Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way:

Edgewater Police Officer David Jewell, Requiescat in Pace

I’ve said this before, but from my earliest memories, law enforcement officers have always been my heroes.

They still are.

In a career spanning over three-decades in policing, I watched these brave souls routinely go into harm’s way to protect the safety, peace, and welfare of their fellow citizens; gallant men and women who willingly put their own lives at risk in service to others they didn’t even know. 

It is why law enforcement officers play such an essential — and inspirational — role in binding the very fabric of our society, and why I will forever admire their indominable spirit, courage, and dedication in protecting my family and yours.

This week, Volusia County was rocked by the senseless murder of Edgewater Police Officer David Jewell in a tragic off-duty encounter with a deranged employee of an Ormond-by-the-Sea convenience store.  By all accounts, Officer Jewell was ambushed and executed – shot multiple times at pointblank range – by a store clerk apparently suffering from “mental health issues.”

An arrest has been made, and the investigation is continuing.    

Prior to joining the Edgewater Police Department, Officer Jewell served with the Lake Helen Police Department, and as a decorated telecommunicator with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.   

In addition, David Jewell was a loving father and devoted husband.

Those who served with Officer Jewell described him as a cop’s cop, “kind, selfless, caring, and a light during a dark day. For those who had the honor of knowing him, he was a great friend with a sense of humor.”

In a statement following Monday afternoon’s tragedy, acting Edgewater Police Chief Charles Geiger paid tribute to Officer Jewell, “David was a guy that we could rely on for anything, never heard a bad thing about him, and he’s going to be a tremendous loss to the Edgewater Police Department.”

In my view, Officer Jewell represented the best of us, and his profound contributions will reverberate far beyond the City of Edgewater, and the senseless way he died.   

May David Jewell’s extraordinary legacy of dedicated service be an inspiration to those who continue to protect and serve – and his memory serve as a reminder to those who sleep under the blanket of protection they provide of the dangers our law enforcement officers face both on-duty and off.  

According to the Edgewater Police Department, the family has invited the community to a candlelight vigil honoring the life and service of Officer Jewell on Friday, September 19, 2025, beginning at 6:00 p.m., at the Edgewater Alliance Church, 310 North Ridgewood Avenue, Edgewater.   

The Edgewater Police Department has established a GoFundMe account to assist Officer Jewell’s family.  Please find it here: https://tinyurl.com/mwjxfksp

Godspeed. Forever EP698…

Volusia Vice Chair Matt Reinhart’s Inspired Dream Helps Inmates Reenter Society

According to a 2023 study by the Florida Policy Project, “One of the biggest drivers of incarceration is the revolving door of people leaving prison, reoffending, and returning to prison. The vast majority of people in Florida’s prisons will eventually be released, but a lack of resources and available programming is limiting their likelihood of successful reentry into society.” 

You don’t have to be a penologist to understand the importance of transitional training programs, job skill development, education, and mental health/substance abuse treatment, leading to successful post-release employment in reducing recidivism. 

Thanks to Volusia County Vice Chair Matt Reinhart, jail inmates now have another innovative opportunity for a positive outcome.

During the dark and turbulent September 4 Volusia County Council meeting, there was one bright spot when council members gave life to former county corrections warden and current Vice Chair Matt Reinhart’s dream of establishing a working vegetable farm at the Volusia County Jail.

In my view, leveraging one’s institutional knowledge to develop solutions to intractable problems is smart leadership, and Vice Chair Reinhart’s inspired vision will help inmates build marketable skills, improve their mental health, and may eventually lower food costs for county correctional facilities.   

The program will become part of the county’s Second Chance Reentry Services, an initiative Mr. Reinhart and others believe will reduce recidivism by providing self-improvement opportunities.

As I understand it, the agricultural operation will start with seasonal vegetables and augment the county’s successful horticulture program.   

According to a report by Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal:

“This has been an over 30-year dream of mine,” Reinhart said.

The county spends about $4,000 a month on vegetables for the Division of Corrections. County officials do not expect to be able to grow enough food to cover the entire cost, Volusia County Public Protection Director Randa Matusiak said.

Overall, the startup cost for the program is $156,150, Matusiak said. The costs include adding security features, a refrigeration unit, and a pole barn, among other things. The county would not need to hire more staff to help manage the vegetable crops.

Savings from the program would come from the county selling vegetables to its food provider. In the best-case scenario, the county would save $6,892 a year from the vegetable crops, with recurring costs considered, she said.”

Unfortunately, like most county-run programs (where money is never a concern), the $156,150 setup costs for row crops, and an estimated $442,500 to $467,000 for a “Phase II” chicken program, seems ridiculous…   

To their credit, Mr. Reinhart and his colleagues asked staff to seek reductions before the second phase of the program comes before the County Council for approval.

According to the News-Journal, “The jail offers other programs to help people prepare to leave the jail, get an education and find work, including “GED preparation and exams, forklift training and certification, barbering, virtual welding, and other programs designed to provide practical skills and pathways for rehabilitation.”

District 4 Councilman Troy Kent suggested adding honeybee hives and selling bottles of “county honey” to bring in revenue.

“It would fly off the shelves,” Kent said.”

Whatever works, I say.

Kudos to Vice Chair Reinhart and the Volusia County Council for finding innovative ways to reduce the impact of repeat victimization and recidivism on Volusia County taxpayers. 

Finally, Fini – The Annual Theater of the Absurd Comes to a Close for 2025-26

“Palm Coast’s proposed 2026 fiscal year budget is going to increase 65% to $696 million from the adopted 2025 budget of $421 million.

Most of the increase is spread across several departments, but the largest increase is in the water-wastewater capital projects fund, which is increasing 289% to $326 million from the previous year’s $83 million budget. This fund is not supported by property taxes, but instead various grant revenue, special assessments, and impact fees, according to city budget presentation documents.

Financial Services Director Helena Alves said at the Sept. 10 meeting that this fund is responsible for the water and wastewater treatment plant upgrades and other major capital improvement projects.”

–Reporter Sierra Williams, writing in the Palm Coast Observer, “Palm Coast 2026 budget increases 65% as millage is reduced by one-tenth mill,” Monday, September 15, 2025

Thankfully, the annual rending of garments and gnashing of teeth over county and municipal budgets (and the inevitable tax increases that pay for it all) is finally coming to a close. 

In accordance with the needs of the fiscal feeding schedule, horribly bloated bureaucracies – and the precious smattering of well stewarded communities who live within their means – have once again fed the monkey and satiated the spending addiction that exposes the true priorities of those we elect to represent our interests. 

I don’t know about you, but after watching our elected dullards spend like drunken sailors on everything from publicly funded motorcross tracks to astronomical annual pay increases for senior executives, the artificial handwringing, and contrived theatrics as our elected dullards assume the role of the “conservative watchdog” is exhausting… 

That isn’t limited to the Volusia County Council.   

Each time we go through this carefully choreographed shim-sham, I am reminded of all the times we listened to the chaunt “Growth pays for itself, you rubes!” by developers and the real estate industry who threw a lot of money around and lobbied for more, more, more.

The false promise of an increase in tax dollars that would more than cover the massive impacts of overdevelopment on our local transportation infrastructure, public utilities, water quantity and quality, stormwater management, emergency services, healthcare, and the myriad other essential services a community requires to function effectively.

Instead, for the acquiescence of those we trusted to do the right thing, we exchanged greenspace, wildlife habitat, and the natural topography for a blanket of impervious concrete and zero lot line cracker boxes, and received development-induced flooding in return…

Guess who pays for it all?

Earlier this week, as the Volusia County Council unanimously approved an obscene $1.41 billion budget, there was talk of eliminating the trifling eyewash of setting aside a paltry $5 million for road improvements, desperately inadequate critical infrastructure that is quickly being overwhelmed countywide.

The same is true to our south in Brevard County where commissioners are weighing a gas tax increase just to keep up with road resurfacing and repair as construction of needed roadways goes from just 7.5-miles in 2025 to 5-miles next year. 

So, how are things around your mom-n-pop business? 

Are you seeing automatic revenue increases, salary hikes, benefit increases, money for the renovation and construction of new facilities, perennially renewing slush funds that you can dip into at your leisure to pay for normal repair and replacement costs, free healthcare for your employees and their families, cash for business development, and the ability to grow your workforce and cover overhead with budgetary impunity? 

I didn’t think so… 

Until next year, friends and neighbors.  Keep your chin up – and your wallets open… 

Quote of the Week

“Some elected officials in two Central Florida counties share the same border and the same dilemma: vote their conscience — or risk losing their positions.

Board members in Manatee and Hillsborough counties worry Gov. Ron DeSantis might suspend them if they take action his administration opposes.

“As terrible as it is that there’s a dystopian scenario where people could just remove people from office for disagreements over vague, burdensome language, it’s still the fact,” said George Kruse, chair of the Manatee County Commission, at a recent meeting. “It’s the fact that we’re dealing with right now.”

–George Kruse, Chair of the Manatee County Commission, as excerpted from reporter Doug Soule’s article in WFSU News, “Local leaders in Florida worry they could be suspended for opposing DeSantis,” Wednesday, September 17, 2025

“In unity, there is strength.”

–Aesop

As of this week, more than 20 cities and counties throughout Florida have courageously joined a lawsuit to fight the overreaching provisions of SB 180, a new law that preempts virtually all local planning and growth management decisions. 

Not surprisingly, the law was heavily supported by some of the largest real estate development concerns in the nation, and, in my view, best exemplifies the powerful influence of special interests on legislative manipulation here in the Sunshine State.

The “Biggest Whorehouse in the World.”

Earlier this month, a frightened New Smyrna Beach City Commission voted 3-2 to opt out of the lawsuit, based in part on Mayor Fred Cleveland’s well-articulated fear of serious repercussions from Tallahassee. 

I find that chilling, and I’ve thought of little else sense. 

According to Mayor Cleveland, “I don’t want us to be on the blacklist of those that get punished, one way or another, under the radar.  A majority of our county commissioners have said to me we will get punished (if the city joined the lawsuit). And it’s not right, I don’t like it, but it’s human nature … I’m concerned about a suit being our first best step.”

Apparently, Mayor Cleveland’s trepidations were valid and shared by elected officials across the state.  

According to the WFSU report, “…Aubrey Jewett, a University of Central Florida political science professor, says local officials’ concerns are not unreasonable.

“If you’re a local official in Florida, you need to be careful, because if you openly defy the governor or even if you think it’s an open legal question … it’s possible you may find yourself being removed,” Jewett said.”

Now it appears Gov. Ron DeSantis and our state legislators (the same ones the Volusia County Council want to “negotiate” amendments to SB 180 with) are intent on consolidating power in Tallahassee, usurping home rule authority, and preempting any hurdle to a developer’s greed-crazed ambitions with the thuggish threat of draconian audits and removal from office.

In my view, it is time for We, The Little People let our local legislative delegation know that silencing dissent and demanding lockstep conformity through the use of brute force wielded from on high is counter to our democratic principles and right to self-determination.

There is strength in numbers.

That message begins at the ballot box.

And Another Thing!

“The School Board approved the tax rate and budget with a 4-1 vote, with School Board member Donna Brosemer voting against.

“I confess I was a lot more comfortable at the workshop when the projected budget was going to be closer to $1.1 billion,” Brosemer said.

Looking at student enrollment data from 10 years ago compared to today, Brosemer said numbers were similar but that the district’s budget had increased by almost 75%.

She was also concerned about how much of the operating budget — now 71.5% according to staff —was dedicated to salaries and benefits, adding that she’d like for the district to look at its internal structure for next fiscal year.

VCS is projecting to have about 54,127 traditional students in 2026, based on DOE’s forecast model. That is a reduction of about 1,412 students from the second survey conducted in 2025.”

–Reporter Jarleene Almenas, writing in the Ormond Beach Observer, “Volusia County Schools approves $1.4 billion budget in 4-1 vote,” Wednesday, September 10, 2025

A politically astute friend recently asked on social media why every elected body in Volusia and Flagler County has one outcast on the dais.  A duly elected official who refuses to be beaten into the round hole of conformity – an ostracized pariah always on the receiving end of the majority’s collective vindictiveness and gross political attacks. 

Why is that?

From the Volusia County Council’s Chair Jeff Brower, to Ormond Beach Mayor Jason Leslie, Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris, and Volusia County School Board member Donna Brosemer, it seems free thinkers with an alternative view who challenge institutional norms – or (God forbid) espouse a view counter to the bureaucratic “conventional wisdom” – are quickly vilified, marginalized, and banished from the cloistered inner sanctum where the sausage gets made.  

I’ve read psychobabble social theories that attempt to explain the cause of “in-crowd” acceptance and “out-group” shunning, dynamics that inevitably leads to an ‘Us v. Them’ polarization in organizations and communities.

In my uneducated view, around these parts, when it comes to local political cliques the similarities that attract like-types consist of the same uber-wealthy special interests, all the right last names who fund the individual political ambitions of their hand select lackeys as a means of influencing public policies sympathetic to their profit margin.

Sound familiar?  

In addition, there appears to be a psychological craving for acceptance by charming senior administrators and the fawning bureaucracy – all directed by career civil servants with a practiced knack for convincing elected officials to listen to internal “experts” exclusively. 

Sycophantic “insiders” who stress the institutional importance of tuning out any external input – or anyone who questions the culture, cost, or means – always adopting the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” advice of the Three Wise Monkeys to protect the stagnant status quo. 

Let’s call it the “Black Sheep Phenomenon,” and it is never more prevalent than during the well-choreographed charade leading to the group rubber stamp of the final budget and millage rate.

For instance, when Ms. Brosemer broke from the pack and voted “No” to a final budget approaching $1.4 Billion, Volusia County School Board Chair Jamie Haynes instinctively dismissed her “colleague’s” concerns as the cost of doing business. 

According to Haynes, the price of everything from capital projects to personnel costs, (which, I assume, includes the exorbitant salaries and perquisites of Superintendent Balgobin’s ever-expanding entourage in the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand?), has been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, yada, yada, yada…

“I just don’t know that it’s a fair comparison, because it’s costing more to do all of these things and to keep up with what we’re doing,” Haynes whined.

Of course, the ultimate member of the “Cool Kids Club,” School Board member Krista Goodrich, backed Haynes simplistic rationalization, claiming that Brosemer’s year-to-year analysis of soaring administrative costs was flawed, citing it is “not apples to apples to compare 2015 to 2025.”

None of that matters now. 

The increase has been assured by the lockstep majority and the “Look! A red herring!” diversion has begun.

With great flourish, last week, Volusia County Schools unfurled the gilded announcement that Superintendent Carmen Balgobin has been named “2025 Superintendent of the Year” by something called the National Association of School Superintendents.  

As best I can tell, the selection criteria consisted of Dr. Balgobin submitting a signed “featured member article” to NASS touting her achievements.  (Naturally, there was a heavy emphasis on VCS uncanny school grade improvements and mysterious graduation increases that have yet to be fully explained, despite questions from Ms. Brosemer and others…)

According to the NASS website, Superintendent Balgobin entered several areas of recognition, including “Excellence in Safety & Education,” “Excellence in Technology & AI,” and “Power Leadership >2,500,” ultimately taking the whole enchilada at the NASS conference at a Marriott in Chicago last week.    

Admittedly, I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I found the whole thing confusing…

You see, earlier this year it was announced that Walter B. Gonsoulin Jr. of the Jefferson County, Birmingham, Alabama School System had been named 2025 National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators.

The AASA bills itself as “The School Superintendent Association,” and the “premier association for school system leaders and serves as the national voice for public education and district leadership on Capitol Hill.” 

In addition, the AASA sponsors the National Superintendent Certification Program and holds a registered copyright on the term “National Superintendent of the Year.”   

Closer to home, the Florida Association of District School Superintendents named Dr. David K. Moore of the School District of Indian River County as the 2025 Florida Superintendent of the Year – which, under AASA selection criteria, is a prerequisite for the national recognition.

So, how can there be two “Superintendents of the Year”?

I’m asking.  Because having two undisputed “Heavyweight Champions of the World” is befuddling to a knob like me… 

Whatever.

Let’s face it, awards and self-congratulatory accolades are nice to have for mid-career professionals with an inflated opinion of themselves – especially when it comes to diverting attention, sticking your thumb in the eye of your detractors, putting your critics in their place – and shutting up those meddlers who ask too many questions about the who, what, when, where, and why of things…  

Perhaps we could all feel better about our collective “accomplishments” if we could get solid answers to how these supernaturally improved grades and graduation rates were facilitated – along with a transparent accounting of how an astronomical $1.4 Billion in public funds is being spent in furtherance of educating Volusia County students?  

As Ms. Brosemer so aptly said in her cogent essay in the Ormond Beach Observer during the budget process:

“So many questions no one asks. So few answers no one wants. Does the board’s apathy mirror that of the public, or vice versa? It doesn’t matter. We as a board are not cheerleaders. We are charged with oversight, as we struggle to get relevant documents. Whether or not the public cares, it’s our job.”

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

Today we remember.

Across the nation, Americans are gathering to mark 24-years since our nation changed forever – a vicious attack on our foundational principles – an attack on all of us…

Yesterday, a despicable coward carried out the vicious assassination of the young conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus. This craven act of extreme violence happened as Mr. Kirk engaged in the open debate of ideas, discussed opinions on the issues of the day, and explained political positions some disagreed with.

He was killed for practicing his inalienable right to free expression.

He was killed for speaking his truth…

On this day, I believe we best honor the memory of those bold and courageous souls who have given their lives to preserve our democracy and sacred freedoms by speaking out. Using our voices for positive change, engaging in peaceful dialog, furthering the discussion, and championing the cause of freedom and good governance.

It’s important. Now, more than ever.

Volusia County Council of Cowards – A New Low in Political Bullying

As a veteran observer of local government, with few exceptions, what I witnessed near the end of last week’s Volusia County Council meeting was perhaps the worst political gibbeting of a duly elected public official I have ever seen.

It was a frightening example of the fate that awaits those who refuse to conform, and a disgusting reminder of how mean-spirited and iniquitous the lockstep majority of our elected dullards have become in service to their influential overseers. 

Don’t take my word for it, down a strong dose of Emetrol and watch for yourself (beginning at 6:55:08): https://tinyurl.com/3spvwy6f

In my view, it was another malicious attempt to publicly castrate Chairman Jeff Brower in a cheap political bushwhack that shocked the conscience of many Volusia County residents.    

Last Thursday, during closing comments, Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins set a clumsy trap using his best Atticus Finch impression to accusatorily interrogate Chairman Brower about his appearance at an August meeting of the Edgewater City Council. 

After being invited by the Edgewater Council to appear at the meeting, Mr. Brower stood at the podium and enthusiastically supported the city’s opposition to SB 180, encouraged the elected body to stand firm with their previously imposed building moratorium in the face of widespread development-induced flooding, and suggested state legislators may face political accountability for supporting the overreaching bill.  

Droning on in his melodramatic style, Councilman Robins made a ham-fisted attempt to introduce his Exhibit “A” – a loaded “gotcha!” moment – consisting of an innocuous six-minute video of Chairman Brower speaking at the Edgewater meeting.  

It didn’t quite work out the way Mr. Robins would have wished…

For several awkward minutes, council members and the audience sat in uncomfortable silence as the dramatic anticipation drained from Robins’ skit when the county’s horribly inadequate audio/video system (per usual) failed to perform. 

(On the rare occasion when the system works, it sounds much like two dried gourds transmitting voice-like sounds across a stretched animal hide…)    

When the video finally aired (with sound, this time) the ‘proceedings’ devolved into an embarrassing clown show, with “Gaslight” Robins leading the troupe through their previously assigned roles.

During his scripted harangue, Councilman Robins accused Mr. Brower of having “diarrhea of the mouth” (that’s rich, considering the source), and claimed his address to the Edgewater City Council undermined the unanimous intent of the Volusia County Council to beg for “amendments” to SB 180, rather than stand firm against aggression and join with other local governments across the state who are considering a lawsuit against the preemptions to local control.

In a shocking demonstration of what obsequious cowards Robins and his “colleagues” have become – Mr. Robins mewled that, rather than defend local control and vehemently oppose the overreach of SB 180 – council members should be “walking on eggshells and kissing their (legislators) butts to get this through for our citizens, not campaigning on the dais with this much at stake.”

Read that again…

Not to miss an opportunity to grandstand, the always condescending Councilman “No Show” Santiago – perhaps the most compromised political hack on the dais – continued putting the boots to Brower with accusations and insinuations, lashing out in a pique, and charging that Brower is destroying the council’s “relationship” with the legislative delegation (what relationship?)

In turn, Councilman Don Dempsey (in my view, an elected official who lost all credibility the moment he manipulated a tax supported environmental protection program to fund his pet motorcross facility at public expense) got in on the act, painting Brower as having mutinously gone “rogue,” theatrically accusing him of breaking the law, and berating Chairman Brower for having the temerity to speak his mind and champion the rights of local government to self-determination.    

The entire scene was stupid, meanspirited, and ugly.

With everyone’s patience waning, “Gaslight” Robins finally revealed his true intent – making a motion (naturally seconded by Santiago) that the Council write a smarmy letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Lieutenant Governor, and the local legislative delegation, clarifying Volusia County’s submissive position on SB 180.

In fact, it was a not-so-veiled suggestion that Gov. DeSantis remove Chairman Brower for his opposition to the legislative preemptions (and serious local consequences) of the controversial new law.

In a clearly rehearsed pivot, Councilman Jake Johansson – who is currently running for State Senate – was gifted the role of Deganawida, calming the turbid waters by suggesting it was inappropriate for the council to “tell daddy we’re arguing” by formalizing internal issues in a letter and airing internecine spats with the state.

Unfortunately, the damage to the credibility of the Volusia County Council (and the public trust) was done.

It was a dogpile – a vicious and well-choreographed personal attack – cruel retribution for Brower’s vocal opposition to Robins’ asinine push to cut public hearings for special exceptions – something Brower rightly labeled “malfeasance” for elected officers of a charter government.

More prearranged theatre acted with excruciating pomposity by the likes of Danny Robins and David Santiago, all because Chairman Brower showed the personal and political courage to passionately stand for the needs and wants of his frightened constituents on the most critical issue of our time.

To their immense credit, on Monday evening, the Edgewater City Council boldly voted 4-0 to join the statewide coalition of cities and counties seeking to take legal action to defend their Home Rule right to self-determination. 

It was the right thing to do, and it took courage. 

History is never kind to cowards.

Something tells me that the repulsive political ambush we saw last Thursday won’t soon be forgotten by Volusia County voters; waterlogged residents who are sick and tired of watching their quality of life destroyed by craven politicians, and the greed-crazed special interests that facilitate their betrayal. 

Ormond Beach Mayor Jason Leslie – The ‘In-Crowd’s’ Budgetary Punching Bag

My wife, two feral dogs, and I share an arrogantly shabby cracker box up here in north Ormond Beach.   

There’s no gate on our neighborhood, and the ‘Old Barker Place’ isn’t much to look at – a wood frame 3/2, kept upright up by the termites and carpenter ants holding hands – subject to all the joy, heartbreak, and crippling expense inherent to enjoying what remains of the American Dream here in the Sunshine State. 

It isn’t much, but it’s our little sliver of the pie…  

It’s home.

I’ve spent the bulk of my life in Ormond Beach, grew up on the north peninsula when Halifax Drive was little more than a two-lane fire trail north of Granada Boulevard, and a drawbridge spanned the Halifax.  My small elementary school class at St. James would sometimes walk over the old bridge to enjoy the Christmas display at City Hall or visit a small pet shop downtown.   

Our playground on the church property was in the shadow of The Casements, just behind Billy’s Tap Room, where Mr. McDonald would occasionally be called upon to retrieve our kickball from the roof…    

Natural dunes and wild palmetto scrub stretched all the way from my childhood backyard to a thin ribbon of asphalt that was A-1-A, then an idyllic path through the sea oats led to the best beach in Florida…     

A very different place than today.

The late great political commentator Big John used to euphemistically poke fun at our infamous pomposity here in the “Birthplace of Speed” – referring to us as “The Fingerbowl District” – always theatrically pronouncing it “Or-mond.”

Still makes me chuckle…  

I can attest that Ormond Beach has always had a streak of pretentiousness.  A snobbish air that comes from our long and storied association with affluent residents from John D. Rockefeller to the modern-day gazillionaires (and those who pretend to be) who call our community home.

We were special once.  That was a point of civic pride…  

Not anymore. 

In my view, now the political atmosphere is no different than tumultuous places like the Lost City of Deltona and Palm Coast – with little dissimilarity from anywhere else in the greater Halifax area.  Don’t take my word for it, drive south on Atlantic Avenue from Granada Boulevard and tell me what sets us apart?    

Now that our once quaint community is trapped in the pincer of explosive growth – with little civic vision beyond the monotonous proliferation of strip centers, itinerant chain restaurants, and storage facilities that have made our community just another homogenized “everyplace” – our elected “leadership” prefers the distraction of spiteful bickering over problem-solving and fiscal stewardship.   

The result is a tragic cycle of backbiting and internecine conflict which regularly pits freshman Mayor Jason Leslie against the techy trio of Commissioners Travis Sargent, Lori Tolland, and Kristin Deaton who form the city’s mean-spirited “in-crowd.”

The inexperienced Mayor Leslie’s learning curve has become something to be exploited.  Branded a “newcomer,” Leslie has become the political whipping boy – nasty treatment never more evident than during what passed for the city’s “budget hearings” and the Commission’s horribly ham-handed failure to select Ormond Beach’s employee benefits provider.    

Adding to the chaff, someone strategically placed a false Facebook post claiming Mayor Leslie wanted to cut funding for youth sports programs. 

It was a baldfaced lie, but it had the desired effect:  Paint Mayor Leslie as the bad guy, then make him deny it in front of an angry crowd…   

It also created an opportunity for Mayor Leslie’s detractors on the dais to berate and lecture, accusing him of sowing confusion with “false and incomplete information,” with Budget Advisory Board member Josh Pringle publicly dressing down the Mayor for communicating with his constituents in the Ormond Beach Observer, “…leadership by the mayor through the media is not leadership at all.”

“Creating buzz in the Observer or on Twitter is not leadership of this city,” Pringle chided. “The community loses when our leadership is absent.”

City Attorney Randy Hayes got his licks in, placing a memorandum in the Commission’s agenda package lobbying for a tax increase while criticizing Mayor Leslie’s attempts to find deeper cuts. 

According to Hayes, Commissioners were encouraged to vote for the tax increase due to “…financial risks and liabilities associated with the mayor’s intention to seek deep reductions in the millage rate and the budget, and the uncertainties those reductions would have on the ability of the city to deliver quality services to residents.”

“Sound fiscal management and responsible leadership require it.”

For her part, Commissioner Lori Tolland – who directed that Mr. Hayes missive be read aloud by the city clerk – accused Mayor Leslie of threatening Ormond Beach’s quality of life by even suggesting a tax cut (?). 

“Let me be perfectly clear from the start: I’m not willing to compromise the quality of life for our residents because of misinformation or any political maneuvering,” Tolland crowed. “The conversation that we’re having tonight about cuts is very frustrating, and it really stinks.”

It stinks all right…because it’s manufactured bullshit.

At the end of the day, Ormond’s “In-Crowd” got what it wanted – a 6.94% tax rate increase – with an annual budget now set at $143 million.  According to a report in the Ormond Beach Observer last week, “From the 2020-2021 fiscal year to 2025-2026, the budget has increased by about 48%.”

In just five-years?

Perhaps Attorney Hayes can address that in his next fiscal epistle? 

In my view, most disturbing is how senior staff and those lockstep conformists on the Commission ostracized Mayor Leslie during the process – painting him as the monster in their bureaucratic scary stories that always accompany the mere mention of reducing the tax burden on already strapped residents.

Quote of the Week

“A split City Commission Tuesday night, Sept. 9, voted 3-2 against joining a coalition of municipalities in a legal challenge against SB 180.

Mayor Fred Cleveland and Commissioners Valli Perrine and Brian Ashley opposed the joining the lawsuit; Vice Mayor Lisa Martin and Commissioner Jason McGuirk voted in favor.

Residents and commissioners alike voiced their disapproval of the new state law, but diverged on whether joining the lawsuit was best course of action.

South Florida attorney Jamie Cole, of Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman law firm, is organizing the initiative, which has garnered support from more than 15 local government entities (both counties and cities). In Volusia County, Edgewater and Deltona have joined the coalition.”

–Reporter Brenno Carillo, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “NSB City Commission votes 3-2 against joining coalition legally challenging SB 180,” Tuesday, September 9, 2025

With Mayor “Floodin’ Fred” Cleveland and Zone 1 Commissioner Valli Perrine up for reelection next year, it looks like the citizens of New Smyrna Beach have some decisions to make.

In my view, the gross inaction earlier this week by Mayor Cleveland and Commissioners Perrine and Brian Ashley to tuck tail and opt out of a coalition of communities across the state who are fighting the pernicious effects of SB 180 on Home Rule made those choices crystal clear…

To their immense credit, Vice Mayor Lisa Martin and Commissioner Jason McGuirk stood for the protection and quality of life of their residents in bravely voting to take the fight against the state legislature’s base aggression to court.

Inconceivably, despite the widespread effects of massive development on the residents and character of his community – and the fact SB 180 has effectively repealed all of the city’s previous efforts to mitigate flooding with development and stormwater management regulations – Cleveland, Perrine, and Ashley mewled the same frightened runes:

“How about we study our options a while longer?  If we wait and play to their ego, maybe they’ll eat us last?” and “Let’s ‘work with’ our local legislative delegation (the same arrogant aggressors who passed the law) to lobby for “amendments” sometime next session, you know, while the bulldozers roar…”

Instead of standing up for his constituents, it sounds like “Floodin’ Fred” got scared after listening to those handwringing pantywaists on the Volusia County Council:

According to Mayor Cleveland, ““I don’t want us to be on the blacklist of those that get punished, one way or another, under the radar.  A majority of our county commissioners have said to me we will get punished (if the city joined the lawsuit). And it’s not right, I don’t like it, but it’s human nature … I’m concerned about a suit being our first best step.”

Have we reached a place where political bullying – the thuggish use of “blacklists,” retribution, and punishing communities by withholding the allocation of public funds as a means of ramrodding bad public policy is what passes for “governance” in Tallahassee?   

In my view, silencing dissent and ensuring conformity with whispered threats is counter to our democratic principles and speaks to the brazen hold influential special interests have on our elected officials.

Chilling…

Fortunately, Volusia County is blessed with a core group of resolute civic activists and environmentalists who are standing boldly on the frontline, defending our right to self-determination, and protecting what remains of our sensitive wild places from overdevelopment (Read: Greed).

Earlier this month, The Sweetwater Coalition – a small grassroots environmental protection advocacy – filed a “Verified Complaint for Declaratory Judgement and Injunctive Relief” in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Orlando. 

The filing seeks an injunction to prevent damage to Spruce Creek and its unique wildlife habitats from ongoing construction activities related to the controversial Pioneer Trail/I-95 overpass.

Rather than fret about being “punished” by state elected officials then cowering like frightened rats in the shadows – the Sweetwater Coalition and others took action – standing tall to defend our quality of life when we need it most.

I find great inspiration in committed citizens who stand alone for that which they believe is right, honorable, and fair – unafraid of speaking truth to power despite the consequences.

These brave souls set the example of courage and citizenship for our timid “elected representatives” who have no problem defecating on the right of We, The Little People to participate in our government – then kowtow to state overreach – spinelessly kissing the sizeable asses of their powerful bullies using political placation and appeasement.

This isn’t “politics as usual.”

Use your voice.  Speak out.  Vote.

And Another Thing!

“Ormond Beach resident Connie Colby said she hadn’t heard anyone coming forward asking for the ordinance and its long list of changes.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. … What I see is 228 pages (the length of all the agenda item materials) creating a free-for-all, and that bothers me a lot because the document itself is kind of difficult to understand,” Colby said.

District 4 Councilman Troy Kent also said that he hadn’t had anyone, developer or resident, ask for the changes. He opposed cutting down on the public and the County Council’s ability to have a say in some types of development.

“I have received, I think, hundreds of emails on this Chapter 72 change, and I believe 100 percent of them have been against doing it,” Kent said.”

–Reporter Sheldon Gardner, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Volusia Council OKs rules that reduce public oversight in zoning code,” Friday, September 5, 2025

“The people who speak out don’t represent half a million people…”

–Councilman David “No Show” Santiago, the well-compensated political hack who occasionally represents Volusia County Council District 5, Thursday, September 4, 2025

Last Thursday was a banner day for our elected dullards on the Volusia County Council.

In one malevolent sweep, a 4-3 majority of compromised shills arrogantly ignored the concerns of concerned residents seeking to stop a brazen move by Councilman Danny “Gaslight” Robins to silence citizen input and eliminate politically accountable oversight for special exceptions to the zoning code. 

After easing the way for their political benefactors in the development industry, the same self-righteous majority publicly embarrassed themselves with a badly choreographed attack on Chaiman Brower for standing firm with his constituents.

Following a clumsy and blundering process that took three meetings to still get wrong, Councilmen Danny Robins, Jake Johansson, David Santiago, and Don Dempsey, haughtily snubbed the capacity crowd, the hundreds more watching on YouTube (?), and the twenty-two valiant citizens who lined up to voice their opposition to the amendment.

Disregarding the fact many citizens took time away from work to travel to DeLand at 9:00am last Thursday – Councilman David “No Show” Santiago condescendingly labeled attendees as “Brower’s followers” – then sneeringly denigrated their participation from the dais as inconsequential. 

For his part, single-issue Councilman Don “Dirt Track” Dempsey branded residents who speak out on issues that affect their lives and livelihoods a “Mob,” announcing he doesn’t represent their interests. 

Of course, not – he represents himself.   

Now that Councilman Dempsey has all but assured a publicly funded motorcross track for his family and friends, he could care less about listening to your piddly-ass problems with land use, development-induced flooding, and exorbitant taxes and fees.  

And the suppression of the public’s right to participate in their governance continues…

From beach driving and access, to flooding and malignant overdevelopment, transportation infrastructure, environmental destruction, and other issues of pressing concern for Volusia County residents, the majority of our elected officials have become wholly-compromised sock puppets – craven cowards – whose bought-and-paid-for priorities have nothing to do with those of their longsuffering constituents. 

Know your role and shut your pieholes.  Public input is no longer needed – or tolerated…  

That’s all for me.  Never forget.

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way:

Volusia County School Board Member Donna Brosemer Speaks the Truth

Longsuffering stakeholders – those of us who pay the bills and have grown tired of the lack of transparency, quibbling, and obfuscation that surrounds the administration of Volusia County District Schools – welcome the no-nonsense straight talk of District 4 School Board member Donna Brosemer. 

It’s like a breath of fresh air blowing through the cloistered halls of a secret society that values controlling the narrative and abhors open and honest discourse. 

But is anyone listening?

During a recent public evaluation of Superintendent Carmen Balgobin’s performance, Ms. Brosemer seemed to understand that just because someone with a high opinion of themselves tells you how great they are, doesn’t mean that haughty self-assessment is true…

Unfortunately, Superintendent Balgobin’s façade of clarity and competence won over the remainder of our ovine elected representatives who, in lockstep conformity, baselessly issued rave reviews despite the ongoing controversies, quagmires, and lack of transparency that continue to plague Volusia County Schools.

Earlier this week, member Krista Goodrich (obviously pushed to the front by insiders too afraid to do it themselves) published a feelgood piece in the Ormond Beach Observer further insulating Superintendent Balgobin in the interest of “stability,” while marginalizing Brosemer’s concerns and contributions, dismissing her questions as a “negative narrative.”

“Headline-driven accusations may stir fear, but they don’t serve families,” Goodrich crowed.

I would submit that glossing over serious issues at Volusia County Schools (many of which predate Goodrich’s tenure) as a means of being part of the “in-crowd” isn’t healthy for student success either… 

As the self-described resident expert in commercial real estate transactions by public entities, perhaps in Ms. Goodrich’s next lecture she can explain how the Balgobin administration’s failure to perform adequate due diligence left Volusia County taxpayers holding the bag on millions-of-dollars wasted on properties in DeBary to fulfill School Board Chair Jamie Haynes’ “legacy”?

Or perhaps she could clear the air of rumors that low-performing students were reassigned to non-traditional schools and programs to bolster the almost unheard of graduation rates Dr. Balgobin is being recognized for?   

Because, if true, that’s the textbook definition of ‘manipulation.’

Find Ms. Goodrich’s piece here: https://tinyurl.com/h39mwdv5

We’re still waiting on a workshop for an explanation of Balgobin’s asinine attempt to keep a lid on things using the intimidation tactic of non-disclosure agreements – required of an astonishing 100 members of the public organization – a ploy that many believe is both unconstitutional and counter to Florida’s public records law. 

Because it is.

Inconceivably, the Balgobin NDA – apparently developed by School Board Attorney Gilbert Evans, Jr. (without the Board’s knowledge or consent?) – specifically prohibits the disclosure of “Information regarding the District’s financial operations, including budgets, funding sources, and allocation of resources,” including “Strategic planning documents and information.” 

The broad stroke of the Superintendent’s confidentiality pact expands to “Non-public communications between and among District personnel, the Department of Education, parents, students, and community stakeholders.”

In speaking the hard truth to her colleagues and constituents during a School Board meeting last week, Ms. Brosemer explained, “The Florida Constitution details that, in order to add a new category of what is confidential or exempt from public disclosure, a legislator must first file a bill that justifies its public purpose, and that bill has to be passed by a two-thirds majority of both chambers.  We’ve done none of that and are not even authorized to do it.”

She correctly added that the NDA’s are “a naked admission that the district is trying to hide or control information.”

Naturally, that revelation didn’t sit well with Balgobin and the Board’s horribly conflicted legal counsel…

According to a report by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer, Superintendent Balgobin explained, “You and I know, and several of you here, that we have had incidences of employees who’ve left and taken our software with them to other locations,” Balgobin said. “We’ve had employees that have worked in the legal department, and after they left, they discussed cases and specific information regarding (the district), so failure to act also, when you’re seeing such trailing events taking place, could put our organization at risk.”

In foolish bureaucratic fashion, rather than take action against those who steal software, pilfer intellectual property, or speak out of school (pun intended) – instead, Balgobin compelled one-hundred District employees sign an overreaching oath of silence?    

That doesn’t make sense. 

Speaking during board member comments, Ms. Brosemer explained “Either we rescind it, or it will be rescinded for us by a court or by the state, and could result in sanctions.  In addition to the Constitution, we have violated Florida’s legal doctrine against unconscionable contracts, the primary element of which is that one party has such a disproportionate advantage over the other party that the other party effectively has no choice but to sign, like the position our employees were in.”

As is typical with the Volusia County School Board – a group that never quite understood who it works for as the tail continues to wag the dog – when Ms. Brosemer asked for a vote to rescind Balgobin’s NDA and restore the public’s trust in district communications; her commonsense motion was met with 30-seconds of awkward silence.

Crickets, y’all…

Per protocol, the remainder of the School Board circled the wagons and attempted to explain the inexplicable, with member Ruben Colón prostrating himself before the Superintendent’s gilded throne and claiming he wasn’t sure if our duly elected representatives have the “authority” to rescind a monarchical edict from the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand. 

Really?

Perhaps Mr. Colón and his servile colleagues should take a look at the voter rolls and remember who elected them to high office – and why…

Ultimately, the Board agreed to discuss the NDA issue at a future “workshop” – you know, give Superintendent Balgobin and her coterie of senior administrator’s time to formulate more smoke-and-mirrors to marginalize and muzzle the outspoken Donna Brosemer – or, as Lawyer Evan’s explained, an opportunity “…to actually show Ms. Brosemer on where she’s incorrect on several of her assertions here.”

Bullshit.

The wide disparity between Ms. Brosemer’s accurate and honest evaluation of Superintendent Balgobin’s performance and those of her fawning supporters on the School Board is telling.  In my view, it speaks to the powerful external influences that need artificial stability and meaningless “high marks” at Volusia County Schools as an “economic development” enticement (read: to sell more homes…)

Even if it means glossing over recurrent issues that adversely affect students, staff, and stakeholders using congratulatory accolades, undeserved praise, and institutional groupthink.

In my view, given the shocking exposé by Gabriel Velasquez Neira writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week which explained (in part) how Volusia County Schools received an “A Grade” when “…nearly half of its high school students are still below grade level in mathematics and English,” now is the time for complete transparency and open dialog – not toadyism and ass-kissing flattery.   

As I understand it (and I’m not sure I do) it works like this: While some 53% of students in “traditional” Volusia County High Schools were “below or far below their grade level in mathematics,” that’s better than the 55% of all high schoolers in Florida who “are below grade level on standardized mathematics tests.”  Ergo, Volusia County gets a good grade because we failed at a lower rate than the state’s average in math.  The statistics are similar in other key subjects.

That’s something to be celebrated?

Add to that the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores for Volusia County students have been falling for the past four years (from an average 1,000 in 2020-2021 to 975 in 2023-2024) and the trend for Volusia County students appears grim.

What are the long-term consequences of graduating victims’ year-after-year – young people entering a competitive workforce or attempting higher education with substandard reading, comprehension, and mathematical skills – just so economic development shills have something to crow about, while senior administrators preen and peacock over a meaningless “grade”?

I’m asking.  Because the whole scheme seems immoral to me.

In my view, given the fact Volusia County Schools now commands an obscene annual budget of over $1.1 Billion in the face of declining enrollment – the rumored manipulation of graduation rates should be prosecuted – not celebrated.

With Districts 1, 3, and 5 up for election next year, it is incumbent that our elected representatives explain to Superintendent Carmen Balgobin who she was hired to serve – and enforce the limitations on her authority to implement restrictive public policies in secret – especially those that conflict with state open records law, and the public’s right to know.   

So Long Deltona Commissioner Nick Lulli.  We Hardly Knew Ye… 

Over the past week, I heard assorted reasons for Deltona Commissioner Nick Lulli’s sudden departure from elected office last week – everything from the usual political intrigue and dishing of unsubstantiated dirt – to the simple explanation that he bought a house outside District 6 and relinquished his seat as required.

Regardless, after just 10-months on the job Commissioner Lulli abruptly called it quits last week.  

I reached out and asked the normally communicative Mr. Lulli why it was necessary for him to take his leave, but he didn’t answer (which isn’t uncommon once people flee the public eye).  But it appears a change of address left him ineligible to serve.   

It’s been a wild ride for someone who got into local politics over an exorbitant water bill…

In November 2024, Mr. Lulli defeated controversial incumbent Jody Lee Storozuk with 51% of the vote.  During his short but eventful tenure, Mr. Lulli distinguished himself as one of the 4-3 majority to courageously oppose the overreaching preemptions of SB 180 and preserve the city’s home rule authority.   

Last Friday, Mr. Storozuk – who is a declared candidate for Deltona mayor – posted on social media that he has “thrown his name in the hat” to be appointed interim District 6 commissioner and serve until the seat is placed on the 2026 ballot.

In his announcement on social media, Storozuk accused Deltona City Manager Dale ‘Doc’ Dougherty of playing politics and “trying to change the rules for the selection process.” As Mr. Storozuk describes it, the City Manager is making an effort to “game the system,” in his view, to facilitate raising taxes and additional spending.

He didn’t provide specifics.

In addition, last week, former City Commissioner Julio David Sosa launched his own campaign for the temporary seat, calling on residents to contact the remaining elected officials and lobby for his appointment.  As an outside observer, I always thought Mr. Sosa had the community’s best interests at heart – smart, level-headed, and committed to shepherding his often-tumultuous city through the storms and into the light.

In November 2022, Mr. Sosa resigned from the Deltona City Commission to run for the District 5 Volusia County Council seat now frequently occupied by Councilman David “No Show” Santiago…

Other politically astute residents have suggested longtime Deltona resident Linda White for the position, someone who has been active in civic affairs and served as the city’s temporary City Manager in the late 90’s.  Maybe I missed something, but I haven’t seen anything from Ms. White that indicates she would be remotely interested in wading into that fetid swamp…  

Our lives and situations change, and that applies equally to elected officials.  In my view, it is a testament to Nick Lulli’s character that he did the right thing by his constituents and the City Charter.   

Unfortunately, the last thing the Lost City of Deltona needs is more instability and uncertainty, just when the majority seemed synchronized in daringly defending the city’s building moratorium from the threat of SB 180. 

By its recent example, Deltona became a statewide paragon of what it means to hold firm to a community’s civic values and right of self-determination.

Earlier this week, amid swirling rumors that the appointment of an interim District 6 commissioner is being manipulated both internally and externally, Commissioners Dori Howington, Maritza Avila-Vazquez, and Stephen Cowell pulled the increasingly common “my tummy hurts” and failed to appear at the scheduled public meeting.

That left Mayor Santiago Avila, Jr., Davison Heriot, and Emma Santiago – the three “No” votes against challenging SB 180 – alone on the dais, with Mayor Santiago gaveling the meeting to a close as soon as it opened citing the lack of a quorum.   

Now, anything’s possible.

Welcome back to the ‘bad old days,’ Deltona…

Volusia County Council of Cowards – When Public Hearings Become Inconvenient

If you are a Volusia County taxpayer – perhaps a flood victim who is demanding greater oversight of malignant growth and the rubber stamp approvals that facilitate it – just know it’s not about you. 

Never was.

The current iteration of the Volusia County Council has proven, repeatedly, that they have no time for the inconvenience of listening to the needs and wants of existing residents – or providing substantive opportunities for We, The Little People to be heard on issues important to our quality of life.

As I write this, the meeting is underway, but I’ve got a feeling that later today, our elected dullards will pass a county-initiated zoning ordinance amending how special exceptions are processed and approved under the zoning code. 

Why? 

Because those pro-growth shills on the Volusia County Council want to streamline the approval process for their cronies and political benefactors in the real estate development industry – while eliminating the ability of you and I to be heard on the potential impact of special exceptions on our lives and livelihoods. 

Of course, the ordinance is cloaked as a means of kowtowing to SB 180, which prohibits the imposition of “burdensome or restrictive” land use regulations – essentially allowing the greed-crazed cancer of overdevelopment to spread like wildfire – while unchecked developers haul untold millions out of the clear-cut remains of Volusia County.   

The proposed changes to the Volusia County Charter – Chapter 72 Land Use – will remove accountability from our elected officials by permitting them the benefit of plausible deniability, eliminate public hearings before the Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission and the Volusia County Council, and allow politically unaccountable county staff to approve special exceptions without oversight or public input.

Special exceptions will now be permitted “by-right” – meaning projects that can be approved without discretionary approval – and will include parking garages, excavation for stormwater ponds, hotels and motels, bars and liquor stores, glue factories, circus headquarters (which, I assume, covers county government facilities), convenience stores, tanneries, and warehouses, to name a few. 

Kudos to the tireless civic activist Cathrine Pante for sounding the klaxon on changes to Chapter 72 and the effective elimination of public input (and political accountability) by the Volusia County Council. 

In my view, with Council Members who have proven where their loyalties stand – to include Danny Robins, David “No Show” Santiago, Jake Johannson, and Don Dempsey – all up for reelection in 2026, the ballot box is the perfect forum for the silenced residents of Volusia County to let their voices be heard…

Quote of the Week  

“The Flagler Home Builder’s Association has served Palm Coast a 14-day violation notice, the first step in legal action over Palm Coast’s recent increase to impact fees.

The notice was sent to the Palm Coast City Council on Aug. 27, giving the city until Sept. 11 to repeal the impact fee ordinances passed in June. Palm Coast City Attorney Marcus Duffy told the council on Sept. 2 he and his staff are still analyzing the 19-page notice and will have a suggested course of action in the next week or two.

“If I have to call a shade meeting, I will call that, but I do not see calling that right now,” Duffy said.

A shade meeting is a closed-door meeting that is typically only allowed when the council is discussing active legal cases involving the city. Until Duffy requests a shade meeting, any discussion of the letting with Palm Cost City Council members will need to take place at public meetings. The next meeting is a workshop scheduled for Sept. 9 at 6 p.m.

In June, the Palm Coast City Council increased its impact fees dramatically, arguing the extraordinary circumstances of recent extreme growth and increased inflation costs over the last six years. Though the impact fees vary for type of development, for a single-family home, the impact fees increased by $5,881 across all three fees: impact, fire and transportation.”

–Reporter Sierra Williams, writing in the Palm Coast Observer, “Palm Coast Council to review options on Flagler Home Builder’s intent to sue at future meeting,” Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Most responsible growth management experts will tell you that impact fees – a method that allows communities to recover growth-related costs for infrastructure expansion and essential service delivery – are no substitute for sound planning practices. 

Let’s face it, across the width and breadth of the “Fun Coast,” the concept of proper “planning, zoning, and resource management” was swept away in a decade-long frenzy of explosive development – massive subdivisions that have left large swaths of our region blanketed in 3/2 zero lot line wood frame cracker boxes “starting in the low $300’s.”  

It gets worse.

According to an August report in the Palm Coast Observer, as of April 2025, Palm Coast has 18,883 residential units “in the pipeline,” some from development orders issued in the 1990s. 

“Of those, 13,335 have a final plat and technical site plan approval and could go into the ground immediately.”

In my view, allowing development orders to sit dormant for decades is asinine. 

So much for “planning,” eh? 

In June, in a rare break from the roil, internecine warfare, and abject dysfunction it has become known for, the Palm Coast City Council unanimously voted to substantially increase impact fees for fire, parks, and transportation infrastructure.  The attempt to recover the massive costs of overdevelopment came on the heels of last year’s 30% increase in water and sewer impact fees to keep up with growth and demand.

In keeping with the Florida legislature’s mercenary mandate to protect the interests of their political benefactors in the real estate development industry, in 2021, state lawmakers enacted a statute that requires impact fee increases of 25% or less be spread out over two years, increases of 25% to 50% must be implemented over four years – with raises of more than 50 percent specifically prohibited – unless a community can prove “extraordinary circumstances.”

The Palm Coast increases are set to take effect October 1.

In a recent statement to FlaglerLive.com, Palm Coast Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri (who recently announced her candidacy for the Flagler County Commission) wrote:

“It’s unfortunate that at a time when our city has experienced incredible growth and unprecedented increases in infrastructure construction costs, our homebuilder’s association would find it necessary to threaten us with legal action, rather than recognize the importance of growth paying for itself—which it never truly does.”

“Impact fees are a necessary cost of doing business, and they ensure that the city’s future infrastructure needs and public safety are adequately funded. Providing residents with fire stations and safe roads is not optional – it’s our duty. Additionally, providing for parks and recreation keeps families healthy and active. It’s unfortunate that we, as public officials, have to defend our quality of life to the HBA – the same folks that earn money by selling houses in the very community we work so hard to keep safe and beautiful.”

Well said.

In my view, rather than recognize the burdens placed local government, and the consequences to claustrophobic existing residents, instead, the Flagler Home Builder’s Association uses the enforcement provisions of SB 180 like a cudgel:

“It is incomprehensible how over a 100% increase in impact fees with a $5,681 increase for a single family, 2,000 square foot home, could be anything but “more burdensome.” The Ordinances would, therefore, be found null and void ab initio.”

For now, it appears the City of Palm Coast is prepared to fight the HBA’s self-serving lawsuit and preserve the quality of life for existing residents in the face of the HBA’s aggression. 

Good luck, Palm Coast. 

You’re going to need it…

And Another Thing!  

“Manatee County voters snubbed Tallahassee last fall when they rejected Gov. Ron DeSantis’ hand-picked, pro-development commission candidates and instead elected a slate of grassroots Republicans who promised to rein in runaway growth.

True to their word, the new commissioners quickly moved to cap sprawl — vowing to raise impact fees on developers to pay for new infrastructure, pushing to restore wetland protections and halting some large-scale projects altogether.

But those steps have now put them on a collision course with the governor and the powerful real-estate industry closely aligned with his administration, which has pushed back at every turn.

In June, the governor vetoed the county’s $4 million in state budget requests after a commissioner criticized Senate Bill 180, a controversial pro-developer state law. More recently, his administration warned of “inevitable consequences” if Manatee raised impact fees.

And in July, he and his chief financial officer announced the county would be the first Republican stronghold targeted for an aggressive review by Florida’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency — known as DOGE — a program DeSantis styled after the Elon Musk-backed federal initiative to slash “waste, fraud and abuse.”

The escalating fight has become one of the sharpest examples yet of DeSantis using state power to quash local control, even in GOP-dominated areas. Political experts say the timing and tenor of the moves leave little doubt that Manatee’s growth-curbing agenda triggered the response.”

–Ryan Ballogg and Carter Weinhofer Bradenton Herald, Josh Salman Suncoast Searchlight, “DOGE audit makes GOP-controlled Florida county a test case for defying DeSantis and developers,” Saturday, August 30, 2025

Acts of tit-for-tat retribution and retaliation between rivals on all sides of the political spectrum have become such a part of the electoral landscape no one even notices anymore. 

Until it happens to you…

Dirty tricks, “lawfare,” glossy mailers, baseless allegations, innuendo, and other malicious weapons of mutually assured destruction are now the tools of the trade for anyone willing to wade into the fetid shit trench of modern politics.

Until recently, while it wasn’t unusual for our state government to mount brazen attacks on the ability of local governments to make growth management decisions that affect the future character of the communities they serve – typically they chose to take small bites at the apple by preempting local decision-making with piecemeal legislation.   

Now that SB-180 has been unmasked for what it is – a wide-ranging tool to completely undermine local growth management regulations and allow real estate developer’s carte blanche to build what, when, and where they want – Gov. Ron DeSantis and his tough-talking enforcers have proven that when it comes forcing the will of the state, even party allegiances take a back seat to compliance with mercenary quid pro quo legislation. 

The DeSantis administration is no longer discriminating along party lines when it comes to ensuring lockstep obedience.

According to Ballogg’s cogent piece, “It’s simple retribution,” said Martin Hyde, a former Republican congressional candidate who closely follows politics in the region. “The developers are very upset about losing their rubber-stamp status … DeSantis is sending down some kind of imperial threat.”

The governor’s DOGE team has insisted the audit is about accountability, not retaliation.

“Whether it is a Democrat majority county or a Republican majority county, I have issues with wasteful spending,” newly appointed Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia recently said at a news conference.”

Horseshit. 

This is what the weaponization of political power looks like, and local governments can either knuckle under or get “DOGE’D” by state “efficiency” regulators who are guaranteed to “discover” waste, excess, and abuse.

In doing so, they will use a subjective microscope that has yet to be trained on a state government that recently spent $450 million of our tax dollars constructing a federal immigration detention facility that reports indicate is now being emptied…

Rarely in modern times have the pernicious effects of special interest money and influence become so blatant and divisive at the local level. 

Now, the highest levels of state government are openly bullying cities and counties and sending a clear message about who’s in charge – and it isn’t our elected representatives in Tallahassee…

As a result of these overreaching ultimatums which enrich a few at the expense of many – big government preemptions enforced at the point of a spear – experts at the nexus of state and local government are warning municipal and county officials across Florida to stand firm in the face of this unchecked aggression, protect their Home Rule authority by all legal means, and preserve our sacred democratic principles.   

That takes guts.  And the support of the governed from whom all political power is derived…

Never forget that. 

Especially in the voting booth next year when we can explain to those arrogant incumbents in our local legislative delegation exactly who is in charge.

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

Community Note:

The 17th Annual Kailynne Quartier Memorial Ride takes place this weekend, Saturday, September 6, beginning at 9:00am, at the South Daytona Police Department, 1672 South Ridgewood Avenue, South Daytona.

The event is open to vehicles of all types for a donation of $20.

The police escorted ride will travel to the Half Wall Restaurant and Brewery in New Smyrna, the DeLand Police Department, and Teddy Morse’ Harley-Davidson at Destination Daytona.

Lunch to follow at the Piggotte Community Center.

Enjoy a great day for a great cause!

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way:

Something Stinks in the City of Bunnell  

How did the strange trajectory of a 6,100-home monstrosity – perversely named the Reserve at Haw Creek – go from righteous rejection in June to majority approval earlier this week? 

If you live anywhere in Flagler County or the northern reaches of Volusia, that’s a damn good question for Bunnell’s long-serving Mayor Catherine Robinson, who mysteriously began resurrecting the project just two-weeks after the vote to reject the development’s life-altering consequences for existing residents…

According to a disturbing report in FlaglerLive! this week, “It was a startling reversal from the commission’s 4-1 vote in June to kill the development. The reversal had taken on the shade of a done deal the moment Mayor Catherine Robinson revived the proposal two weeks later, after the developer, JM Properties of Jacksonville, led by Chad Grimm, lobbied certain commissioners, Commissioner Pete Young especially, and reduced the proposed build-out from 8,000 to 6,100 houses.

Robinson’s move at the June 23 meeting was not on the agenda. The lobbying of Young was effective…”

I’ll say…

In keeping with whatever sweetener was used to revive the development, Mayor Robinson joined Commissioners Pete Young and Dean Sechrist in voting to approve the rezoning and development agreement.  Commissioners John Rogers and David Atkinson voted against upending the lives of their constituents rightly concerned about the myriad impacts of overdevelopment.  

According to FlaglerLive!, the gravity of the situation wasn’t lost on the righteously angry residents in attendance:

“Audience members angrily, noisily left the room immediately after the first vote, briefly delaying the second vote. The two measures passed on first reading, with a second reading likely in two weeks.

The reduction was somewhat deceptive: when the developer first unveiled the proposal at a public meeting in May 2024, it did so on a projection of up to 6,000 homes, not 8,000. Somewhere along the line over the next few months, the number crept up to 8,000. In effect, Monday’s approval was for an increase of 100 homes over the original 2024 proposal.”

Ah, the old density switcheroo…  

In perhaps the most damning display of that “I know what’s best for the rest of you” preachy pomposity that often overtakes long-playing Tiny Town politicians when entranced by a developer’s shiny baubles, Mayor Robinson tut-tutted, “I know that you’re not happy about this, but Bunnell does need to grow.  Growth is a double-edged sword. I’ve said that for many, many years. And this is where we want to go to see how this project works based on the expertise of what is looking at this.”

Whatever that means.

In my view, relying on the projections, prognostications, and promises of some developer’s “experts” – those who stand to enrich themselves from ‘bigger is better’ malignant sprawl, then crossing your fingers to see how things work out – isn’t a “double-edged sword.”

That’s playing a dangerous game of Russian Roulette with Flagler County’s quality of life…   

To add insult, this week, the greed-crazed Flagler Homebuilders Association filed notice of its intent to sue the City of Palm Coast for having the gall to increase impact fees during a period of unprecedented growth and substantial increases in infrastructure costs to keep up with demand.

Remember the FHBA’s mercenary motivations the next time a developer tells you growth pays for itself…

Regardless, the largest planned unit development since ITT’s Palm Coast is now coming to 2,800 acres between SR-100 and SR-11.  Among many other adverse impacts, the Reserve at Haw Creek is expected to increase traffic from the current 8,817 daily trips to an obscene 81,943 trips per day on area roadways at build out… 

Add concerns about increased congestion, density, schools, flooding, utilities infrastructure, environmental impacts, added staff, increased operational costs, public safety, and the wholesale destruction of bucolic rural areas, and you begin to see that the far-reaching effects will extend well beyond the threatened residents of Bunnell. 

Something tells me the once quaint community of Bunnell is about to learn the hard and fast lesson that growth at all costs never pays for itself – and the outsized ambitions of small-town politicians will have life-altering consequences for those residents whose fervent voices fell on suddenly deaf ears…

Volusia County Council – Growing the Bureaucracy Six-Figures at a Time

“Volusia County has hired an assistant county manager, one of the top positions in county government leadership, who will focus on special projects.

Gus Zambrano, 61, is coming to Volusia from the post of assistant city manager of Hollywood, Florida. The Volusia County Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday, Aug. 19, to approve him for the assistant county manager role. His salary is $185,000.

It’s not the first time the county has had an assistant county manager, but the position has been vacant for a while, County Manager George Recktenwald said.

“It’s going to fill a need that we’ve had for a while for special projects,” Recktenwald said.”

–Volusia County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald, as quoted by reporter Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Volusia County Council hire new assistant county manager tasked with special projects,” Thursday, August 21, 2025

Who saw that coming? 

What “Special Projects”?

Why Now? 

And what does this odd addition foretell for Volusia County’s senior leadership in the haunted halls of the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building?

With little fanfare (and even less public vetting), last week, the Volusia County Council voted unanimously to welcome another level of bureaucracy to the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand.

It appears Gus Zambrano, 61 – formerly an Assistant City Manager in Hollywood, Florida – comprised the entire shortlist for what many see as an incredibly redundant role in Volusia County’s bloated senior coterie of managers, deputy managers, directors, department heads, assistants, et cetera…

By my calculations, with the addition of Mr. Zambrano, the top echelon of the horribly distended tax funded organization – to include Deputy County Manager Susan Konchon – command an extraordinary $1.4 million in annual salary collectively (before perquisites, benefits, and lucrative bonuses).   

The shocking reality is, according to GovSalaries.com, the first 180 positions in Volusia County government are earning six-figure salaries before benefits (2024).

Most recently, Mr. Zambrano was a finalist for the City Manager role in Venice, Florida. 

His past experience in South Florida includes overseeing development services, public works, utilities, parks, and design/construction management, with a focus on the de rigueur buzzwords “sustainability and resiliency.”

In June, during a candidate presentation before the Venice City Council, Mr. Zambrano explained the importance of “building trust and involving residents in decision-making processes” as a means of garnering citizen support for tax initiatives.

Interesting…

According to reports, Mr. Zambrano was earning $223,621 in Hollywood. 

According to the News-Journal’s report, in wooing our easily wooed elected dullards at the Volusia County Council’s August 19 meeting, Mr. Zambrano described his hiring as similar to Aesop’s ‘Town Mouse comes to the Country’ fable:

“I’ve grown up in urban areas all my life, so to see the special nature and the special place that Volusia is, is something that really needs to be preserved,” he said.

Zambrano said his love of nature and skillset, which includes a background in economic development, bring a balance to the role. That sentiment received support from councilmen.

“The balance between those two are critical because the economy needs to flow in order to be able to do everything else,” he said.”

No doubt delivered with a subtle wink-wink-nudge-nudge to our pro-development shills on the dais that says, “Don’t worry. I know which side my bread is buttered on, fellas…”   

I guess as the fable taught, Mr. Zambrano would rather “gnaw a bean” here in Hooterville than spend one more second in the increasingly claustrophobic sprawl that is Broward County – and something tells me he will learn soon enough that, here on the “Fun Coast,” the “economic flow” he mentioned is controlled by the same five people passing the same nickel around.

In other developments (literally), at the same meeting, County Manager Recktenwald announced Raymond Tyner will become Volusia’s new Director of Growth and Resource Mismanagement.

According to reports, Mr. Tyner, 59, will start at $181,000 annually. 

Both Zambrano and Tyner have similar skillsets with civic planning backgrounds.  

According to reports, Mr. Tyner brings a wealth of experience from 23-years of clawing his way to middle-management with the City of Palm Coast – that bastion of political stability, planning, and smart development – where he rose from planning and zoning responsibilities to Deputy Director of Community Development…

In that role, Mr. Tyner served as a public sector representative to the powerful development lobby at the Volusia County Association for Responsible (Sorry, I just upchucked in my mouth a little) Development and its Flagler County Chapter. 

In addition, his self-described achievements include successfully approving “hundreds” of site and master plan applications, “initiating and managing public-private partnerships that advanced major development and infrastructure initiatives,” negotiating developments of regional impact, and creating a “special assessment district to fund roadway improvements…” 

Wait.  What?  

I’m sure Messrs. Tyner and Zambrano will be the perfect fit.   

Something tells me seismic changes are coming to the internal power structure at Volusia County government.  In my jaded view, it appears all the dominos are beginning to line up for what should be a barnburner of an internal struggle for control when it happens…   

Stay tuned.

Quote of the Week

“Something went terribly wrong in the spring 2025 legislative session, with the passage of a bill known as SB 180. The bill looked technical, but its impacts were major: In the name of storm recovery, Florida legislators made it far more difficult for communities to recover from storms — and, more importantly, to plan for sustainable, healthy growth.

If this was a mistake, it should be fixed. If it was deliberate — which is where the evidence is pointing — Floridians also need to take a good look at who they’re electing to the state Legislature. They should question any disconnect between campaign promises and actual votes, and make it clear that they are paying attention to who lawmakers are really serving.

Several nonprofit organizations are speaking up about this. One of the loudest: 1000 Friends of Florida, a respected smart-growth advocate that has earned respect from business leaders and environmentalists alike. This month, the group released a thorough legal analysis suggesting that SB 180 might be even worse than originally feared — and a clarion call to fix this very bad legislation.”

–Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, as excerpted from the op/ed “A deceptive bill could strip Floridians of a sustainable future,” Sunday, August 24, 2025  

“If it was deliberate…”

Imagine the political ramifications for Florida legislators if their stunned constituents determined with reasonable certainty that they conspired to surreptitiously pave the way for their campaign donors in the development industry to indiscriminately pave over our already flood-prone communities?

If it were deliberate, that would be a gross insult to the public’s trust in the malicious motivations of a wholly owned state government…

How would voters react if they discovered a sick quid pro quo that cloaked a devastating attack on Home Rule authority? 

Suddenly realizing our lawmakers covertly camouflaged the preemption of local control and self-determination in favor of gifting real estate developer’s carte blanche to build what they want, where they want as an “emergency” measure ostensibly designed to help homeowners rebuild after a natural disaster?   

Well, guess what? 

Rational human beings with two synapses firing – to include normally detached local elected officials from across the width and breadth of Florida – are coming to the undeniable realization that state lawmakers premeditatedly perpetrated the most outrageous assault on local governments ability to control when, where, and how we grow our communities in our state’s history.

Why? 

Because that’s what their wealthy overseers in the development community told them to do…

To add insult, our elected representatives in Tallahassee went as far as allowing the wolves to police the henhouse – providing an enforcement mechanism that permits developers to file crippling lawsuits against any city or county who they believe have “restrictive or burdensome” development regulations – retroactive to August 2024. 

For the record, that date just happens to coincide with the sacred vote of Orange County residents to establish a protective “rural boundary” around undeveloped countryside and agricultural areas…

Imagine what would happen if Floridians of all political persuasions stopped the “left/right” division and discord perpetrated by partisan operatives and special interests and came together in our shared rage to protect our hometowns from this gross overreach?

What if we pointed our collective finger at the abject corruption that permeates the anterooms, hallowed chambers, and tony cocktail lounges of our state capitol – and said “listen you greedy two-faced bastards, enough is enough…” – then voted our conscience?

Maybe that’s something “We, The Little People” might want to consider come election time – before there’s nothing left to worry about…

And Another Thing!

It’s that strange time of the year again in local governments – the “Silly Season” – when we watch the annual bureaucratic bunraku play out in three dramatic acts; a hyper-dramatic edge-of-your-seat production that ultimately establishes an annual budget and sets a millage rate to pay for it all. 

It begins when councils and commissions set an astronomical “tentative” millage rate, so that any downward adjustment can later be ridiculously described as a “reduction” in the pain they could have caused…    

During the staged hearings (usually humdrum PowerPoint presentations too tedious for anyone to follow, let alone understand) – someone with a title like “Assistant,” “Director,” “Deputy Director,” etc., with a base salary somewhere around $180,000 (before bennies) – stands before the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker seated on the dais, puts a flashlight under their chin, and begins spinning scary stories about the apocalyptic ramifications of reducing the tax burden on their strapped constituents. 

In keeping with the well-choreographed script, those we elect to represent our interests get a pensive look on their faces – that contemplative gaze that masks the fact they don’t have a clue how “staff” keeps all the moving parts of a complex infrastructure synched and lubricated – and lament how difficult it is to make the “tough decisions” that invariably lead to a tax increase for their neighbors.

Once the mournful “For the love of God, we’ve cut all we can (gasp) now it’s a matter of…dare I say…reducing services” threats are laid on the table, the increase is couched in terms of just how little the tax hike will cost in real dollars, i.e., “homesteaded residents with a taxable property value of $250,000 will see an increase of just $X a year…” – and everyone goes home feeling good about themselves.

Then Ma and Pa Joad sit down and figure out what they’re going to cut out of their meager lives so they can scrape together $X out of their Social Security check…

Unfortunately, those increases in taxes and fees relate to tough choices for struggling residents living on a fixed income.  Our less fortunate neighbors who watch helplessly as the steady rise in property insurance, utilities, taxes, groceries, healthcare – those ever-expanding “costs of living” on this salty piece of land we call home – inexorably converge with their limited family budget. 

Despite all the hype and horseshit we hear from our globetrotting “economic development” gurus who crow about the “high-paying jobs” the latest “logistics center” will bring, some 36% of Volusia County households are considered Asset Limited/Income Constrained – families who earn more than the Federal Poverty Level but less than the basic cost of living here on the “Fun Coast.”

Earlier this month, the Ormond Beach City Commission engaged in one of its internecine contretemps when Mayor Jason Leslie questioned how anyone could parse each line of the proposed budget in the time provided – which resulted in the typical histrionics one expects whenever an elected official calls out The Untouchables on the senior staff.

According to a report by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer last week:

“In a rare show of frustration, (City Manager) Shanahan said the commission had a month to go through the budget; the City Commission received it on July 9.

“I don’t think it’s fair to staff to put them on the spot at the last minute,” Sargent said. “… Where do you want this budget to go? Do you want to go to rollback, and how do we get there? Mayors previously, yes, they did vote no for it, but they had ideas, and I think we need those ideas to hash this out for the residents of Ormond Beach.”

Leslie said they were all part of the same legislative body.

“Out of five people here, nobody has an idea?” Leslie asked.”

In keeping with the playscript, the elected officials heard a theatrical soliloquy, played to perfection by Finance Director Kelly McGuire, as she delivered the coup de grâce – the grim bureaucratic reality that ended any further substantive debate by those with the political liability for keeping costs in check:

“If you want to go beyond this particular millage rate that we’re proposing, then you have to enter the world of reducing service,” McGuire said, adding that would lead to cuts in parks and recreation. “… And when we talk about that, to get to almost another $2 million for where we’re at right now, we’re talking about not just eliminating services, but possibly having to actually close the facility, because those facilities in and of themselves are expensive.”

For his part, Mayor Leslie has been publicly pointing to the staggering increase in municipal spending year-to-year – although his numbers for 2025-26 run the confusing gamut from $161 million in an “X” post last Saturday, to $170 million in his response to a scathing op/ed by former Commissioner David Schecter the Ormond Beach Observer this week. 

In my view, his heart is in the right place.  I know that because he’s been taking a savage beating for having the temerity to ask the tough questions and saying the quiet part aloud…

(For the record, next month, the Ormond Beach City Commission will vote on an operating budget for fiscal year 2025-26 of $143 million.) 

According to reports, Mayor Leslie’s protestations caught the attention of Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia – who holds the leash on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ fearsome attack dog, the Florida Department of Government Efficiency. 

In response, CFO Ingoglia said on X, “The City of Ormond Beach should give money back to the taxpayers in the form of a substantial property tax cut.  Let’s not pretend to cut spending when spending is increasing year-over-year.”

According to the Observer’s report, “The new rate — 4.4797 mills, or $4.4797 per $1,000 in taxable property value — is 7.66% higher than the current tax rate…”

Ceterum censeo:  Something needs to drastically change in the manner and means by which county and municipal governments liberate We, The Little People from our hard-earned tax dollars – then perpetually increase bureaucratic spending, salaries, perquisites, Taj Mahal facilities, et cetera – while we are forced to live within our increasingly meager means.

If not, something tells me Gov. Ron DeSantis is going to change it for them. 

And not necessarily for the best…

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

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way:

Daytona “International” Airport – The Triumphant Return of JetBlue…

In 2018, just three years after Volusia County economic development types ponied up some $2.3 million in public incentives to lure JetBlue to Daytona “International” Airport – the low-cost carrier gave area residents the slip – moving on to more lucrative markets while consolidating “underperforming” routes.

In their patented “throw more money at it” strategy to coax discount airlines to Daytona Beach, our “movers & shakers” went so far as to develop a “travel bank” among local companies – to include Brown & Brown, the former Consolidated-Tomoka Land Company, International Speedway Corporation, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – which collectively promised to spend a quarter-million dollars with JetBlue if they agreed to grace us with one flight per day to New York’s JFK.

Add to that some $25,000 in free upgrades to the airlines gate location at DIA (paid for with public funds) and it was a pretty good deal – for JetBlue anyway…

Considering the lavish financial “incentives” offered, the departure of JetBlue was a demoralizing blow to a down-at-the-heels resort area that was repeatedly duped by hospitality statisticians who told us were drawing more visitors annually than we actually were.

Remember?  I do.  

In May, the Daytona Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau sheepishly explained a more than 50% drop in the annual visitor count in 2024 (4.5 million down from 10.1 million in 2023) after a fresh marketing and research firm began tallying the actual number of people who intentionally spent time here, as opposed to “pass-through” travelers.

Yeah.  I know…   

Last week, everyone who is anyone was busy firing up the Halifax Area All-Star Goodtime Band for another refrain of “Happy Days are Here Again, Again!” as JetBlue announced its triumphant return to Daytona “International” Airport!

This time around, routes include daily service to Boston and New York City.

So, did Volusia County economic development officials learn anything from our incredibly expensive jilting by JetBlue seven years ago? 

Hardly…

According to an article by business editor Clayton Park writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal last week:  

“When JetBlue Airways resumes daily flights here on Dec. 4 after a nearly seven-year absence, it will do so with a little economic incentive help from its friends at Daytona Beach International Airport.

“We have our standard airport marketing package that we do for every airline when they start service here,” said Joanne Magley, director of air service, marketing and customer experience at the Volusia County-run airport also known as DAB. “They’ll receive $200,000 in marketing support per route, and a waiver of certain airport fees (for the first two years of service),” she said.”

So, how much is the total “incentive package” worth beyond the $400,000 in “marketing support”? 

Who knows?

According to the News-Journal, “Magley did not say how much the incentives will be worth in total, but indicated it will be far less than the $2.3 million in incentives that JetBlue received its first time around here…” 

Shhhhhhhh.  Just a ‘standard package.’  That’s all ye know, and all ye need to know… 

Great.

Is this a “Huge Win-Win” for DAB or another expensive disappointment in the making as past experience would suggest?   

Time will tell… 

Rewarding the Unjustifiable: More Questions at Volusia County Schools

“It truly takes a village, and this work is fully realized through the engagement of our students, parents, all staff, community partners, volunteers, mentors, School Board, and stakeholders. Through collaborative partnerships and servant leadership, we’ve achieved remarkable progress with our first ‘A’ rating in 16 years. This recognition reinforces my commitment to the collective work we do to transform public education for every student we serve.”

Dr. Balgobin’s leadership is marked by her commitment to collaboration and knowledge sharing. She regularly shares scalable frameworks for instructional improvement, strategic alignment, and sustainable district transformation with other districts. Under her guidance, initiatives such as “Synergy Walks” and clear instructional “look-fors” have strengthened instructional capacity and fostered a culture of shared accountability across more than 70 schools.”

–Volusia County School Superintendent Carmen Balgobin, as conjured by those magicians at Volusia County Schools Community Information Services, “Dr. Carmen Balgobin Named Finalist for NASS 2025 Superintendent of the Year,” Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Want to have a little fun? 

Let’s play a game.

On the honor system, take all the time you need to decipher the meaning and definition of the following jabberwocky without throwing your hands-up in utter exasperation and turning to Google, Grammarly, or ChatGPT:

1. “Scalable framework for instructional improvement”
2. “Strategic alignment”
3. “Sustainable district transformation”
4. “Synergy walk”
5. “Clear instructional “Look Fors”

Now, put your right hand on a 2025 printing of Funk & Wagnall’s Encyclopedia of Inane Corporate-Speak and repeat after me:

“I affirm that I will not give or receive any unauthorized help on this just-for-fun exam, and that all hair I pull out in frustration will be my own.”

You may begin…  

Not as easy as it looks, eh? 

Don’t feel bad.   No one else understands it, either.

That’s because the only people who speak that nonsensical pseudo babble are eggheads and assholes – people who surround themselves with sycophantic minions who nod enthusiastically and act like they understand that gobbledygook – lest they expose themselves as being just as clueless as the rest of us.

It is the preferred vernacular of Dr. Carmen Balgobin, a cloistered senior official doubling-down on a still unproven accomplishment with her nomination for National Superintendent of the Year…   

You read that right.

This week, US News and World Report ranked Volusia’s Spruce Creek High School as 130^th in Florida with a graduation rate of 99% – yet only 44% of students were proficient in math and just 55% demonstrated reading proficiency… 

What are we graduating? 

Well-rounded young adults with the life and academic skills to succeed?  Or victims of a pernicious system designed to give economic development shills (and senior administrators) something to crow about?

I hate to be the proverbial turd in the celebratory punchbowl, but did the district really earn an “A” grade, or is it the contrived result of manipulating enrollment data by transferring lower performing students so they didn’t count against their assigned school’s graduation rate?

It’s a valid question.

This week, District 4 School Board Member Donna Brosemer continued to educate her constituents (and challenge the stagnant status quo) with a barnburner op/ed published in the Ormond Beach Observer. 

(Please find Ms. Brosemer’s editorial here: https://tinyurl.com/4j74v4tz )

In her cogent piece, Ms. Brosemer explained the board’s obligation to provide budgetary oversight in a place that has historically been less than forthcoming…

For instance, when discussing what passes for preliminary budget hearings, Ms. Brosemer wrote, “The process was equally sanitized this time too. There were numerous declarations of the evils of social media, and indignant demands that only “experts” should be trusted.”

In turn, Ms. Brosemer dropped another shocking allegation regarding the possible artificial manipulation of grades and graduation rates…

“My experts, as I have said many times, are my teachers and school administrators. They are on the ground, doing the heavy lifting, figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

They are the ones required to move kids around to produce the desired graduation rates. Or administering the same tests multiple times and eliminating the hard questions so the test grade is higher. Or who describe their ESE classes with 3 grade levels, multiple special needs, and 30 students, all in the same class, with just one para to help them.

Does the current budget reflect the needs of those experts? It’s hard to tell, because they are never candidly discussed. We’re too busy making everything pretty.”

That’s disturbing.  

So, what is the truth behind the “A grade” graduation rates and school scores for which Dr. Balgobin is receiving this national recognition? 

Is that the reason for the forced organizational silence at Volusia County Schools?

If not, why was it necessary for Superintendent Balgobin to demand over 100 public employees sign a chilling Nondisclosure Agreement limiting their ability to discuss matters specifically covered by Florida’s Public Records Law at the risk of having their careers destroyed?

Why would it be necessary to prevent administrators from speaking about where and how public funds are spent, i.e., “Information regarding the District’s financial operations, including budgets, funding sources, and allocation of resources”?

What about “Strategic planning documents and information,” or “Non-public communications between and among District personnel, the Department of Education, parents, students, and community stakeholders” is so top-secret staffers need to be officially gagged?  

When will those of us who pay the bills get answers to these important questions from Dr. Balgobin or our elected representatives on the School Board? 

In my view, haughty awards and individual recognition for senior administrators is admirable – so long as the basis for them is verifiable – not the result of restricting information to control the narrative regarding how these remarkable graduation rates were obtained…

Anything less is unconscionable – and further erodes the public’s trust.

As Ms. Brosemer so aptly said, “So many questions no one asks. So few answers no one wants. Does the board’s apathy mirror that of the public, or vice versa?”

Quote of the Week

“All over the state, local governments are pushing ahead on common-sense changes to their growth plans, wetlands protection, and impact fees. They’re doing so despite warnings from big, bad opponents that what they have in mind will violate a new pro-developer state law that limits city and county governments’ authority on new land-use or development regulations.

It’s happening in big counties like Orange and small cities like Edgewater. And everywhere it’s happening, it’s bad news for Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature, because it shows that local governments are tired of being pushed around by developers and their toadies and are ready to push back.

“This is one of those tipping points,” Manatee County Commission Chairman George Kruse told me.

As my colleague Mitch Perry reported last week, the law they’re challenging has “become the most controversial new measure” of the 2025 legislative session.

People are now realizing what this law really demonstrates: Tallahassee is tightly controlled by campaign donors who don’t care about what’s best for Florida’s people, only what boosts their private profits, Kruse said. That’s why they wanted to handcuff the local officials who might object.

The bill was passed on the pretext of providing emergency help for hurricane victims. But it contained a poison pill benefiting no one but big developers.

“It’s important to realize that this was described as an emergency bill that goes far beyond an emergency to actually attack the basis of democracy,” said Kim Dinkins, planning and policy director for the smart growth group 1000 Friends of Florida. “It allows a popular vote to be overturned.”

With so many people lining up to resist, I’m thinking we should change our state song from “Old Folks at Home” (yawn!) to the far more appropriate “Fight the Power” by the Isley Brothers.”

–Reporter Craig Pittman, writing in the Florida Phoenix, as excerpted from his op/ed, “Florida cities and counties line up to defy new pro-developer state law,” Thursday, August 14, 2025

Courage takes many forms.  

Mostly it means having the moral strength to simply do the right thing…

On Monday evening, in a bold move, the majority of the Underwater City Commission voted 3-2 to keep development moratoriums in place to protect waterlogged residents from recurrent development-induced flooding by defying the pernicious tenets of SB-180. 

Edgewater Mayor Diezel DePew and Councilmembers Eric Rainbird and Charlotte Gillis voted to keep the protections in place, while Councilmembers Mike Thomas and Debbie Dolbow were opposed.

According to a report by Brenno Carillo writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “City Council members who supported keeping the city’s moratoriums echoed the vast majority of Edgewater residents’ opposition to the new state law. Rainbird and Gillis made emphatic and emotional statements about protecting residents, even if it means challenges could be on the way for the city.

Several Edgewater residents and some from surrounding cities spoke in near unison against the new state law and urged council members to keep the moratoriums.”

In Deltona, the City Commission voted 4-3 to join a growing coalition of cities and counties seeking a legal challenge to the overreach of SB 180.

Commissioners Maritza Avila-Vasquez, Stephen Cowell, Dori Howington, and Nick Lulli stood firm for their constituents – while Mayor Santiago Avila Jr, Vice Mayor Davison Heriot, and Commissioner Emma Santiago evidenced their cowardice in the face of this legislative attack on the right of Florida’s charter governments to self-determination.

Later, Santiago said she was merely following the spineless lead of the Florida League of Cities which, she claims, counseled her to “Spend time developing relationships with your legislators and stay out of the political fray.”

In other words, “play nice, keep your mouth shut, and do as you’re told…”

Which sums up why the Florida League of Cities has become a nonentity in the fight against repeat legislative bullying – cowering in the corner and kissing the rings of Florida lawmakers’ intent on destroying the ability of cities and counties to determine how, when, and where they grow.

For his part, Vice Mayor Heriot (and “others”?) has been unctuously pleading with Volusia legislators behind the scenes, asking pretty-please for “amendments” to SB 180; changes that are never coming.  This week he explained his vote as not wanting to kick his oppressors “in the face” with a lawsuit, just when his “discussions” are becoming “productive.”

Sure they are. 

Keep kowtowing, Mr. Heriot.  That always works…      

I get it.  It’s rarely easy for mealy-mouth politicians controlled by influential special interests to stand up and do the right thing – especially when it comes to challenging legislative aggression, intimidation, and political pressure from on high.  

In my view, these cold and timid elected officials should take a lesson from those brave souls throughout American history who taught that it is a moral obligation of citizenship to righteously oppose patently unfair laws.   

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so eloquently said in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”

In my view, it is time the flood-prone and claustrophobic residents of Volusia County let our aloof, dictatorial, and wholly compromised legislative delegation know there is some shit we won’t eat…

And Another Thing!

“Holding our elected officials to a higher standard.

Today I picked up my lunch at an establishment that I frequent often.  As I was leaving, Ormond Beach Zone 3 Commissioner Kristen Deaton walked in.

I was walking towards the door to leave and Commissioner Deaton yelled “They should call it Protect Jason Leslie” (referring to Protect Volusia and Ormond Mayor Jason Leslie). Is this the type of behavior “WE” the residents of Ormond Beach should have to endure from our elected officials out in public?

Do residents of Ormond Beach now need to be concerned about being confronted in public or fear retaliation from their elected officials?

Elected Officials should be held to a higher standard as are police/fire employees.  Out of respect for the business owner I did not turn around and reply to her. I continued walking and left the establishment.

Protect Volusia has been assisting residents for over two years. We stand by them and we put out information that we feel the public needs to be aware of. We fight for the residents and always will.

This behavior was unprofessional and I expect more from an elected official.”

–Ormond Beach Activist Robin Magleora, co-founder of Protect Volusia, writing on Ormond Beach Citizens: Protect Ormond Beach Facebook page, Friday, August 15, 2025

Last week in this space, I discussed the pox of pettiness that has descended on local governance. 

From the contentious selection of the 2026 Volusia County Charter Commission, to the on-going shitshow of nastiness and infighting that is the Ormond Beach City Commission, the Lost City of Deltona, Palm Coast, etc. – it seems vindictiveness and spite rule the day – and the ‘people’s business’ takes a backseat to paltry one-upmanship…  

In my view, civic activist Robin Magleora’s self-described encounter with Ormond Beach City Commissioner Kristin Deaton last week exemplifies the “Us v. Them” divisions that continue to separate “We, The Little People” from our “political elite” – that self-anointed clique of arrogant elected dullards who have become convinced of their own infallibility by their political puppeteers.

It also exposed the Ormond “in-crowd’s” utter distain for Mayor Jason Leslie, a political outsider with the courage to speak his mind.  

In response to Mayor Leslie’s commitment to exercising his right to speak and keep his constituents informed on issues of community concern, earlier this year, Commissioner Deaton proposed a cockamamie ordinance to ensure the mayor – and any other elected official who dares to demonstrate independent thought – will be pounded into the round hole of conformity with the force of law…

According to a social media post by Protect Volusia’s Elena Kraft, it appears Ormond Beach City Attorney Randy Hayes has rightfully decided to put Deaton’s cheap attempt at oppressive censorship in the round file of bad ideas.   

In response to a recent inquiry by Ms. Kraft, Hayes explained “I have not addressed the matter further as other matters have taken priority. At this point, I do not intend to take further action without further direction by the commission.”

I find it interesting that Ms. Deaton’s nasty swipe at Protect Volusia comes during the brewing controversy over the oddly postponed selection of Ormond Beach’s city employee benefits provider after Brown & Brown’s bid for services came in some $50,000 less than their competitor, Foundation Risk Partners.  

Although Commissioners Travis Sergeant (who works for FRP) and Lori Tolland (whose son works for FRP) abstained from the vote in keeping with Florida’ ethics laws – I found it weird both were allowed to actively lobby their voting colleagues during the discussion…

During the back-and-forth that ensued, Mayor Leslie had the good sense to suggest the obvious – selecting the lowest cost option as identified by the city’s selection committee (Brown & Brown was ranked 100 while FRP scored 78). 

“I think it’s just suicide for me to say, ‘Yeah, I’m going to spend more money for a broker that’s going to provide almost similar services to what we currently are going to have, or going to get,” Leslie said.

Ignoring staff’s objective scoring and the clear difference in cost, Commissioner Deaton arrogantly suggested that Mayor Leslie couldn’t possibly understand the underlying nuances of the selection because “You haven’t lived here, and haven’t worked with all of these people in this room, and that’s what makes it hard,” – openly insinuating that the selection should be weighted more toward insider relationships – rather than an impartial analysis of the services and costs contained in the proposals.  

Bullshit.

When it comes to the rules governing municipal appropriations and the allocation of public funds for apples-to-apples goods and services, ignoring a 50% difference in bid price is hard to explain.

Unfortunately, the Ormond Beach City Commission’s selection of a benefits provider is now forever tainted by the lobbying of members who are by law prohibited from voting, resulting in the highly suspicious move of tabling the decision until September 3. 

In my view, these ham-handed shenanigans open the door for Ormond Beach taxpayers – and the company who loses the bid – to speculate if the delay is to allow time for backroom maneuverings.     

That is an insult to the integrity of both of these venerated local insurance intermediaries – and an incredibly irresponsible process for an elected body. 

Sadly, with one snide remark, Commissioner Deaton exposed her distain for civic activists and organizations working hard for the betterment of their community – an embarrassing and confrontational comment that served no purpose – other than to prove Deaton’s lofty opinion of herself has cauterized the human emotion of shame from her outsized ego.

In my view, the remainder of the now compromised Ormond Beach City Commission should publicly condemn Commissioner Deaton’s conduct toward Ms. Magleora (and denounce her open animosity toward Mayor Leslie) as counter to the concept of ethical behavior and good governance.  

In the increasingly upside-down world of Ormond Beach politics, one thing is certain; this abhorrent arrogance of power will continue as long as voters permit it…

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

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way:

David v. Goliath – Small Town Values Run Deep in West Volusia

During a standing room only special meeting of the Lake Helen City Commission Monday evening, citizens of the small West Volusia community packed the chambers to support their police department.  The public outpouring came following a move to disband the agency and contract law enforcement services with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office as a cost-cutting measure.  

As one 25-year resident said, “I wanted to show our local Lake Helen Police Department that we all do care and it’s very important that we also as a community have our words considered and that it’s not just up to the commissioners and all of them.”

Let me repeat that: Citizens turned out because they wanted the town’s police officers to know their service and sacrifice is valued.    

That doesn’t happen everywhere in this day and age…

I’m a small town guy. 

In my view, when it comes to government, the closer to those it serves the better. More accessible, accountable, and responsive – neighbors serving neighbors – the embodiment of our foundational democratic principle “…of the people, by the people, for the people.”

In small communities the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker – average citizens with a willingness to serve – throw their hat in the ring, stand for election, and work hard for little compensation to make a positive difference in their own hometown.   

Relatively speaking, the decisions they make are no less consequential than those of larger government entities – although civic issues, good and bad, are often amplified in the politically charged atmosphere of a small community.   

I spent the bulk of my life serving as a police officer with the City of Holly Hill, a wonderfully eccentric small community on the banks of the beautiful Halifax river, a place that graciously adopted me as one their own during a career that spanned three-decades.   

It was the quintessence of community-oriented policing – and resulted in lifelong friendships with those I served – and a sense of pride and personal satisfaction that only comes from a commitment to something greater than one’s own self-interests.

By the very nature of small town politics, elected and appointed officials must look their constituents in the eye, discuss civic issues face-to-face, calm fears, actually listen to the needs and suggestions of taxpayers, and wear a variety of hats to meet challenges with limited resources.

The result is a true sense of community – where folks look after one another – needs are met collectively and accomplishments celebrated communally. 

That collaborative approach to governance and service delivery results in a creative and cooperative dynamic.  Through up-close and personalized service, small town residents know that bigger isn’t necessarily better, especially during emergencies when they have the comfort of knowing their community’s first responders are standing watch.  

In fact, the unique culture and identity of each community in the mosaic of municipalities here on the “Fun Coast” is what sets them apart from the others, offering different civic and natural amenities, a quaint charm, and perhaps a slower pace of life from the homogenized “sameness” of large consolidated metropolitan areas like Jacksonville and Metro Dade and their often indifferent centralized governments.      

Look, I’m not knocking larger local, state, and federal agencies – I have dear friends and former colleagues across the spectrum.  Through those associations, I’ve learned that first responders everywhere are personally committed to those they serve with willingness, dedication, and selflessness – true professionals with the universal trait of putting their lives on the line for people they don’t even know.   

I simply believe that small communities providing their own essential services – and the sense of identity they garner – is something worth preserving.  Something that transcends the sterile and dispassionate ebb and flow of the budget process.

Like many of you, last week, I followed the unfortunate disagreement between Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood and the Town of Pierson – “Fern Capitol of the World” – a quaint community of ~1,500 in West Volusia that has been reliant on the Sheriff’s Office for many years.

For the past several years, the town contracted for “enhanced” law enforcement services from the Sheriff’s Office.   As I understand it, the agreement essentially amounted to one deputy dedicated to the town limits 12-hours each day, with normal services provided by zone deputies outside the contracted hours of service.

According to reports, under the current agreement, the town pays the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office $319,650 annually.  In addition, property owners in Pierson pay ad valorem taxes, some of which are also allocated to county law enforcement operations.

In fact, every property owner in the county pays into the “Law Enforcement Trust Fund,” regardless of whether they are served by a municipal police department, ostensibly to pay for countywide services like SWAT, advanced crime scene processing, etc.

Citing an increase in healthcare, pay raises, vehicles, pension, and other operational expenses, Sheriff Chitwood announced a 10% increase in his agency’s contract with Pierson beginning in November, bringing the town’s annual cost for enhanced services to $345,000. 

The Town of Pierson has a bare-bones annual budget of around $1.1 million, and town officials have suggested the increase is “excessive and well above inflation.”   The controversy seemed to explode suddenly and took Pierson Mayor Gray Leonhard – and many of the town’s residents – by surprise.

According to the News-Journal, on May 1, the town council had an open discussion regarding the possibility of negotiating a better price with the Sheriff’s Office. 

That’s when things took an adversarial turn:  

“Shortly after they started discussing the sheriff’s office policing contract, “in the middle of the meeting,” a deputy walked to the stage where the mayor was and asked him to check his messages, Leonhard said.

It appears that Chitwood had been informed about the town council’s discussion and sent a message to the mayor threatening to end policing quicker in Pierson, Leonhard said.

In the text message sent at 8:10 p.m. on May 1, a copy of which was provided to the News-Journal, Chitwood wrote: “Hey Mayor, thanks for the heads up on what you were about to do tonight. I don’t need 180 days. I’ll terminate the contract in 30.”

Chitwood also told the mayor in the text message that he will have to figure out what to do with all the property and evidence being held for the town of Pierson because “I’m not storing it without charging you.”

Wow.

Maybe things have changed since I retired, but I’m not sure dumping bags of evidence taken by sheriff deputies in criminal cases on the front steps of Pierson City Hall if they don’t pony up is legally, procedurally, or ethically an option – but that’s a question for State Attorney R. J. Larizza…

Sheriff Chitwood then dropped his parting words to the Town of Pierson: “Feel free to give me a call and discuss this but as far as I’m concerned, relationship is over. Good luck,” Chitwood wrote.”

In turn, Sheriff Chitwood followed up with a letter to residents of northwest Volusia which said, in part:

“Unfortunately, we have reached the point in our 34-year relationship where the Town Council has chosen to sever our contract and seek a lower level of law enforcement service instead.  The current contract for enhanced law enforcement services ends Nov. 12, 2025. It will be up to your Town Council to determine your course of action after that date.”

For his part, Mayor Leonhard countered that Sheriff Chitwood’s letter created undo “fear and confusion” in the small community. Now, both Sheriff Chitwood and Mayor Leonhard are accusing each other of failing to negotiate in good faith…

According to reports, during a press conference last month, Sheriff Chitwood slighted the Pierson Town Council as “inept,” and suggested the town was “defunding” law enforcement protection completely. 

According to an article by reporter Patricio Balona writing in the News-Journal last week, Mayor Leonhard pushed back against Sheriff Chitwood’s remarks:

“I am kind of upset about this because he’s told a bunch of lies. He sent letters to everybody in northwest Volusia County,” Leonhard said. “It was a letter that caused hate and discontent and caused confusion in the community as far as I am concerned.”

Many across Volusia County are wondering why Sheriff Chitwood, an incredibly powerful political personality, would find it necessary to take a ‘scorched earth’ approach to a relatively inconsequential “enhanced” service contract with a tiny community trying hard to be fiscally responsible?

It had a David v. Goliath quality that left some residents of Pierson feeling bullied by the very entity that should be looking out for them…

In Florida, it seems elected sheriffs have developed a friendly competition for who can be the ‘rootinist-tootinist tough guy’ around – some have taken to wearing ten-gallon hats, cowboy boots, six shooters, and hold tough talking press conferences – then use that well-crafted persona to build political popularity – and massive budgets.

It’s no secret that Sheriff Chitwood has carefully developed a reputation for berating “scumbags,” staging “perp walks” with criminal suspects, squaring up with his detractors, and cultivating a hardnosed image.   

I get it.  That’s politics, and few do it better than Mike Chitwood.

In my view, that acerbic approach should be reserved for the criminal element, not strapped small town officials trying hard to live up to their fiduciary responsibility and make ends meet without the massive and ever-expanding budget that Volusia County enjoys… 

That said, something incredibly special happened in Lake Helen on Monday.

Following a contentious meeting where residents made their feelings known, the Lake Helen City Commission listened to the fervent pleas of their residents and voted to keep their police department.  After hearing from their constituents, the elected officials realized that those on both sides of the badge care passionately about the tightknit community – and want to preserve those civic attributes that are most important to them.

Here’s hoping Sheriff Chitwood and Pierson officials can gain a mutual understanding, and work cooperatively to find common ground that permits residents to sleep comfortably knowing their community is adequately protected at a price they can afford.

Volusia County Council – Machiavellianism on Parade

By all accounts Niccolò Machiavelli was a piece of work – a Florentine politician, diplomat, early political scientist, and author of The Prince – and clearly a role model for many modern day bureaucrats and politicians…  

Most remember Machiavelli for his adaptation of the tactics necessary for a ruler to survive in politics, and his belief that those who were most successful engaged in deception, treachery, and criminal acts.

As a result, Machiavellianism refers to “…a personality trait characterized by manipulativeness, deceitfulness, high levels of self-interest, and a tendency to see other people as means to an end.”

Look, I may be a rube, but I’m not naïve.   

Neither are you.  

Spitefulness has become a requisite trait for politicians at all levels of government.  The instinctive ability to employ vindictive and mean-spirited strategies in slash-and-parry style to gain the political advantage by any means necessary.  The capacity to justify the means, however unscrupulous, when required to achieve and hold power.

Sound familiar?

Political might make’s it right.  Power with impunity.  Decisions without repercussions.  

Whoever has the gold makes the rules…

Last week, the Volusia County Council undertook the decennial task of selecting the 2026 Charter Review Commission – fifteen registered voters selected from a list of those who took the time to volunteer – a chance to influence substantive changes to our governing document and make county government more effective, efficient, and responsive to those who pay the bills.

At least that’s the noble concept behind it. 

The reality is far different…   

Every decade, the charter commission is carefully stacked with special interests, heavily weighted toward Volusia’s “Old Guard,” those backslapping representatives of the “good ole’ boys club,” to include former elected officials, business and insurance executives, real estate interests, and a small minority of us hoi polloi to keep up appearances.   

By imperial design, nothing changes.

(You can review the Volusia County’s Charter here: https://tinyurl.com/mpeandrc )

Last week, the selection process devolved into another dysfunctional shit show of abject pettiness when our squabbling elected dullards set about besmirching the motivations of residents who volunteered, stacking the deck, with (per usual) the majority ensuring that Chairman Jeff Brower was publicly humiliated like the castrated cur they portray him to be.

(Maybe if Chairman Brower keeps voting with them, acquiescing to their pet projects, and making nice-nice they’ll let him be part of the “clique” before he rides off into political obscurity?)  

In an article by Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, we learned that Florida Senate candidate Jason Voelz is exposing the process for what it is after his nomination was rejected (by his political opponent) last week:

“A man who was rejected for a spot on the Volusia County Charter Review Commission is claiming he was the victim of a conflict of interest, and the Volusia County Council may have violated state ethics laws.

Jason Voelz is a candidate for the 2026 Florida Senate District 8 race. And so is Council member Jake Johansson, who voted against appointing him along with four other members of the seven-member Council on Tuesday, Aug. 5.

“He (Johansson) should have just stepped aside and said, ‘I’m not participating in that one,'” Voelz said.

Three of the councilmen who voted against Voelz have donated to Johansson’s campaign, according to records. County Council Chairman Jeff Brower and District 4 Councilman Troy Kent voted for him. Brower nominated Voelz for the role.

“The involvement of a political opponent in the nomination process, coupled with public statements indicating political motivations, raises serious questions about adherence to these ethical standards (in Florida law),” he stated in a letter to the Council and the News-Journal.”

I guess some people just can’t accept, “That’s the way we do it here, boy.”

For his part, Councilman David “No Show” Santiago also put the boots to Voelz, claiming “I don’t think his commentary reflects the values that this Council necessarily would support in strategies on how to effectively communicate and get things done.”

Which is rich coming from Mr. Santiago – in my view the most self-serving, disingenuous, and manipulative marionette in that gross bimonthly political puppet show that passes for a public meeting…

In another caustic exchange quoted by the News-Journal, we see the outsized role insider politics plays in the selection process, and why residents of Volusia County who value their reputation volunteer for appointment to advisory positions at their own risk:

“Another nominee of Brower’s failed to gain enough support: Joel Paige, a New Smyrna Beach resident and retired fireman. District 3 Councilman Danny Robins said Paige isn’t qualified for the role, and Robins got into a back-and-forth exchange with Brower over the issue.

“Imagine Elon Musk just hiring anybody to send rockets into space … you know what I mean?” Robins said.

“This is just totally unfair to this man,” Brower said.

Paige called councilmembers “a bunch of clowns” who do the bidding of developers.

“Brower’s the only serious person on the Council,” Paige said.

Amy Munizzi, who made it onto the Charter Review Commission after Johannsson suggested her as the collective appointee, received criticism from Brower.

“If there’s anybody that’s argumentative and radical, it’s her,” Brower said, adding that he believed she and her husband are developers.

Munizzi said in a phone interview that her husband is a general contractor, but she is not involved in the business.

“I think it’s unfortunate that the word developer is being used as a dirty word,” she said.

Munizzi is president of the DeLeon Springs Community Association. She supported Dye, Brower’s opponent, in the 2024 race for county chairman.”

Welp.  There you have it, folks.  

I don’t know anything about Jason Voelz or his candidacy for the Florida Senate – but it appears he just got an up-close-and-personal look at the way ones jelly bread lands when he dares challenge the stagnant status quo in Volusia County.  

It shouldn’t be this way.  But it is. 

Here’s hoping Mr. Voelz makes good on his threat to explore “…all legal options to address this matter, including filing a formal complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics and pursuing any other remedies available under Florida law.”

In my view, it is high time someone steps forward with the courage to stand tall for the needs of Volusia County taxpayers over the greed and influence of controlling special interests.

Quote of the Week

“The construction on Granada Boulevard in Ormond Beach from U.S. 1 east to A1A has caused dangerous and hazardous risks for every driver,” Miller said. “Six-inch concrete obstructions on Granada Boulevard probably there to slow down traffic by moving vehicles, weaving left and right, and driving lanes that have been reduced in size, have caused accidents and damage to many vehicles. … Every bit of this Granada Boulevard project has to be one of the worst ever conceived by FDOT.”

–Ormond Resident Marvin Miller, as excerpted from the Ormond Beach Observer, “FDOT to remove some curb extensions, chicanes in Ormond Beach’s downtown,” Tuesday, August 12, 2025

The Florida Department of Transportation has done something area activists and politicians have been attempting for decades – harnessing the anger and angst of Halifax area residents with a common focus of demanding better.  

They succeeded. 

Residents and business owners are unified in their utter distain for the $20.5 million abomination that is FDOT’s A-1-A roadway project – and the $9.2 million “obstacle course” that is now east/west Granada Boulevard – ostensibly engineered to “encourage safer driving speeds and enhance pedestrian safety.”

Bullshit.

This one’s a whopper of a five-alarm foul-up – one of those “only in government” fiascos – where bureaucrats analyze what works, conduct expensive engineering studies, investigate ways to expedite traffic, alleviate congestion, and enhance pedestrian safety – then do the exact opposite.

In recent weeks, motorists have noticed some ‘modifications’ to the new slalom course on A-1-A and Granada Boulevard – marked with oddly placed “bulb-outs,” chicanes, and concrete curb extensions along the shoulder (which in several spots resulted a trash-collecting gutter between the curb and the impediment?) – some of which have now been removed and replaced with temporary orange traffic barrels.  

Having travelled A-1-A for most of my life, what FDOT has done to the traffic lanes both north and south of Granada Boulevard boggles the mind. 

In fact, most residents who use A-1-A for daily transportation have been left scratching their heads – that slack-jawed “WTF?” moment we’ve all had – especially at a time when our area is experiencing increased traffic congestion from all points of the compass.

According to a report in The Daytona Beach News-Journal last week, “Some business owners say the roadwork is steering customers away from them, particularly with new medians that force motorists to drive beyond their intended target and then do U-turns to reach their destination.”

To their credit, unlike many government projects where unanticipated consequences are ignored and work continues regardless of negative outcomes, in this case, due to the frequency of complaints fielded by FDOT, changes are now being made to correct mistakes.

For instance, Daytona Beach restauranteur Christos Mavronas recently told WFTV-9 that the modifications made it difficult for customers to access his business:

“About 50 percent of our business disappeared because of this median,” said Christos Mavronas. Owner Christos Mavronas initially expressed concerns about the work with us in February and again in June. Two months later, his efforts for change have been successful.

“They approved my request to give me my access back. This is huge news for the entire community of Daytona Beach. We are getting our traffic access back,” said Mavronas.”

According to reports, at present, the changes are in the “design phase,” and FDOT doesn’t yet have an estimate for the cost of necessary construction revisions. 

Hey, maybe the third time’s a charm, right?  

As Mr. Mavronas explained to WFTV, “It’s very important that we speak up for our rights and for what we want.” 

Damn straight, Mr. Mavronas.  Well said.  

And Another Thing!

“In Volusia County, council members this week voted to request changes (to SB-180) for next year’s legislative session.

Deltona City Commissioner Dori Howington doesn’t want to wait until next year to have Tallahassee work on the issue.

“What’s happening is, we’re seeing lawyers lining up to basically attack ordinances that developers have not liked seeing implemented, and as a result, the lawsuits are stacking up against us,” she said. “Anything that you do regarding land use, building codes — anything can be challenged.”

–Deltona City Commissioner Dori Howington, as quoted by reporter Mitch Perry writing in the Florida Phoenix, “Opposition grows to Florida law designed to improve disaster recovery,” Friday, August 8, 2025

Despite whining from some handwringing shills on elected councils and commissions across the state – mealy-mouth crybabies spreading fear over which cudgel Gov. Ron DeSantis will use to punish their city or county if they refuse to sellout their residents – an increasing number of Florida cities and counties are finding the courage to righteously fight back against the sneakily intended effects of SB-180. 

The law, camouflaged as a disaster recovery measure, gives real estate developers carte blanche to challenge any reasonable local growth management regulations, circumvent planning processes, and retroactively hold local governments hostage with statutorily authorized lawsuits.   

With several Florida cities and counties now considering a lawsuit to challenge the expansive provisions of the law, even its sponsor, Florida Senator Nick DiCeglie, has admitted the language is “very broad.”

As no doubt intended…

In my view, business editor Clayton Park of The Daytona Beach News-Journal recently brought our collective predicament into stark perspective when he published a poignant photograph depicting the opening gashes of the I-95/Pioneer Trail interchange this week.   

One image depicted a lone cattle egret literally staring down a bulldozer as it churned the landscape into a black muck to make way for one very wealthy and influential man’s vision of “progress.”

Not much moves me anymore, but that single photograph summed up what many claustrophobic residents of Volusia County feel each time they see more malignant sprawl inching ever closer to irreplaceable natural places like Doris Leeper Preserve…

Environmental activists valiantly opposed the controversial transportation project – which was mysteriously “expedited by more than a decade” – to accommodate large-scale residential development in the Port Orange/New Smyrna Beach area.  Once complete, many experts believe that foul polluted runoff from the interchange will result in the slow destruction of the endangered Spruce Creek watershed and its incredibly biodiverse habitat.

With the permits now rubber stamped by state and federal environmental “regulators” and the roar of site preparation underway, there is no going back now…

In my view, the Pioneer Trail interchange will stand as a monument to everything that is wrong with Florida’s pernicious pay-to-play system, where the “rich and powerful” get what they want – when they want it – and the prioritization of infrastructure, environmental protections, and the very real fears of existing residents mean nothing when the big money moves.

That’s the way it is here in the Biggest Whorehouse in the World… 

Vote like your quality of life depends upon it.

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

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way:

Volusia County District Schools – The Consequence of Silence

In an informative article by reporter Gabriel Velasquez Neira writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, we learned about the recent $160,000 settlement of a disturbing lawsuit involving the serious consequences of institutionalized silence for a former student of Volusia County Schools.

We also learned that Superintendent Carmen Balgobin has “compelled” more than 100 public employees to sign secretive non-disclosure agreements…

According to the report, “Employees are being compelled to keep certain information, including “the district’s financial operations, including budgets, funding sources and allocation of resources,” confidential.”

The shocking confirmation of the rumored NDA was part of an alarming report regarding a former New Smyrna Beach Middle School student who was diagnosed with “severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis” while at school in 2019. 

Unfortunately, the District failed to notify the child’s parents of her serious medical condition.

According to the News-Journal’s report, the student’s “…cheer coach noticed a curve in her back two years later, and she was again diagnosed with scoliosis. During those two years, her back went from having a 10-degree right curvature in her spine to an approximately 65-degree top curve and a 56-degree bottom curve.”

As a result of the delay, the child was forced to undergo extensive spinal surgery, to include “spinal fusion and hardware replacement,” according to a lawsuit later filed by the family. 

To literally add insult to injury, as the lawsuit progressed, the child was moved to Spruce Creek due to “severe bullying and harassment that she was facing in New Smyrna.”  The child has since moved out of state.   

Tragic. 

The Volusia County School Board unanimously approved the $160,000 settlement last week.

Somehow, that doesn’t seem like fair and just compensation for a victim who could have avoided severe pain and suffering had someone in the District simply spoken up and notified the child’s parents…

Although the initial failure to notify the child’s parents predated Dr. Balgobin’s initial tenure as Deputy Superintendent, this appalling situation – and the life-altering result – underscores the long-term transparency and communication problems at Volusia County Schools. 

A weird pall of secrecy and obfuscation that has baffled parents, staff, educators, and stakeholders for years.

Now, some of those who were required to sign Balgobin’s NDA are rightly worried about internal reprisals should they speak about otherwise publicly available information – and many question whether the agreement violates the letter and spirit of Florida’s open records law. 

In a social media post on Sunday morning, Volusia County School Board member Donna Brosemer wrote, “Only the state and federal governments may add to the definition of what public documents are “confidential.” WHAT IS THE DISTRICT TRYING TO HIDE?”

Damn good question. 

And the rumors and speculation surrounding Carmen’s Cult of Secrecy continue to mount.

On Monday, reporter Molly Reed of News-6 met Balgobin’s wall of silence when she asked Volusia County District Schools for information regarding the non-disclosure agreement after receiving a copy from Elizabeth Albert, president of Volusia United Educators. 

“The district has not responded to requests for clarification.”

According to the News-6 report, “Albert said the union first learned about the NDA about a month ago and shared the copy they received with News 6.

“We’re very concerned, especially because we’re heading into the season of negotiations, which of course impacts salaries and benefits,” Albert said.

Despite repeated requests, Albert said the union has not been given a list of employees required to sign the agreement.

“We’re a public entity. We are funded with taxpayer money. So anything less than full financial transparency is suspicious,” she added.”

A day later, a canned press release to News 6 – signed “Volusia County Schools” – oozed out of the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand:  

“Certain Volusia County School District Employees who work in departments or roles with access to sensitive or confidential information have been asked to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement. This is to ensure that sensitive information, regarding students and staff, safety plans, legal proceedings, discussions, and proprietary software is not compromised.

Moreover, all the District’s budgetary and financial information are available on the VCS’s website and through the Florida Department of Education. Individuals may make public records request for this information, also.

Confidential information does not include information that is required to be disclosed by law, regulation, or court order, as expressly written in the Non-Disclosure Agreement. Volusia County Schools will always comply with the law.”

Except, the NDA specifically covers “Information regarding the District’s financial operations, including budgets, funding sources, and allocation of resources“?

And why would administrators need to enter a SCIF to discuss the educational goals of the District’s strategic plan, as explicitly listed in the NDA? 

“Nothing to see here, folks.  Keep moving.  Just ensuring nothings “compromised.”  Don’t read more into it.  We always comply with the law, except when we don’t.  Loose lips sink ships.  Shhhhhhh.  Keep moving…”

For her part, Ms. Brosemer said she plans to discuss the issue during the board’s August 12 meeting, explaining “Legally, public agencies do not have the authority to add to the definitions of what is a confidential document, so by doing that about the budget, but also about a couple of other categories, we have grossly overstepped our bounds.”

Remember when Superintendent Balgobin arrogantly accused Ms. Brosemer of “irresponsible behavior” when she demonstrated the courage to request public confirmation of internal whispers (because that’s the only way people can effectively communicate in this environment) that Ormond Beach Elementary was on the chopping block?

I can’t think of anything more patently irresponsible than demanding that public employees remain silent on budget, allocations, and strategic educational goals when Volusia County taxpayers deserve answers.

In the interest of openness and accountability, it is time for the Volusia County School Board to stop their saccharine lovefest with Balgobin and demonstrate leadership. 

That means providing oversight and accountability, demanding answers, and clearing the air with a comprehensive investigation into the stench of suspicions, rumors, and speculation that continues to waft from the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand.  

Volusia County Council of Cowards – The Politics of Appeasement

Remember reading comic books as a kid? 

One of the highlights for me was the advertisements in the back featuring gimcracks and gewgaws tailored to young readers – Sea Monkeys, Whoopie Cushions, and “X-Ray” Specs – along with self-improvement “courses” like the Charles Atlas Fitness Program, guaranteed to turn weaklings into confident tough guys with the beef to back it up.   

The ad was laid out in cartoon cells, with the headline “The Insult That Made a Man Out of Mac.” 

The scene opens with “Mac” and his best girl laying on the beach under an umbrella when a burly bully kicks sand on them. 

“Hey, quit kicking sand on us!” Mac mewls.   

In response, Mac’s brawny tormentor grabs him by a scrawny arm and warns, “Listen here.  I’d smash your face…. only you’re so skinny you might dry up and blow away.”

Horribly emasculated in front of his disgusted girlfriend, Mac decides to order the Atlas bodybuilding course and is “later” transformed into a strapping strongman who takes the big bully out with one punch.

Now, the self-assured Mac is the envy of all the girls on the strand – hailed by all as the “Hero of the Beach!”

I was reminded of that old come-on this week as the Volusia County Council acted for all the world like that timid soul Caspar Milquetoast, “The man who speaks softly and gets hit with a big stick,” when they chose to ask “pretty please” in the face of rank aggression by those craven “rent-a-representatives” in Tallahassee…   

With the emphasis on tucking into a hot catered lunch, our elected dullards on the dais of power in DeLand rushed to clear the deck of how to address SB-180.  The new law was couched by the developer-controlled Florida legislature as a means of cutting red tape for property owners attempting to rebuild their homes and lives in the aftermath of a hurricane.

In reality, the law is a ruthless assault on Home Rule charter government by a wholly owned state government intent on destroying the concept of local democracy and self-determination to expedite the greed-crazed profit motives of their political benefactors.   

The legislature’s blatant end-run paves the way (literally) for even more unchecked development across the state, and represents a frightening beatdown of local elected officials, preempting virtually all municipal and county comprehensive plans, land development regulations, procedures for the review, approval, or issuance of site plans, development orders, and moratoriums retroactive to August 1, 2024.

In some cases the law overturns the will of Florida voters in favor of special interests by invalidating voter approved protections, such as Orange County’s rural boundary charter amendment (which passed with 73% of the vote), and the City of Deltona’s recent attempt to enact a moratorium on new development until serious flooding and utilities concerns can be addressed.

In fact, many local governments across the state have been forced to sheepishly repeal growth management measures – including much needed enhanced stormwater regulations – in the face of legal threats and saber-rattling by emboldened development interests.

Last month, rather than aggressively pushback against this historic threat to local decision-making – such as supporting the City of Deltona’s efforts to defy state overreach, demanding a special legislative session to overturn the law, or taking the lead in organizing other cities and counties considering a combined statewide legal challenge – the Volusia County Council faint-heartedly directed the county attorney to prepare a “discussion item” to consider suggestions for amending SB-180…

This week, the council shoehorned their tepid “discussion” of the most clear and present threat to our collective quality of life before their lunch got cold… 

During the public participation portion of the agenda item, environmental activist Cathrine Pante rightfully suggested that going to Tallahassee during next year’s legislative session – hat-in-hand – to ask for amendments to the law is a “weak” approach.

According to Pante, the timing of the process would prevent Volusia’s proposed rural boundary amendment from making it on the 2026 ballot, and accurately explained the well camouflaged purpose of the law to our slack-jawed “representatives” on the dais:

“Let’s call SB 180 what it truly is: A calculated move by the Legislature, aided by our local delegation, to strip away local authority and eliminate Home Rule.  It was designed not to be amended, but to serve powerful development interests that now dominate the legislative process.”

Well said.

With lunch waiting in the back, council members voted unanimously to direct the county’s lobbyist to make entreaty to our powerful state overseers seeking modest amendments to the law that narrow the focus to exempt properties damaged by hurricanes from local regulations.

In other words, correct the language to better represent the stated purpose of the law.

Does anyone think mealy-mouth groveling is going to work with that bunch in Tallahassee?   

In my view, Councilman (and current Florida Senate candidate) Jake Johansson epitomized the council’s kowtowing to the state’s abject thuggery when he whimpered:

“I still think the best way to move forward is to work collaboratively to try to get these changes in there without stirring the pot.  We’ve seen a couple counties stir the pot and they’re not in a good place right now compared to us, and I want to protect what we have from being preempted in the future as well.”

Really? 

How “collaborative” were those aloof members of Volusia’s legislative delegation when they voted to gut our sacred right to self-determination?

Did anyone get the impression our legislators were willing to compromise and cooperate with threatened local communities when they defended their vote on SB-180 at the West Volusia town hall last month? 

In my experience, trying to appease bullies never works. 

Pleading with those who intentionally misuse the legislative process (by hiding the true purpose of laws that benefit their political benefactors) is cowardly – and counter to the concept of self-governance, and the right of We, The Little People to control our destiny and preserve our quality of life.   

The more power and control you surrender to an aggressor – the more you dance to their tune, capitulate to demands, and rollover in the face of belligerence – the more dominance they will assert.   

Because power, ascendency, and control are the nature of the relationship between a subjugator and their victim…  

Quote of the Week

“There were lots of times he had somebody meet him at the house … to bring him cash,” Langston claimed, noting that she did not know who the person was.

“People would come with money bags, and he would get cash,” she added.

She also recalled an incident at a steakhouse in Washington, D.C. She and Mills were having dinner with Shannon Doyle and Jeffrey Kroeker, Mills’ fellow corporate directors at PACEM North Canada Inc., according to a filing that was updated in December. “They did not speak about business at all, but Cory did leave with money,” Langston said.”

— Lindsey Langston, reigning Miss United States and Columbia County, Florida Republican State Committeewoman, as quoted by reporters Courtney Weil and Jill Savage in Blaze Media, “Miss United States accuses Rep. Cory Mills of sextortion, accepting ‘money bags,’” Monday, August 5, 2025

Welp, my fellow “Fun Coasters,” U.S. Representative Cory Mills was back in the news this week. 

Twice. 

And one of those revelations is a flippin’ doozy…   

It was recently reported that Congressman Mills, who represents Seminole County and parts of southern Volusia County, was being evicted from his luxury penthouse apartment in Washington D.C. after owing a reported $85,000 in back rent on the $20,833 a month lease.  In addition to his D.C. digs, it has been reported that Rep. Mills also rents a beach house in New Smyrna Beach.

For the record, Rep. Mills earns $170,000 a year as a member of Congress.  His estimated net worth fluctuates from the sublime to the ridiculous depending upon where you look… 

In March, it was reported that Mills is under investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics for possibly “omitting or misrepresenting” information on financial disclosures, accepting excessive campaign contributions, and benefiting from government contracts while in office.

On Monday, we learned in a report by the News-Journal’s Mark Harper that Rep. Mills has apparently made good on the back rent fiasco and will not face eviction from his Washington penthouse next month. 

“The notice does not state how much Mills paid or whether he will remain a tenant of the luxury $20,833-per-month penthouse. But the congressman himself acknowledged the development in a text message to The News-Journal.

All is paid, sir,” Mills responded to an inquiry.”

That clears that up, I guess…

Then, the bizarre life and times of Rep. Cory Mills went completely off the rails on Monday when a shocking article appeared in Blaze Media. 

According to the incredibly disturbing report, Lindsey Langston, the reigning Miss United States and current Republican Committeewoman from Columbia County (who claims to have been in a personal relationship with Mills), has made horrific allegations of sexual extortion, physical threats, and possible financial irregularities by the sitting Congressman.

(Assuming a congressman having bags of cash delivered to his home can still be described as “out of the norm” at this point…)

According to the article, Ms. Langston’s accusations have been reported to both the Columbia County, Florida Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Find the salacious details here: https://tinyurl.com/f5x66jyx

I’ll warn you in advance, the accusations are shocking to the conscience…  

(Assuming anything a member of congress does in their personal life could still be considered scandalous, outrageous, or disgusting…)

I found it interesting that Ms. Langston is represented by the one and only Anthony Sabatini – the Republican firebrand and Mount Dora attorney who has recently made a cottage industry of representing “Fun Coast” mayors – to include Deltona’s always controversial Santiago Avila, Jr and Palm Coast’s embattled Mike Norris.  

In 2022, Mr. Sabatini – a voracious critic of Rep. Mills – was one of eight Republicans who ran in the 7th District congressional primary against Mills, who won with 37.9%.

According to the News-Journal, Rep. Mills denies the allegations against him, and explained, “Anthony Sabatini is weaponizing the legal system to launch a political attack against the man who beat him in the primary, using his corporate legal office to push a narrative built on lies and flawed legal arguments −all to score political headlines,” Mills said.

“These claims are false and misrepresent the nature of my interactions. I have always conducted myself with integrity, both personally and in service to Florida’s 7th District,” Mills said.”

Jesus.  I hope so. 

In my view, if half of the coercive, manipulative, and frighteningly threatening text messages attributed to Rep. Mills are true – someone with a badge in the pocket of their suitcoat needs to get off their ass and take a hard look at Florida statutes prohibiting threats and extortion – along with federal prohibitions on publishing non-consensual intimate imagery, a protection which was signed into law by President Donald Trump earlier this year.

If Ms. Langston’s allegations are proven true, Mills should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, regardless of his powerful political influence in Washington.   

The acrid smoke surrounding Rep. Mills is getting too thick to ignore, and the repeatedly embarrassed residents of the 7^th District deserve better…

And Another Thing!

I’ll be honest, I know I don’t look a day over 80 – but I turn 65 today (trust me, no one is more perplexed than me, and my mystified personal physician…) 

65. The gateway to the confusing new reality of blotchy “old people skin” and navigating the labyrinth of Medicare Parts A, B, D & G

A symbolic milestone marking the disorienting transition into the gloaming of my life. 

To quote my hero Augustus McCrae, “It’s been a hell of a party…”

I feel incredibly fortunate and began the day quietly thanking God for another year, all the wonderful blessings in my life (which includes everyone who takes the time to read these screeds), and giving thanks for all the people who have been put in my path that had my best interest at heart – or taught me the tough lesson that not everyone does…  

As I age not-so-gracefully – a Gin-soaked geriatric with a pack-a-day habit and diminishing tolerance for douche-baggery in all its forms – I still enjoy working the Rubic’s Cube of local politics, figuring out the motives, machinations, and agendas of those we elect here on the “Fun Coast.” 

Keeps my mind limber.

Although I must admit, it is getting increasingly difficult for me to sit through hours of those well-choreographed kabuki’s that pass for local council and commission meetings, even fortified with a dram or three of Tullamore Dew and three-fingers of a strong antiemetic, it’s getting tough…  

This week, I watched a few snippets from the Volusia County Council meeting, lamenting the fact I won’t have Volusia’s Growth and Resource Management Director Clay Ervin to kick around anymore… 

According to reports, Mr. Ervin entered a well-deserved retirement from the roil and rumble of county government last week. 

I wish him all the best with what comes next.    

This week, our elected dullards appointed the decennial Volusia Charter Review Commission – a mixed bag of former politicians, business and insurance executives, a retired judge, a prominent land use attorney, an environmentalist, and retired city manager. 

 Not a lot of Joe & Jane Lunchpails trying to eke out a living in this artificial economy on the list… 

Being the infernal optimist that I am, my hope is the commission will prove to be a well-balanced group with diverse opinions who will meet with open minds, consider citizen input, and decide on potential changes to Volusia’s governing document for voter approval.

We’ll see…

The venerated former Volusia County Council member Pat Northey is back from the 2016 Charter Review Commission, along with Cobb Cole land use attorney Mark Watts – former Chair J. Hyatt Brown is conspicuously not…

The big question this week was how/if the Volusia County Council would tackle the increasingly awkward question of what to do with “Dempsey’s Folly,” now that so much of the public’s time and money have been invested in exploring a potential motorcross track on 356-acres of “conservation” land off State Road 44.

Admittedly, I got a chuckle out of what passed for deliberation of how to move forward…

For his part, Chairman Jeff Brower took a circuitous track (pun intended) to get to the point that the proposed motorcross facility (and the weird funding scheme that got us here) is considered by many to be Councilman Dempsey’s “pet project.”

Because it is…

According to an excellent report by reporter Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week, “(Brower) noted that Dempsey voted against the pilot program to allow dogs on Ormond Beach, which has since become a permanent feature. During that discussion, Dempsey said people could go to Flagler County instead.

Brower pointed out that Flagler County already has a track. Brower said he was concerned it would go out of business if a county built a motocross facility.”  

In listening to his concerns about the Flagler County track, I found it odd that the normally environmentally conscious Chairman Brower virtually cooed over the number and variety of wildlife – deer, sandhill cranes, and alligators – that, he suggests, are all raising their young nearby and “takeover” the track each evening when the roar is done for the day. 

Others suggested the same magnificent biodiversity would appear once the Volusia facility is built – right in the middle of a designated wildlife corridor. 

Does anyone think that’s a good idea?  

After listening to Chairman Brower’s fumbling’s, I thought – What the hell else does he expect these claustrophobic creatures to do?  Move?

Where?

Then, in a stunning reversal from his usual foot-dragging, parliamentary procrastination, and penchant for kicking the proverbial can down the dusty political trail – Councilman David “No Show” Santiago announced he was “proud” to support the motorcross facility – before making a motion to have their consultant explore a potential public/private partnership and bring the matter back for discussion in December.  

According to the News-Journal, “Santiago said he wants the Council to make a final decision on direction instead of a slow “drip” of decisions.”

“Let’s rip this Band-Aid off. Let’s get on with it,” he said.”

Really?

On serious issues that directly impact the lives, livelihoods, and quality of life of Volusia County residents, “No Show” Santiago invariably needs more time/information/discussion/studies/staff input/PowerPoints/workshops/ad nauseum but when it comes to Dempsey’s motorcross facility – paid for with millions-of-dollars in public funds earmarked for passive outdoor recreation and environmental conservation – “Let’s rip the Band-Aid off this Sucker and get on with it!”

I don’t make this shit up, folks…

Others who participate in the sport enthusiastically support the idea. 

Time will tell. 

The next discussion of “Dempsey’s Folly” is scheduled for the December 2nd Volusia County Council meeting in DeLand.

Just in time for Christmas…

That’s all for me.  School starts for Volusia County students on Monday – let’s drive carefully out there, y’all!

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way:

Volusia County Schools – Lack of District Transparency Hits Home

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.“

–James Madison

I always get a chuckle when insiders tell me how this blog is received in the gilded Ivory Tower of Power of local government organizations.

Admittedly, I take perverse pleasure in hearing about the overwhelming angst these screeds evoke in some thin-skinned senior executives – all commanding six-figure salaries, with astronomical benefit packages and golden parachutes to cushion the inevitable fall – who dramatically overreact to the criticism of some guy up in north Ormond sitting around in his boxer shorts banging out his civic frustrations…

Elected officials and appointed administrators are quick to point out that not everything you read on blogs or social media is true – and that’s correct. 

This is just one man’s opinion. Nothing more.

Unfortunately, like repeatedly touching a hot stove, Volusia County taxpayers have learned the hard way that not everything coming out of the bureaucratic spin machine in local governments and taxing authorities is based in fact either. 

That leads to speculation and distrust.   

They can’t have it both ways…

Last week, someone in the know told me that Barker’s View has been blocked on all Volusia County School electronic devices.  A means (I suppose) of ensuring staff and “stakeholders” are prevented from hearing any alternative to the all-encompassing optimism and bureaucratic spin of Superintendent Carmen Balgobin’s tightlipped administration.   

ACHTUNG! The All-Knowing, Benevolent, and Imperial Leader has compassionately saved you from unwitting exposure to the swill of lies and discontent disgorging from that fetid sewer that is Barker’s View!  Return to your toil, Dalits!  Never mind those little people behind the velvet curtain!

I don’t know whether to be angry, amused, or proud of the accomplishment…  

As a horribly uneducated rube, I haven’t studied social studies or comparative government in any formal way since my habitually truant days of high school. So, I found a dogeared textbook and turned to an explanation of authoritarian leadership and consolidation of power through the suppression of dissent:

“The control of information is another crucial lever of power for authoritarian leaders. By monopolizing the media landscape or heavily censoring internet access, regimes can drown out dissent and promote favorable narratives. Media channels under the regime’s thumb are used to propagate ideology, reinforce the leader’s image, and broadcast messages that deter mobilization of anti-regime sentiments. Coupled with this, state authorities often restrict access to independent news sources or block foreign media perceived as hostile.”

That’s when the District’s suppression of alternative opinions all made perfect sense.

Regardless, the censorship thing had a weird feel to it, but what I learned next borders on the pathological.

It recently came to my attention that Superintendent Balgobin is requiring that senior district employees sign non-disclosure agreements, a legally binding document effectively insulating what should be the “public” record by effectively silencing those with direct knowledge of district administrative practices.

At present, no one seems to know how far down the chain of command “Carmen’s Cloak of Secrecy” extends…

I cannot think of anything more corrosive to the idea of government in the sunshine – or more chilling to our sacred right of free speech – than demanding silence (and fealty) from recipients of public funds.   

After reviewing the agreement, it classifies “Confidential Information” as student records, legal matters, IT credentials, security plans, certain personnel information, disabilities, and health records – information already specifically protected by both Florida and Federal law.    

Then, things cross into the realm of persecutory paranoia, delusional mistrust, and a potential violation of Florida’s open records law…

Inconceivably, the NDA specifically prohibits the disclosure of “Information regarding the District’s financial operations, including budgets, funding sources, and allocation of resources,” including “Strategic planning documents and information.”  Further, the confidentiality pact expands to “Non-public communications between and among District personnel, the Department of Education, parents, students, and community stakeholders.” 

So, are all “community stakeholders” equal? 

Or are some more equal than others, authorized to receive “confidential information” from senior staff that lesser “stakeholders” (like me and you) may not be entitled to?

Then, as an all-inclusive (and highly subjective) blanket protection, the Balgobin NDA bars public employees from disclosing “Other information specifically designated as confidential by the District during the Employee’s tenure.”

“That’s Top Secret!” 

“Why?”

“Because I said so, that’s why!”

Frightening… 

Now, the overriding question of silenced employees inside Balgobin’s cloistered clique – and those of us who pay the bills – is why this cult of secrecy exists in a tax supported public entity?   

More disturbing, why are our elected representatives on the School Board allowing it?

Especially when the state of Florida has enacted serious civil and criminal penalties for violations of our venerated Sunshine Law.  Statutory regulations which allow citizens unfettered access to public meetings, the ability to receive and review records, speak truth to power, seek answers, and hold government leaders accountable for their actions.

For example, Florida law governing the fiscal transparency required of school districts specifically speaks to the importance of openness to ensuring the public’s understanding, and trust:

“It is important for school districts to provide budgetary transparency to enable taxpayers, parents, and education advocates to obtain school district budget and related information in a manner that is simply explained and easily understandable. Budgetary transparency leads to more responsible spending, more citizen involvement, and improved accountability. A budget that is not transparent, accessible, and accurate cannot be properly analyzed, its implementation thoroughly monitored, or its outcomes evaluated.”

That said, why would Superintendent Balgobin explicitly suppress the discussion of “Information regarding the District’s financial operations, including budgets?”

On Tuesday, the Volusia County School Board approved the tentative budget for 2025-26 at $1.175 Billion…

Last week in this space I wrote my jumbled thoughts on a shocking revelation by Volusia County School Board member Donna Brosemer that suggests the not-easily-explained manipulation of performance metrics by the Balgobin administration that reclassifies low-performing students to increase school grades and “improve” graduation rates. 

Is this covenant of secrecy designed to insulate District administrators and their “experts” who engage in the strategic pencil whipping of student performance data under the “Other information specifically designated as confidential” clause? 

Is there something more sinister afoot? 

Again, that’s the problem with nonsensical secrecy – it breeds speculation. 

And distrust…  

In my view, Volusia County taxpayers should have the ability to speak with senior school administrators about issues of community concern, seek answers to how our tax dollars are being allocated, and obtain information at its source. 

As a recipient of public funds, Dr. Balgobin should understand that she is duty bound to serve in the public interest – obey Florida’s open records laws – and conform to the ethical standards of her profession.

Here’s an irrefutable fact from up here in the cheap seats: Secrecy and intentional concealment in public organizations always comes with consequences…

Cui Bono?  Who Benefits from Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris’ Downfall?   

I’ve said this before, but trite childishness driven by an overweening need for the spotlight of political drama and turmoil have become the hallmark of the Palm Coast City Council.  An ongoing embarrassment to residents who deserve better, and a testament to how far development interests will go to maintain power and control.

That trait isn’t unique to Palm Coast…

To keep the rancor and roil going, last week, the majority of the Palm Coast City Council (two of whom are unelected appointees) made good on their threat to ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to overturn the will (and sacred vote) of Palm Coast voters by ousting Mayor Mike Norris from his duly elected office.

Why? 

In my view, because “special interests” in the all-powerful real estate development community want Norris’ political head on a pike after he had the temerity to utter the “M” word. 

As you may remember, in March, Mayor Norris called for a moratorium on growth until the city’s already overstressed utilities infrastructure and flooding concerns can be adequately addressed.  At present, the city’s inadequate facilities (currently under a Florida Department of Environmental Destruction consent decree) have resulted in existing Palm Coast residents suffering some of the most onerous water and sewer rates in the state to pay for $512 million in needed upgrades.      

The mere mention of the word resulted in a telling ‘show of force’ as described by FlaglerLive.com:

“Mobilized like an army by the Flagler County Home Builders Association, the dump truck and trailers and semi cabs and pick-ups lined City Place and spilled onto Lake Avenue by City Hall this morning, their crews clustered in groups against the morning chill, a large “SAVE OUR CITY” banner stretched across the flank of a truck, with a red circle-backlash symbol painted over the head of Mayor Mike Norris.”  

The intent of that “demonstration” was clearly not lost of the other four members of the Palm Coast City Council, and Norris’ motion unceremoniously died for lack of a second.

The silence was deafening.

Undeterred by the input of angry residents demanding substantive relief from malignant overdevelopment, those developer shills on the dais of power launched an unrelenting barrage of “investigations,” allegations, insinuation, censures, alienation, and marginalization against Mayor Norris – including a half-baked complaint to the Florida Commission on Ethics…    

The brutality of the attacks wasn’t particularly skillful (or original), a cheap adaptation of the political Meidung employed by pliable elected tools set on destroying the personal and political credibility of independent freethinkers to ensure lockstep conformity in service to their political benefactors.

This week, the Florida Commission on Ethics dismissed the City Commission’s “complaint” against Mayor Norris citing “legal insufficiency.” 

Citing a laundry list of embroidered “outrageous conduct” – including “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty and incompetence,” along with Norris’ failed lawsuit challenging the appointment of Councilman Charles Gambaro – the remainder of the city’s compromised council members wrote a letter last week asking Gov. DeSantis to use the power of his office to suspend Mayor Norris and appoint a “temporary replacement” to fulfill the duties of mayor.

If Gov. DeSantis acts to remove Mayor Norris, the majority of the Palm Coast City Council would be comprised of unelected appointees sympathetic to development interests…  

How tragic.  How terribly Un-American.

On Monday, Mayor Norris hosted a town hall independent of city government which drew a supportive crowd of 150+ residents. 

According to a report in the Palm Coast Observer, “Many asked him (Norris) how they could help him. One man encouraged others to write to Gov. Ron DeSantis to support Norris and prevent him from being removed from office — and to sign a petition to remove Gambaro.

Norris thanked the crowd.

“It does my heart good to know I’ve got people that support me,” he said. “I’ve been beat down since May, and I’m just trying to do the right thing.”

Where does it end? 

Who ultimately benefits from Mayor Norris’ downfall?

In my view, this is a clear example of how greed-crazed special interests will shit on our freedoms, destroy our quality of life, and use their elected (appointed) shills to manipulate the system – including wholly ignoring the fundamental concepts of a representative democracy – anything to serve the mercenary interests of a few at the expense of many.  

In Volusia County: “Progress” > The “Tree of Life”  

“Commissioner (Brian) Ashley said it is a “really difficult” decision to approve cutting down historic trees, “because these trees are fantastic creatures, and no one likes to see a tree destroyed.

“In the course of the growth of New Smyrna Beach, we are going to run into situation where, for the greater good, a tree has to go, or a couple of trees have to go,” Ashley said. “I love trees, but when we have people who are making a very, very strong effort to preserve whatever they can while providing a community service, I think that’s kind of noble.”

–New Smyrna Beach City Commissioner Brian Ashley, as quoted by reporter Brenno Carillo in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “NSB approves new medical office project on SR 44 at cost of historic trees,” Monday, July 28, 2025

Last weekend, my wife and I had dinner with friends in New Smyrna Beach, a once quaint beach community and the embodiment of the now lost ‘Old Florida’ lifestyle.  A unique vibe many areas of our increasingly claustrophobic state are trying (and spending) desperately to recreate.  

Unfortunately, nothing screams phony quite like a faux-beach town crafted around a contrived Jimmy Buffett lyric…   

Too late for all that now.

Like the rest of those inimitable places that laid their natural amenities and laidback quality of life on the altar of greed – then watched helplessly as some compromised schlubs they elected sold paradise for a false version of “progress” – around the dinner table we all agreed that New Smyrna isn’t what it used to be.

And the specter of Deering Park will sadly be the region’s coup de grâce…

On July 22, the New Smyrna Beach City Commission voted 3-2 to allow the destruction of three historic trees to (literally) pave the way for a two-story medical office and “wellness” complex on State Road 44. 

Mayor Fred Cleveland and Vice Mayor Lisa Martin voted against the removal. 

Once the damage was done, Commissioner Martin held her ground during the subsequent vote to greenlight the project, while Mayor Cleveland figured “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” and the vote was 4-1 to approve the development…

In an eerily similar move, last month, the DeLand City Commission rubber stamped the wholesale destruction of 62 historic trees – mostly beautiful live oaks – which have stood for decades along the community “gateway” that is Cassadaga Road, to accommodate another “combination of warehouse and commercial space.”

At the time, Commissioner Richard Paiva whimpered about the weighty decision that had befallen the elected body, “These types of decisions are a little challenging for us because I get reminded by people who object that we are Tree City USA.”

“This is not easy,” Paiva said, “but in this case, if we say yes to trees, we’re kind of saying no to business and to jobs.”

Bullshit. 

Anyone else sick and tired of the disingenuous puling of complicit elected officials who turn every environmental decision into a handwringing moral conundrum – then invariably vote to facilitate more, more, more development while thousands of square feet of commercial space remain vacant throughout the region?

All at the cost of more trees, greenspace, wetlands, wildlife habitat, etcetera…

I find that sanctimonious horseshit infuriating.   

Year after year, Florida loses thousands of acres of old growth natural forest and tree canopy through the deforestation inherent to destructive slash-and-burn land clearing for residential and commercial development. The malignant sprawl results in habitat loss and fragmentation, threats to biodiversity, increased competition for water, and more stress on our now overwhelmed utilities and infrastructure.  

Our patronizing ‘powers that be’ should understand their constituents are smart enough to see that this rapid erosion of what we hold dear happens one tree at a time…

Quote of the Week

“These officials, including those on the Deltona City Commission, knew there would be issues with any new land development regulations they sought to pass, including the moratorium proposed by the City. Commissioner Howington stated in a letter to the governor that, “SB 180 would restrict municipalities from enacting certain types of ordinances” as she knew it would directly impact her push for a moratorium in Deltona.

Even though SB 180 was likely to be signed by the governor because of the overwhelming legislative support, some commissioners in Deltona doubled down to pass an ordinance that would be in direct defiance of state legislation. On June 30, 2025, after SB 180 had been signed and was in full effect, Deltona passed an ordinance to institute a moratorium in Deltona. Being unable to locate the economic impact report on the city’s website (as required prior to approving a moratorium), it is hard to say what economic impact this moratorium will have on the city and what type of funds will need to be made up by the residents. What is quite clear is that four of Deltona’s commissioners have said that building a new home in a community in Deltona is good for me, but not for thee.”

–Volusia Building Industry Association Executive Director Allison Root, as excerpted from her op/ed in the West Volusia Beacon, “Deltona’s moratorium: a lesson in neglecting the law,” Tuesday, July 22, 2025  

“I find it outrageous that Allison Root, executive officer of the Volusia Building Industry Association and longtime Deltona resident, is standing up for developers instead of her neighbors. Deltona should have a moratorium on development. Our city needs to fix the infrastructure before another major rain event. Allowing development to continue while this problem isn’t addressed is dumb. But, I don’t have a financial interest in allowing development like Allison Root does.

When I cannot get out of Deltona because all the roads are flooded with pumps running 24-7 to get to my job, it costs me money on my paycheck. When Louise Lake is overflowing onto Courtland Boulevard, it is a problem that allowing more development will not fix. Volusia County is currently taking steps to fix the county infrastructure; why shouldn’t Deltona do the same?”

–Deltona Resident Terry Desjardins, as excerpted from the West Volusia Beacon editorial “Deltona needs its development moratorium,” Tuesday, July 29, 2025

The debate between waterlogged residents across the width and breadth of Volusia County and development interests continues – while the bulldozers roar…

And Another Thing!

For years, municipal and county governments in Volusia County have chosen to deal with the “homeless problem” by not dealing with it. 

I know. I helped perpetuate the problem for years.

For good or ill, President Donald Trump just changed all that…

Last Week, President Trump signed an executive order to “…restore order to American cities and remove vagrant individuals from our streets, redirecting federal resources toward programs that tackle substance abuse and returning to the acute necessity of civil commitment.”

That means big changes are coming to the way communities deal with homelessness, and it won’t be pretty to watch…  

The order redirects federal funding to ensure that individuals living on the streets – often people suffering from serious mental illness and addiction – are moved into “treatment centers, assisted outpatient treatment, or other facilities.”

The unfortunate reality is residential treatment centers are few and far between around these parts, and something tells me the idea of the involuntary internment of homeless persons for the “crime” of not having a roof over their heads, won’t be well received by homeless advocacies and service providers at the tip of the spear.      

But one thing is clear, doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result is no longer an option…  

In my view, for too long, Volusia County and its municipalities have put the bulk of scarce homeless assistance funds into that enigmatic housing assistance program misleadingly known as First Step Shelter. 

In turn, the First Step Board of Directors (when not defending the “shelter’s” executive director) run interference for politicians who supply its lifeblood by touting the number of people moved into their definition of “permanent housing.”

That concept was recently explained by a verbose board member on social media as a “complex network of programs including VA vouchers, transitional housing, recovery facilities, private landlords willing to work with case-managed clients, and partnerships with Changing Homelessness.”   

Whatever that means…  

The unfortunate reality is that every community in Volusia County still experience a very noticeable homeless population – the drunk, drugged, lame, and crazy – those who are physically or mentally incapable of maintaining a safe place to live and obviously don’t meet the “criteria” for acceptance onto First Step’s “path to housing.”   

I live in Ormond Beach – a beachside community with an overly high opinion of itself – that currently gifts First Step $82,000 of our tax dollars annually.  Despite the fact many of our elected officials use that money as false evidence they are “doing something,” the visible reality is we have a growing number of homeless people inhabiting commercial areas and neighborhoods.    

For instance, one morning last week, I counted five obviously homeless people – all their worldly belongings in bindles, on bicycles, or stuffed into trash bags – ambling along the tony main thoroughfare of Granada Boulevard between Nova Road and Beach Street.

In a recent editorial in the Ormond Beach Observer, a concerned resident urged city officials to do something to help homeless persons living the area of a proposed Walmart Supercenter expansion on SR-40, citing “…there’s still a big issue with homelessness that won’t just go away.”

Unfortunately, the majority of Ormond Beach elected officials go to great lengths to convince anyone watching that everything’s fine (because what else are they going to say?).

In May, as a means of publicly embarrassing Mayor Jason Leslie for having the temerity to question the effectiveness of Ormond Beach’s sizeable contribution to First Step, the remainder of the City Commission scoffed at him before firing off a nonsensical letter of support to the First Step board…    

For what?

This ‘head in the sand’ approach by elected officials across Volusia County is both heartbreaking and infinitely frustrating – and “success stories” don’t mean shit so long as there is a sizeable population suffering withering heat, desperate cold, thunderstorms, and indignities on the streets without a viable alternative.

Tragically, in other parts of the country, the problem is infinitely worse – with massive homeless encampments encroaching on city streets, bridges and overpasses turned into tent cities, with open drug use, rampant street crime, victimization, and exploitation – an apocalyptic disintegration of good order that has destroyed the economic viability of some of America’s largest cities.

According to President Trump’s directive, shifting homeless persons “into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment is the most proven way to restore public order.”  Rest assured that using law enforcement and involuntary institutionalization to combat a social/health/economic problem is going to receive very vocal pushback from social service providers.

Almost immediately, something called the National Homeless Law Center fired the first salvo saying, in part, “Today’s executive order, combined with MAGA’s budget cuts for housing and healthcare, will increase the number of people forced to live in tents, in their cars, and on the streets. This order does nothing to lower the cost of housing or help people make ends meet. The safest communities are those with the most housing and resources, not those that make it a crime to be poor or sick. Forced treatment is unethical, ineffective, and illegal.”

So, it appears we are going from a hands-off approach to involuntary incarcerating homeless people – without any currently available options for confining or treating those less fortunate in Volusia County – beyond a few underfunded non-profits and an incredibly expensive “housing program” recently put on a short leash by those government entities who pay for it.

Perhaps now Volusia County will finally get the come as you are homeless shelter we were promised in the first place?

In my view, as we face this quantum change in the way we address homelessness, now is the time to determine the when, where, why, and how scarce public funds can be used to serve the largest number of people in need within growing budget and resource constraints.    

We’ll see…

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

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way:

Volusia County Schools – Cause for Concern

“Volusia County Schools is now an A district for the first time since the 2008-2009 school year. What were some of the strategies that the district implemented to help achieve this?

There is still a disconnect between our proficiency rates and our graduation rates.

I know that the teachers work very hard to get their kids over the finish line. There are other strategies that the district uses that are a little harder to explain, and that includes transferring out the lower performing students who they know are not likely to graduate, so that they are in either online school or alternative schools or charter schools, and they don’t count against their assigned school’s graduation rate.  

I’m still trying to find out exactly how that works and see what we can do to make our numbers between proficiency and graduation come closer together.”

–As excerpted from the Ormond Beach Observer, “Policies for proficiency: Q+A with Volusia County School Board member Donna Brosemer,” Wednesday, July 16, 2025

I admire Volusia County School Board member Donna Brosemer. 

In an atmosphere where toxic positivity conceals the ugly truth, it takes courage to say the quiet part out loud, and speak truth to powerful appointed bureaucrats with no political liability and little external oversight…   

As a longtime observer of Volusia County politics, I knew from the moment Ms. Brosmer challenged the entrenched Carl Persis for the District 4 seat her road ahead would be craggy and fraught with impediments to progress.

For the first time in a long time, Volusia County District Schools was getting a true conservative voice – not another obsequious bobble-head doing the bidding of influential insiders or a whackadoodle comedienne still haunted by her oddball performance at an out-of-town confab – but a thoughtful leader with strategic vision in service to stakeholders.    

In my view, Ms. Brosemer brings a refreshing competence to a board in desperate need of independent thought, openness, and a sense that those elected to represent the interest of taxpayers should do just that.

Last week, Ms. Brosemer sat for an interview with the Ormond Beach Observer – an exchange which provided insight into her priorities for Volusia County schools – and a shocking revelation that seemed to mirror the manipulation of student enrollments in other districts around the state as a means of artificially bolstering graduation rates…

Most notably, in June, Fox 35 Orlando reported that a Florida Office of Inspector General investigation found credible evidence of misconduct by the former superintendent and assistant superintendent of Sumpter County Schools.  The investigation determined the administration, “…engaged in systemic falsification of student data by establishing so-called “shell schools” at various campuses across the county dating back to 2016.”

According to Fox 35, the OIA found that low-performing students were withdrawn from their assigned schools and enrolled — without their knowledge or parental consent — in a district-run virtual school under a separate school code to inflate “performance metrics.”

Sounds eerily familiar to what Ms. Brosemer described at Volusia County Schools…

Earlier this month, Superintendent Balgobin said in a press release published in the Observer:

“This A is more than a measure of academic success; it is a reflection of a district and a community that chose to come together — with purpose and with heart — to ignite a passion for learning in all students. When our School Board, families, staff, and community partners stand together and work hard, our students and community excel.” 

In a video address, Dr. Balgobin described the districts success as a “special moment more than 15 years in the making.”

“An achievement of this magnitude didn’t happen by accident,” she said. “It truly happened by design. It took a lot of heart, hard work, intentionality and a strong belief in our mission of igniting a passion for learning in all students.”

According to Balgobin’s gushing “July News Bites,” 100% of Volusia County schools scored an A, B, or C – “No Ds or Fs,” the 94% graduation rate is the second highest in Central Florida, with all high schools rated A or B “for the first time in district history.”

Excuse my skepticism…

In my view, the reign of Superintendent Carmen Balgobin and her top-heavy administration has been marked by a lack of transparency.  A pathological need to sugarcoat and keep what happens in the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand a secret from both the School Board and those of us who pay the bills.

Time, and time, and time again…

When you add the School Board’s standard practice of allowing the tail to wag the dog – serving as a virtual rubber stamp for the administration rather than our elected oversight – in my view, the environment is ripe for abuse and manipulation.

If you have children still enrolled in Volusia County public schools or pay taxes to support them, this revelation is truly cause for concern.

If this magical transformation is less “purpose and heart” and more systemic manipulation to skew graduation rates as described, then it will be incumbent upon the Inspector General – and the Volusia County School Board – to take swift action to preserve the public trust and save students, teachers, and staff from the lasting stigma of manufactured “success.”  

City of Daytona Beach – A New “Watchdog” at City Hall 

“For decades, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight.”

–The White House, February 3, 2025  

“At their Wednesday July 16 meeting, (Daytona Beach) commissioners voted to hire Abinet Belachew, a seasoned auditing and financial management professional with over two decades of experience, to be their new city auditor.

Belachew has most recently served as director of the Office of Financial Management for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In his role, which is being eliminated as part of federal government cuts under the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, he managed a $1.2 billion budget and led a team responsible for financial reporting, internal controls and compliance in high-risk international environments…”

–Reporter Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Daytona Beach’s new internal auditor will keep a close eye on tax dollars,” Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Earlier this week, the City of Daytona Beach hired Abinet Belachew to serve as its new internal auditor. Reporting directly to the City Commission, Mr. Belachew will be responsible for “…financial, fiscal compliance, financial procedure, legal and administrative audits of all city departments, offices, agencies and programs.”

The position was authorized by voters in 2014 and placed in the City Charter. 

According to the report, Mr. Belachew’s ancillary duties will include establishing an annual oversight plan prior to the start of each fiscal year, conducting “special audits and investigations” as directed by the commission, performing quarterly payroll audits, unannounced cash counts in all departments, and verifying pension and payroll data.

One would assume those measures were already being undertaken by the city’s Chief Financial Officer, but adding an additional set of eyes with a sole focus on ensuring fiscal accountability is a good thing – especially in a governmental organization with a budget now reaching $350 million – that continues to expand into commercial real estate, the restaurant industry, and retail grocery business…   

In my view, if the Daytona Beach City Commission sicced Mr. Belachew on ferreting out how $120+ million in public funds from the Main Street Redevelopment Area evaporated over the last 30-years – or finally determine exactly what is going on out at that enigma wrapped in a conundrum that is the First Step Shelter – he will more than earn his $163,271 annual salary… 

According to the News-Journal article, Mr. Belachew clearly has the credentials and experience for this important job; including an impressive career as director of internal audit for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, controller at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, controller for the Washington, D.C., government, and senior manager with two public accounting firms.

Unfortunately, his previous employer, USAID, where Mr. Belachew served from 2013 until the international aid organization was unceremoniously dismantled by the Trump administration earlier this year, is now widely associated with gross government waste, fraud, abuse, and a complete lack of fiscal accountability.

Having your organizations ‘financial irregularities’ spread across the front page of every newspaper in the world isn’t exactly a ‘key attribute’ for the old résumé, eh?

Oh, well. I’ll bet there is little in the way of fiscal shenanigans Mr. Belachew hasn’t seen.

Some would say having served as director of the Office of Financial Management of an agency once described as a “black hole” of taxpayer dollars – now identified with reckless spending, rewarding failure, throwing away good money after bad, funding corruption, etc. – will be a hard association for Mr. Belachew to overcome.

Others would say that it is the best preparation he could possibly have had for his new role in a municipal government in Volusia County…

Protect Volusia – A Grassroots Advocacy We Need Now, More Than Ever

Margaret Mead was right. 

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Last week, three committed citizens – Elena Krafft, Robin Magleora and Britney Álamo – announced the formation of the nonprofit (and non-partisan) Protect Volusia.  The goal of the organization is advocating “…for responsible growth, government transparency and environmental preservation” throughout Volusia County. 

The notion is not lost on me that while it is one thing to mawkishly complain about problems (I do it religiously), it is quite another to put one’s time, talents, and effort into finding fundamental solutions to the seemingly intractable problems we collectively face here on Florida’s “Fun Coast.”

According to a report by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer this week, the tree founders of Protect Volusia began their journey in civic advocacy by fighting the proposed Belvedere Fuel Terminal, an environmental and public safety abomination, that was once (and perhaps still) slated for the most inappropriate spot on the Eastern Seaboard near the Ormond Beach Municipal Airport and sports facility. 

“With the fuel terminal, we all came together to try to protect our community,” Krafft said. “We got to meet such wonderful people. I couldn’t believe the amount of people that were just, absolutely ready to fight, ready to protect the place.”

Throughout the course of the next two years, they developed a good relationship with others in the community — and that stayed with them, Krafft said. It organically grew into advocating for other issues people were facing, like flooding, development concerns and feeling unheard by their elected officials.”

In my view, the group’s well-thought mission statement is a primer for good citizenship and community advocacy:

“Our mission is to protect the health, safety, and quality of life of Volusia County residents by advocating for responsible growth, government transparency, and environmental preservation. We amplify community voices, demand accountability from elected officials, and stand up for the values that make Volusia a place worth protecting.”

That’s something we can all get behind.

Kudos to Elena Krafft, Robin Magleora and Britney Álamo – and all the environmental, growth management, and government watchdogs, activists, and advocacies in Volusia and Flagler Counties – for having the courage to stand tall and protect the wonderful attributes that make this such a special place. 

For more information, please find the Protect Volusia website at: https://protectvolusia.org/

Quote of the Week

“At the July 16 Wednesday night meeting, Mayor Derrick Henry and city commissioners Monica Paris and Quanita May didn’t share their opinions about beach driving. Henry did indicate he’d probably be fine with dogs on the beach from Seabreeze Boulevard to Williams Avenue, which is just south of Bellair Plaza.

But the mayor said beach driving is “another matter.”

“We have to talk about it,” Henry said, referring to beach driving. “It’s not quite that cut and dry for me.”

The county is hoping for a resolution of support from the city saying it wants beach driving in the stretch that includes the Main Street and Boardwalk area. But it’s not clear yet if there will be at least four commission votes to make that happen.

One solid yes vote will come from City Commissioner Stacy Cantu.

“I grew up here. I remember driving on the beach even at nighttime,” Cantu said. “I’m in total support of beach driving.”

“So am I,” said City Commissioner Paula Reed, who also grew up in Daytona Beach. “That’s what makes us the world’s most famous beach.”

City Commissioner Ken Strickland said he supports beach driving “wholeheartedly.”

The city manager said he’ll have commissioners vote on the beach driving expansion at a future meeting.

Cantu, Reed, Strickland and Henry all said they’re OK with allowing dogs on the 1.73-mile stretch from Seabreeze Boulevard to Williams Avenue.

City and county attorneys will talk now and decide how to proceed.”

–Reporter Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Daytona Beach considering beach driving from International Speedway Blvd. to Ocean Center,” Thursday, July 17, 2025

The beleaguered Main Street Merchants Association, along with what remains of Boardwalk businesses, have suffered mightily from the devastating economic impacts of removing beach driving between East International Speedway Boulevard and Auditorium Boulevard.

Last year, they approached Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower for help.  

According to estimates, Main Street businesses suffered a 50% decrease in revenue in 2000, the first summer cars were taken off the beach. 

Because the matter was brought forward by Chairman Brower, the ossified “Old Guard” on the Volusia County Council hemmed and hawed, doing everything possible to postpone and procrastinate on the issue.

Then, in an incredibly smart parliamentary chess move, Councilman Troy Kent was able to get the all-but-dead issue resurrected.  

Trust me, our ‘powers that be’ – both on the dais and those puppeteers who manipulate the rods and strings behind the scenes – aren’t accustomed to changing course, even when the results of their self-serving ideas have resulted in civic and fiscal disaster for the rest of us.

Just once, I wish those we elect to represent our interests would try something new. 

Something fun.  Something different.    

A forward-thinking strategy, one different from the stagnant status quo, that would return prosperity to the beachside by improving access to our most important economic asset. 

The return to a time when beach driving set The World’s Most Famous Beach apart, a time of vibrance, prominence, and pride – when Daytona Beach was a nationally recognized destination – before the greed factor saw politicians trade away our traditions as a cheap spiff for the next “game changing” panacea project…

In my view, Commissioners Stacy Cantu, Ken Strickland, and Paula Reed deserve thanks for their staunch support of beleaguered Main Street merchants and those Halifax area residents pushing hard to return beach driving and access.  

Smart people understand that the best way to correct a mistake is to listen to those effected, acknowledge the error, then change tack – return to what was successful – try again with the wisdom of hindsight, and stop blundering down the same path expecting a different result.

In my view, there is no shame in returning to what “worked” by restoring the amenities, draw, and access that once brought people, and prosperity, to our core tourist area.

And Another Thing!

One year ago, those self-described “fiscal conservatives” on the Volusia County Council dipped into voter approved ECHO funds – bureaucratically commandeering approximately $10 million in a scheme known as “direct county expenditures” – to include $3.5 million for Councilman Don Dempsey’s self-indulgent motocross facility to be built on property paid for with Volusia Forever conservation funds… 

You read that right.

This week, without any substantive discussion, explanation (or a second thought), they again dipped into their tax supported slush fund for an additional $5 million to cover nine new projects. 

The vote was unanimous (with Councilman Johansson absent) based on little more than a CYA staff memo and cursory “review” by the ECHO advisory committee.

According to the agenda item, since 2007, Volusia County has taken $37,633,718 through the DCE shim-sham…

Per usual, senior staff justified this sneak thievery through their construal of “ballot language” – along with a 2020 resolution permitting county government to fund projects by “direct county expenditures” – which means they take what they want, when they want in order to fund projects that should be budgeted as recurring repair and replacement expenses for existing facilities. 

For instance, in the latest grab, $400,000 has been allocated to make repairs to the dome, paint bricks, and refinish floors at the Historic Court House in DeLand (?).   

Other expenditures include paving projects in county parks, “lighting, sound equipment and power distribution upgrades” at the Ocean Center (will that place ever support its own existence?), ADA compliance upgrades at restroom facilities, relocating air conditioning units at the Fairgrounds, and other projects one would typically associate with budgeted expenses or those covered (one would hope) by parks and recreation impact fees. 

Public tax dollars allocated with little more than the wave of a wand…

Last year, Volusia County’s internal audit of the ECHO program determined the need for a “written handbook” clarifying the Direct County Expenditure scam. Written protocols and explanations that would “strengthen controls” for DCE projects – to include eligibility and evaluation criteria, the analysis of ongoing costs, and reporting/monitoring requirements – to educate advisory committee members and “stakeholders” (read: We, The Little People).  

It’s now July 2025, and I’ll be dipped in doo-doo if I can find that explanatory “handbook” the audit team suggested on the Volusia County website…   

Unfortunately, the idea of acquiring and preserving environmental, cultural, historic, and outdoor recreation amenities through competitive application, committee review, eligibility evaluation, scoring, and the myriad other hoops required during the award process is only for non-profits, municipal governments and us peons, piss-ants, and little people who pay the bills.

Not County government. 

It is that arrogance and sense of entitlement that perpetuates the malignant “trust issue” that continues to erode public confidence.  A greed factor that will forever cloud any tax-supported initiative Volusia County government can get their fingers in.

In my view, most responsible government entities (without a tax supported piggybank at their disposal) properly budget for capital asset repair, replacement, and upgrade obligations each year.

That is accomplished by prioritizing needs, following protocols for the allocation of public funds, and living within their means.

They don’t quibble resolutions, interpret ballot language, and stretch programmatic intent to shoehorn anything and everything – including the pet personal projects of sitting politicians – into a slimy slush fund where our tax dollars are regularly looted to cover the ongoing mismanagement of preventive maintenance, repair, and replacement of existing public assets. 

In a disturbing development, the discussion of how to proceed with Dempsey’s Folly – the publicly funded motorcross training facility ramrodded through the ECHO and Forever funding process for the oxymoronic purpose of “conservation and outdoor motorized recreation” – has been pushed to August 5, 2025.

At present, the three possible scenarios being considered include forcing Volusia County taxpayers into the motorsports industry with a county built and operated facility that you and I would equip, maintain, staff, and manage. 

(What?  You don’t know squat about the motorcross industry? Or how to perform a peg-standing cliff hanger off a whoop-de-doo, or the first thing about operating a racetrack?  That’s okay.  Neither does Volusia County government, but Mr. Dempsey gets what Mr. Dempsey wants.)

The second suggests that you and I (read: Volusia County taxpayers) build the facility, underwrite the cost of construction, giftwrap it in cash, then hand it over to a private entity that would operate and maintain the track, then pay the county a portion of their “profits.”

The final suggestion includes requesting proposals from independent contractors who would construct, maintain, assume liability, and operate the motorcross facility – with you and I sweetening the pot by funding “…site readiness improvements to make the parcel more attractive to a private developer.”

According to the agenda item, one of the problems with the third option is the same idea has already been unsuccessfully tried in other areas of the state, and there is a “high probability of not receiving bids.” 

So why are we considering spending public funds on a demonstrably failed idea?

You may disagree with me (most do) – but I’m not a fan of any of the staff suggestions offered.

In my view, if a private motorcross operator wants to purchase property and construct a state-of-the-art facility in Volusia County, they should do so on a fair and level playing field, based on due diligence, getting government (and public funds) out of the mix, instead of putting an expensive nice-to-have on the shoulders of already strapped taxpayers.   

Most Volusia County taxpayers would agree – we were led to believe that the ECHO and Forever programs were designed to secure passive outdoor recreation and conservation opportunities for the widest possible public use – not underwrite expensive playgrounds for elected officials’ intent on using public funds to further their private interests.

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

Hi, kids!

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way:

Florida League of Cities – Unmerited Trophies Destroy Public Confidence  

As a longtime observer of all-things government, I’ve come to accept the contradictions, sensationalized misinformation, and petty backstabbing inherent to that cloistered (and horribly corrupted) political biome, now predominantly inhabited by egotistical dullards suffering delusions of grandeur. 

Despite having gained some hard bark over the years, I still cannot stomach the stench of lies – “pay to play” schemes, legalized quid pro quo corruption, and gross self-aggrandizement by mealy-mouth schlubs holding high office – a deleterious trend that is destroying public confidence in government.

That includes the pernicious practice of undeserved rewards and accolades – not for merit or genuine achievement in the public interest – but to foster cheap influence by providing cover and concealment for compromised politicians.   

For instance, the DeLand City Commission recently authorized the wholesale destruction of 62 historic trees to accommodate another “combination of warehouse and commercial space,” yet the city somehow retained its distinction as a “Tree City USA” bestowed by the Arbor Day Foundation.

As a result, the once coveted recognition is now meaningless to residents who will watch in disgust as those historic trees are ground to splinters to accommodate more development.

Last week, the Ormond Beach Observer reported that the Florida League of Cities awarded State Rep. Bill Partington it’s “…Legislative Appreciation Award for his work during the 2025 Legislative Session to protect local decision making of Florida’s municipalities.”

Which is complete horseshit… 

On April 29, 2025, Mr. Partington sold his political soul to his political benefactors in the real estate development community when he voted for SB 180 – legislation which eviscerated the home rule right to self-determination of every city and county in Florida – and virtually eliminated any impediment to continued malignant sprawl under the guise of expediting post disaster restoration efforts.

The bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis last month, has been widely denounced by local governments around the state trying desperately to bring common sense regulations or temporarily pause growth until infrastructure, utilities, and stormwater management can catch up to current demands.

Not anymore.

Under the new law, which was supported by major real estate developers (read: our legislators sugar daddies) local governments are prohibited from making land use and development changes – retroactive to August 2024 – and allows developers to file suit seeking injunctive relief, including attorney fees, for any building or land use regulation they find “restrictive or burdensome.”    

Acting like the cat that ate the canary, Rep. Partington was quoted, “Thank you to the Florida League of Cities for this incredible honor,” Partington said. “I’m deeply grateful to be recognized with the 2025 Legislative Appreciation Award for defending local decision making and empowering municipal leadership across our great state.”

In my view, to undeservedly offer an award recognizing Mr. Partington for “defending local decision-making” after he voted for the most sweeping anti-home rule legislation in recent history is one thing – but shamelessly accepting an honor he must know is wholly unmerited is quite another. 

Who does that?

Unfortunately, with these undeserved awards going to those who so willingly preempted local control, the Florida League of Cities has become an irrelevant fraternity – a neutered watchdog taken to handing out plaques rather than effectively lobbying for its members – no longer pertinent to the cause of preserving charter government and protecting the sacred concept of self-determination enshrined in their slogan, “local voices making local choices.”

I no longer expect much from those perennial politicians who ingratiate themselves with special interests then climb the ladder – their self-serving motives are easy to discern. 

However, in my view, advocacies like the Florida League of Cities have an obligation to stand with those local elected officials who truly champion the right of communities to control their destiny and strive to represent their desperate constituents over the for-profit motives of developers.

Palm Coast City Council vs. Mayor Mike Norris – Enough is Enough  

By its nature, politics is confrontational. 

A battle of ideologies and vision – a war to win ‘hearts and minds’ – a hard-fought contest to convince voters of the superiority of a candidate’s ideas and ultimately prevail at the ballot box.  Unfortunately, here in the Sunshine State, most political contests have become a means for mercenary special interests to control their environment by stacking the deck.    

When the ballots are counted and the election night parties wind down, that’s when the real contest begins – the struggle for power and dominance – the ability to control a majority vote on councils and commissions by crushing any impediment to the profit motives of those well-heeled contributors who brought them to the dance.  

Don’t take my word for it. 

Ask Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower what happens when you become the square peg that refuses to be beaten into the round hole of conformity?

In the City of Palm Coast, Mayor Mike Norris is being taught a tough lesson in what it means to stand against the interests of real estate developers intent on a massive “westward expansion” – despite the fact growth has long overtaken the capacity of the city’s utilities.  

When you add the fact Norris is somewhat rough around the edges when dealing with those delicate flowers (read: senior city officials) who inhabit Palm Coast City Hall, it becomes easy to paint him as an iconoclastic cad, a sharp-elbowed rogue physiologically incapable of reason or compromise.

In April, the City Council commissioned an outside “investigation” of Mayor Norris which ended in one of those weird Kangaroo Kourts where his “colleagues” served as judge, jury, and executioner.  For his refusal to play nice with others, Norris was publicly embarrassed – handed a meaningless “vote of no confidence” – and referred to the Florida Commission on Ethics for reasons that remain unclear.

In May, the Battle Royale continued with Norris filing a lawsuit challenging the council’s October 2024 appointment of Charles Gambaro, a brigadier general with the U.S. Army Reserve, who many rightfully saw as an attaché of former Mayor/Palm Coast Realtor David Alfin. 

At the time, Gambaro was administratively selected for the seat without standing for election following the resignation of former council member Cathy Heighter.    

According to a report in the Palm Coast Observer last week, “Circuit Court Judge Christopher France found Norris had no legal standing to file the law. France also said, “Although the result is flawed, the charter was complied with to fill the vacancy.” 

In addition, “In the City Council meeting on July 8, Gambaro asked the council to consider going after Norris for the city’s attorney fees used in the lawsuit, an estimated $30,000. Norris said the council could take him to court for those fees and that he didn’t “care if it costs the city a million dollars,” he would continue “defending our residents right to pick their representative.”    

Then, last Friday, Palm Coast residents got a glimpse of just how petty-minded things can get when internecine spats take precedence over the ‘people’s business.’

According to reports, David Ayers, the host of WNZF radio’s “Free for All Fridays,” was joined by Gambaro, Palm Coast Economic Manager Craig McKinney, and co-host Brian McMillan (who also serves as publisher of the Palm Coast Observer) who were “…all surprised when Ayres proposed giving out the mayor’s work cell phone number for an informal “poll” for residents.”

“We text the mayor and say, ‘Hey, Mayor Mike, I love you. You’re doing a great job. Keep it up.’ Or we text him and say, ‘You need to go, please resign,’” Ayres said. “So it’d be kind of an A or B, yes, we support you, [or] no, we don’t.”

In turn, Mayor Norris, also a retired Army officer who has proven he can take a punch and give one, responded by posting Gambaro’s personal cell phone number on Facebook – calling Gambaro “the epitome of a DEI (Didn’t Earn It) Hire.” 

The mayor suggested his supporter’s text “NO DEI” to Gambaro. 

It was childish.  A tit-for-tat retaliation, and (one would hope) everyone understood that.   

Then, Gambaro took things to the extreme – accusing Mayor Norris of violating a law that went into effect July 1 which apparently makes it a crime to release a sitting public official’s personal telephone number or home address (say what?), further insulating our elected officials from those they took an oath to serve.   

On Saturday, Norris edited his social media post changing the number to Gambaro’s city issued cell phone.

It didn’t end there.

In a self-aggrandizing “statement” published in the Palm Coast Observer, the easily intimidated Gambaro appeared to be shaking in his boots – clearly traumatized by the fact his constituents were given access to his personal cell phone number – while disavowing any prior knowledge of Mr. Ayers “survey” using Mayor Norris’ city cell phone, then listing his military résumé for effect.  

In my view, that’s when Gen. Gambaro jumped the shark…

“The release of my personal phone number to the public on Mayor Norris’ Facebook page was intentionally done to intimidate my family and I. This reckless action violates the spirit of the recent Senate Bill 268, that was enacted into law on July 1, 2025.

This law was established to protect the private information of public officials and their families as they choose to serve in public office. This is truly the action of a reckless man that does not care about the safety of the residents he was elected to serve.”

Really? 

The Council/Norris feud hit its nadir on Tuesday when, for the second time in three months, the council voted 4-1 to censure Mayor Norris – this time agreeing to request that Gov. Ron DeSantis overturn the will of 63% of Palm Coast voters and remove Norris from office.

According to a report in FlaglerLive.com this week, “The vote followed a brief statement by Council member Charles Gambaro describing Norris as exhibiting a “pattern of toxic behavior,” and whose “fear and intimidation represent a clear and present danger to the citizens of Palm Coast” and city employees.”

Clearly Councilman “Thin-skinned” Gambaro’s penchant for dramatic overreaction knows no bounds…  

During the meeting, Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri cited her belief the mayor has given “recurring misstatements, contradictions and misrepresentations” regarding legal advice from city attorneys who claim Norris was advised he had no chance of prevailing in his lawsuit challenging the Gambaro appointment.

For his part, Norris denies receiving counsel from the legal staff that he lacked standing. 

Now, Pontieri wants Norris to pay all or part of the $30,000 the city paid an outside hired gun to defend the lawsuit.

In my experience, pettiness and cheap manipulation are counter to an accessible and responsive local government – and reflect poorly on the character of those melodramatic mavens holding high office who perpetuate the timewasting roil.   

In the sad case of Palm Coast, I have a fairly good idea what the stakes are – so do those who stand to benefit.  

More important, I understand the motivations of those behind the constant Sturm und Drang at City Hall.  If you live, pay taxes, and experience the claustrophobic effects of overdevelopment on your quality of life anywhere in Flagler County, I suspect you do too…  

Perhaps now is the time for Palm Coast residents to say, “enough is enough.”             

All sides should know that bullying, frivolous controversy, and headline grabbing revenge for every perceived slight is distracting from the significant issues facing Palm Coast residents, and those who indulge in these self-serving histrionics should face the consequences at the ballot box.  

Volusia County’s Iconic Tourism Advocate Bob Davis – Requiescat in Pace

I didn’t always agree with Bob Davis, the longtime President and CEO of the Lodging & Hospitality Association of Volusia County, but I always admired his tireless advocacy for the Daytona Beach Resort Area and the economic engine that is our tourism industry.   

By any metric, Bob Davis was sui generis. 

The self-proclaimed “Mouth of the South” – a true force of nature – with a visceral devotion to the betterment of his community. 

Writing on social media this week, Volusia County Council member Matt Reinhart, who serves as chair of the county’s Tourist Development Council, expressed the thoughts of many area civic leaders when he eloquently recalled Mr. Davis’s love for promoting Volusia County to the world:

“Bob Davis was more than just Volusia County’s most passionate advocate for the hospitality industry—he was one of the most sincere, generous, and dedicated individuals I’ve ever had the privilege to know.

A mentor, a philanthropist, and a true believer in the power of community, Bob didn’t just love the hospitality industry—he cared deeply about our schools, our students, and their future. He believed in education, in opportunity, and in the importance of lifting others up, especially through literacy and learning.

I’ll never forget when I was first campaigning—Bob was the first to take me under his wing and teach me everything I needed to know about our vital tourism and hospitality sectors. He wanted everyone to understand how much these industries meant to our region, and he did it with unmatched passion and warmth.

Bob was widely loved, deeply respected, and will be sorely missed. There will truly never be another like him. There will only ever be one Bob Davis.”

Sadly, Bob Davis passed away on Sunday following a courageous battle with cancer. 

He was 87.

To honor Mr. Davis’s legacy, please consider a donation to the “Bob Davis Culinary and Hospitality Endowed Scholarship” at Daytona State College. 

Donations may be made here: https://tinyurl.com/6uxju7up

Quote of the Week

“Volusia County Councilman Jake Johansson has raised more than $140,000 for his campaign to succeed Sen. Tommy Wright.

The Port Orange Republican’s official campaign account reported almost $45,000 in new fundraising in the second quarter, bringing his candidate haul to more than $113,000 since his December campaign launch.

Additionally, the Johansson-chaired Pathway to Prosperity committee reported another $10,000 in donations, bringing its total contributions north of $30,000.

With Johansson also tossing in a $10,000 candidate loan, he closed the quarter with almost $117,000 in cash on hand between both accounts.

Meanwhile, former Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff, a DeLand Republican, has reported no new fundraising this year and closed the quarter with just over $7,000 in her candidate account. Her United for Florida’s Future committee has more than $49,000, thanks to $50,000 given in December. But that committee also hasn’t reported new contributions all year.

Two other Republicans in the race, Heather Bendl and Jason Voelz, have yet to report any contributions, and both failed to turn in second-quarter reports on time Thursday.

To date, only Republicans have filed in Senate District 8, where Wright cannot seek another term because of term limits.

As for Johansson’s source of support, his committee reported $2,500 donations in April from lobbyist Ron Book (who also gave $1,000 to the candidate account) and Tallahassee consulting firm SKD Consulting Group, as well as from the Florida Beer Wholesalers Good Government Committee. A Wine and Spirits Distributors committee also gave $1,500, along with $1,000 to the campaign account. Interior designer Chris Roy gave $1,000.

In Johansson’s official campaign account, he also reported $1,000 donations from Robin Turnbull & Associates (sic), Heffley & Associates, Associated Industries of Florida, the Committee of Automotive Retailers and the committee Floridians Solving Problems.

Duff Underwriters, FTBA Transportation and Synergy Billing also gave maximum donations, as did Indigo Development and the Ormond Riverside Limited Partnership.”

–Political Analyst Jacob Ogles, writing in Florida Politics, “Jake Johansson clears 6-figure mark in campaign to succeed Tommy Wright in SD 8,” Friday, July 11, 2025

With apologies to the late Charlie Daniels, it looks like “Jake the Snake” is raking in chips like Grant took Richmond… 

Thanks to Mr. Ogles for this eye-opening look at how Florida senate campaigns are underwritten here in The Biggest Whorehouse in the World…

Now, where do you think Mr. Johansson’s loyalty lies? 

With the residents of Senate District 8 – or with his well-heeled political benefactors in the Tallahassee lobbying industry?

And Another Thing!

For someone who considers themselves relatively well-informed on the issues of the day, its hard to admit, but I’m seriously confused…  

More questions than answers, a “lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-you’s running around old Duder’s head,” a weird feeling of uncertainty that always sends my Mittyesque imagination into overdrive, that nagging feeling, “Can this really be true?”

“Is it what I think it is, or is there another explanation that I’m too dumb to grasp?”

Seriously, I’m at a loss this week…

While I typically focus on the absurdities of “Fun Coast” governance, (and you may find this hard to believe), but I have a pollyannaish need to trust those institutions and individuals who guide our future – to believe that the reportage I read in the media is based in fair-minded fact – and that those we elect to high office have our best interests at heart.

But this week the salacious headlines, rumors, and conjecture oozing out of Washington and Tallahassee gave me pause.     

For instance, it was reported that United States Rep. Cory Mills (who represents portions of Volusia County) is being evicted from a $21,000 a month penthouse near the National Mall after owing some $85,000 in back rent. That’s in addition to an active ethics investigation into allegations he personally benefitted from government contracts, along with scandalous reports of the Congressman’s February domestic skirmish that were later retracted… 

For his part, Rep. Mills – who reportedly has a net worth north of $24 million – has emphatically denied any wrongdoing on all fronts and suggests his attempts to pay rent were stymied by an “error code” on a billpaying service.

Well, okay.  I guess…  

All I know with certainty is my wife and I (who have a net worth substantially lower than Rep. Mills) have this “arrangement” with our finicky mortgage company – we send our monthly payment, and they let us stay in this arrogantly shabby cracker box another 30-days.

How’s by you?  

Something else bothered me this week when I read a disturbing exposé in the Orlando Sentinel which raised more questions regarding the still simmering Hope Florida debacle.  

Once considered the “next-big-thing” in national politics until a premature run for White House put him at odds with President Donald Trump.  Gov. Ron DeSantis has struggled to rehabilitate his image and return to relevancy ever since.

During the unmitigated shit-show that was the 2025 Florida Legislative Session – when the Republican dominated legislature righteously flexed their independence for the first time in a long time – things took a telling turn when the ugly details of the Hope Florida fiasco were trotted out for all to see by House Chair Rep. Alex Andrade (R-Pensacola).

The high-profile state House probe into allegations of “money laundering and wire fraud” involving the highest levels of state government abruptly ended in April.   One month later, media outlets confirmed that Leon County State Attorney Jack Campbell was opening a criminal investigation into the matter.

Now, the speculation continues, and answers are hard to come by… 

As I understand it, Hope Florida was originally touted as a means of utilizing trained “navigators” and community non-profits to get people off government assistance.  The program was intimately associated with First Lady Casey DeSantis and seen by many as a launch point for her potential gubernatorial run in 2026.   

That all changed when the non-profit’s bizarre spending patterns, bonuses for state employees, hazy recordkeeping, and its foundation’s disturbing involvement in funneling $10 million from a state legal settlement to defeat a constitutional amendment legalizing recreational marijuana became a serious embarrassment for the Governor and First Lady.  

The questions continue to mount…

This week, the Orlando Sentinel released its report “Hope Florida: Odd, unexplained payments raise more questions,” by investigative reporter Jeffrey Schweers, which took a deep dive into the organizations “haphazard” charitable giving and incomplete record-keeping.

Find the Orland Sentinel’s report here: https://tinyurl.com/ykkzw696  

Now, I’m beginning to question if Gov. DeSantis’ recent efforts to establish a state/federal hybrid immigration detention facility in South Florida is a subliminal attempt to deflect attention from the growing scrutiny of Hope Florida?

Last month, Gov. DeSantis used his expanded powers under an emergency immigration declaration signed in 2023 to seize property from Dade County, then authorized controversial no-bid contracts to build the slap-dash “federal” immigration detention facility in the Everglades in just eight-days… 

At present, the tents and chain-link “temporary” facility has reportedly left Florida taxpayers holding a $450 million bill for construction and annual operations, and it appears no one in Tallahassee has gotten around to submitting a reimbursement request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

According to reports, FEMA was expected to reimburse Floridians for the cost of the facility from funds taken from the Biden administrations asinine and disastrously irresponsible plan to house migrants in New York City hotels… 

Here’s the point of my confusion:

In response to a recent lawsuit filed by environmental groups seeking to stop construction of the facility in an ecologically sensitive area of the glades, attorneys representing the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and FEMA claim the agencies should be removed from the suit as the federal government has not “implemented, authorized, directed, or funded Florida’s temporary detention center.” 

“Florida has received no federal funds, nor has it applied for federal funds related to the temporary detention center.  Courts cannot adjudicate hypothetical future funding decisions or render advisory opinions on contingent scenarios that may never materialize.”

Last weekend, Jeff Brandes, the former Republican lawmaker who served in both the Florida House of Representatives and Senate, questioned the facilities inflated cost of operation in a post on “X”:

“Had to run down to Miami tonight — scored a $117 rate at the Marriott. Driving Alligator Alley, I couldn’t help but think about Alligator Alcatraz and its nightly cost per detainee: At 5,000 detainees: $246.58 At 3,000: $410.96 At current 750: $1,643.84 That’s based on $450M in annual operating costs — compared to $75/night for the average Florida inmate in prison.”

As you might expect, Democrats have reacted to the facility with typical mock outrage (the same hypocrites who pissed away an unconscionable $22.6 Billion in federal funds (read: our tax dollars) on assistance to illegal immigrants in just four years). 

To compound the controversy, this week the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida asked to join the federal lawsuit to stop construction and operation of the detention facility, citing the fact it is being built in a place tribal members consider “sacred ancestral homelands.”  

(I thought it was being built on an abandoned jetport?)

Your views may differ, but I happen to support the vigorous enforcement of federal immigration laws as an important part of protecting our national security (and sovereignty). I am less accepting of grandiose stunts that deflect attention – and our tax dollars – to rehabilitate the flagging public image of politicians with their ass in a sling…

I don’t know about you, but I found it disturbing that while Gov. DeSantis was vetoing some $5 million in appropriations for desperately needed stormwater and flood control projects in Volusia County, he was building a multi-million-dollar ersatz “federal” detention facility with the made-for-media moniker “Alligator Alcatraz.” 

Given the scare many flood-frightened area residents received earlier this week when water started to rise, that bothers me…  

Perhaps I spend too much time ruminating on intractable issues with no good answers – but now I question if “Alligator Alcatraz” was ever about strengthening immigration enforcement efforts in Florida or elsewhere?  Or was it thrown together with little planning or purpose simply to ensure Gov. DeSantis got the 15-minutes on the national stage he needed to flex after a very public fall from grace that has eroded his legislative influence and hamstrung his wife’s political ambitions?    

Last month, Mr. Brandes, who now heads a think tank known as the Florida Policy Project, questioned “Is it a federal facility, or is it a state facility that is leased to the feds?” and pondered how “Alligator Alcatraz” will ultimately be staffed?

Again, more questions than answers. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, Bonanza’s coming on and I never miss it. At least I can still tell the good guys from the bad guys…

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