs, ignoring the farms basic needs and lavishing the hogs with everything they need – all while the asses they rely on to protect their interests follow Little Jimmy and his pigs blindly, hoping for another carrot and a scratch behind the ear.

Even the swine are embarrassed by Little Jimmy’s cowardice and near-constant lies, but they keep him around to ensure a never-ending stream of fresh slop.

Sadly, the rest of the flock – the chickens, goats and sheep – eventually acquiesce to the fact that the farm now exists merely to supply the pigs with everything they need for a comfortable life, and they continue to work hard and peck for the scraps, all while the barn falls apart, the well is fouled and the pigs continue to prosper in their elaborate gated pens where they live in relative luxury.

Ultimately, the farm goes to seed.

The best and brightest animals try hard to figure out a way to save it, but Little Jimmy’s lapdogs keep yapping incessantly, insinuating themselves into the process and ultimately water down any substantive ideas and insulate Jimmy and the pigs from any responsibility – all while the dazed animals continue to give more-and-more of their hard-earned feed to supply the insatiable appetite of the swine.

Now, even as Jimmy tries desperately to convince them that the pigs are doing their fair share – none of the animals believe anything the farmer says.

They have seen too much.

Again, it’s a message as old as time.

In an explosive exposé in Sunday’s Daytona Beach News-Journal entitled “Fare Share?” reporter Dustin Wyatt gave specific examples of how We, The People are being openly deceived by County Manager Jim Dinneen and our elected officials on the Volusia County Council.

While the municipalities prepare to pay fealty to their masters on the Dais of Power in DeLand and show their lock-step support of Volusia County’s proposed half-cent money grab – smart people are beginning to question why taxpayers are being asked to contribute to transportation infrastructure, while those who stand to benefit most – the developers of these mega-communities – refuse to pay their fair share in impact fees.

Something our elected officials refuse to even discuss – using the insulting excuse that you and I are too stupid to understand the concept of making unchecked growth pay for itself.

In Sunday’s piece, our own elected Rip Van Winkle, Councilman “Sleepy” Pat Patterson, had the stones to lecture taxpayers on just how “complicated” this bait-and-switch scam really is, “In politics, you make a one-minute statement that requires a one-hour response that would put people to sleep.  And in this case, it’s several inches of print in the newspaper that really takes many, many inches to really get all the facts out. … It’s a lot more complicated than just saying ‘Raise the impact fee.’”

My ass.

While Sleepy Pat is merely a tired political hack deftly repeating the party line – the uber-arrogant Councilwoman Deb Denys is either pitifully ignorant of the mechanics of this important issue – or she’s a compulsive liar.

According to the obviously ill-informed Ms. Denys, “We have existing impact fees, but developers are paying proportionate share fees on top of impact fees.  This strategy is brilliant.  It really is.”

 Yep, it’s a brilliant sham, alright.

The problem is – it isn’t true.

In Deb’s defense, she is only parroting what County Manager Jim Dinneen has told her – and the rest of those dullards we elected to represent our interests – and trust me, that group isn’t known for it’s collective intelligence, or for doing its own independent research on the issues of the day. . .

The fact is, developers that enter into proportional share agreements – a process designed to ensure that projects have the necessary infrastructure to move forward on schedule – do not pay “prop share” fees on top of impact fees.

Developers who pay into a proportionate share agreement actually save on impact fees they owe Volusia County – fees which haven’t been increased in the past 15-years – or they receive “credits” which they can then sell to other developers who can also save money on impact fees.

In my view, Professor Arthur Nelson of the University of Arizona – who literally wrote the book on impact fees – best simplified Volusia’s lopsided deal with speculative developers, “Since 2003, road construction costs have risen 74% or roughly twice the 36% increase in the cost of living.  Road impact fees should be adjusted regularly to account for increases in costs.  If they aren’t?  It may fall further behind because (proportionate share) is based on current (construction) costs, while impact fees are based on older, lower costs.” 

Or, I suppose you can just tax the eyeballs out of every man, woman and child to pay for infrastructure improvements, while developers – you know, your campaign sugar daddies who control our system – continue to haul cash to the bank in dump trucks.

Sounds to me like a “complicated” smokescreen to divert our attention as they terrify the masses with horror stories about what our future will look like if we fail to shut up and pay up.

The problem is – given the frequency of the lies and half-truths – how do we trust anything they say at this point?

Sounds kind of like that little dipshit who constantly cried wolf, eh?

In most civilized areas of the free world, when sitting politicians and appointed officials are caught in brazen, bald-faced lies  – especially while trying to force their grubby fingers deeper into the pockets of their constituents – they do the right thing, resign their lofty positions, and slink off to that dark and slimy place where those who violate the public trust go to hide from the scornful gaze of their neighbors.

 

Last Friday, we were graced with mega-developer and High Panjandrum of Political Power, Mori Hosseini’s, smiling visage on the front page of the Daytona Beach News-Journal – beaming with pride as he kicked off ICI Homes’ marketing campaign for his new Mosaic “full life” community.

The 1,200 home development joins Latitudes Margaritaville – the Jimmy Buffett-inspired faux-beach community currently under construction on top of our sensitive water recharge areas – bringing the total number of homes and commercial structures in that area to over 11,000 in next five to six years.

That doesn’t include out-of-control growth which has already been approved along the spine of east Volusia from Farmton to the Flagler County line.

As I like to say, “that’s a lot of Walmart shoppers, kids.”

In announcing the big Mosaic grand opening, News-Journal business writer Clayton Park said, “Another big piece is being added to the white-hot development puzzle already taking shape just west of Interstate 95.”   

Puzzling indeed.

Our own doddering fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley – a sycophantic bootlicker who didn’t miss a prime chance to kiss Mori’s sizeable ass – was quoted in the article, “It’s going to have a big impact on the area.  The rooftops are going to help support more businesses in the area.”

You bet your bippy it’s going to have a “big impact,” Ed.

And not just on roads and water. . .

So – absent strapping every man, woman and child in Volusia County with a money grubbing half-cent sales tax increase – exactly what are you and the rest of those dullards we elected to represent our interests doing to ensure this massive growth pays for itself?

This summer, we will all be regaled with flashlight-under-the-chin scary stories from our elected and appointed officials warning of the traffic gridlock – and the horror of drinking our own wastewater – if we don’t vote to increase our sales tax, even as they refuse to even discuss impact fees, much less consider a moratorium on unchecked development.

You want to know what frightens me?

In 2016, the Volusia County Professional Firefighters Association, a public employee union representing fire and emergency medical personnel, sent a letter to County Manager Jim Dinneen and the Volusia County Council warning that staffing shortages were limiting their ability to provide ambulance transport service to the nearly 80,000 calls-for-service received each year.

“It has now become normal to be at a patient’s side for 15, 30 and even 40 minutes or more, waiting for an ambulance to arrive,” the letter said. 

When the serious concerns of our first responders were met with deaf ears in Deland, in February, WFTV reporter Mike Springer combed through reams of data and determined that the response times for Volusia County emergency services have been slowly increasing year-over-year.

That’s serious.

In one of the worst displays of arrogance ever captured, when Springer attempted to interview Mr. Dinneen on camera – he became openly hostile, threw up his little hands and refused to answer legitimate questions, or even attempt to explain his administration’s position on perhaps the most serious issue facing Volusia County residents – before stomping off like the petulant shitheel we’ve come to know.

Adding to the incredibly unprofessional scene was a county mouthpiece repeating, “We’re not making any comments, we’re not making any comments” while running interference as Little Jimmy beat his cowardly exit from the hot zone.

Don’t take my word for it, watch it here:  https://www.wftv.com/news/local/union-volusia-county-ems-understaffed-to-point-of-significant-delays-for-emergency-services/698628791

Astounding.

On the afternoon of April 12^th (just two days ago) the emergency services union made an urgent announcement on their social media page warning, “There are currently no available VC EMS aka EVAC ambulances in West Volusia County.” 

You read that right:  On Thursday afternoon there were no ambulances available in West Volusia.

Scary?  You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Within the last hour of this posting, the Volusia County Professional Firefighters Association announced:

*Announcement* Due to no available VC EMS aka EVAC ambulances in west Volusia County, both Rescue Engine 44 (Pierson) and Deltona Firefighters Rescue 61 are currently being used as transport units. RE44 is the transport unit for a medical call in DeLeon Springs.  (Saturday, April 14, 2018, approximately 9:40am)

That’s today – as in, “Right Now.”

What can we do?

Pray and hope for the best, I guess. . .

Or call your county council member and raise primordial hell until something – anything – happens to change this incredibly dangerous situation.

Much of what I write on this blog represents the everyday blunders, mistakes, faults, foibles and fuck-ups of a county government with no real leadership or accountability – and I realize Barker’s View can take on the appearance of a wacky blooper reel exposing one convoluted, almost comical mess after another.

But this is something else.

Ladies and gentlemen – if your family needs emergency medical services this morning, this afternoon, or next week – time is of the essence – and it doesn’t matter how good our local trauma center is if a patient can’t be transported there in time for doctors to make a difference.

We’re talking life-and-death here.

How many people will die before our elected officials come to the realization that another critical county service has gone haywire on Mr. Dinneen’s watch?

I’m asking.  Because the place seems to be on autopilot.

While Mr. Dinneen remains employed by keeping our elected officials laser-focused on approving massive “economic development” incentives, tax breaks and infrastructure improvements to meet the insatiable appetite of their uber-wealthy campaign sugar daddies – council members seem frighteningly paralyzed – or painfully oblivious – when it comes to meeting the serious needs of their constituents.

Like ensuring the effectiveness of emergency medical and ambulance services to over 500,000 people.

My God.  And these do-nothing assholes have the gall to stand for re-election? 

I’m sorry, but how do they look at themselves in a mirror?

I mean, their own families – and ours – depend on this essential service, right? 

In all honesty, if County Manager Jim Dinneen is unwilling or incapable of effectively managing this acute emergency – a problem that our brave first responders are shouting from the rooftops to expose – then he should step down immediately and make way for someone with the administrative and leadership skills to ensure the safety of Volusia County residents.

And – perhaps more important –  if our elected officials don’t have the political guts to ensure these essential life-saving services – it’s high-time they step aside for someone who will.

 

 

Photo Credit: The Daytona Beach News-Journal

 

Hi, kids!

As Barker’s View grows in popularity, I’m often asked by new readers to explain the difference in the colorful monikers I use to describe those who appear in this Friday Fun House I like to call Angels & Assholes.

It’s relatively simple.

Do you ever read the paper or watch the six o’clock news and find yourself mumbling “what an asshole” under your breath?  Well, that’s kind of how I form my goofy opinions on the newsmakers of the day.

“Angel” status is typically bestowed on someone who, in my opinion, has by a selfless good deed contributed to our collective welfare in some exceptional way – those who go ‘above and beyond’ to enhance the lives and livelihoods of us hapless rubes here on Florida’s beleaguered Fun Coast.

It can refer to the good work of an individual or organization – an act that shows great character, accountability, exceptionalism, artistry, sportsmanship or moral courage in the face of a physical, ethical or political challenge.

Those who give comfort to the sick, protect, serve and guard the vulnerable from victimization.

The term refers to those who, as President Theodore Roosevelt described, “…strive valiantly; who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at best know the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if they fail, fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

It is the high-praise reserved for servant-leaders who make the collective interests of those they serve their highest priority – and give the whims of political insiders no more weight than the needs of struggling taxpayers who form the backbone of our economy.

In short, it is people just like you who get up every morning and work hard to improve the lives of your family – and our community – in so many unique and wonderful ways.

The everyday heroes who see a wrong and try to make it right.

Conversely, the term “Asshole” describes something very elemental, yet incredibly complex.

It is best described as the energy which directly opposes an angelic action in the Barker’s View Theory of Balance and Harmony.

The term is fittingly described by Merriam-Webster as “a stupid, annoying, or detestable person” and “the least attractive or desirable part or area – used in phrases like asshole of the world.”

According to Aaron James, an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of California Irvine, “The job of foul language like “asshole” isn’t to describe the world, but simply to express one’s disapproving feelings, in an ejaculatory or cathartic burst facilitated by inherently emotive words.”

Yeah, what he said.

It’s all those things, and so much more.

But in the context of this alternative opinion blog, it describes my cynical view of the acts and omissions of those in our community who have a responsibility to defend our rights – to serve everyone equally, with basic fairness and a sense of social, economic and legal justice with malice towards none but those who wish us harm – yet abdicate those sacred responsibilities in favor of pursuing their own warped self-interests.

It also describes my feelings toward greedy speculative real estate developers – whose appetite knows no bounds – and have no qualms churning what’s left of our natural places into sawdust.

The term aptly defines the motives of astronomically wealthy political insiders who seek physical control of our democratic systems by the infusion of massive amounts of cash into the campaign coffers of hand-select candidates for local office – then command a weird quid pro quo which directs public policy by virtue of their mere presence at a public meeting.

It describes my jaded opinion of those craven politicians who kiss our collective ass at election time – then transmogrify into imperious, egotistical knobs with a haughty view of their own self-importance.

Please don’t confuse either of these apt descriptors with, say, those arrogant bastards who insinuate themselves onto the governing boards of colleges and universities – then engage in distracting drama, name everything from a new cafeteria to a two-hole privy after themselves, then refuse to provide the administrative and fiscal oversight required to protect students and staff – or those shysters masquerading as public servants who continue to push for an obscene half-cent money grab in the face of gross mismanagement and wasteful spending.

I call them, ‘dipshits.’

The conundrum for me – the moderator of this wacky forum – is when someone who is clearly an “asshole” breaks form and does something angelic, even virtuous, in the cause of improving our collective situation (even when their singular positive act has a whiff of self-interest to it.)

So, I choose to take these things as they come – giving credit where credit is due – and calling the balls-and-strikes as I see them.

Just remember: The beauty of this space is that you don’t have to agree with me – and many don’t.  You can form and share your own unique opinion on the issues of the day, and that, my friends, is what allows us to learn something new about our collective experience.

There now, I hope that clears-up any confusion!

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.

Angel:             Daytona Beach Homeowner Chris Noe

I admire a man who can’t be bought.  That’s rare in today’s day and age.

Kudos to Chris Noe, who owns a historic home located literally in the shadow of what will be the new publicly subsidized headquarters of billionaire insurance intermediary Brown & Brown.

According to a recent article in the Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Historic home complicates Brown & Brown’s Daytona Beach plans,” Mr. Noe has owned the beautiful property on Wisconsin Place for the past seven years – and he has no plans to move anytime soon.

The report states that realtors working for Brown & Brown made an initial offer of $150,000 for the home in December and have since upped the bid to a whopping $375,000.

No dice.

“If I was greedy, I would have just taken the money, but I want to save that house,” Noe said.

Instead of taking the money, Mr. Noe is sticking to his belief that the notable structure should be preserved – and has countered with an offer to have the house moved to a lot on Lexington Drive a few blocks away – a project that is estimated to cost in excess of $500,000.

(Perhaps J. Hyatt would like to open a satellite office up here in north Ormond?  Or maybe he could just use the old Barker house as a tool shed?  Trust me, if he offered me $375K for this cracker box, I’d be gone like a scalded dog.)

After years of strategic rot, Brown & Brown is now purchasing distressed properties in the area surrounding what will be its new campus – a project that everyone who is anyone is convinced will be the catalyst for all good things to come in Daytona’s beleaguered downtown.

In my view, the Halifax area has a dismal record of protecting places with historical significance.

Once they are gone, they are gone forever.

According to the News-Journal, Mr. Noe said, “They are offering me money I don’t need, I have peace and I don’t want to destroy it with the upheaval of moving to a new house.  I just want them to be responsible.  I want them to save the house and pay to move it.  Or I’m not leaving.”

Good for you, sir.  Good for you.

Asshole:          Volusia County Council

Well, here it is Friday the 13th, a spooky day that puts fear in those who are superstitious about such things.

But I’ve got to be honest – nothing scares me more than the weird machinations of what passes for governance here in Volusia County.

There is a disturbing trend afoot in the hallowed ‘Halls of Power’ over at the ivory tower known as the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center in DeLand.

I have a real problem with our factually challenged county manager, Jim Dinneen, openly encouraging our elected officials to take credit for things that, quite frankly, never happened.

Such as spreading the damnable lie that the Volusia County Council has been at the “forefront” of protecting our heritage of beach driving and access.

My ass.

I also take issue with elected officials who privately scold constituents who have the guts to speak out and challenge their self-serving policies and stand up for that which they believe is right.

It’s called good citizenship – and the ability of free men and women to petition their government for redress of grievances – and vehemently criticize the decisions of our elected officials is a fundamental right of all Americans.

In fact, without the right to free expression and peaceful opposition – We, The People become indentured serfs who exist solely to pay the bills and acquiesce to the inherent greed of our bastardized political system.

Recently, the moderator of a social media site dedicated to providing an open forum for residents of Volusia County was taken to the woodshed by an unidentified sitting county council member who apparently didn’t appreciate his “tone” on discussions surrounding the Hard Rock beach blockade debacle.

Really?

As the author of an alternative opinion blog based on the premise that the exercise of our constitutionally protected right to free speech is important to our democracy – I don’t give a tinker’s damn about the sensitivities of those who stand for high office and embrace the power while eschewing the corresponding political accountability.

I suggest that if you occupy an elected or appointed position of influence, it’s probably a good idea to grow some hard bark – and open your mind to the fact not everyone agrees with your sense of infallibility and omnipotence.

And we are sick of being lied to by over-compensated appointed officials, dammit.

In my view, smart politicians can use the slings-and-arrows of civic dissent to their advantage by listening to opposing views, understanding the principal concerns of their constituents, then using that valuable data to gauge public opinion.

Even when that criticism stings.

We are citizens – not sheep – and it’s high-time these hyper-sensitive dunces we elected to represent our interests and steward our tax dollars understand that.

 Angel:             Florida Governor Rick Scott

Look, this goes against every fiber of my being – because by any metric, Slick Rick Scott is high in the running for “Reptilian Asshole of the Year” – but I simply must commend his recent veto of the super-weird ‘toilet-to-tap’ bill – an idiotic measure that would have been disastrous for Florida’s sensitive aquifer by polluting our sole source of drinking water for generations.

Of course, in my view, Governor Scott only took this important action because he’s running for the United States Senate – absent that, I think we all might well be drinking our own ordure. . .

The thing I find most disturbing is that ostensibly smart people – elected officials with a sworn duty to protect the health and welfare of their constituents – felt it was a good idea to permit wastewater utilities to pump sewerage effluent into our fragile drinking water supply as a means of permitting real estate developers to clear, fill and pave even more natural recharge areas of our increasingly thirsty state.

In fact, it boggles my mind that a majority of lawmakers would vote to approve such an astronomically reckless idea.

But they did.

Fortunately, Governor Scott succumbed to a rare instance of common sense (and the political threat of forever being known as “Governor Poopy Water”) when he nixed the controversial measure last Friday.

Look for similar asinine legislation to rear its ugly head in future sessions.

In Florida, bad public policy – like user fees, sales tax increases or shitting in our own nest – never really go away.

Angel:             Interim Chief Gerald Monahan, Jr.

In the immediate aftermath of former Chief Ron Wright’s abrupt departure from the helm of the South Daytona Police Department, I can only imagine the sense of hurt and confusion the officers and staff must be experiencing.

Sudden change always brings uncertainty.

During dark and difficult times, sometimes the right person steps in at just the right time to calm the waters; a trusted hand with the strength and insight to shepherd us through the storm.

I commend the City of South Daytona for selecting retired Port Orange Chief of Police Gerald Monahan to lead the department in an interim status until a permanent replacement can be found.

In my view, Chief Monahan is one of the finest law enforcement executives I had the pleasure of serving with.  He is intelligent, thoughtful and incredibly well-versed on the strategic management of law enforcement operations and emergency management.

He brings a calm, friendly demeanor to a very difficult and dynamic job – and his personal stability and professionalism inspire the confidence of subordinates and peers alike.

This was a solid move – and the good citizens of South Daytona will be well-served by Chief Monahan’s outstanding leadership.

Asshole:          Bethune-Cookman University Board of Trustees

I fear for the future of B-CU.

Last week, we learned of yet another lawsuit against the historic university – this time by Wells-Fargo alleging breach of contract in the convoluted dormitory scheme that may ultimately result in a crippling $306 million exposure.

Reports state that a company which built the dorms, and now rents the structure to B-CU, has not made a mortgage payment since November 2017.  According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, in coming days, back payments owed to Wells-Fargo will total nearly two-million dollars.

If the conflict can’t be resolved, the bank plans to sell the dormitory at auction – a move that could adversely affect some 1,200 current students.

While the strange saga that was the tenure of former B-CU President Edison O. Jackson has ended – what remains firmly ensconced in the cloistered halls of academia is the same bumbling Board of Trustees who sat idle while the college was apparently turned into a private piggy bank for a privileged few.

The very group who had both an ethical and fiduciary responsibility to students and staff to provide effective administrative and fiscal oversight instead turned their backs on those who needed them most.

Regardless of the outcome – can we all agree that local big shots like Joe Petrock, who served as chairman during the tumultuous reign of Dr. Jackson, has enjoyed enough bites at the higher education apple?

I mean, really.

From his adventures on the Daytona State College board – to the B-CU debacle – how many times do ostensibly smart people allow Mr. Petrock – and others like him – to steer a ship that is in serious danger of foundering?

Angel:             Guss Massfeller

I have to hand it to loyal Barker’s View contributor and long-time area activist, Guss Massfeller.

To help our doddering fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley, visualize the depth and scope of Volusia County’s gross negligence in closing 20’ more of our beach behind the Hard Rock than was specified by ordinance – Guss conveniently gave Old Ed some great examples.

In a recent email to Chairman Kelley, Mr. Massfeller pointed out that twenty-feet is:

1. About as tall as a giraffe
2. About three-fourths as long as a London bus
3. About one-and-a-half times as long as a Volkswagen Beetle
4. About half as tall as a telephone pole

Our Chairman’s madcap response:

“As you are aware the poles were placed at the property lines of the Hard Rock, which is 430’ however the ordinance called for 410.’  A mistake was made and will be corrected at no cost to taxpayers that will be more ascetic (?) than the telephone poles.”

 For the record, “ascetic” means “austere in appearance.”

Conversely, the word our senior elected official was obviously grasping for – “aesthetic” – is defined as “something that is visually appealing.”

Let’s hope this is just another example of Old Ed’s limited vocabulary hamstringing his already challenged communications skills – and that he didn’t actually mean that these hideous utility poles will be replaced by something even more forbidding – like razor wire and gabion barriers.

Honest – I don’t make this shit up, folks. . .

Angel:             Daytona Beach Police Department

Since taking office last year, Chief Craig Capri continues to use technology to enhance how his agency provides important services to the public.

This week, the Daytona Beach Police Department became the first law enforcement agency in Volusia County to develop a mobile app to improve communications in the digital age.

I understand this progressive project was headed by the agency’s talented Public Information Officer Lyda Longa – an outstanding public servant who is working hard to improve the way residents receive important information on topics such as crime trends, emergencies and wanted persons.

Citizens can also use the app to file police reports and communicate anonymous crime tips.

Folks, this is what the future of policing looks like – and DBPD is clearly on the cutting edge.

Congratulations to Chief Capri and the Daytona Beach Police Department on this significant accomplishment.

Angel:             The Jantzen Bathing Beauty

The World’s Most Famous Beach lost another cultural icon this week.

With little fanfare, on Monday the 20-foot fiberglass diving girl in the red swimsuit that graced the front of Stamie’s Swimwear Shop on Ocean Avenue for over 50-years was unceremoniously removed from her decades-old perch and hauled away.

According to those in the know, the glamorous girl who became as much a part of the Daytona Beach Boardwalk as that tireless saltwater taffy machine in the front window of Zeno’s Sweet Shop, was one of only six of the timeless advertising symbols ever made.

In fact, she was so unique that Roadside America – a website that catalogs oddball tourist attractions – listed our bathing beauty as a must-see when visiting Daytona Beach.

Word on the street is that, even after all these years, the old gal remained the property of the Jantzen Company, and they recently decided to stick her in a museum – in Washington state, of all places.

I also understand that the shop’s new owner – a commercial artist – plans to replace our treasured “Jantzen Girl” with another distinctive piece, but somehow it won’t be the same.

Besides, I don’t have another 50-years to fall in love with something “new.”

So long, old friend.  You will be missed.

 Quote of the Week:

“Local leaders, I have one thing to say: Wake up or get voted out. The taxpayers are tired of paying for things we are now too poor to use, thanks to their fine leadership.”

–Ray Shaffer, Jr., Port Orange, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Volusia: Fees and taxes to death,” April 10, 2018

And Another Thing!

Despite my urgent warnings to reconsider, those intrepid grassroots activists at the Bellaire Community Group have invited me to be their guest and discuss civic issues of mutual concern at their April meeting.

These are good people, working cooperatively to reduce crime, build a sense of community and improve our quality of life in the Halifax area.

The group will meet next Thursday, April 19^th, at the Schnebly Recreation Center, 1101 North Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach.  Doors open at 6:00pm with supper provided for a $4.00 donation.

The program begins at 6:30pm.

Please join us!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

 

I can’t take credit for this – Sheriff Mike Chitwood beat me to the punch – but Volusia County Manager Jim Dinneen is a lying sack of shit.

How can you tell when he’s lying?  His lips are moving. . .

At a recent County Council meeting, Mr. Dinneen told a whopper when he said, “The council needs to stop and remind everybody that when it comes to protecting access to the beach and driving on the beach that repeatedly the county is at the forefront of protecting that.  And we get no credit.  We probably have the most access (on the beach) of anywhere in Florida, and the fact that we try to fight for that – I’m not sure people understand.”

 Jesus.  This guy knows no shame.

At present, Mr. Dinneen and his beach management bureaucrats are wiping egg off their funny faces after being caught in yet another public gaffe when they made the beach blockade behind the Hard Rock some 430 linear feet instead of the 410’ specified by county ordinance.

Not smart.  Really, it’s poor form.

Given that the removal of beach driving has caused an on-going countywide controversy, one would think that the installation of this hotly contested barricade would have been handled with the laser-precision of a surveying instrument – or a frigging Ace Hardware yardstick for that matter.

Instead, it appears the county contractor hired to jet the ugly, chemically-treated wooden utility poles into the sand just eyeballed it – “close enough for government work” as the old saying goes, I guess – while Beach Safety Chief Ray Manchester and Coastal Division director Jessica Winterwerp stood around watching them do it.

This carelessness wouldn’t be acceptable at a Dairy Queen – so why do we tolerate it from highly paid “professionals” on the public payroll?    

I’m asking.  Because for the life of me I can’t understand it – this continuing pattern of negligence is intolerable – and expensive.

This entire exercise to accommodate a semi-private beach for the Hard Rock has been a travesty from the beginning – and has exposed what a supreme embarrassment Jim Dinneen’s lack of effective leadership has become.

The fact is, under the Dinneen administration – with encouragement from the cash-bloated campaign financier and master political puppeteer J. Hyatt Brown and other insiders – our elected officials have done everything in their power to shutdown our century-old heritage of beach driving.

If the calculations of beach driving advocate and county council candidate Jeff Brower are correct, Volusia County has now restricted vehicular access from some 64% of our once free and open beach.

From spending public funds to sue their own constituents and prevent them from having a vote on beach closure issues, to pissing away the tradition as an “inducement” for tacky “theme” hotels, arbitrarily closing beach ramps, increasing fees to price a day at the beach out of reach for many Central Florida families, spending millions of our tax dollars on “off-beach” lots, yet never opening them, suggesting parking meters be installed in parking spaces paid for with public funds and generally dragging their feet on the repair and replacement of storm damaged walkovers – the Volusia County Council’s track record on beach access is abysmal – and getting worse.

In fact, many long-time residents I speak with claim that the worst decision ever made was removing control of our beaches from the municipalities in favor of a “unified policy” under county control.

I agree.

To add insult, our doddering fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley, who has openly opposed beach driving for years under the guise he supports “beach access” – which means he’s cool with the idea of you schlepping your children, chairs, umbrellas and coolers across four-lanes of heavy traffic from an off-beach parking area, said, “If we hadn’t been diligent and looking after our rights, beach driving could have been swept away completely, this shows that we do care about beach driving and the obligation that is written into the charter.”

If Ed Kelley’s idea of “diligence” is our elected officials sitting around with their thumb wedged in their ass, getting publicly blindsided time-and-time-and-time again by important legislation out of Tallahassee or being caught flatfooted by another of Mr. Dinneen’s “public policy by ambush” surprise announcements – perhaps he should look up the definition of the word – or, better yet, stop squawking about things he knows nothing about.

There is a quote that’s been attributed to everyone from Mark Twain to Abraham Lincoln that would serve Chairman Kelley well in future public communications: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth a remove all doubt.”

Now, Old Ed is telling constituents that their anger over this colossal waste of tax dollars is unwarranted – given the fact Summit Hospitality has agreed to clean-up Volusia County’s mess and purchase new poles (he’s suggesting “totem poles”?) – and poo-pooing their very real concerns that allowing a private entity to install barricades on a public beach could establish certain ownership rights and jeopardize Volusia County’s customary use ordinance.

(Chairman Kelley, I’ll try to phrase this in terms even you can understand:  We, The People DON’T BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU SAY OR DO.)

Of course, the uber-weird shameless self-promoter Councilwoman Heather Post – who has apparently stopped communicating with her constituents by any means other than a canned social media presence – is blaming the “media,” saying they are working an angle to “cause misinformation” and making things “unclear to some in the public.”

Say what?  Misinformation?  

Hell, Daytona Beach News-Journal Editor Pat Rice even left the office – got a little sand on the ol’ Florsheim Imperials – and measured the damn things himself!

(My God.  Did Weird Heather drink the Kool-Aid or what?)

What I find most chilling – and perhaps the one quirk which best supports Sheriff Chitwood’s spot-on assessment of his character – is Mr. Dinneen’s frightening ability to compulsively lie and quibble facts when the truth would serve him – and the rest of us – far better.

In my view, he can get away with a lot of things – but claiming to be a beach driving advocate isn’t one of them. . .

The debacle that is Summit Hospitality Group’s weird relationship with Volusia County government has baffled beach advocates for months – now, the mismanagement and bureaucratic ineptitude surrounding the Desert Inn/Westin/Hard Rock project can no longer be ignored as it plays out, front page-above the fold, in our newspaper.

For those joining this slapstick comedy already in progress, here’s a chronology of the goofy errors and omissions that have plagued this godforsaken project for years.

From its inception, this poisoned partnership – solely designed to remove beach driving from another 410 linear feet of the shoreline as an “inducement” for Summit to develop an “internationally recognized brand resort” on the skeleton of the spooky Desert Inn – has been like watching a shit-train careen off its tracks in super-slow motion.

Many of us found this “public/private” conspiracy strange from the beginning.

Two organizations with completely different strategic missions – one a local government with a legal responsibility to protect and defend the public’s right to beach access – the other a speculative developer with a profit motive – confederating to restrict access to the people’s most precious natural amenity as an economic incentive?

Didn’t seem right.  Still doesn’t.

Then, with the “encouragement” of campaign sugar daddy and master political puppeteer J. Hyatt Brown – those cheap marionettes we elected to represent our interests on the dais of power in DeLand unanimously agreed to surrender our century-old tradition of beach driving as a bastardized enticement for what we were assured would be two job-producing luxury hotels built of glass, steel and sex appeal.

Originally, the ordinances provided traffic-free areas to accommodate both the “original” Hard Rock project that Canadian developer Henry Wolfond was set to build, as well as the “Four Star” Westin that Summit Hospitality promised us was coming.

In a bold move to protect the interests of Volusia County residents, Florida’s premiere beach advocacy – Sons of the Beach – attempted a strong legal challenge, lawsuits with clear merit which were ultimately squashed by a weaponized county attorney who used our own money to ensure a private entity received a semi-private beach at our expense.

Within months, Wolfond packed up his troubles in his old kit bag and hauled ass back to Canada, but not before calling us all a bunch of obstructionist assholes for challenging his elegant plan which, in addition to the removal of beach driving, called for Palm Beach prices in a Hooterville market.

Then – nothing.

Crickets.

The “Westin” renovation stagnated to the point it looked like the project was being completed by two one-armed handymen working weekends.

Months turned into years as the development languished and it became clear Summit would never meet the ordinance-imposed deadline for completion.

Then, in a clumsy surprise party last year, County Manager Jim Dinneen orchestrated a bizarre off-the-agenda switcheroo at a public meeting, wherein Summit announced it was dumping the Westin brand and acquiring the Hard Rock franchise.

The ambush-style revelation that we were getting a “Hard Rock” resulted in wild applause and fainting swoons from our elected officials who immediately melted into a spineless goo of overacted adulation to appease their masters who were looking on from the gallery.

Just one hiccup – in exchange for planting the Hard Rock flag on Daytona Beach, Summit Hospitality would need more time.

With a completely straight face, Summit’s representatives cited hurricanes and other unavoidable delays – never once mentioning that the development hadn’t seen substantive progress in months.

Of course, the developer was almost immediately granted an extension, pushing the drop-dead completion date to February 28, 2018.

In my view, at that very moment, it became crystal clear our elected officials were once again selling us out to push the horribly failed strategy of political insiders who still believe a single panacea project will serve as an anchor for area-wide revitalization – all while turning their backs on the squalor, blight and economic stagnation that has metastasized across the remainder of the beachside like a malignant tumor.

As the months rolled on – the Hard Rock project continued to sit virtually idle – even as the performance deadline loomed.

Opening dates were announced, then awkwardly called back, again-and-again.

After assuring us that they had no more than a casual interest in the hotel’s progress, it became clear that our ‘powers that be’ in DeLand began to get nervous.

A mysterious closed-door meeting was held between Summit representatives and senior Volusia County officials to discuss, “what needs to be done to bring the Hard Rock Hotel into compliance.”

It then became clear to anyone paying attention that the Hard Rock would meet “brand standards” whether it was completed by February 28^th or not.

To that end, county attorney Dan Eckert began subverting the narrative, while our doddering fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley, started repeating “It’s gonna be great, It’s gonna be great, It’s gonna be great” like some demented robot.

In coming days, it was apparent construction on the building and external seawall was being rushed using slapdash workmanship and relaxed building standards.

Patch-and-paint camouflage was applied to spalling concrete, the pool deck remained unfinished and Paul Zimmerman, president of Sons of the Beach, obtained photographic evidence that load-bearing structures in the subterranean parking garage appeared to be compromised with the roof supported by a forest of floor jacks.

All of this photographic and anecdotal evidence was provided to government officials – which resulted in sweeping denials and personal attacks on Zimmerman by the private engineering firm hired by the developer.

Then, just days before the deadline – with construction crews still hurrying things to a premature conclusion – Hard Rock International pencil whipped a quibbling certification that “upon opening” the hotel “will meet” brand standards set in the ordinance-imposed performance guarantee.

Like clockwork, days before the busy Easter holiday weekend – Mr. Dinneen gave orders to Beach Safety Chief Ray Manchester to ‘pull the trigger’ on beach driving behind the still-under-construction hotel.

In turn, with Manchester and our bumbling Coastal Division director Jessica Winterwerp looking on – a county contractor began jetting massive, chemically-treated utility poles into the sand – using diverted apparatus from the Volusia County Fire Department to assist in the operation.

The phalanx of ugly poles looked more appropriate to a Russian gulag than a public beach and were described by Councilwoman Billie Wheeler as “ten-foot tall monstrosities.”  She vowed to hold “staff” accountable for this abomination.

Who knows how that exercise in futility worked out for her. . .

Amidst the outcry of horrified residents – the county contractor quickly returned to the sand and in the most blatant violation of safety regulations ever caught on film – a worker balanced precariously in an elevated Bobcat bucket holding a running chainsaw with no personal protective equipment lopped a few feet off the top of the poles.   

And, just like that, the Desert Inn/Westin/Hard Rock debacle came to an unceremonious conclusion.

Not so fast.

To ensure honesty in our demonstrably dishonest county government – the intrepid Paul Zimmerman measured the distance between the county’s crude beach blockade.

Low and behold, he found the distance to be nearly twenty-feet over the 410 linear feet specified by law.

When the measurements were confirmed by The Daytona Beach News-Journal, the faux-outrage by our perpetually embarrassed elected officials began.

“It’s unacceptable” crowed the addle-brained Ed Kelley – a pitiful rube who hasn’t had an original thought since he squirmed his way into office on a tidal wave of insider cash.  “If you build your house 20 feet over the property line, they will make you tear it down.”

 No shit, Ed.

What an astute observation by our senior elected official whose manager has once again been exposed as a bumbling farce when he screwed the pooch on yet another highly controversial issue.

Demonstrating the kind of leadership he’s famous for, Jim Dinneen was apparently dry-heaving in the fetal position under his desk high atop the ivory tower – refusing to take telephone calls from media outlets – and forcing a county mouthpiece to assure the incredulous public that Summit Hospitality will make it all right again.

Sure.

At the end of the day, Hard Rock still has a semi-private beach, and We, The People who pay the bills are stuck with a $4,180 – not counting labor – invoice for yet another of Mr. Dinneen’s colossal fuck ups.

But don’t expect anyone to held accountable.  Not gonna happen.

As I’ve written before, when you consider the continuing pattern of gross mismanagement, mistakes, gaffes, howlers and good old fashioned bloopers under Mr. Dinneen’s administration – blunders that would result in his immediate termination from any legitimate private enterprise – it becomes immediately clear that he is politically insulated from any accountability by those who directly benefit from his control of the public tit – the endless supply of tax dollars that invariably flow into private projects and bolster our artificial economy here on Florida’s Fun Coast.

Is there another explanation?

More important – how long are we, the long-suffering residents of Volusia County, expected to accept it?

 

 

Hi, kids!

It’s Friday once again!  Time to play our favorite Halifax Area pastime: What the Hell?

I would like to cordially invite those dapper gents on the Ormond Beach City Commission to join the fun!

Come on, fellas – play along with us!

As always, the rules are simple – study the photograph below and take a wild-ass guess if the scene depicted is: A. A palm oil plantation in Equatorial Guinea? B. Commercial mining operations on an English peat moor? or C. The next round of clear-cut deforestation on Granada Boulevard?

If you picked developer Paul Holub’s multi-part affront to the environmental sensibilities of virtually every resident of Ormond Beach as he fells massive old growth oak trees and historic hardwoods, then grinds them into a muddy brown pulp, to make way for a new WaWa and a chicken wing drive-thru give yourself a Gold Star!

To avoid the hue and cry of anyone with a working conscience, this time they tried desperately to fool us – hiding their ghastly ecological insult behind a screen of trees strategically left standing along Granada Boulevard.

Remember when our illustrious Deputy Mayor Troy Kent told us that this abomination against nature “does not change the beautiful character of Ormond Beach”?

Well, guess what?  He lied.

Don’t take my word for it, drive by and see for yourself.

As I’ve previously written (yet can’t seem to get out of my mind), maybe when this entire godforsaken state becomes an uninhabitable quagmire – with our sole source of drinking water fouled by our own sewerage to accommodate the insatiable appetite of real estate developers, our greenspace plowed under and filled for another half-empty strip center and our wildlife habitats ground into splinters to make way for the ten-zillionth convenience store – maybe someone will wake up and vote these goddamn greed-crazed assholes out of office and replace them with someone – anyone – who has a modicum of respect for themselves and our natural places.

What a travesty.

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.

Sorry guys, I hate to be a Debbie Downer – but there are no “Angels” in my world this week.

However, the list of flaming assholes is growing exponentially. . .

Asshole:          Former BC-U President Edison Jackson

The super-strange tenure of former Bethune-Cookman University President Edison Jackson continues to peel like a rotten onion, and each layer unveils increasingly weird aspects of his administration – and the role of the Board of Trustees – who were essentially blind to it, or complicit in it, depending upon who you talk with.

With massive lawsuits multiplying like randy rabbits – claims and counter-claims that B-CU was essentially reduced to a private piggy bank for a privileged few – we now learn of a very serious charge levied by former Bethune-Cookman Vice President Michelle Thompson, the ex-wife of athletic director and later vice president of athletics, Lynn Thompson.

According to a suit filed in Circuit Court at Daytona Beach, Ms. Thompson has claimed the university committed serious violations of the Florida Civil Rights Act after her career unraveled simultaneous to her marriage.

The complaint alleges that when Michelle Thompson served as dean of freshmen, and later vice president of student development and academic integration, her career trajectory arced like a lawn dart when she separated from her husband in January 2015.

According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Thompson met with Jackson in July, the suit states.  Jackson allegedly told her “that she needed to consider her future with the university, and . . .to reconcile with her husband.” 

 Apparently, in direct defiance of Dr. Jackson’s marital diktat (normally seen only in the lawless tribal areas of Zomia) – Ms. Jackson filed for divorce in October 2015.

Then, the suit describes a wholly bizarre episode more akin to the final days of the Jonestown compound than a prestigious university, when Ms. Thompson claims she attempted to obtain tickets to an athletic event for herself and a friend, then “was informed by the university that they were not yet ready for (her) to begin dating.”  

Say what? 

Subsequently, the suit claims that Dr. Jackson demoted Ms. Thompson to professor – a position that paid “a mere fraction of her former salary” and ordered her to take an extended sabbatical.

Eleven months later she was summarily fired from the university – by email.

In her suit, Michelle Thompson is asking for a jury trial and damages in excess of $15,000 from the cash-strapped university still reeling from a byzantine series of financial moves that has threatened the continued viability of this historic institution.

All while the same Board of Trustees – people who knew or should have known – stood painfully idle while the school was fiscally exsanguinated by forces under their direct oversight and control.

In my view, the students, faculty and staff of B-CU deserve better.

Asshole:          The Florida Legislature

In another nod to allowing real estate developers carte blanche to pave over every available inch of the Sunshine State, during the 2018 legislative session lawmakers passed what is being called the ‘toilet to tap’ bill which – if signed by Governor Rick Scott – will have Floridian’s drinking their own sewerage in a few short years.

Essentially, this latest relaxation of the state’s environmental regulations allows developers whose projects stress our extremely limited water supply to build even more houses, condominiums and half-empty strip centers by permitting wastewater utilities to simply pump partially treated “gray water” back into our sensitive underground aquifer.

Then – we’ll all wish for the best – hoping against hope we don’t poison our sole source of drinking water for generations to come.

It is the textbook definition of “shitting in our own nest.”

According to Dr. Ron Saff of Physicians for Social Responsibility, writing in the Tallahassee Democrat:

“Much of what we flush down our toilets flows down our sewer lines and into sewage treatment plants. This bill would encourage pumping of the sewage effluent – the technical term for partially treated sewage – back into the drinking water aquifer. Then the partially treated effluent would flow from the aquifer into your drinking water glass when you turn on the tap.” 

In addition to our own shit – the effluent contains pharmaceuticals, such as antibiotics, psychotropic drugs and other medications – along with viruses, heavy metals, biological pathogens and nutrients that could further destroy our springs, waterways and fisheries.

While the water is technically “treated” to federal drinking water standards, experts claim those regulations are completely outdated and far too flexible to ensure consumer safety – and no one knows the long-term effects of defecating in our own drinking water supply, literally at its source.

My God – where does it end?

The abject greed of these speculative pirates knows no reasonable bounds – yet our compromised politicians at all levels of government continue to blindly accept their massive campaign contributions and do their bidding – even to the extreme of forcing every man, woman and child in this unsustainable paradise to drink their own excrement.

Welcome to Margaritaville, folks.  Just another Third-World shithole where you brush your teeth with bottled water and avoid the ice.

Asshole:          Irresponsible Public Officials  

Earlier this week, the Daytona Beach News-Journal published an article detailing Mayor Derrick Henry’s skin-of-the-teeth escape from foreclosure on a Derbyshire-area home he owns by apparently using bankruptcy protections to avoid the sale of the property on the steps of the Volusia County courthouse.

Look, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

God knows that at various times in my life I have lived beyond my meager means – got upside down on one financial obligation or another – resulting in a drastic curtailment of my Little Lord Fauntleroy lifestyle until the bills were settled and I once again had a few chips to stack.

Without my wife Patti, a penny-pinching tightwad who keeps a miserly lock on our personal finances and curtails my impulse spending with a swift slap to the back of my head when necessary, I may well be calling Mayor Henry for strategic bankruptcy advice.

So, I’m not going to use this space to take a cheap shot at Hizzoner.

What I will do is use the News-Journal’s embarrassing article to remind all sitting politicians and public officials the importance of personal character and public perception in maintaining the people’s trust in their government.

This isn’t a finger-wagging lecture – it’s a solid piece of hard-earned advice from a fellow sinner who’s just a little further down the trail.

As a law enforcement officer of over three-decades, I was governed by a strict code of professional ethics which required that I keep my “public and private life unsullied as an example to all.”

Is that lofty standard even possible in an era where privacy and discretion have become antiquated parts of our past – and everything we do, say and eat ends up on social media at the speed of the internet?

I don’t know.

But I can honestly say that, although I fell short time-and-time again, every day I served my community I tried hard to live up to that high and noble responsibility.

Fortunately, I had good mentors along my journey who stressed the importance of honor and personal integrity.

Earlier this week, a friend and former colleague of many years abruptly resigned from his role as chief of police for a local municipal agency while under the dark cloud of a criminal investigation.

He had 30-years of unblemished service with the department and remains one of the kindest most sincere gentlemen I know.

Regardless of the ultimate outcome, I am angry and heartbroken that an otherwise stellar career ended this way.

Now, I don’t know the details beyond scuttlebutt from the local “retired cop” network – but, in my experience, there is nearly always an identifiable sequence of events that lead to these personal or career catastrophes – a disaster that can usually be avoided by breaking any link in the chain of errors.

What I’m trying to say is – if you serve in a position of high responsibility where your conduct and professionalism reflect on a group, organization or government – or even your own family – pay attention to the small things – the everyday ethical conundrums and seemingly inconsequential moral forks in the road.

Strive to overcome our basic human frailties and be honest in thought and deed – even when the outcome is unpleasant.

Take the high road, and help develop a transparent organizational culture that encourages strong leadership and inspires subordinates to ‘do the right thing’ for the right reasons – always using the difficult template: Is it moral?  Is it ethical?  Is it lawful?  Will my action inspire trust? 

Most important, if the answer to those important questions is ever in doubt – change tack and remember that in matters of public trust, once lost, it is near impossible to regain.

With persistence and example, values-based public service becomes instinctual – it permeates the organization – and allows elected and appointed officials to make ethical decisions, even in the stressful heat of the moment.

Character is how we conduct ourselves when no one is looking.

I realize this concept has gone out of style – especially in the furnace of politics – but those who stand for high office have an obligation to represent the best interests of those they are sworn to serve.

We count on these intrepid souls with a willingness to serve to lead our communities with honor, selflessness and integrity.

That commitment to service above self-interest deserves our respect and admiration – until it doesn’t.

The price public officials pay for maintaining the consent of the governed – from which their moral authority to lead originates – requires keeping their personal lives in good order, staying above the fray, paying attention to civic obligations and responsibilities and always remaining faithful to a sense of fair play.

Most important, the price of service requires that those who take a sacred oath to represent the interests of their fellow citizens have the moral values and strength of character to carry out their duties with honor – and never use their lofty position for private advantage.

Asshole:          Volusia County School Board

The latest gross absurdity in Florida’s never-ending war on common sense is playing out right here in Volusia County.

Go figure.

In Edgewater, a beautiful seven-year old child named Zoe is slowly dying of a rare condition known as Sanfilippo Syndrome, a condition similar to childhood Alzheimer’s disease.

Doctor’s confirm that her life is more than half over.

At the urging of a friend, the child’s parents administered hemp oil as a means of controlling Zoe’s frequent, debilitating seizures to help her rest – a treatment that was almost immediately effective.

In addition, the substance – which is perfectly legal everywhere in the United States as it contains zero THC, the psychoactive substance found in marijuana – has improved Zoe’s sleep, increased her appetite and ability to speak.

Doctor’s confirm that the oil is improving a very sick little girl’s quality of life.

Now, Zoe’s parents want her to receive the medicinal oil during school hours – just like other children who are administered prescription medication during the day.

Naturally, rather than assist in a dying child’s palliative care, Volusia County won’t allow it.

An asinine statement issued by the School Board claims the district follows federal law – not state law.

Say what?

 “CBD hemp oil falls under the definition of “marijuana extract” … and remains listed as a schedule one controlled substance under federal law. The request to bring cannabis oil onto our campuses or the involvement of our staff is prohibited by federal law.”

 So, in its infinite stupidity, the Volusia County School Board is denying Zoe access to this life-enhancing substance – preferring instead to watch her suffer painful seizures – rather than take a bold stand for the rights of seriously disabled students to alternative medications with proven efficacy.

Although not applicable in this case, some 71% of Florida voters approved the use of medical marijuana for the treatment of catastrophic conditions such as Zoe’s – a measure that our legislators and local elected officials have fought tooth-and-nail by blocking dispensaries and enacting other silly roadblocks and edicts.

This is a new low, even by Volusia County standards.

These fucking people should be ashamed of themselves. 

I hope voters will remember young Zoe when you enter the voting booth this November.  I will.

Quote of the Week:

“Governments, and even businesses, can break out their thesauruses and call them whatever they want: taxes, user fees, levies, assessments.  But it doesn’t change the fact that they all accomplish the same thing — they take money out of the public’s pockets.  And no semantical sweetener makes that hard truth any easier to swallow.”

 –The Daytona Beach News-Journal editorial, “Getting taxed at both ends,” Thursday, April 5, 2018

Kudos to reporter Seth Robbins for his outstanding exposé, “Fee Frenzy” which examined the weird practice of developers who seek lucrative public incentives – then screw us to the wall with privately imposed “enhanced amenity fees,” “public user fees” and other sales-based levies – each of which is clearly a tax dressed up with a catchy marketing hook.

Greedy bastards.

Most of us know when we receive an email from a Nigerian Prince looking for help moving money that we’re being scammed – at least I hope you do.

Unfortunately, many shoppers at places like Tanger Outlets and One Daytona – both of which took millions of dollars in public funds, tax abatement’s and infrastructure subsidies – are unaware of these bogus fees until they reach the point-of-sale.

Clearly, the Daytona Beach News-Journal feels the same way most of us do when we suddenly realize we are being taken advantage of by cheap grifters.  I, for one, am proud of the work they have done in educating the public to this increasingly prevalent money grab.

And Another Thing!

 “In February, Volusia County’s 76 percent occupancy was less than the statewide average of 81.1 percent, according to STR, a data and analytics specialist. Likewise, Volusia’s $154.29 average daily rate was less than the statewide average of $171.88; and the county’s revenue per available room of $117.01 was less than the statewide average of $139.40.”

–Statewide comparison of Volusia County hotel occupancy and room rates showing a slight 6% increase in February year-over-year

Response by Evelyn Fine – who has been telling the Daytona Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau what they want to hear for years – as quoted in the Daytona Beach News-Journal:

“I’m encouraged by the fact that we had more visitors,” said Evelyn Fine, president of Mid-Florida Marketing & Research in Ormond Beach. “That’s great news.” The increase in occupancy enabled hoteliers to make more money per available room, despite the decline in average daily rates, Fine said. “The big question in my mind is, ‘Why did the rates go down?’ and I wish I had an answer for that. I’m thinking that maybe because we had some slow months before that (February), that everybody was kind of nervous and let the rates slip a bit.”

 Less than the statewide average by all metrics?  Encouraged?  Great news?

Wait?  What?  Up-is-down, Down-is-up? It’s all so confusing, Evelyn.

Whatever. . .

Have a great weekend, kids!

 

 

As the tortured scribe of an alternative opinion blog, I often receive angry calls and messages from sitting politicians, and others in positions of high power and influence, who take me to task for having come down on the wrong side of one issue or the other – and I admit – I’m certainly not infallible.

But when I’m right – I’m right.

For instance, I harbor a sneaking suspicion that our elected and appointed officials in Volusia County government have dissolved into a weird clown alley of ill-informed lockstep conformists who do exactly what they are told to do – when they are told to do it.

And when they don’t get their way on an issue important to their uber-wealthy campaign donors – or in matters where their ineptitude may be exposed – they lash out like recalcitrant children, using the county attorney’s office as an offensive weapon, or simply becoming obstructionist assholes (a la “Sleepy” Pat Patterson, clenching his little hands, puffing up like a toad, and vowing to vote “no” on every issue coming before the SunRail Commission until his issues get resolved).

The fact is, evidence continues to mount that these dolts we have elected to represent our interests have the situational and political awareness of wallpaper paste.

Unless they are told exactly how to think, and what to do, by County Manager Jim Dinneen or some courtier from the camarilla of “Rich & Powerful” insiders who actually control our lives and livelihoods – our council members sits there like slack-jawed dementia victims fascinated by specks of dust floating in the air.

Clueless doesn’t come close to describing this level of blunted detachment.

For almost two-years, the laser focus of Volusia County government – when they weren’t busy approving “incentives” for speculative developers, closing off beach access or funneling massive amounts of public funds to private interests – has been set on developing a strategy to place a half-cent sales tax increase on the November ballot.

Why?

Like any parasitic worm that burrows itself deep into the public tit – government needs increasing sources of tax revenue to keep the cycle of government spending, insane compensation and benefits packages for senior managers and corporate welfare projects – spinning along without interruption.

Now it appears our ‘powers that be’ became so distracted by the dollar signs dancing in their pointy little heads that they failed to keep an eye on happenings in Tallahassee – or maybe they truly are just a troop of ill-informed buffoons – regardless, they missed some important legislation that just may derail their sleazy money grab.

Back in February, State Representative Matt Caldwell, a Republican from North Fort Meyers, began formulating a plan to block a local option sales tax proposed by the Lee County School Board – a levy Rep. Caldwell vehemently disagreed with.

According to Caldwell, imposing a tax on every man, woman and child in Lee County was “avoidable and unwise,” and he linked the school boards financial difficulties to irresponsible spending and poor strategic planning.

Sound familiar?

So, during the waning days of the 2018 legislative session, Rep. Caldwell filed an amendment requiring county governments and school districts seeking to place a local option sales tax before voters to submit to an outside performance audit, which must be completed and posted for public inspection sixty days before the election.

Governor Rick Scott signed the measure into law on March 23^rd.

Clearly the terms “outside” and “audit” brought peristaltic tremors to our elected and appointed officials in DeLand.

Frankly, I couldn’t be more tickled if I had a feather in my shorts.

Among other provisions, the Caldwell amendment requires that the audit explore alternative methods for providing county services and products, ensures the accuracy of public documents, examines the “structure or design” of the county government to accomplish its objectives and requires compliance with appropriate policies, rules and laws.

In short, the legislation ensures that government has explored all possible alternatives before siphoning even more cash from their tax-strapped constituents by imposing or increasing duties on goods and services.

It’s called basic accountability – and that is anathema to our current administration.

Now do you see why this important legislation – which is clearly designed to protect the public interest – has sent convulsing shivers down the spine of Volusia County government? 

I thought you might.

Clearly, our elected and appointed officials were once again caught totally flatfooted – completely unaware of the Caldwell amendment and its potential ramifications – and now those on the dais of power are falling all over themselves to affix blame to anyone but themselves.

Our doddering fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley – who suffers from a rare form of selective memory which makes him oblivious to anything other than the personal whims of his wealthy campaign donors – blames Volusia County’s lobbying firm, GrayRobinson, Tallahassee insiders who receive $50,000 of our money annually to, well, keep our council members apprised of legislative happenings.

According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Old Ed said, “I thought our (lobbyist) would have let us know.  My guess is that the lobbyist should have told us that,” he said.  “Someone should have told us before today that that was there.  I’m a little miffed that I wasn’t made aware of this.”

Miffed?

Get your head out of your ass, Ed.

How many times can our senior elected official feign cognitive ignorance?

Anyone remember back in May 2017, when Chairman Kelley and the others we elected to represent our interests got caught with their heads on the desk, snoozing in a pile of their own drool, when the state moved to limit local government’s ability to pass ordinances that impact private property rights, specifically as it relates to customary use of public beaches?

I do.

But in typical fashion – no one is ever held accountable in the Dinneen administration.

Not GrayRobinson, and especially not Mr. Dinneen.

I mean, where exactly does the buck stop in this shitstorm of abject mismanagement and ineptitude?

Certainly not with the hyper-arrogant Councilwoman Deb Denys.

In her typical haughty delivery, Denys deflected any responsibility, fuming with indignant criticism, “It’s bad law (?), bad legislation.  We are regulating empty.  There’s nothing there.” 

You mean, except exposing out-of-control government spending, the open giveaway of public assets and the mysteriously opaque planning and spending policies coming out of the county manager’s office?

My God.

Folks, I may not get it right all the time – but I’m right when I opine that we are being “governed” by the most grossly out-of-touch gaggle of half-bright dimwits in the history of Volusia County.

And given our dismal history, that’s saying something. . .

In my view, there truly is no one awake in the wheelhouse – and this ship of fools is hopelessly adrift.

Based on the evidence at hand – am I wrong?

 

 

In January, a loyal member of the Barker’s View tribe and an astute observer of the political landscape in Volusia County sent me a photograph of a placard posted at One Daytona announcing the implementation of an “Enhanced Amenity Fee.”

The fee represents a one-percent before sales tax levy on all goods and services purchased at the “symbiotic” entertainment and shopping complex developed by the Forbes listed France family’s International Speedway Corporation – and subsidized by you and me.

Like many of you, this tax by any other name struck me as usurious – given that taxpayers in Volusia County, and the City of Daytona Beach, collectively bankrolled the project to the tune of $40 million in public funds.

The fee isn’t limited to One Daytona – you will experience similar money grabs at the Port Orange Pavilion – and the tax-supported Tanger Outlets.  As I understand it, the fees could remain in place for the next 100 years.

Apparently, it’s the ‘new normal.’   Get used to being screwed to the wall.

In an essay entitled, “Does it ever end?” – I posed the question, “When does a “public/private partnership” turn into a victimization – a parasitic exsanguination of the very people who were previously tapped to fund a private project with hard-earned tax dollars?”  

While I have a sideways opinion on just about everything, I’m the first to admit that I don’t have all the answers.

Not by a long shot.

In fact, I’m a guy with a solid 8^th grade education (while I graduated from Seabreeze High School, my formative years are a blur of malted hops and barleycorn) – not to mention the fact that I am, at my core, an East Tennessee hillbilly – born in the shadow of the Appalachian Mountains – which means I am too stupid to take money, and too prideful to shut up when getting along and going along would serve me better.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to read Seth Robbins’ outstanding exposé, “Fee Frenzy – Customers pay the price as private fees pop up at 3 Volusia shopping complexes,” frontpage news today in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.    

In my view, Seth is one of the finest young reporters in the business – bright, instinctive and bulldog tenacious in the spirit of Old School investigative journalists.  He’s the real deal.

In this enlightening piece, Robbins has gotten to the kernel of an incredibly intricate issue, and crafted an important story into an informative vehicle even I can understand.

I only ask that you read the article critically, then form your own educated conclusions as to the true motivations of the players involved – especially the quibbling “I know no-thing!” Sergeant Shultz-like explanation of our factually challenged County Manager Jim Dinneen.

Look, I don’t take issue with the extremely skillful attorneys who work hard in the best interest of their clients.  I understand the need of publicly traded companies to use available legislation to craft these weird hybrids, euphemistically known as “P-3’s,” and facilitate other quasi-public financing schemes – measures which can salve the concerns of stockholders by ensuring high returns with low risk.

I get it. That’s the job a good lawyer is paid well to accomplish.

However, I still believe that just because something is legal, doesn’t necessarily make it right.

In fact, under Rick Scott’s administration, most of the environmental and pro-development “regulations” and incentives coming out of Tallahassee would curl your hair. . .

My problem remains with the issue of local government’s continued meddling in what should be a free, open and fair marketplace – time-after-time providing millions in public funds to underwrite the private endeavors of those uber-wealthy members of the Donor Class seeking a return on investment for massive campaign contributions to the avaricious politicians who ultimately approve these lucrative subsidies.

I was proud to contribute my thoughts to the News-Journal as they expose this increasingly prevalent scheme – often without the knowledge of shoppers who patronize these venues.

I still believe that commercial, for-profit developments that are underwritten by massive infusions of public funds, tax breaks and infrastructure subsidies create a lopsided playing field in a very tight market – providing an unfair advantage that most small businesses and entrepreneurs who form the backbone of an economy do not have equal access to.

In my view, that’s wrong.

As the Canadian comic and politician Greg Malone put it, P3’s should be called “P-12’s” – “Public-Private Partnerships to Plunder the Public Purse to Pursue Policies of Peril to People and the Planet for all Posterity.”

 Please find Seth Robbins’ excellent piece here:

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20180331/customers-pay-price-as-private-fees-pop-up-at-3-volusia-shopping-complexes

 My full interview can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtJ4C1VZG54&feature=youtu.be

Here’s wishing all members of the loyal and intrepid Barker’s View tribe a very joyous Easter and Passover.

May God bless your home and family with peace and happiness, today and always.

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, Kids!

You know what time it is?

That’s right – it’s Friday Funday here at Barker’s View HQ!

Time to play our little game I like to call, “What the Hell?”

As always, our friends at the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Regional Chamber of Commerce and our “Rich & Powerful” upper crust ensconced high atop their gated ivory tower over at the CEO Business Alliance are welcome to play along!

Come on, it’ll be Wide. Open. Fun!

For those who haven’t played with us before, the rules are simple – study the photograph below and take a wild-ass guess if the scene depicted is: A. The Kolomoyskyi Wall separating Ukraine and Russia?  B. The Joint Security Area at Panmunjom? or C. The World’s Most Famous Beach?

Take your time. . .

(Cue the final Jeopardy theme music.)

If you selected the horrific phalanx of chemically-treated utility poles that Volusia County officials jetted into the sand this week, making good on their promise to create a semi-private beach behind the Hard Rock Hotel – further ruining the natural aesthetics of OUR beach and forever removing OUR century-old tradition of beach driving from another 410 linear feet of the strand – give yourself a Gold Star!

Yep – our elected and appointed corporate shills on the dais of power in DeLand concluded the pernicious pact with their cronies at Summit Hospitality and shut down the beach on Monday, despite the fact that renovation of the notorious former Desert Inn wasn’t nearly complete on February 28^th as required by ordinance.

Does ignoring the obvious unfinished construction and operational deficiencies, then accepting Hard Rock International’s quibbling “certification” that, “. . .upon opening the operation of the hotel, will meet Hard Rock International’s” brand standards, rather than confirming the legal requirement that all conditions set forth in the performance guarantee have been met, with the specific intent to ensure the special benefit of a traffic free beach for the developer, meet the statutory definition of official misconduct?

I don’t know.  I’m asking.

Yet, our state’s ethics apparatus stands idle – with it’s thumb firmly planted in its ass – while the foul smell of corrupt intent wafts on the sea breeze.

Go figure.

Thanks for playing along!

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 see who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:

Angel:            Don Gaetz

Former Senate president Don Gaetz, who is now a member of Florida’s Constitution Revision Commission, recently sponsored an amendment that would strengthen what currently passes for government “ethics” rules in Florida’s morally bankrupt Halls of Power.

If passed by voters, the new rules would bar legislators, the governor and Cabinet members from lobbying any state agency for six years after leaving office.  The ban would also regulate local officials – to include a measure barring them from using their office to obtain a “disproportionate benefit” for themselves, their business, family members and friends.

Sound familiar?

My hope is that the new rules include governor appointees, public university trustees and anyone else who wheedles their way into positions of power based upon their ability to pay – or demonstrates an ethical flexibility many of our political insiders find so attractive, and lucrative.

Now, there’s a constitutional amendment we can all support!

Asshole:          County of Volusia

A decade after signing agreements creating a commuter rail service – contracts which were excruciatingly short on specifics (like how we were going to pay for it over time?) and long on financial obligations for the citizens of Volusia County – our elected and appointed dullards in DeLand are scrambling to have those commitments amended before they get caught out.

Unfortunately, Volusia County officials command about as much respect from the Florida Department of Transportation and members of the SunRail Commission as they do from their own constituents.

Zilch.

Back in those heady days when Congressman John Mica was sitting on top of the world in Washington, and federal transportation funding for east Central Florida was almost a foregone conclusion, county officials were swooning over all the wonderful “possibilities” SunRail would bring countywide.

Damn the consequences, “We want one!”

There was big talk of ultimately connecting Daytona Beach with the Orlando International Airport, and a scheme was devised to backdoor a transportation oriented development near the Debary station – that is, until smart residents pointed out that the depot was built near the Gemini Springs annex, an environmentally sensitive wetland that is now protected in perpetuity.

Now, John Mica is out-to-pasture, plans for extending rail service to DeLand have derailed (pun intended), state and federal transportation funds have evaporated into the ether and Volusia County’s portion of the multi-million dollar bill is coming home to roost in three short years.

In my view, it’s just one reason our elected officials are falling all over themselves in a desperate attempt to ramrod the proposed half-cent sales tax increase least all their rotten eggs hatch at once, leaving them short on funds for transportation infrastructure improvements to meet rapidly increasing demands in east Volusia – on top of the SunRail nut they are contractually obligated to pay.

It’s a sticky wicket, as they say – kind of like County Manager Jim Dinneen’s pathetic lack of strategic planning has once again painted us all into the corner of a very large room.

Last week, our own elected Rip Van Winkle, County Councilman “Sleepy” Pat Patterson – our representative to the SunRail Commission – got his knickers in a twist when it became clear that he is being openly ignored and snickered at by everyone who is anyone in Florida’s transportation apparatus.

According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, in late January, Sleepy Pat traveled to Tallahassee to give Florida Secretary of Transportation, Mike Dew, a piece of his feeble mind – only to find out that the Secretary intentionally blew him off and was a no-show at the meeting.

Apparently, Secretary Dew had other pressing issues to deal with – like washing his hair. . .

During the “meeting,” Mr. Dew’s toadies at FDOT brushed Patterson off like the inconsequential gnat he is – telling him to take his silly-ass problems to someone who cares – like the commuter rail commission.

Still deluding himself that Volusia County is relevant to the discussion between the real players – like Orange County and the City of Orlando – Councilman Patterson whined the blues last week in the News-Journal lamenting his dyspepsia over Volusia’s inability to crawfish on the original agreements:

“I went to Tallahassee and came back unhappy and ill at the same time,” Patterson said later. He suggested sending a letter “requesting, asking, begging” that the amendments to its contract, approved by the council in February 2017, be on the agenda for the SunRail Commission’s meeting. . .”

It appears no matter how much our weaponized county attorney, Dan Eckert, huffs-n-puffs or rattles his saber – the heavy hitters in Central Florida’s mass transit scene can’t be bullied – or bothered – by this ant on the elephant’s ass.

As Committee Chair Bob Dallari put it, “It’s just not all about Volusia.”

In my view, the long-suffering taxpayers of Volusia County are getting yet another behind-the-curtain view of just how inept and ineffectual our compromised county government has become.

It seems to me, when it comes to strategic planning, future budget allocations and building cooperative relationships with funding and regulatory agencies – you know, the very role of an effective county administrator – Volusia County continues to fail miserably.

Consistently, We, The People, get the short shrift.

If it doesn’t involve the direct transfer of public funds to the private projects of political insiders, our elected officials and senior staff are like a rudderless ship of fools – utterly clueless to the needs of their constituents – even as they continue to rubber stamp massive growth and spending without any reasonable way to pay for it – beyond shackling every man, woman and child with an even greater tax burden.

Clearly, it’s time to put Sleepy Pat to bed.

Let him get some much needed rest from his desperate attempts to pull us all from the financial quagmire he helped create and elect a replacement who can restore a sense of mutual respect and collegiality between Volusia County and our regional transportation partners.

In the meantime, I’m just glad to see our elected and appointed officials on the dais of power in DeLand getting a touch of the maddening frustration their constituents feel every time they are forced to deal with their obstinate and indifferent county government.

Asshole:          Geosam Capital U.S. & The State of Florida

In a scene that repeats itself all too often, developers are conducting something akin to slash-and-burn operations in Southeast Volusia – a dreadful process whereby forested land is clear-cut, and the resulting waste burned in large piles.

Why?

Because the State of Florida allows this dangerous and environmentally questionable practice which permits developers to turn massive tracts of land into a moonscape in a very short period of time.

Apparently, incinerating the spoils on-site is the most efficient method of clearing our quickly diminishing pine scrub, timberland and wildlife habitat to make way for even more cookie cutter homes and half-empty strip centers.

And because those corporate shills in the Halls of Power throughout the Sunshine State never seem to learn from the mistakes of the past.

To the contrary, rather than control growth, ensure that housing inventory does not exceed demand and enact strong regulations to protect our sensitive wetlands and water recharge areas, our elected and appointed officials are blinded by dollar signs dancing around their pointy heads – the potential taxes generated from a growth spurt not seen since the Great Recession – and, trust me, they intend to make hay while the sun shines.

If that requires clear cutting and burning the entire spine of east Volusia County – so be it.

On Wednesday, contractors clearing land for Geosam Capital’s “Coastal Woods” development allowed a brush pile they were burning to get away from them.

The Coastal Woods project (an oxymoronic name, given that the woods are actively being deforested) is a residential and commercial development near Pioneer Trail and Interstate 95 in New Smyrna – another “planned” community which will ultimately bring some 1,250+ homes and a “major shopping venue” as New Smyrna quickly transmogrifies from a successfully quaint seaside community into a morass of sprawl and unchecked western growth.

The resulting wildfire ultimately burned over 200 surrounding acres and closed I-95 to an estimated 40,000 vehicles, diverting commerce and travel for nearly 18-hours.

Of course, fingers were pointing in all directions as Geosam apologized to terrified residents from New Smyrna to Port Orange who were threatened by the blaze – all while reminding everyone that it was the Forest Service who issued the burn permit.

Why a government entity would issue a burn authorization on one of the windiest days of Florida’s Spring Wildfire Season is yet to be answered – but I think I know why a contractor would ignore the extremely dry conditions and set a fire anyway:  Because clearing land is what Geosam paid them to do – and, after all, time is money. 

I applaud the City of New Smyrna for having what Mayor Jim Hathaway described in the Daytona Beach News-Journal as a “Come to Jesus meeting” with Geosam Capital – I hope it results in positive change – but I doubt it.

In my view, once developers get their hands on a piece of property – wild horses couldn’t stop them from leveling it, filling it and building even more hideous zero lot line cracker boxes designed to wring maximum profit from the least expensive materials and construction methods possible.

It is what’s become of the American Dream in coastal Central Florida.

Welcome to Volusia County – now, get comfortable drinking your own sewerage.

Angel:             Volusia County Collegiate Women’s Basketball Teams

From the Barker’s View Sports Desk – let’s take a minute to recognize the combined 85-40 record of all four local women’s college basketball teams – Stetson, Bethune-Cookman University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Daytona State College!

This season, ERAU made the NCAA Division II tournament for the first time in program history, while Bethune-Cookman’s Lady Wildcats won their third regular season MEAC title and made the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

Stetson made post-season play for the 8^th straight year while Daytona State College went 20-10 for the season.

Congratulations, ladies!  You make us all very proud!

Quote of the Week:

“I’m not in favor of how they look at all.  There is no way we are going to have a 10-foot tide.  I’m not happy.  I’m going to be questioning staff on the height.”

–Volusia County Councilwoman Billie Wheeler, yammering in the Daytona Beach News-Journal regarding the horrific appearance of the utility poles county contractors placed to block traffic and create a semi-private beach behind the Hard Rock Hotel in Daytona Beach.

Hey, Billie – save your mealy-mouthed indignation over the height and aesthetics of this hideous barrier you voted to erect as a backhanded incentive to Summit Hospitality – while ignoring the needs and wants of your constituents and the visitors we spend mightily to attract.

No one wants to hear your faux-outrage – or more of your damnable bald-faced lies that anyone in Volusia County government will ever be held accountable for their acts and omissions.

We, The People, know better.

You are a shameless shill for corporate interests and those of your political benefactors – nothing more – and you should be ashamed of yourself.

It’s high time that you, and your fellow conniving chattel on the council, come to the sobering realization that you have forever lost the faith and trust of those you were elected to represent.

And Another Thing!

“I think the entire community is so well served by having a Hard Rock, we should be happy and supportive of having it here. . .”

Our doddering fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley, trying his level best to convince himself – and his astonished constituents – that eliminating our century-old heritage of beach driving from more of the strand in exchange for a goofy “theme” hotel is something we should be “happy and supportive” of.

Really?

Who needs a corporate marketing department when you have this addle-brained shithead – who accepts public funds to serve in the public interest – sitting in the county chairman’s seat openly flogging the Hard Rock brand.

Old Ed is like some pathetic victim of a perseverative disorder, maundering the same thoughts and phrases over-and-over again – all while stuck on stupid – oblivious to the true needs and wants of Volusia’s long-suffering residents.

How tragic.

That’s all for me.

Have a Happy Easter, everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another piece of our heritage died today.

Our “Rich & Powerful” political insiders – the paymasters who shamelessly purchase the souls of cheap political whores with malleable ethics and massive egos, and strategically ignore the base ineptitude of an out-of-control county administrator, to further their own self-serving goals – have taken away another 410 linear feet of beach driving in their horribly failed strategy of “incentivizing” the one amenity that made the Daytona Beach Resort Area unique.

This morning at 5:00am, under cover of darkness and the personal supervision of Beach Chief Ray Manchester, a series of hideous chemically-treated poles were driven into the sand behind the slapdash Hard Rock Hotel – completing the pernicious pact between Summit Hospitality, Hard Rock International and their elected corporate shills in DeLand.

I am often asked by well-meaning people “how does this happen, Barker?”

My best answer is – the uber-rich power brokers who have seized control of our government accomplish this by appearing before their elected Muppets on the dais of power in DeLand – as J. Hyatt Brown did when this sinister scheme was hatched way back in the spring of 2015 – or funnel secret directions through their utterly compromised bag man, County Manager Jim Dinneen – instructing their chattel to hand over more of our limited beach access in exchange for dubious promises from the speculative developer du jour.

Then, when grassroots advocates like Sons of the Beach, attempt to challenge these despotic edicts from on high – they are blocked by lawsuits filed by weaponized county attorneys (using our own money) to silence any opposition or legal arguments.

Invariably, a jumbled appellate court process determines that the long-suffering taxpayers of Volusia County, who are increasingly asked to pay-up and shut-up, have no “standing.”

As I have written before, under this bastardized oligarchy we call governance in Volusia County, We, The People, no longer have standing in much of anything – except, of course, when it comes to footing the bill for a new “synergistic” shopping center for ISC or subsidizing a ten-story phallic monument to Hyatt Brown’s self-importance – oh, and to serve the dual purpose as headquarters for his billionaire insurance company.

Our elected officials have given tens-of-millions in tax incentives, infrastructure improvements and other inducements to these slimy puppet masters and a slew of itinerant developers – and this morning, they made good on their “inducement” to a gaudy “theme” hotel built on the bones of the haunted Desert Inn Hotel – a place that will forever remain notorious for the atrocities against children that were committed within – when they drove a phalanx of ugly utility poles into the sand and blocked vehicular access forever.

In May 2015, in a piece entitled “A sad day for Volusia County,” I wrote a prophetic line has finally come home to roost:

“We are now at the cold mercy of these goddamned grifters – smug shitheels in expensive suits and Gucci loafers who play with other people’s money and openly fuck with our beachside lifestyle.  And when they go belly-up – as they always do (just ask Bray & Gillespie, remember them?) – we are left holding the bag as they trot back to South Florida, Canada or Russia.” 

It’s cold comfort to say I told you so – but, welcome to our future.

The fact is, we are in the grip of a system so abominably corrupt that it may well be impossible to correct without outside intervention.

Apparently, those who are paid to monitor, detect and investigate the conduct, integrity and ethics of sitting public officials are asleep at the switch – or have been equally co-opted by those with a permanent place at the public tit – despicably complicit by their inaction in a ruse to monetize our public beach, manipulate our system of governance and alienate the many to feed the ravenous greed of a few.

That “ill wind” I talked about so many months ago continues to blow across Volusia County – and on it is the foul stench of quid pro quo public corruption and corporate gluttony.

I still believe in my heart that we are better than this – that we fundamentally deserve fair and equal treatment under the law and basic representation by those we elect to protect our interests.

I also believe that there remains one fundamental mechanism which, if used properly, will allow us to prevail over the self-serving insiders and well-heeled Donor Class that seem intent on shitting on our century-old heritage and handing the right to the traditional use of OUR beach to outside interests and speculators for backdoor personal enrichment:

It is the ultimate power of the ballot box.

 I like to humor myself into believing that we still have some fragments of a democratic process remaining – like the sacred tradition that permits one person, one vote.

I believe that if enough like-minded citizens hold firm to the basic belief that we can control our destiny by electing strong, ethical and visionary members of our community to high office – servant/leaders who will tell powerful self-interests to go fuck themselves, and stand firm in defense of the rights, responsibilities and privileges of taxpaying residents who work hard to carve out a life here on Florida’s Fun Coast – we can once again balance political power and restore transparency, fairness and the spirit of democracy in Volusia County government.