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! 

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:

First Step Shelter Finally Gets the Scrutiny We Deserve

Last month, the Daytona Beach City Commission and Volusia County Council authorized an agreement with First Step Shelter which calls for taxpayers to continue underwriting the enigmatic program to the tune of $2.6 million over the next five years.

The good news? 

This time there are solid strings attached.  

For the first time in First Step’s existence, We, The Little People who pay for it will have some assurance that what we are told by the less-than-transparent board of directors is honest, accurate, and verifiable.  

According to a report by Eileen Zaffiro-Kean and Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “The new agreement also includes specific language addressing County Council members’ concerns about government dollars being used for administrative overhead and not direct service provision. It explicitly prohibits the use of county funds for executive salaries, bonuses, administrative overhead costs unrelated to program operations, unauthorized capital expenditures, and indirect costs not directly tied to shelter operations.”

Good.  In my view, those municipalities currently spending the bulk of their social services budget on First Step while our regional homeless population surges should demand the same.

In addition, Volusia County has specified which operating expenses will be covered and requires that shelter officials submit monthly requests for reimbursement with the stipulation “…no money will be released until those amounts are approved.”

Other requirements include monthly, quarterly, and annual reviews to ensure conditions set forth in the agreement are being met, to include an annual audit of the shelter’s “files” and a site visit by county staff.

“The county also has the right to terminate its role in the agreement with 60 days written notice if First Step officials fail to meet at least 50% of the annual performance metrics in the agreement, they fail to submit any required report or they misuse funds.”

Perhaps now Volusia County taxpayers can learn exactly where First Step alumni are being housed (something the program recently touted at 1,000 people) and who is paying for it long-term? 

A cursory check of several Volusia County housing authorities found very few (if any) opportunities for low-income housing.  For instance, according to a stern notice on the Housing Daytona Beach website, “Interested persons can ONLY apply for housing when a notice appears to the public to do so. At this time, ALL WAITING LIST ARE CLOSED.”

On the Volusia County’s Community Assistance site, those seeking housing vouchers (Section 8) are told, “Volusia County’s Housing Choice Voucher Program is not accepting applications at this time.”

In West Volusia, a notice on the DeLand Housing Authority’s website grimly explained, “The DeLand Housing Authority (DHA) last accepted Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher waiting list applications from June 11, 2024, until 1,000 applications have been received. This is the first time the waiting list has been open since it closed in January, 2022.”

Clearly the need for subsidized housing is far outpacing supply here on the “Fun Coast.”  

With low-income Volusia County families currently languishing on waiting lists, where did First Step house 1,000 people over the past five years? 

Perhaps now Volusia County taxpayers will receive the answers – and basic accountability – we deserve.  

So long, Fresh Market – Hope it wasn’t something I said?

“Turns out The Fresh Market isn’t coming here after all.

The Greensboro, North Carolina-based chain scrapped its plans to expand to the World’s Most Famous Beach after determining that Daytona Beach lacks the demographics to support upscale grocery stores.

Meanwhile, construction is well underway for two of its biggest competitors across the street from where it would have gone: Trader Joe’s and Sprouts Farmers Markets.

“Fresh Market declined the site. I was shocked by the reasoning,” said Jason Kaiser, leasing agent for the planned shopping center called The Cays where the grocery chain had signed a letter-of-intent earlier this year to become a tenant.”

–Business Editor Clayton Park, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Fresh Market not expanding to Daytona Beach. Here’s the surprising reason why,” Thursday, July 3, 2025

Welp.  Darn the luck…

Just when everyone who is anyone here on the “Fun Coast” was touting the arrival of three specialty grocery chains and a Tesla dealership as a preternatural prodigium that we are on the cusp of a regional economic renaissance, it appears Fresh Market took a powder…

For years, Trader Joe’s added to our civic identity crisis when they told us the Halifax area may have the “demographics” to schlep boxes around a Trader Joe’s warehouse, but we simply didn’t have the social credit rating required for one of their tony grocery stores. 

Apparently, Daytona Beach just didn’t meet the mark on whatever sophistication scale Trader Joe’s uses to determine who it will grace, and who it won’t…

That all changed after some crack investigative work by the News-Journal’s Clayton Park and Hometown News sleuth Charles Guarria determined that an honest-to-goodness Trader Joe’s would one day grace the Tomoka Town Center off Boomtown Boulevard.     

We also learned that both Fresh Market and Sprouts Famers Market planned to open outlets across the street (?) near a new Tesla electric-car dealership – a sure sign that our chaunts and fervent prayers to the Specialty Grocery God’s had (finally) been heard – a biblical prophecy of economic resurgence fulfilled. 

I’m not a marketing guru – just another rube wandering the wilderness, like you – but while our ‘powers that be’ were in a frenzy of exuberation, I harbored serious concerns that the close proximity of three competing niche stores would oversaturate the market. As usual, our gushing “movers-and-shakers” didn’t seem to share my fears.

Look, I get it.   

Every retailer wants to be close to Margaritaville – the faux beach community west of I-95 that truly has the “demographic” to support specialty grocers and Tesla dealerships. As a result, developers are working overtime to pave over every square inch of greenspace off LPGA, Williamson, Clyde Morris, etc., to accommodate more of the same.  

Not to worry, according to the News-Journal article, leasing agent Jason Keiser said he’s “trading paper” with several prospects at The Cay’s – to include another “big box” retailer (that he refused to identify) and several restaurants that are considering space in the complex.

Keep your fingers crossed, and I’ll do the same.

Here’s hoping Trader Joe and Farmer Sprout hold firm to their promise and give us bumpkins a chance to prove ourselves.

Volusia’s Legislative Delegation – Who Works for Whom? 

This week, three members of Volusia’s state legislative delegation gathered on a gilded stage in Deltona to answer questions from their confused (and increasingly claustrophobic) constituents about why they voted the way they did during that flaming shit-show that passed for a legislative session this year.

Of specific concern to waterlogged Volusia County residents was SB 180 – the new law cleverly labeled “emergencies” that blatantly strips municipal and county governments of their right to self-determination under home rule charter – and gives greed-crazed developers carte blanche to build when, where, and what they want. 

The environment, water quality and quantity, and the threat of development-induced flooding be damned…

I have to admit, I was curious how legislators who so unashamedly sold out their local governments to the benefit of their campaign benefactors could possibly explain themselves in a place where out-of-control growth has now surpassed our antiquated transportation infrastructure, utilities, and patience? 

According to a summary by reporter Mark Harper writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Rep. Chase Tramont (Port Orange) described the bill as “complicated” (which means he’s caught between a rock and his political donors), and explained it’s more about him than us:

In Mr. Tramont’s view, local government protections for existing homeowners facing devastating repeat flooding due to the tremendous growth that has altered the topography of the land takes second fiddle to the “”American dream” of homeownership,” (which, I think, means the ability to screw your inundated neighbor if it benefits the right last names?)

On the idea of local governments taking a commonsense tap of the brakes on growth until infrastructure and stormwater control can catch up to current demands:

“I fundamentally don’t agree with moratoriums,” Tramont said. “The idea of a moratorium… you’re not sticking it to the developer. You’re sticking it to the construction worker… You’re taking away the ability for people to work. You’re taking away from their ability to provide housing.” 

Bullshit.

For his part, it appears Rep. Webster Barnaby (Deltona) chose the monolog from “Animal House” to explain himself.  According to the report, Mr. Barnaby “…cited the U.S. Constitution in defending his vote: “These are the United States of America. We’re not the United Cities and we’re not the United Counties.”

Say what?

The only thing missing was Mr. Barnaby dramatically leading his colleagues off the dais humming the Star-Spangled Banner, screaming “Well, you can do what you want to us, but we’re not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen!”

According to Rep. Barnaby, “The bill was passed to make sure people can rebuild faster and better,” Barnaby said, later adding: “I don’t want you living in a tent in a park.”

Whatever.

To add insult, the News-Journal is reporting a paltry $1 million in state appropriations to improve the City of Underwater’s antiquated and overgrown canal drainage system.  Now, Edgewater’s manchild Mayor Diezel Depew is calling the chump-change that survived Gov. Ron DeSantis’ rapierlike veto pen “a turning point for our community…”

Really?

“It’s a history-making moment in our community.”

If you say so.

Unfortunately, some flooded residents of Edgewater have a different view – and they want a more modern system of stormwater management than overgrown ditches and trash strewn canals.

In my view, Volusia’s legislative delegation knows exactly why SB 180 was written the way it was – and it has nothing to do with protecting the rights of property owners to rebuild following hurricanes – and everything to do with getting the speedbumps of local building regulations and the threat of temporary moratoriums out the way of real estate developers who have purchased a very lucrative chip in the game.

Don’t take my word for it – check the extensive list of campaign contributors who underwrite our state and local decision-makers political ambitions – time, after time, after time…

If you live in Volusia County and suffer under the notion your concerns should be the concerns of your legislative delegation – rather than their personal views, wants, and motivations – then make yourself known at the ballot box. 

I fear that’s the only hope for substantive change we have left… 

Quote of the Week

“We in Volusia County are blessed. We have the best county-council members that money can buy. And, as a bonus, we have a planning department staffed with mental midgets, divinely chosen for their expertise. With perhaps the exception of Jeff Brower, these folks revel riding in the hip pocket of real estate developers. Like obedient robots, they rubber-stamp zoning changes, building plans, impact fee waivers and sundry requests made by their campaign contributors. The developers get what they pay for.

Years of citizens’ concerns about chronic flooding and unbridled growth go unheeded. As more bulldozers are unleashed daily on our shrinking woodlands, nary a scrub is left standing when construction begins. Destruction always precedes construction.

When completed, the projects are given quaint names like Hidden Creek, Whispering Pines, or Golden Oaks. More often than not, the name reflects what used to be on the property and no longer is. When construction is completed, a few small saplings are planted, a chunk of sod laid down, and this is called landscaping.

Little concern is paid to environmental impact or water retention. Drainage is simply an afterthought. If rainwater is pushed onto your neighbor’s property, so be it. This “build, baby, build” policy is a financial windfall for developers, who often are not local, and have no stake in a project when finished.

A short tour of the Interstate 95 area of Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach is a fine example of raped landscape now covered with ticky-tacky apartment construction. More mega-projects are soon to come. Responsible growth, with an emphasis on a healthy green environment, should be a mandatory policy, both at a state and county level. Quality of life should supersede quantity of construction.

The claim that we have a housing shortage, partly due to the influx of new Florida residents, is valid. But the quality of construction should take precedence over quantity of construction.

A moratorium on new development is long overdue. We are now building future slums, barren of any greenery or pedestrian amenities. Density, setbacks and infrastructure needs have to be planned responsibly. Unfortunately, corporate developers have been let loose by our governor, and the plunder of our resources and neighborhoods continues unabated.

After the next storm, we can cry again about high insurance rates, flooding, and traffic congestion. And our “bought and paid for” commissioners can go home to their gated communities and schedule another workshop to discuss and delay any meaningful action.”

–Chuck Oakwood, DeLand, writing in The West Volusia Beacon, Letters to the Editor, “Quality should take precedence over quantity,” Tuesday, July 1, 2025

What he said…  

And Another Thing!

The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s outstanding investigative reporter Eileen Zaffiro-Kean recently penned one of those feel-good “Top Ten” lists – signs that let us denizens of the Daytona Beach Resort Area know we’re “real locals” – or as Eileen so aptly put it, “…if you stick around long enough the Daytona-ness of it all finds its way into your psyche.”

I’ll say…

The News-Journal’s inventory included common experiences like our righteous preoccupation with the Atlantic Hurricane Season, and shared connection to the Daytona International Speedway, Flea Market, what remains of the Daytona Beach Boardwalk, and the venerable “Who’s Who of Daytona Beach,” which includes Matthias Day; Charles Burgoyne; Bill France Sr., and his descendants; Mary McLeod Bethune; J. Hyatt Brown; Mori Hosseini; and Glenn Ritchey.

As a lifelong resident of the Halifax area, I’ve developed my own list of the universal familiarities that form the communal bond between us hardy souls who eke out a living, raise families, educate our kids, and (as the Chamber of Commerce set likes to say) “live, work, play, and learn” here on this salty piece of land we call home:

10.       You expect to be hit in the ass by an uninsured motorist driving a “car” held together with bailing wire and bubblegum, towing a utility trailer with no taillights, (who may or may not be fleeing from the police).  But that’s okay, because if you live anywhere in East Central Florida, you know the name, telephone number, and recent client settlements of at least three personal injury attorney’s – including their spouse, kids, and dog.     

9.         As a savvy “local” you know better than to walk.  Anywhere. 

For years, the Deltona-Daytona-Ormond “metro” has received the dubious distinction of being among the most dangerous areas in the nation for pedestrian fatalities.

By a lot…

Of course, our hospitality gurus in Tallahassee used this grim statistic to do what they do best and put some polish on the turd, claiming with a straight face, “Florida is a state with weather warm enough to invite walking outdoors nearly the entire year, as opposed to, say, Provo, Utah, or Madison, Wisconsin, or Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, the three safest places to walk.”

Seriously.  I don’t make this shit up, folks…

8.         We are forced to accept that our collective civic vision, and that of our ‘powers that be,’ are not the same.  Not even close…   

For instance, although we live in the most dangerous place in the known universe for pedestrians, experiential learning – that weird pain/habituation “nocebo” effect – has taught us to get comfortable with waiting through three cycles of a traffic light at (enter any intersection east or west of the Palmetto Curtain here).

As veterans of the Volusia County soft-shoe, when it comes to transportation infrastructure, we expect gaseous lip service from our elected officials and regional transportation planning organization (who is big on “policy positions” and light on actually improving our near-gridlocked streets and roadways). 

Regardless, hard-earned experience has taught we never ask the Florida Department of Transportation to “fix” a traffic problem. 

Ever. 

Don’t take my word for it.  When someone at the City of Ormond Beach asked:

“How could we possibly f*&K up Granada Boulevard and A-1-A more than it already is, you know, a real abomination that makes it almost impossible to navigate – while doing maximum damage to tires, bumpers, and undercarriages – requiring motorists have the skills of Joie Chitwood to get east, west, north, or south?” 

FDOT responded: “Hold my beer…”

7.         You remember when a trip around the Ormond Scenic Loop was, well, “scenic.” 

A time before massive development was shoehorned between US-1 and Old Dixie Highway – slash-n-burn land clearing that left a thin veneer of trees that only partially obscure the ugly zero lot line cracker boxes to the west – along with the near-constant stream of stormwater flowing over the pavement due to the drastic change in topography we were all promised would not occur…

6.         We are governed by a wacky Clown Troupe – a strange “Political Fun House” – where truth is always stranger than fiction. 

A weird Theater of the Absurd where our elected officials make pacts that require they completely ignore the presence of any constituent who comes before them.

For instance, whenever a Volusia County taxpayer takes time away from their “good paying job,” drive to DeLand, find parking, and approach the Monarchy – we are met with a catatonic gaze from our elected gargoyles – a bureaucratic aphasia that lets us know those we elect to represent our interests don’t give two-shits about our piddly-problems.

From flood victims demanding relief, to environmentalists asking the tough questions about overdevelopment, and exsanguinated taxpayers questioning a $1.3 billion+ annual budget, the eerie silence from the dais is deafening.

A one-way conversation where enquiries, anecdotal information, requests for assistance, and good old-fashioned public input into policy decisions, flow into a communication black hole, one so dense that when a disgusting racist diatribe was recently launched from the podium, it was met with stone-faced silence (later buffered by ridiculous claims of acute deafness) from our detached Council members…    

Of course, things change each election cycle when those same perennial politicians seeking reelection invite us to campaign launches – “get-togethers” and stilted “hob nobs” – where they shake our hand, slap our backs, call us neighbors, and tell us how much they enjoy “serving” our needs.  

Right.

A bizarre form of political gaslighting to distract from the fact they are accepting massive campaign contributions from all the right last names to ensure their personal and professional “needs” outpace ours every time.

Look, Volusia County taxpayers may be rubes, but we are not dumb.

Increasingly, our elected dullards are having a difficult time convincing us they care about the myriad issues we face when they are constantly sending subliminal signals that they don’t…

5.         We’ve become calloused to the latest “game-changer.”

When a speculative developer completes a project which invariably involves some government handout – such as a massive influx of our tax dollars in the form of “economic incentives” or “public/private partnerships” – schemes which use public funds to increase private profits – our elected and appointed officials soil themselves with excitement-induced urinary incontinence.    

In turn, everyone who is anyone catches the fever and fawns to the point of nausea for days on end, while the rest of us – the long-suffering taxpayers who either footed the bill or gave up a public amenity – are left feeling like an afterthought.

A necessary nuisance who pays the bills.  A means to an end who ask too many questions.  

Each and every time, We, The Little People who hand over our hard-earned tax dollars to underwrite the for-profit motives of our “Rich & Powerful,” are considered ingrateful bastards for not blindly accepting the latest panacea project as a miracle cure for everything from our social, civic, and economically depleted beachside to swimmer’s itch…

Heck yeah!  Excited!  Catalyst!  Difference!

Whoop-Whoop!

4.         You’re still sore about giving up beach driving to accommodate someone’s idea of “progress” in our disastrously distressed core tourist area.

Anyone remember standing at the gilded barrier like grubby Dickensian urchins – looking on as our political elite rubbed elbows, enjoyed cocktails, and were lavishly entertained by a private firework spectacular and staged concert (on the first evening of sea turtle nesting season?) – at an “invitation only” VIP soiree as the politicians who traded away our beach access for a row of poison poles celebrated the grand opening of Hard Rock Daytona?

Me neither…  

3.         You are no longer shocked by News-Journal articles with the headline, “Is that an algae bloom or raw sewage in the Indian River?  How to tell the difference…”

Note to newcomers to the region: Don’t taste it.

For the uninitiated, according to a recent report, “Sewage and algae blooms can be difficult to distinguish visually, especially during warmer months.  Sewage typically contains debris like toilet paper and has a foul odor, while algae has an earthier smell.”

Cleared that up. You’re welcome.

2.         Despite the threat of hurricanes, wildfires, and recurrent flooding, our greatest collective terror remains losing the air conditioner…   

I know, I know – don’t even think about it. 

The News-Journal’s list of ten signs you’re a local included, “No tolerance for cold temperatures.”  I would submit that we’re not big on the hellish heat of a Central Florida summer either…

Having lived in Florida for nearly 65 summers now, I have a weird theory that refrigeration is the only thing that separates us from the Great Apes.

Remember the 1986 movie The Mosquito Coast?

It was an excellent sociological study of an increasingly insane inventor who set out with his family to build a utopia in the jungles of Central America.  In a pivotal scene, as the cheese slowly slips off his cracker in the heat and humidity, the mad man – expertly portrayed by actor Harrison Ford – screams at the indifferent natives, “Ice is civilization!”

Dude was right.  We’ve all been there. 

While most Floridian’s don’t have a clue who their mayor is, they can immediately tell you the name of their HVAC repair tech…   

1. We share a growing political apathy – a “ho-hum” acceptance that our politicians are wholly owned by “special interests” with a very lucrative chip in the game – and many of us have become so disillusioned we don’t care anymore… 

We “Fun Coasters” are a strange group – victims of a long line of pirates; swashbuckling thieves who traded tri-corn hats and cutlasses for Armani suits and Montblanc pens.  As a result, we have become conditioned to endure a lot from those who claim to be looking out for our interests…   

Author John Gunther accurately said in his 1947 work on the United States and our unique politics, Inside U.S.A., that Florida’s “freakishness in everything from architecture to social behavior [is] unmatched in any American state.”

That’s still true today.

I call Tallahassee “The Biggest Whorehouse in the World.” 

Because it is.

A skewed unmeritocratic system where hand-select candidates for political office – typically dimwitted egoists who are chosen by local party “kingmakers” for their Gumby-like malleability and individual talent, accomplishment, or intelligence be damned – wade into the fetid shitpit of modern Volusia County political contests.

Then we watch as the “Rich & Powerful” (i.e., the same five people who pass the same nickel around in this artificial economy) steam shovel large sums of money into the groaning war chests of the ‘chosen ones.”

The subliminal ‘return on investment’ it buys is important as their political benefactors are not used to being told “No” – especially at the nexus of public funds and private projects…

In turn, local campaigns now resemble a back-alley knife fight, underwritten by these massive contributions flowing from powerful forces, cash that skews the battlefield, as special interests cut-and-thrust using ominous television advertisements and exaggerated glossy mailers touting scandalous claims to gain an advantage.  

In the clamor and din of the political warfare, it becomes increasingly difficult to know who we can trust.  

I think that’s the plan.   

Through hard-earned experience, claustrophobic Volusia County residents are beginning to reject the empty promises of perennial politicians seeking reelection – those who say one thing at election time, then do the exact opposite once assuming power.   

(I don’t know about you, but I identify their horseshit by its earthy smell…)

Unfortunately, far too many area residents have fallen victim to the curse of political apathy – that feeling of frustrated indifference born of having the rug pulled out from underneath them one too many times.

The sense that participation in their local government doesn’t count now that their voice is increasingly muted by compromised elected officials (and the entrenched insiders they serve) who seek to suppress citizen input at every turn.

So, where do we go from here?

In my view, “Fun Coast” residents are slowly coming to the waterlogged realization that business as usual cannot continue.  We’ve reached the point where malignant sprawl is having profound consequences that impact our quality of life. 

We truly are in this together.  A shared experience. One totally foreign to our marionettes in Tallahassee and many ensconced on our local councils and commissions.

Despite the divisions and differences of opinion we face, we are stronger when we work together to set goals, find common ground, take a stand for our neighbors, and determine our civic destiny by setting a shared vision for the future.

I think that’s what ‘community’ means.    

At the end of the day, returning a local government of, by, and for the people is our responsibility. 

Vote like our lives and livelihoods depend upon it.

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

Hi, kids!

Happy Thursday, to all who celebrate…

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:

Courage and Cowardice in the Lost City of Deltona

I was recently on an airplane enroute to Orlando International Airport from LAX.  To avoid building thunderstorms over the Gulf Coast, the flight deviated along the Florida-Georgia border before turning south and traversing the spine of Florida just east of Lake City, Gainesville, Ocala, and Leesburg.

Slumped in 21-F, I gazed out the window, noting the striking difference between established neighborhoods – treelined streets and large verdant lots – and the sheer number of massive developments that are metastasizing across the width and breadth of the state.

The new subdivisions clearly differentiated from existing homes by the mitochondria-like matrix of zero lot line cracker boxes swirled in a way that shoehorns the maximum number of structures onto every denuded acre.

Equally prominent were the large black gashes in the barren landscape where heavy equipment is taking large bites from the margins of unspoiled greenspace – slash-and-burn land clearing that churns the earth to muck.  Once the land is stripped of trees and vegetation, fill dirt is trucked in to elevate homesites – forever changing the topography of the land – and destroying what environmentalists call the “natural infrastructure” that helps control flooding, provides wildlife habitat, and recharges our water supply.

From the literal 30,000’ view, it is disturbingly clear that the Sunshine State is screwed…

Last week, in yet another sneak attack (this time camouflaged as hurricane recovery legislation) on charter government and the home rule right of Florida counties and municipalities to determine their destiny, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 180, a law that literally handed greed-crazed developers the keys to the kingdom.

Inconceivably, this overreaching special interest preemption limits changes to virtually all local comprehensive plans, land development regulations, procedures for the review, approval, or issuance of site plans, development orders, or building moratoriums, retroactive to August 1, 2024.

For an added kick in the crotch to local governments, the law empowers developers to file civil actions to obtain declaratory and injunctive relief – along with recovery of attorneys’ fees – if a city or county fails to announce its intent to repeal any lawfully enacted ordinance the developer finds subjectively “restrictive or burdensome” within 14 days of receiving written demand and then repeals the ordinance within 30 days.

The local impacts were immediate.

Within hours of Gov. DeSantis’ signature, the City of Deltona received notice of intent to file suit under the terms of Senate Bill 180 from an Orlando law firm representing a multi-unit developer challenging an ordinance unanimously passed by the City Commission last December. 

Trust me, that’s just the beginning…

To their credit, on Monday, a majority of the Deltona City Commission courageously passed a temporary building moratorium on a 4-3 vote – a bold move that has nothing to do with rebuilding after recent hurricanes – as city officials attempt to do the will of their constituents and tap the brakes on growth while determining solutions to persistent stormwater and flooding issues.

Following passage of the nine-month pause on applications for new residential construction, the city’s schlub of a mayor, Santiago Avila Jr. – who joined Vice Mayor Davison Heriot and Commissioner Emma “No Show II” Santiago in attempting to defeat the measure – wrung his hands and mewled to reporters that he’s afraid state legislators won’t like him anymore.

During his tone-deaf virtue signaling, Mayor Avila had the stones to talk about his “oath,” (an inconvenience he’s repeatedly ignored to the financial detriment of Deltona taxpayers) while moralizing to his fellow elected officials:

“I took an oath of office, to vote the way I am supposed to as far as abiding by the law.  What we just did right now, in my opinion, is malfeasance, and it’s dereliction of duty. It’s unconstitutional, and it’s wrong. It’s a lot of political play. Instead of playing these games, we should concentrate on our impact fees, getting them fast-tracked.”

That’s rich coming from Mayor Avila…    

Then, a clearly rattled Avila tried his best to capitulate to those in Tallahassee who are actively trying to crush Deltona’s ability to control their destiny, “We are literally touting that we have just passed an unconstitutional resolution, ordinance, whatever you want to call it, and we’re kind of saying, ‘Hey, Governor, we’re here, and we want to pick a fight with you.’ Ask the speaker of the House on that one.”

A day later, Avila hyper-dramatically announced on Facebook (?) he will refuse to sign the ordinance passed by majority vote of the Deltona City Commission – saying it would constitute malfeasance and invite a legal challenge – and suggests the “Commission designate another official, should they choose to proceed.”  

This coming from the same debt-dodging hack who used Deltona resident’s hard-earned tax dollars to fund a political junket for him and his wife to Washington – then hired a high-priced mouthpiece (again at taxpayer expense) to claim Avila didn’t know the city had a travel policy…

Kudos to Commissioners Dori Howington, Maritza Avila-Vazquez, Stephen Colwell, and Nick Lulli for having the courage of their convictions and standing with citizens threatened by development-induced flooding, inadequate infrastructure, and spineless politicians like Mayor Avila (and others behind the scenes) who are more interested in feathering their political nests than protecting existing residents.   

Now it is time for We, The Little People to demand that these craven shills stop weakening the concept of home rule with heavy handed legislative tactics for the enrichment of their political benefactors and use the power of the ballot box to hold these bought-and-paid-for prostitutes at all levels of government politically accountable for their despicable actions.  

In my view, if we are to preserve local control of planning, development, and self-determination in accordance with a community’s vision and character, it is imperative those do-nothings at the Florida League of Cities, Florida Association of Counties, and our local elected officials get off their asses and let those marionettes in Tallahassee know that existing residents should have the basic right to regulate growth that will impact their lives and livelihoods. 

“High Paying Jobs” vs. Historic Trees.  Guess who won?

The lede typically reads, “Volusia County offered $500,000 in performance-based incentives the company would receive only if it makes good on its pledge to create 1,000 jobs,” or “The City of Deltona dangled a carrot of $2.5 million in performance-based incentives if Amazon were to make good on its pledge to create at least 500 jobs that paid at least $15 an hour plus benefits…”

The locations change but the story remains the same. 

A local government willingly concedes something of value – typically our hard-earned tax dollars – to a corporate entity on the subjective promise of “high paying jobs.” 

According to statewide economic studies, Volusia County has a high percentage of working households who are considered asset limited/income constrained, families who earn above the federal poverty level but are unable to afford basic living expenses.

That means keeping a roof over your head and putting food on the table is getting increasingly difficult, especially in an artificial economy where your local government picks winners and losers with lavish “incentives” that your struggling Mom & Pop business could only dream of.

As a result, We, The Little People willingly acquiesce to these corporate giveaways (what else are we going to do?) while our economic development guru’s lull us into a false sense of “progress” – a civic fallacy based upon toxic optimism that has gotten so far afield here on the “Fun Coast” that we are now led to believe a specialty grocery chain signals regional rebirth and prosperity for all…

As development spreads like wildfire across Florida, the “incentives” gifted to developers increasingly involve irreversible environmental sacrifices, ecological devastation that will ultimately cost each of us far more than another corporate welfare cash incentive…  

Last week, the “jobs” ruse was rolled out to devastating effect when the DeLand City Commission voted 4-0 (with Commissioner Dan Reed absent) to permit the wholesale destruction of 62 historic trees to make way for another industrial and commercial “park,” this one to be constructed near Cassadaga Road and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Beltway. 

During the discussion, City Commissioner Richard Paiva whined 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.

According to a report by Robin Mimna writing in The West Volusia Beacon last week:

“To move forward with the project, the developer, Longleaf Four LLC, (really?) proposed a mitigation package that includes a 1:1 replacement for each historic tree removed, thousands of additional inches of trees planted across the site, and the preservation of a 10-acre wooded parcel in unincorporated Volusia County — home to an estimated 562 live oaks, turkey oaks and longleaf pines, that will eventually be annexed into DeLand.

Because DeLand’s code does not typically allow preserved trees to count toward mitigation, the city previously amended the project’s Planned Unit Development to permit off-site preservation.”

In response, Dr. Wendy Anderson, professor and chair of environmental science and studies at Stetson University, a member of the Volusia County Soil and Water Conservation Board, and a candidate for the District 1 Volusia County Council seat, explained to city officials that the mitigation plan offered by the developer represents the bare minimum required under current regulations.

“The ‘solutions’ offered to the Tree Advisory Committee were presented as some big concession, but in reality, it’s just the bare minimum required under development regulations,” Anderson said.

“These trees provide shade and help capture stormwater,” she added. “We already have stormwater mitigation systems — why not integrate the existing natural infrastructure?”

Now that their elected officials have proven what’s important to them, and what is not, residents of DeLand can say goodbye to that which defines the character and charm of their community. We now live in a foul age where the shiny nugget of 1.5 million square feet of industrial warehouse space and some out-of-state developer’s notion of homogenized sameness beats historic hardwoods every damn time…

Quote of the Week

“Media reports document 90-100 seasonal lifeguard vacancies in 2022, 2023, and 2024. In the past year, County Councilman Troy Kent made numerous inquiries into Volusia’s ongoing lifeguard shortage. The Ormond Beach City Commission recently sent a letter to the county questioning unstaffed lifeguard stations.

Specifically, Neptune Avenue, with a large county-leased parking lot and an A1A traffic light for pedestrian crossings, has a lifeguard only on weekends and some Mondays. That means Ormond beachgoers north of Granada should never go into the water on weekdays. Yet many of them do, at Neptune, Amsden, and Standish approaches.

Deputy County Manager Suzanne Konchan has responded: The county is budgeted to staff all towers seven days a week, but there have been fewer numbers of seasonal lifeguards available during the spring/summer season. (Historically, lifeguards were staffed every half mile, within sight and sound of each other’s calls for emergency backup.)

Today, mobile units patrol extensive stretches of beach to cover the gaps.

The lifeguard shortage has been addressed with increased recruiting and training, increased salaries, benefits, and bonuses. Scheduling strategies have been updated. Proactive efforts now encourage the return of lifeguards from previous years.

Lifeguard deployments are based on data analysis of historical crowds and rescues, placing resources in areas of high beachgoer density with off-beach parking availability. A tiered priority system considers rescue history, environmental conditions, and swimmer density patterns.

But if fewer beachgoers go to unguarded beaches, low counts on those beaches become a self- fulfilling prophecy. And after years of high vacancies, new recruitment strategies are needed.”

–Former Ormond Beach City Commissioner & Civic Activist Jeff Boyle, as excerpted from his op/ed in The Ormond Beach Observer, “Lifeguard shortage still not addressed,” Tuesday, July 1, 2025

In his cogent piece in the Observer, Mr. Boyle noted the shocking fact that last year there were nine drownings on unguarded Volusia County beaches, 13 in 2023, and eight deaths in 2022.

Those grim statistics represent lives lost, and families destroyed, on Volusia County beaches.

That’s unacceptable.

“A study by Simmrin Law identified the 10 most dangerous beaches in America, factoring storms, lightning, shark attacks, and surf-related fatalities. Ranked: New Smyrna Beach (1), Daytona Beach (3), Ormond Beach (6), and Ponce Inlet (7).”

Damn.

In an equally stunning and short-sighted cost cutting measure, this week Flagler County Administrator Heidi Petito announced the county is considering ending its annual grant to Flagler Beach which pays half the cost of the city’s lifeguard program.

According to a report in FlaglerLive.com, the cost sharing agreement between the city and county has been in effect since 2017, and “Last year Flagler Beach’s 31 lifeguards conducted 241 rescues and took 1,800 preventive actions, with zero drownings…”

In addition, “Since 2017, when the city and the county signed a joint agreement ensuring that the county would contribute 50 percent of the funding, lifeguards have conducted 1,132 rescues, with zero drownings in the guarded portions of the beach.

There have been zero drownings along the guarded beaches since 2009, the earliest year of USLA data. In contrast, there have been seven drownings on unguarded portions of Flagler County beaches over that span. (The United States Lifeguard Association calculates the chance of a drowning off a protected beach at 1 in 18 million.)”

The $106,000 annual county contribution only covers lifeguard salaries, not equipment or other needs of the program.

Find the disturbing article here: https://tinyurl.com/28p8c4eb

According to reports, Petito’s unilateral decision to cancel an interlocal agreement – public policy approved by the Flagler Board of County Commissioners and Flagler Beach City Commission – came as a surprise to elected and administrative officials at both the city and county.   

Perhaps this is clapback from the BOCC’s recent rejection of Petito’s beach management plan which called for a half-cent sales tax increase. Last month, Commissioner Greg Hansen said that without the sales tax hike, Petito’s proposal would require a “…plan that cuts programs, cuts people, and eliminates jobs,” to generate the $12 million annually for beach management and preservation. 

For the record, this isn’t the first time County Administrator Petito has blindsided her bosses… 

In March 2024, she fired off a brusque missive to School Superintendent LaShakia Moore suggesting Flagler County would be reducing or eliminating its $1.4 million commitment to the School District as part of a decade old 50/50 cost-sharing plan, most of which funds the School Resource Deputy program.

Chaos ensued and the displeasure from both sides of the dais was immediate.

In my view, someone should give Ms. Petito a quick lesson in effective communication strategies – the ability to build trust with citizens, stakeholders, and other government entities – while increasing transparency and collaboration with those elected officials who are ultimately politically accountable for her actions.   

And Another Thing!

According to the Florida League of Cities, “The most precious powers a city in Florida has are its Home Rule powers. The ability to establish its form of government through its charter, and to then enact ordinances, codes, plans, and resolutions without prior state approval is a tremendous authority.”

In its purest form, most would agree that the fundamental right to self-determination – the ability of citizens in counties and municipalities to govern themselves – free of outside interference from the state in the pursuit of their community’s economic, social, and civic development, is critical to our representative form of governance where the ultimate power is derived from the people.

Increasingly, that sacred right to self-determination is under direct attack by state legislators’ intent on preempting local control – a process once narrowly focused on limiting inconsistencies in state and local laws – now used as a cudgel to crush local decisions as a means of running interference for their political benefactors.

Like their “friends” in the uber-powerful real estate development industry…

In my view, these blanket special interest preemptions represent a classic quid pro quo corruption of the system – with crafty legislators couching sweeping attacks on home rule as “hurricane recovery” laws and claims they are protecting Florida businesses from “burdensome local regulations” and interference in a free market (pa-lease…). 

Don’t take my word for it.  A cursory review of campaign finance reports from jurisdictions across the width and breadth of Florida show that real estate development interests make significant political contributions to hand-select candidates and political action committees who are favorable to their interests. 

I think that’s called a ‘return on investment,’ all perfectly legal under our skewed campaign finance laws.

In my view, the problem comes when an industry with massive impacts on the civic, economic, and environmental health of communities stack the deck with a slate of “rent a representatives” – then use tactics like preemption to wrest local control away from the most responsive (and politically accountable) level of government.

In a 2023 article in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, we learned that 42% of Florida lawmakers had personal ties to the real estate development industry. 

That disturbing fact concerned Ben Wilcox, research director for Integrity Florida, who said at the time, “There’s really been a concerted effort (in recent years) by the Legislature to hold down local government. It’s all part of the legal corruption that goes on in state government: legalized bribery. The corruption is not always illegal. Sometimes it’s legal corruption.”

Unfortunately, here on Florida’s “Fun Coast” it’s not much better at the local level, where each election cycle the same influential last names shower massive campaign contributions on their shills, ensuring at least a subliminal obligation that ensures issues effecting their bottom line goes their way. 

Every. Damn. Time…

The next time the Volusia County Council has a development-related issue on (or off) the agenda, I encourage everyone to watch for themselves the strategic foot-dragging, parliamentary procrastination, and outright hostility from those compromised lackeys who have helped facilitate overdevelopment at every opportunity.

Now we’ve reached the nadir of special interest preemptions – totally eliminating local control of growth and development – even as existing residents face the very real threat of persistent development-induced flooding in a state surrounded by water and increasingly covered with impervious surfaces. 

And the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season is just heating up… 

It’s true.  Here in the Biggest Whorehouse in the World, those with the gold make the rules.

With next year’s elections beginning to attract candidates – including some perennial pro-development political hacks seeking another bite at the apple – I encourage you to begin sorting the wheat from the chaff, do your homework, ask the tough questions, and prepare to use the power of the ballot box to take back local control of our civic destiny. 

That’s all for me.  Have a great Independence Day, 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 Flooding – Now, two can play that game…

In my view, for far too long real estate developers have been gifted carte blanche to build when, where, and what they want here in the Sunshine State. 

The results have been wide-ranging – a virtual blanket of zero lot line cracker boxes (“Starting in the mid $300’s”) and ugly sticks-and-glue apartment complexes covering the state – terribly destructive to our sensitive environmental processes and the quality of life of existing residents.

We are repeatedly told by our ‘powers that be’ they have some bizarre moral obligation to approve more, more, more to accommodate a wave of transplants to Florida.  Rather than allow supply and demand to dictate higher resale prices while controlling the pace, suitability, and quality of growth state legislators have openly shit on the concept of Home Rule in a bid to consolidate power. 

As a result, malleable “rent a representatives” in Tallahassee have given their political benefactors in the real estate industry extraordinary statutory protections that increasingly limit local government’s ability to control growth, and there’s not a lot We, The Little People can do about it.

Or is there?

Here in Volusia County, the majority of the County Council have proven to be little more than lapdog lackeys – running interference for their uber-wealthy donors in the real estate industry, rubber stamping development, and strategically dragging their heels on any attempt to slow growth or require low-impact construction practices – adding to the problem while refusing to act decisively to alleviate the scourge of development-induced flooding.

In January, officials in the City of Underwater in Southeast Volusia voted to tap the brakes on development with a temporary moratorium on new construction to give the community a chance to modify stormwater protections and find commonsense solutions to repeat flooding.

In May, the behemoth Lennar Homes – reportedly the second-largest developer in the United States – filed an action in Circuit Court seeking judicial review and reversal of the City of Edgewater’s denial of their final Phase II plat for Edgewater Preserve (in my view, another one of those perverse and antithetical monikers that only a real estate marketing firm could conjure) citing stormwater concerns.

It appears that Lennar is intent on pressing forward with its plans for Phase II – regardless of the community’s attempts to protect existing residents from what has been described as “severe and repeat” flooding – something many suggest is the result of changes in topography brought by new development.  

During Florida’s 2025 Legislative Circus, legislators passed a bill amending the platting statute which now takes the local elected body out of the approval process.  Instead, the local governing agency must appoint an “administrative authority” to process and review plats and replats for developments, and an “administrative officer” to approve the plat.

If signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the law smoothing out the humps and bumps for developers intent on fast tracking projects would take effect on July 1, 2025.  

Last week, the Volusia County Council approved a fox in the henhouse resolution appointing the Land Development Division of the Growth and Resource Mismanagement Department as the administrative authority and County Manager George “The Wreck” Rectenwald or his designee as the approving official… 

So, who looks out for existing residents? 

Unfortunately, so far there was little that existing residents could do but bend over and bear it… 

Now, it appears the influential law firm of Morgan and Morgan is letting waterlogged homeowners know that two can play that game.  Last week, the firm filed suit on behalf of two Deltona couples alleging that a Lennar Homes development near Deltona has resulted in “repeat flooding issues” on their properties.  

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

“The 13-page complaint, filed June 11 in Circuit Court in Volusia County by Morgan & Morgan’s Business Trial Group, focuses on Lennar’s “alleged flawed design and construction of the stormwater management system” in Vineland Reserve, according to a statement from the law firm. The plaintiffs are Suzanne and Mark Duda and Jerry Woods Jr. and his spouse, Robin.

Morgan & Morgan recently filed another lawsuit dealing with flooding complaints in Volusia County; the firm is representing multiple people over flooding around Miller Lake in Orange City.

Lennar Homes started building the development off Doyle Road in 2022. Before the development came along, “homes in the area allegedly had no history of substantial flooding during rainfall event.”

“Now their homes are alleged to be sustaining ongoing damage, and they are allegedly unable to use or enjoy their property,” according to the law firm. “The lawsuit claims that the plaintiffs communicated with Lennar several times to express their concerns, and despite allegedly being fully aware of the drainage issues, Lennar has not adequately repaired the system or paid for the damages already incurred.”

(Find the News-Journal report here: https://tinyurl.com/y3z3bzwm )

This lawsuit represents a quantum shift in the power dynamic that has squeezed Florida homeowners between voracious developers and their shills in government, leaving many with the option of selling their homes in an after-the-fact stormwater mitigation scheme, making expensive renovations after each event, or living in fear of the next unstoppable inundation.

In my view, even here in the Biggest Whorehouse in the World, the idea of existing residents being repeatedly victimized while out-of-state developers haul untold millions out the denuded pine scrub – with no legal recourse against either those who planned it, or those who permitted it – is counter to our concept of basic fairness, due process, and a respect for the property rights of everyone effected.

City of Palm Coast – Dissecting the Obvious

From the earliest origins of participatory government, anthropologists have struggled with the question of why humans developed the social, judicial, and bureaucratic institutions that are now such an integral part of our society (and individual tax burden…)

According to social scientists, the “cooperative theory” suggests that governments were initially developed as a means of coordinating common tasks between early tribes, a communal contract of sorts, where everyone gave up some of their own resources in exchange for collective benefits, a collaborative agreement that avoided conflict to meet shared needs.

By contrast, the “extractive theory” assumes that “might makes right” – with powerful groups extracting tributes, taxes, and resources from weaker ones – then ensconcing themselves as the ‘political elite’ and perpetuating a pernicious cycle using what has been described as “institutional bullying.”

Sounds eerily familiar, eh? 

According to Leander Heldring, an Assistant Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences at the Kellogg School of Management:

“We see it clearly in the archaeological and historical record,” he says. “Initial assembly meetings become less important, and you see people becoming enforcers within bureaucracies. So even if the initial push for developing these institutions was coordination, afterwards you’d still have to protect them. And that tension is very much still with us.”

Look, I’m not an educated man, but I spent the bulk of my adult life serving in a small municipality, which I still believe is most accessible, responsive, and efficient level of government.  Based upon that experience, I learned that the élan vital of any government organization is a fundamental commitment to service. 

At least it should be.

An organizational dedication to provide those essential functions that protect the safety and welfare of citizens, deliver essential services, maintain public infrastructure, mitigate threats, manage sanitation and stormwater, and provide the myriad other services that address common needs, improve quality of life, and meet the collective goals of the community.

In a modern council/manager system, the citizens elect representatives to act in their interest, handle legislation, allocate resources, and hire a competent manager to direct the multifaceted day-to-day operations of a working local government under the provisions of the city or county’s charter.

But what happens when things go awry and the finest traditions, protections, and social contracts of good governance come apart like a bad flywheel? 

Typically, that’s when governments in crisis turn to a highly compensated “consultant” – the proverbial “expert from out-of-town,” someone with a nice suit and briefcase – someone who rides into town and spends a copious amount of the people’s time and money dissecting the obvious.

At the end of the day, the “expert” will prepare an elaborate report based on their “findings” and present it to the exasperated council or commission who hired them. 

Unfortunately, many consulting firms (at least those who want other government contracts) will often play the role of the distracted wrestling referee – failing to point out the gross dysfunction, personal agendas, and mercenary loyalties of the elected dullards – as the root cause of the organizational inefficiencies and whale-shit staff morale they were hired to study in the first place…  

Last week, the tumultuous City of Palm Coast, a community in a neck-and-neck competition with the Lost City of Deltona as the most disastrously dysfunctional municipality in the Metropolitan Statistical Area, voted to spend some $60,000 to bring in the national consulting firm Plante Moran to conduct an “Entity‑Wide Risk Assessment” this summer.

According to recent media release by Palm Coast’s municipal mouthpiece: 

“The scope of the assessment includes evaluating current City capabilities and developing a framework the City can use to assess risk on an ongoing basis. Plante Moran will conduct interviews with key stakeholders to identify operational, strategic, financial, and compliance-related risks. Based on those findings, the firm will work with City leadership to prioritize risks, create targeted mitigation strategies, and recommend ways to align these efforts with the City’s long-term objectives. Additionally, the City will receive guidance on actionable measures that can enhance operational efficiency and improve services across all departments.”

I know what you’re thinking – those basic operational goals (spelled out with such flourish by the Palm Coast Communications & Marketing division) are exactly what most communities expect from their city/county manager… 

You’re right.

In my unscientific view, you don’t need a $60K study to see that the fissures so prevalent among the competing entities – divisions that have resulted in the public castration of Mayor Mike Norris, and exposed the self-serving allegiances of certain elected officials (and senior bureaucrats) intent on facilitating Palm Coast’s shove ten-pounds of shit in a five-pound sack growth management strategy – are the result of mercenary loyalties and piss-poor leadership.

And it’s getting worse…

This week, we learned that Jason DeLorenzo, Palm Coast’s community development director and chief of staff, has fled the city government’s troubled ziggurat for greener pastures as the assistant city manager of Palm Bay. 

In my view, with a list of city manager applicants now eliminated (or having fled for anywhere else amidst the internal shitshow) and senior officials beginning to jump ship, the experts at Plante Moran have their work cut out for them.

Let’s hope the most recent “experts” to peek behind the curtain of this horribly dysfunctional government demonstrate the professional integrity and civic honesty to place the blame where it rightfully belongs…   

Bunnell City Commission – A Startling Betrayal

“The Bunnell City Commission in a stunning move at the very end of its meeting Monday night, before a nearly empty chamber, voted 3-2 to revive the 8,000-home Reserve at Haw Creek development the commission rejected just two weeks ago. The item was not on the agenda.

Mayor Catherine Robinson prompted the motion, which Commissioner Pete Young offered without batting an eye–or asking questions–though Young had been in the 3-2 majority to reject the proposal on June 9. Robinson had met with the city manager and the developer for three hours Monday morning. She said the developer was prepared to submit a revised plan that takes public concerns into account.

Young said he’d met with City Manager Alvin Jackson and others on Friday to discuss the development and to let Jackson know he was supportive of Haw Creek as long as it made certain changes. “I met with the city manager and our people,” Young said in an interview today. He wasn’t sure if the developer was among those in the room. “All know is I told them what I would like to see and they said OK, we’ll pass it on to them.”

With Young’s reversal, the motion to reconsider carried, 3-2, with Commissioners John Rogers and David Atkinson as if in too much shock to comment. Rogers walked out immediately after the vote and the gavel to end the meeting, not addressing anyone in the room.”

–Pierre Tristam, writing in FlaglerLive.com, “Bunnell Mayor in Stunning Maneuver Revives 8,000-Home Development Commission Killed 2 Weeks Ago,” Tuesday, June 24, 2025

You read that right.

In a viciously underhanded use of an off-the-agenda public policy by ambush, Bunnell Mayor Cathrine Robinson waited until the end of Monday’s City Commission meeting to resurrect the prospect of the Reserve at Haw Creek – an 8,000-home monstrosity that will blanket over 2,800 acres between SR-100 and SR-11. 

Before her incredibly suspicious switcheroo – on Monday morning, Mayor Robinson said she met with the developer (out of the public’s prying eyes) – where she was told a “revised plan” would be submitted that addressed some of the myriad concerns expressed by frightened residents who see the development as a threat to their quality of life and the character of this small community.

Because it is. 

Among other potential impacts, once built out, 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 already stressed area roadways. 

After strategically waiting for interested residents to leave the chamber – Mayor Robinson sprang her clearly choreographed surprise:

“I have a request based on a meeting with city staff and the Northeast Florida developers about the Haw Creek development to address both the public and the commission’s concerns,” the mayor said. “I would like a motion to reconsider the denial of the rezoning application and move forward with the development agreement.”

Once the motion was made and seconded, the vote to approve reconsidering both the planned unit development and the development agreement passed 3-2, with Commissioners John Rogers and David Atkinson dissenting.

Now, shocked residents of Bunnell are left to ask the troubling questions…

Such as, how was the developer was so conveniently able to persuade Mayor Robinson to bring this wildly controversial project back for reconsideration just two-weeks after the commission voted 4-1 to reject it?

Or why the massive development – one that threatens to fundamentally change everything about the community – was resurrected by a backstabbing mayor at the end of a public meeting with no public notice, substantive information, or citizen participation?

This was wrong, duplicitous, and horribly deceitful. 

In my view, Mayor Robinson and those elected officials who pushed this sneaky scheme have sold their political souls to push an agenda, and they will never be trusted again…

The residents of Bunnell deserve better from those they put their solemn trust in…   

Quote of the Week

“At their June 18 meeting, (Daytona Beach) city commissioners voted to amend their agreement with Protogroup to allow the company to be partially reimbursed for its costs for a beach access improvement and the new one-story building. Once those projects are complete, Protogroup will be reimbursed up to 50% of the property taxes for them paid to the city’s community redevelopment area fund over five years.

The agreement originally said Protogroup would have to completely finish the condo tower before it would get some of its money back for things such as new pedestrian beach access and improved water and sewer infrastructure. Now the agreement says the company just needs to complete the new one-story building.

“I just want to hide that ugly rebar we’ve been looking at for three years,” said City Commissioner Ken Strickland. “I don’t want to do anything that hampers getting that out of our eyesight.”

–Reporter Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Long-idled Daytona Beach condo project set to resume construction in July,” Thursday, June 26, 2025

What a joke…

For the umpteenth time since the decade-old debacle of the Protogroup’s abandoned mess of stained pilings and rusted rebar in the heart of our core tourist area began, it appears the Daytona Beach City Commission has simply given up – now deciding to do away with any semblance of holding the developer to his word. 

Instead of initiating condemnation procedures to ensure compliance, it appears city officials are going to incentivize a façade – anything to camouflage the suppurating eyesore that serves as a monument to another failed “panacea project” all the right last names promised us would change our fortunes for the better.

Bullshit.

According to the News-Journal’s report, “In early September 2022, the city’s chief building official issued a condemnation and demolition order that said portions of the unfinished structure were dangerous and “likely to partially or completely collapse or to become detached or dislodged” due to faulty construction, neglect, abandonment, exposure to the elements, damage and decay.

The city backed off the condemnation and demolition threat after Protogroup cleaned up the site and agreed to a plan to have structural engineers inspect the foundation work before resuming construction.”

So, is the unfinished structure “likely to partially or completely collapse,” or not? 

Unfortunately, the City of Daytona Beach and Volusia County have allowed developers to get them over a barrel, and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it now.

In an October 2018 piece in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, the former chairman of the ill-fated Beachside Redevelopment Committee, Tony Grippa, prophetically said:

“The city still lacks an overall strategy as it relates to A1A and the beachside corridor, and this is what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket.”

At this point, however, completion of the (Protogroup) project is imperative, Grippa said.

“It would be absolutely devastating to have, in addition to all the old boarded-up buildings, now a new partially completed building,” Grippa said. “That sitting vacant and empty would really hurt the beachside, optically, economically and emotionally.”

Tragic, indeed.

In my view, it is time our elected and appointed officials start representing those of us who pay the bills and demand the provisions of performance assurances and completion deadlines are enforced – or else.

This mercurial capitulation sends a bright signal to other developers that if you defy regulatory authority long enough, the ‘powers that be’ responsible for protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public will simply cave and give you whatever you demand to complete (insert “game changing” project here.)  

And Another Thing!

Last week, a dear friend and I traveled to “La-La Land” – Los Angeles, California.  

Beverly Hills, to be exact. Swimming pools.  Movie stars.   

And more bone-crushing traffic than I’ve ever seen my life…   

The purpose of our trip was to check on another lifelong friend who has been under the weather of late, courageously participating in a cutting-edge experimental treatment at UCLA’s impressive Ronald Reagan Medical Center.  An exciting technology that may eventually help doctor’s treat cancer in a more precise way.

While I’ve visited Southern California in the past, this was the first time I saw much of what Los Angeles has to offer. Great experiences like dinner at the classic “Old Hollywood” restaurant Dan Tana’s, and a wonderful afternoon over cocktails at the iconic Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Our bartender, Vladimir, could not have been more accommodating, and treated two ballcap/blue jean clad yokels from Florida like gold – taking time to explain the rich history of the hotel (now owned by the Sultan of Brunei) – and jokingly offered to pour us a McCallan 72 from a lacquered case behind the bar – a rare Scotch offered at $10,000 a shot…   

“Make it double, Vlad…”

Just kidding. As it stood, I needed a second mortgage to cover the bar tab.

The conspicuous wealth, glitz, and glamor of Tinseltown set up a classic Jed Clampett meets George Jetson story – an up-close and jaw dropping exposure to some incredible technological/AI advances currently in operation on the west coast.   

For instance, I took advantage of the new (to me, anyway) Waymo self-driving autonomous vehicle for local transportation.  A product of Google that was a decade in development, the service utilizes the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE – a sleek four-door sedan with a whirring array of sensors on the roof and each corner of the vehicle – to include an illuminated sign on the roof that displays the riders name at the point of pickup. 

Much like Uber or Lyft, the ride is summoned (and the fare paid) from your phone.  Once the location is entered, the Waymo drives to your GPS location and with the touch of a button on the app, handles emerge, and the doors unlock. 

Once inside the comfortable rear seat, the rider fastens the seatbelt, touches a “start ride” button on the screen, and you are literally along for the ride.   

What happens next is a little scary – and infinitely fascinating. 

From the back seat, the rider watches as the vehicle enters traffic and proceeds by the most expedient route – the steering wheel eerily turning independently, as though operated by a spectral “driver” – smoothly navigating to your destination.   

I’ll admit, the first trip was a bit freaky, and, over time, I discovered a few “wrinkles in the matrix.”

For instance, during one trip, the Waymo passed my hotel and dropped us inconveniently a block away, another time, the car circled the block at our destination before getting its bearings and returning to the drop-off point.   

In each case, the artificial intelligence and various sensors powering the navigation system were “learning” – getting better, more precise with each trip – a weird digital cognition training a complex decision-making capability – gathering data from each “experience,” never forgetting the lessons learned, becoming “smarter” and more accurate with each “mistake.”

During the course of the week, I found myself relying more on Waymo and less on manned ridesharing programs that work much the same, but with a person at the wheel. 

In another weird revelation, while having lunch in Westwood, I was surprised by what appeared to be an orange Igloo cooler on wheels trundling down the sidewalk outside the restaurant. 

I did a double-take…   

It was “Coco” – a purpose built “robocourier” – which autonomously transports groceries, prepared food deliveries, or other goods along city sidewalks at a brisk walking speed (or faster in a bicycle lane) – a device that became so ubiquitous that the novelty quickly wore off and I stopped noticing the little buggers.

As Coco went about its appointed rounds, the cart would stop for people walking on the sidewalk, and I realized that human beings were an impediment to its progress – in more ways than one…    

According to Coco Robotics, the urban logistics service is now available in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Helsinki.

In retrospect, it is somewhat unsettling that in time I preferred to deal with a self-driving car than a fellow human being trying to earn a living – no tip and no complex social interaction (including one awkward exchange with an Uber driver who offered to provide us with Russian hookers and Armenian vodka during our stay in LA…true story.)  

I now realize that the ease and rapidity with which I relinquished control and acclimated to an autonomous vehicle and a robotic delivery cart is ultimately how we, living/breathing/emotional beings, may ultimately become obsolete – mere impediments to “progress” – as artificial intelligence “learns” from experience and interactions, just like we do.

Which prompts disturbing question like what role will “we” play in a world dominated by (sentient?) machines, and, ultimately, how will we address the Frankensteinian conundrum of how to control the monster once it escapes our control? 

Welcome to the future, Barker… 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to spend some quality time with my toaster.  It missed me while I was gone…  

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

Note to the Loyal Barker’s View Tribe:

Barker’s View will be taking a break this week.  

During our short intermission from the “Fun Coast’s” civic/political théâtre de l’absurde, please feel free to enjoy some past asides from the BV achieves at the bottom of this page.  It’s fun to take a look back with the clarity of hindsight and see what has changed, and what remains the same, where we call home.

See you next week!

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…

Hey, Volusia.  Where did the money go?

In the 1940 Looney Toons cartoon “Of Fox and Hounds,” the dim-witted but loveable hound, Willoughby (in our parody, Volusia County taxpayers), and the sly fox, “George” (played to perfection by County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald).

During a fox hunt, the hapless Willoughby runs into the forest intent on finding a fox – except he is clearly oblivious to what a fox actually looks like – searching every tree he comes to.  When Willoughby runs into his new friend George, he repeatedly asks where the fox went.  

Of course, George gives Willoughby directions to a rail fence, ensuring him the fox is on the other side which invariably sends Willoughby off the edge of a steep cliff.

All the while, Willoughby never suspects that his “friend” George is the fox…

“Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?”

I was reminded of that farcical comedy last week when Volusia County’s Chief Financial Officer Ryan “The Alchemist” Ossowski – the greatest illusionist since Harry Houdini – presented various mind-numbing PowerPoint slides showing forecasts for Solid Waste, Volusia ECHO, Volusia Forever, Mosquito Control, Ponce Inlet Port District and County Transportation Trust funds, along with the county’s capital projects plan.

Like a game of Three-Card Monte, none of it makes sense. 

Because it’s not supposed to – and despite their contemplative head-nodding – our elected officials are just as clueless as the rest of us. 

Last year at this time, a similar forecast showed the $3.5 million in Volusia ECHO funds (for “planning purposes”) which was later approved to fund Councilman Don Dempsey’s pet motorcross facility and lashed to the controversial expenditure of Volusia Forever conservation funds to purchase 356 acres of cow pasture to put it on…

Then came the inevitable doom and gloom when Ossowski began prepping the budgetary battlefield with scary stories of reduced federal funding for expenditures we already pay for.

In an article by reporter Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal last week, we learned:

“The county is bracing for spending cuts by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The agency plays a key role in helping fund major — and sometimes very expensive — projects to repair and strengthen communities after a storm.

“Current guidance that we’ve been getting from FEMA is that they’re going to be pulling back on especially non-public-safety-critical items like (beaches) and parks,” Ossowski said.

Big projects are coming up, too.  

The county’s five-year capital projects plan includes a new Volusia County Sheriff’s Office headquarters for $30 million, a new Mosquito Control facility for over $23.9 million, which officials plan to finance; and a landfill expansion for over $20.1 million.”

Whoa.

For the record, Volusia County now operates with an astronomical annual budget of over $1.3 billion. 

You read that right.  

Following Tropical Storm Ian, the county established the Transform386 program to allocate an additional $328.9 million in Community Development Block Grant funds received as part of a massive federal assistance package. 

In January, it was reported that the U.S. Housing and Urban Development awarded Volusia County $133.5 million in Hurricane Milton relief… 

It doesn’t end there. 

Last year, the county brought in some $391 million in property tax revenue, in addition to various other taxes, fees, state and federal grants and allocations, funds carried over from the previous budget year, etc. 

Add to that the county’s pernicious process of dipping into tax supported Volusia Forever and ECHO funds under a “direct county expenditure” program (read: sneak thievery) where repair, replacement, and capital improvement projects that are normally budgeted for annually are instead funded with millions in looted conservation and passive outdoor recreation funds. 

In my view, the county’s expenditure program is “Exhibit A” in the case against the proposed “stormwater and flooding” half-cent sales tax money grab that is slowly being resuscitated from the ash heap of bad ideas by a political insulation committee of county/city officials. 

Bullshit.                   

I harp on this a lot, but the last time the Volusia CEO Business Alliance and others – in confederacy with their friends in municipal and county government – tried to sell us on a sales tax increase, it was ostensibly to fund transportation infrastructure. 

Remember?  I do.

Unfortunately, our ‘powers that be’ approved malignant sprawl at a rate that has now exceeded our transportation needs while ignoring critical infrastructure concurrency requirements – something that should be prosecuted as criminal negligence – and allowing environmentally destructive slash-burn-fill-and-build construction practices to flood existing residents across the width and breadth of Volusia County. 

Typically, engineers, planners, and growth management experts call that a compounding problem – something to avoid – a situation where added factors exacerbate an existing problem, making problems worse or more complicated. Example: The heavy rain compounded the problem of development-induced changes to the topography of the land, causing extensive flood damage to existing houses, businesses, and roads…

Now, those self-described “fiscal conservatives” on the dais of power in DeLand are being “prepared” by senior staff for a new budget year – and still no substantive road improvements, major utility upgrades, effective stormwater management, or the countless other must haves necessary to keep pace with development. 

Just more Taj Mahal facilities, upgrades, and comforts that benefit the bureaucracy, or the pet projects of shameless elected officials who know better, and the inevitable salary and benefit increases for senior staff which ensures they don’t have to feel the same pain their constituents experience.

In my view, it is time for Volusia County taxpayers to ask these pompous asses the tough questions, like, “Where did it go, George?” and “When is this bloated, lethargic, and obese monstrosity of a bureaucracy going to stand on its own two feet?

To quote the loveable dupe Willoughby after his “friend” sent him off the cliff, “Thanks a lot, George, thanks a lot…”

City of Bunnell – A Threatened Community Fights Back

“A development of this size has the potential to change the entire character of our city.”

–Bunnell Vice Mayor John Rogers, Monday, June 9, 2025

The request by a Jacksonville-based developer was the largest in modern history:

An 8,000-home monstrosity, to include an 800 space RV community, blanketing over 2,800 acres between SR-100 and SR-11 west of the community of Bunnell.  A life altering project which, among other massive impacts on existing residents, was 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… 

The controversial project has been declared the Reserve at Haw Creek – one of those cockamamie appellations that only a real estate marketing group could manufacture – a signature that always seems the exact opposite of what the development represents, is the single largest planned unit development proposed for Flagler County since ITT’s Palm Coast.   

There was nothing reserved about it…                

Once finished, the gargantuan Reserve at Haw Creek would increase the population of the City of Bunnell by 500% – forever changing the quaint culture and small town feel of the closeknit community – leaving residents rightfully concerned about traffic congestion, density, schools, flooding, infrastructure, environmental impacts, and their quiet quality of life.

To their credit, threatened citizens of Bunnell and its rural areas banded together early to fight for their small community at every step of the process. 

On Monday evening, citizens turned out en masse to voice their vehement opposition to “The Reserve” before the Bunnell City Commission – while a representative for the developer schmoozed the elected officials with tales of riches beyond their local-yokel comprehension.

According to an article in FlaglerLive.com this week:

“Yes, you will have to hire staff. Yes, you will have to maintain the sewer plants, the water plants down the road,” Grim said. “But you can have millions of dollars coming in to pay a few $100,000 worth of salaries.” It was a shocking misrepresentation: the city’s costs in added staff, added police, added firefighters, fire trucks, police cars and operational costs manyfold more than its current budget supports would be in the tens of millions of dollars.

The public comments were invariably brutal to the proposal. “The bigger picture of all of this is flooding, flooding, flooding, flooding,” Melanie Brian said. “I don’t care what St John’s Water Management says. I live there. I live right there. We had 3 feet is all I had left before that water entered my home just this last hurricane, just the last hurricane. And that is including the trees that are still there. So now you’re going to rip all that out. I’m going to have water in my house. It’s going to happen. I don’t care what they say on development. What is in black and white on a piece of paper is not what really happens.”  

At the end of a long evening, the Bunnell City Commission voted 4-1 to reject the proposed development, marking a rare victory for long-suffering “Fun Coast” residents who have literally been steamrolled by real estate developers armed with “voluntary regulations,” lucrative incentives, and state legislation that has all but preempted local control of future growth.  

Unfortunately, the David v. Goliath fight against the Reserve at Haw Creek is far from over. 

The developer now has 30-days to file an appeal in Circuit Court… 

Stay tuned.  This one bear’s watching.

Quote of the Week

“Gov. Ron DeSantis is giving a vote of confidence to the University of Florida Board of Trustees, even after they advanced a failed pick for President of the state’s flagship school.

DeSantis has reappointed Mori Hosseini and Fred Ridley to the Board, even after both men were part of the unanimous vote in favor of Santa Ono.

The state Board of Governors (BOG) summarily rejected Ono amid concerns about his adherence to left-wing ideology like diversity, equity and inclusion, and a firestorm from people on the Right, including onetime DeSantis favorite Christopher Rufo, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds and Donald Trump Jr.

The Governor offered weak criticisms of Ono, saying past comments made him “cringe,” but expressed confidence in the Trustees publicly before the BOG spiked their pick. Even after it was final, though, the usually outspoken DeSantis avoided saying anything relevant about the controversy, a measure of the political complications he faced.

Hosseini has been one of DeSantis’ most influential supporters since his run for Governor in 2018, with the Governor backing a $92 million highway interchange at the ICI Homes developer’s behest. In turn, DeSantis enjoyed private flights and a golf simulator at Hosseini’s expense.”

–Reporter A. G. Gancarski, writing in FloridaPolitics.com, one of the most respected media outlets covering government, politics, policy, and lobbying in the Sunshine State, “Gov. DeSantis reappoints Mori Hosseini, Fred Ridley to UF Board of Trustees despite Santa Ono snit,” Tuesday, June 9, 2025

Wait.  Did I read that right?

“…with the Governor backing a $92 million highway interchange at the ICI Homes developer’s behest. In turn, DeSantis enjoyed private flights and a golf simulator at Hosseini’s expense.”

Wow. No mincing words, no “allegedly,” no chocolates and flowers…

In most places that value good governance, that shocking revelation of quid pro quo politics by a respected Northeast Florida journalist would have resulted in outrage from those who pay the bills.

The acknowledgment that massively expensive infrastructure beneficial to well-heeled benefactors is up for sale to the chum who offers the best spiffs, like private jets and expensive toys. But not here.

We’ve become inured to the stench of transactional politics in Tallahassee. 

Florida.  The biggest whorehouse in the world. 

The rules truly are different here…

And Another Thing!

One need look no further than the Lost City of Deltona – now the largest municipality in Volusia County by population – for all the frightening earmarks of a city in crisis.  

A key symptom of a civic malignancy on the heart of a community is when the elected body cannot form a quorum; and it appears the majority of those the taxpayers of Deltona cast their sacred vote for simply cannot be bothered to show up…   

Or is there something more sinister at play?

According to a report by Al Everson writing in the West Volusia Beacon last week, in the hours prior to the Deltona City Commission’s June 2 meeting, City Clerk Joyce Raftery began receiving calls from elected officials begging off that evening’s public meeting, “They said they had family issues. One didn’t feel well.”   

Huh.  It’s almost as if someone coordinated it, eh? 

In total, four of the seven, including Mayor Santiago Avila Jr., abdicated their sworn obligation to conduct the people’s business – a position for which they receive public funds to serve in the public interest – which means the City Commission failed to achieve a quorum, and the meeting had to be cancelled.

Why the last-minute exodus?

In the Beacon’s report we learned, “Among the items on the agenda of the June 2 meeting were an ordinance to ban the opening of new medical-marijuana dispensaries in Deltona and consideration of a moratorium on new development. The proposed moratorium on new construction and development follows from stormwater problems in various parts of the city, especially after hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022 and Hurricane Milton last October.

Ahh.  The old ‘one-two’ of the “M” word and Impact Fees…   

According to an excellent report by WFTV-9 reporter Demie Johnson, “Hundreds of new homes have already been approved in the city so far this year, according to Commissioner Dori Howington. Meanwhile, hundreds of existing homes are still dealing with the effects of flooding from the past few storm seasons.

“We can’t sustain that with the infrastructure we have, and if we aren’t charging enough in impact fees, then the developers aren’t doing it which means our residents have to pick up the pieces,” said Howington.

Howington said the cost to develop in Deltona hasn’t gone up in a decade. It’s an issue the city has been working to address since December. Because there hasn’t been much movement, she’s suggesting a temporary pause on building altogether.”

In turn, Commissioner Howington made a valiant effort to call for a special meeting of the Deltona City Commission. 

Unfortunately, her attempts were ignored…      

Last Friday, Greg Gimbert, administrator of the popular social media civic forum Volusia Issues, expressed the concerns of many when he asked Volusia County Councilman David “No Show” Santiago – who many believe is the behind-the-scenes Pied Piper of Deltona Politics – why his wife, Deltona Commissioner Emma “No Show II” Santiago, and his acolyte Mayor Avila, failed to appear? 

“It’s frustrating to watch people take the check but not do the job. Thank you for adding them. David Santiago do you think you can get your wife and your boy to show up for work?”

In a revealing reply, Councilman Santiago explained:

“My wife is an independent woman who makes her own decisions. Not sure what you mean by my boy. Maybe there is a possibility they disagree with what Dori is proposing? Maybe they feel this doesn’t need a special emergency meeting and could be addressed at the next regularly scheduled meeting and save tax dollars? Maybe this is all to build up someone’s popularity tactics. Maybe people are waiting to see what the Governor is going to do with SB 180 which can make this a waste of time? One thing that I do know is that I don’t speculate and or guess what others think because most of the time it’s incorrect. Have a good day.”

Disturbing. 

I have a few “what ifs” of my own, like maybe someone functioned as a conduit to prevent a quorum and circumvent the discussion of impact fees and a development moratorium?

Or maybe they took a page out of Councilman “No Show” Santiago’s pernicious political playbook – sitting on their ass, refusing to participate, and spinelessly sidestepping controversial issues until they see which way the political wind is blowing?   

In a curious twist, during a workshop on Monday evening, the Deltona City Commission took action to direct that an ordinance authorizing a nine-month building moratorium be drafted for consideration – to include a timeline for approving the measure before July 1 – along with provisions for repealing the measure should a developer sue the city (inevitably).

According to Commissioner Howington, the city currently has 23 development applications awaiting approval, and “The proposal for a temporary moratorium puts a pause on everything new coming at us,” she said. “It does not impact commercial or industrial development.”

“I’m hearing from residents. They want to take a pause.”

In a follow-up report by the West Volusia Beacon, we learned, “The vote was 5-0. Two members of the governing body, Vice Mayor Davison Heriot and Commissioner Emma Santiago, were absent.”

Go figure…

During the workshop, Deltona’s City Attorney Gemma Torcivia stressed the importance of having a quorum at the required special meetings to ensure timely action on the moratorium.

Time will tell. 

Perhaps last week’s exodus from the dais by Deltona officials was just another symptom of the epidemic of mass political cowardice – the inability of compromised elected officials to take a position in front of their frightened, frustrated, and claustrophobic constituents – taxpayers desperate for solutions to the disastrous effects of overdevelopment?  

In my view, that virulent malady seems to be spreading like a cancer through councils and commissions across Volusia County…

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…

The Miller Lake Twenty-Three – A Demand for Justice in Orange City

Waterlogged residents throughout Volusia County cheered the news that twenty-three current or former property owners in the Miller Lake (formerly Miller Pond) area of Orange City have filed a lawsuit alleging that Volusia County and ten commercial property owners failed to manage stormwater drainage systems contributing to devastating lake flooding. 

According to a report by Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Attorney Jack Taylor, of the law firm Morgan & Morgan, is representing the plaintiffs. The firm filed the 234-page lawsuit, including attachments, in Volusia County Circuit Court.”

In the preamble to the legal action, Taylor asserts “This is a case about property rights, mismanagement of stormwater infrastructure, and the consequences of development without accountability.”

That’s powerful.  Especially when so many property owners across the region have had their lives repeatedly upended by the effects of development-induced flooding.

In addition, the Miller Lake residents have filed a notice of tort claims against Volusia County for “mismanagement” of the lake, alleging that the county’s bungling “…has led to the rise of stormwater, persistent flooding, and damage to homes near Miller Lake.”

According to the News-Journal, “Plaintiffs bring this action to stop the continued intrusion of stormwater, to repair the harm already caused, and to reinforce a basic principle of Florida law: one property owner may not use another’s land as a drainage basin.”

For their part, to further isolate our county government from those it exists to serve, Volusia County officials circled the wagons in a canned email to the News-Journal, “Unfortunately, we cannot comment on current, pending, or threatened litigation matters.”

Bullshit.

In April, Spectrum News 13 reported that residents of the Miller Lake area are still experiencing the impacts of Hurricane Milton some seven months after the event.  Inundation that resulted in a drastic rise in lake levels that blocked access to their homes, rendered potable water wells useless, and left their property submerged in standing water.

Last December, during a townhall meeting to address the concerns of flood victims in West Volusia, county officials spewed more hot air – more of the strategic procrastination that has become their tired modus operandi – with Volusia’s Public Works Director Ben Bartlett falling back on more timewasting studies to tell everyone what they already knew:  

“What are some typical solutions you might see to come out of these studies? The first one is a traditional stormwater system, stormwater ponds to store the water during the event, gravity conveyance system to bring the water to the pond, and then some sort of gravity system with a positive outfall to take the water away,” Benjamin Bartlett said.”

We understand the basics of how a stormwater system works, Ben. 

So what do you plan to do about the ones that are overwhelmed due to massive overdevelopment and no longer serve their intended purpose across the width and breadth of Volusia County?

And how did we get in this disastrous predicament to begin with?

For the record, last month, the Volusia County Council finally got around to approving water-engineering studies of four areas in DeLand – that’s five months after Bartlett’s announcement – when they voted to hire a Texas consulting firm (?), to analyze stormwater issues and recommend workable solutions.

If history repeats (and it always does here on the “Fun Coast”) any “recommendations” resulting from the $828,010 in grant funded studies will be wholly ignored and quickly forgotten – but another year of foot-dragging inaction will have passed under the transom…   

Why is that?  

Perhaps these are questions Mr. Bartlett and other senior members of County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald’s coterie of enablers, and those elected puppets on the dais of power will be asked under oath as the Miller Lake lawsuit progresses? 

To add insult, in coming months, Volusia County taxpayers are going to hear of a pernicious plan hatched by something called the “sustainability subcommittee” of the Volusia Knights of the Roundtable – a political insulation consortium of county and municipal elected officials – that will suggest a 2026 referendum to increase our sales tax ostensibly to pay for “stormwater and flooding” solutions. 

In January, after the Volusia County Council’s obstinate “Old Guard” callously suppressed an attempt by Chair Jeff Brower to implement a temporary building moratorium until desperately needed infrastructure needs could be met, we learned in a News-Journal report:

“At-Large Representative Jake Johansson pointed out that the Volusia County Elected Officials Roundtable, which brings together cities and county leaders, has formed a subcommittee that will address flooding concerns. Johansson is serving as co-chair.

He talked about the importance of collaborating with city leaders on issues like a moratorium.”

Instead of “addressing flooding concerns” as promised, it appears all Jake the Snake Johansson and his fellow tone-deaf knights could come up with is raising taxes on goods and services for every man, woman, and child in Volusia County? 

I don’t know about you, but with Volusia County’s budget now topping an astronomical $1.3 billion – I think we’ve all given enough of our hard-earned money to the same blundering dullards who got us into this mess in the first place… 

Folks, this isn’t about flood control – it’s about another revenue source for this horribly bloated bureaucracy.  

I commend those inundated homeowners in Orange City and their intrepid team at Morgan and Morgan for standing up to those do-nothings in the Ivory Tower of Power at Volusia County government and let them know there is some shit we won’t eat.

In my view, it is time for victims of overdevelopment and bureaucratic ineptitude to hold those who knew of the devastating consequences of fill-and-build sprawl, and did absolutely nothing to mitigate it, legally and politically accountable for their strategic negligence.    

Clash of the Titans – The Sound of Distant Thunder

Things turned ugly this week when Florida’s State University Board of Governors morphed from a pro forma rubberstamp into the role of interrogators on Tuesday as they dug deep into the political leanings and past practices of former University of Michigan president Dr. Santa J. Ono, who was recently selected by unanimous vote of the University of Florida Board of Trustees to assume the 14^th presidency of UF.

It was the first time in history that the 17-member Florida Board of Governor’s failed to approve the leadership recommendation of a university’s trustees… 

Normally, I could care less – the only thing that kept me out of college was high school – but Ono’s appointment was publicly supported by several of our local “movers-and-shakers” who draw a lot of water in Volusia County…

According to a report this week in FlaglerLive.com, “Tuesday’s 10-6 vote was a major rebuke to the UF Board of Trustees, which last week unanimously selected Ono for the post, and trustees Chairman Mori Hosseini, an influential Republican donor with longstanding ties to the state university system.

Ono, an immunologist who recently stepped down as president of the University of Michigan, drew fierce criticism from high-profile conservatives inside and outside of Florida for such issues as his past embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs, as well as his handling of on-campus protests following the 2023 attack by Hamas in Israel.”

Find the rest of FlaglerLive.com’s article here: https://tinyurl.com/y5vsay4t

In recent weeks, conservative critics have slammed Dr. Ono’s nomination – including Donald Trump Jr., who took to X last month to lambaste UF’s “decision-makers,” and referred to Ono as a “woke psycho” – partisan denunciations that ultimately led the governing board to block Ono’s appointment earlier this week.

Regardless of the reasons (or rhetoric) Ono’s controversial nomination set up a clash of the titans involving some of our area’s heaviest hitters – including the heaviest of the heavy, our High Panjandrum of Political Power Mori Hosseini – who chairs the University of Florida’s Board of Trustees – and former Florida Speaker of the House Paul Renner, who was among those leading the charge against Dr. Ono’s appointment.  

In addition, influential local insurance executive Charlie Lydecker – in my experience a good guy and member of the State University Board of Governors (who also served on the UF presidential search committee) questioned the intensity of the board’s withering interrogation of Ono.

“Critics’ probing of Ono was so intense that it sparked heated pushback from Lydecker, who said the Board of Governors was intended to “ratify, up or down” a selection unanimously made by UF’s trustees.

“This is not a court of law. I’ve been on this board for five, six years, and we have never used this as a forum to interrogate and in this case, it feels to me patently unfair,” Lydecker said. “Candidly, this process does not feel fair to me.”

According to FlaglerLive.com, Mr. Hosseini also questioned the board’s motivations and “…called the skepticism around Ono “heartbreaking” and pointed to former President Ronald Reagan’s metamorphosis from a Democrat who supported unions to one of the nation’s most beloved Republicans. He said the Board of Governors needed to rely on UF’s trustees, who stepped in after questions were raised about former UF President Ben Sasse’s short tenure.

“The board of trustees are there as a backstop. So if this man doesn’t do what he says he’s going to do, we’re there. We’re your boots on the ground … That is the basis of this board of governors and yet you all decided today is the day we’re going to take somebody down,” Hosseini said.”

Adding to the intrigue, during the discussion, board member Eric Silagy – past chairman, president, and CEO of Florida Power & Light – asked Mr. Hosseini (who was conspicuously seated next to Dr. Ono) about “a number of detractors in this process” who may have been sniffing around the UF presidential post themselves…

“Who on the board of governors wanted to be president of the University of Florida?” Silagy asked.

“Paul Renner,” Hosseini said, sparking an immediate response from the former House speaker.

“I did not initiate that,” Renner said.

Renner said a UF trustee asked him about the presidential post.

“I contacted the governor’s office. I was told to go talk to Mori Hosseini, and he said he wasn’t interested, and that’s the end of it,” Renner said. The conversation took place before DeSantis appointed him to the Board of Governors in February.

“Under no circumstances, would I serve at this time at the University of Florida,” Renner said.

Whoa.

For his part, it appears Dr. Santa Ono is now damaged goods as his critics tout the board’s vote as “a massive win for conservatives,” while progressive academics around the nation chide him for playing the politics of appeasement and “selling his soul” to secure the UF appointment.

As one gloating University of Michigan professor still sore about Ono’s attempt to jump the Blue State/Red State gulf put it, “Karma caught up with Ono…”

Governor Ron DeSantis didn’t openly oppose Dr. Ono’s appointment – choosing instead a delicate tightrope act between his biggest donors/supporters and Ono’s equally influential detractors. 

But once the deed was done, Gov. DeSantis took a short victory lap in the form of a post on X by newly hired state staffer Jordan Schachtel:

“Santa Ono is OUT. The Florida Board of Governors has voted to Reject Ono as President of the University of Florida. 

Florida has voted to reject wokeness, DEI, CRT at our flagship university.  Go Gators!”

According to a report by NBC News, the rejection of Ono “…put DeSantis in a thorny political position, and it was a notable outcome in a state Republican ecosystem generally defined by donors and influential figures’ getting their way.

One of DeSantis’ longtime biggest political supporters — Mori Hosseini, the billionaire chair of the University of Florida Board of Trustees — strongly backed Ono’s bid to become president of the state’s flagship university.”

Something tells me that won’t soon be forgotten, and that distant thunder may well be the rumble of war drums…

Look, I don’t presume to know the behind-the-curtains dynamics at play in Tallahassee, Gainesville, and beyond (and I really don’t care) – but influential donors/insiders like Mr. Hosseini aren’t accustomed to being told no – or publicly humiliated by a politically appointed board of governors.

In my view, this sets up a classic power struggle that is ripe for serious repercussions during an already strange time in Tallahassee…

Stay tuned.

Quote of the Week

“The Palm Coast City Council is moving forward with two of the three impact fee studies, one of which will increase the fire service fee by 117%.

The council is reviewing the impact fees for transportation, fire service and parks and recreation. At the June 3 council meeting, the council unanimously approved the first of two votes raising the fire service and parks and recreation fees. The transportation fees were sent back for more revisions, which will reviewed on June 10.

Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri said it is the council’s job to make sure its position is legally defensible if the council is going to increase the impact fees at such high rates.

“We have to make sure that we are buttoned up every which way to Sunday on this,” she said.  “And I just don’t think we’re there yet.”

Typically, Florida law prohibits increasing impact fees by more than 50% of the current rate but once every four years and increases must be phased in over a two- to four-year period. But the state statute does provide an exception, if a municipality proves there are “extraordinary circumstances.”

–Reporter Sierra Williams writing in the Palm Coast Observer, “Palm Coast Council votes to increase developer-paid fire service fees by 117%,” Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Florida residents don’t hear much from real estate developers.  

For the most part, their lawyers, lobbyists, and elected shills do the talking for them…

Unfortunately, you and I are shut out of the discussion – silenced by the roar of bulldozers churning acres of greenspace into a foul black muck, the acrid odor of splintered hardwoods burning to ash, and the resultant dust storms that blow across the denuded landscape – all before construction of more, more, more zero lot line cracker boxes “starting in the mid $300’s” begin to blanket the land.

Oh, on occasion We, The Little People kick and bitch – approaching that wall of silence comprised of our elected representatives – our fears falling on deaf ears blocked by wads of campaign donations and the subliminal return on investment that accompanies each dollar. 

And the lucrative status quo prevails…

But if you want to see what an angry hornet’s nest looks like, just mention the concept of a temporary building moratorium until infrastructure can meet demand – or suggest an increase in impact fees to pay for needed improvements – then look out. 

Suddenly, the development community mobilizes, literally building a steel curtain around City Hall, and begin broadcasting stories of the economic Armageddon that would result from even a tap of the brakes on growth. 

Complete with tall tales about how raising impact fees to reduce the burden on existing residents would actually result in homeowners paying more in the long run…

My ass.

On Monday, ahead of a vote by the Palm Coast City Council to increase impact fees for transportation, fire service, and parks and recreation, a cast of development-friendly mouthpieces took to the airwaves on WNZF Radio’s “Free for All” talk show.  

Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner (boy, he gets around, huh?) – who apparently retained his role as a shameless developer shill – used the forum to tell flashlight under the chin scary stories of what happens if developers are required to pay their fair share for the impacts of growth:  

According to the Observer report, “Renner said “dollar for dollar,” impact fees are passed on to the new homeowners, “artificially” increasing the property’s cost. That higher home value then likewise will increase the property assessments of surrounding homes, eventually leading to current homeowners paying more in property taxes, he said.”

Meanwhile, spinmeisters from the Flagler Homebuilders Association tag-teamed with Renner, claiming the studies Palm Coast relied upon to establish the “extraordinary circumstances” necessary for the more than 50% increase were “full of holes,” comparing them to “Swiss cheese,” and crying the Poor Mouth Blues over increased construction costs.

Admit nothing, deny everything, make counteraccusations, eh?    

To her credit, Palm Coast Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri brought a modicum of common sense to the discussion by pointing out the burden already borne by existing taxpayers:

“Current Palm Coast residents will also feel the effects if the fees aren’t increased enough, either, she said. According to the recreation impact fee studies, she said, increasing the fire service fees just 50% would mean the city would need to recoup $3.9 million over 10 years from current residents to make up the difference. 

“You’re just moving it from one column to the other,” she said. “We know we’ve got expansion related costs. And expansion related costs should weigh on the shoulders of the people that are coming in more so than the people that are already here.”

And the beat goes on…

And Another Thing!

…before it is an honor, leadership is trust; Before it is a call to glory, Leadership is a call to service.

…before all else, forever, and always, leadership is a willingness to serve.

—Father Edson Wood, OSA, Chaplain, United States Military Academy

The first week of June…  Wow, how time flies. 

In two months, Good Lord willing, I’ll turn 65 and officially become a senior citizen. 

A Florida Senior Citizen.  The worst kind….

As a pending geriatric with my productive life behind me, I now look back on so many wonderful memories of a lifetime spent in public service with a small municipality – the privilege of doing work worth doing for people who genuinely appreciated the effort. 

I wouldn’t change a minute of it.

This week, our local news was filled with the shining faces of high school and college graduates receiving their diplomas, the culmination of a journey that began in earliest childhood, now preparing for the great adventure of ‘what comes next.’

From the precipice of old age, by squinting hard enough, I can look back into the murky distance and remember that special time in my life when anything seemed possible, and I never regretted my decision to serve a small community, and all the trials, errors, blunders, and triumphs of overcoming significant challenges for the greater good.  

After all these years, I still believe in the importance of ethical, responsive, and transparent public servants working to ensure essential service delivery and good governance. My hope is that some of today’s altruistic and enthusiastic graduates will answer the high calling to public service – devoting themselves to a cause greater than their own self-interest.  

In my beloved profession of law enforcement, we continue to experience a nationwide crisis of recruiting and retaining qualified officers.  In my experience, it has never been easy to find candidates with the innate attributes necessary for the difficult, dangerous, and demanding work – now made worse by the gross villanization of law enforcement in the wake of hyper-politicized events across the nation. 

I’m not going to lie; as police administrators, we’ve brought some it on ourselves… 

It’s a hard dollar, and it always will be. 

Those who serve in law enforcement with honor, courage, and a personal commitment to protecting their communities remain my personal heroes and they have my enduring love and respect.

In my view, another growing civic crisis is the quality and caliber of those standing for local elective office on the various city and county councils, commissions, and boards that make important policy decisions that affect our lives and livelihoods and allocate our hard-earned tax dollars. 

In my view, those with the impulse to serve, a fire in the belly, that was once a hallmark of community involvement have largely been replaced by head-nodding sycophants with a proclivity for quid pro quo transactional politics. 

An institutional (and individual) willingness to serve the highest bidder, rather than the personal instinct to improve the quality of life, well-being, and economic prosperity of their neighbors.   

The problem isn’t limited to local governments.

The sordid stories out of Tallahassee exposing the machinations of state legislators, and scandals that now reach the Governor’s office and the Florida Attorney General, are increasingly prevalent and corrosive to the public trust. 

At the federal level (as is our luck), United States Rep. Cory Mills, who represents the 7^th Congressional District stretching from areas of Daytona Beach to Apopka, is now widely mocked as the “most corrupt Congressman in America…”  

Sadly, it appears the personal qualities of leadership, integrity, and selflessness are now seen as impediments to the lockstep conformity required to further the greed-crazed wants of their political puppeteers at all levels of government.

In the decade since I retired from municipal service, many things have changed, while some traditions, both good and bad, remain. 

In my view, the proliferation of a skewed campaign finance system that allows uber-wealthy “King makers” to conspire with horribly dysfunctional partisan political committees to hand-select malleable candidates – then underwrite their campaigns with massive donations from the various businesses and entities under their control – has completely compromised local elections here on Florida’s “Fun Coast” and beyond.

Add to that the vicious knife-fight that passes for modern political races – an unrestrained blood bath of dirty tricks, scandalous insinuations distributed on those infamous “glossy mailers,” gross distortions presented as fact, and cruel character assassination – shameful tactics that result in the personal and professional destruction of anyone who dares challenge Volusia’s “Old Guard,” and you begin to see why elective service in these parts is not for the faint of heart…   

Once elected, their likeminded “colleagues” – politicians often supported by the same donors and special interests – convince them that the elected body should be a clubbish, homogenized, and well-choreographed echo chamber, where protected (and highly compensated) senior staff create public policy behind closed doors, and the elected officials are expected to rubberstamp it.

To enforce compliance, the compromised majority begin passing rules and “civility ordinances” to silence dissent on both sides of the dais, while strictly enforced conformism ensures the outcome of votes when everyone starts thinking alike.    

Absurd “rules” that permit our elected officials to stare catatonically into space like stone gargoyles – refusing to even acknowledge the presence of taxpayers who approach the gilded dais of power – let alone answer their questions and fervent cries for help.    

Fortunately, there are a few with the courage to stand for their constituents, demonstrate independence, and buck a compromised system that abhors individualism and free thought. 

For their resistance, these bold public servants who hold firm to their campaign promises are marginalized, maligned, and see their every idea and initiative crushed under the boot of those slavish loyalists who are passionately committed to preserving the stagnant status quo. 

Perhaps a new generation of aspiring servant-leaders – those who have seen the environmental atrocities and civic claustrophobia of overdevelopment, the corruption in plain sight, and the bureaucratic subservience to the profit margins of well-heeled political insiders – will rise and vow to return public confidence and respect to our government institutions through adherence to highest standards of integrity, transparency, and service over self.   

I hate to say it, but we’ve made a mess of things.

Now, it’s up to those who come next…

As policy analyst, educator, and former dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University reminded in his essay on civic participation, Reviving the Call to Public Service, in a thought by Margaret Thatcher on the fate of the Athenians:

“In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.”

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…

Impact Fees – “Extraordinary Circumstances” Require Action

One thing I’ve never understood is the phenomena of governments who pay handsomely for an expert opinion – involving exhaustive (and expensive) studies and analysis by consultants, then openly ignore the conclusions – the resultant voluminous report relegated to a dead records morgue where it collects dust on a shelf groaning with other “out of sight/out of mind” findings…    

In Volusia County, I call it ‘paralysis by analysis’ – a strategic procrastination that allows the bureaucracy to say, “See, rube, we’re studying the problem,” while putting time and distance between the clamor of angry residents and substantive solutions to the myriad problems of overdevelopment.

That calculated foot-dragging allows influential insiders in the real estate development community to haul more, more, more money out of ravaged greenspace rather than helping fund projects that protect existing residents – stalling that becomes especially evident whenever impact fee increases are mentioned… 

Impact fees are one-time charges imposed on new development to help recover costs of new infrastructure, services, and equipment required to meet the demands of new growth.

This week, despite studies which proved the City of Palm Coast’s transportation, fire service, and parks/recreation needs qualify it for the “extraordinary circumstances” provision needed to bypass Florida’s statutory cap on increasing impact fees, the elected officials took an approach obviously more palatable for development concerns.

According to an informative article by Sierra Williams writing in the Palm Coast Observer this week:

“The transportation study found that the city’s transportation fees – which include specific rates for different types of developments – should be increased by 137% per dwelling unit for single family residential homes and 162% for multi-family developments.

Fire service impact fees are recommended to be increased from $434.51 per dwelling unit to $859 per unit for residential developments, a 97.7% increase. For non-residential developments, the fee similarly increases 94.9%, from the current rate of $700 per 1,000 square feet to $1,364. These fees do not include replacing current equipment, but instead the costing of adding facilities, equipment and firefighters to maintain the city’s current service level as it grows.

Parks and recreation impact fees, which are calculated based on a minimum ratio of eight-acres of recreational land per 1,000 people and the city’s 10-year capital improvement projects, were recommended to increase 98% to $3,620 per dwelling unit from the current rate of $1,828.01.”

In March, the Palm Coast City Council saddled residents with a 31% water and sewer rate increase to be phased in through October 2028.  The increase is necessary to finance needed upgrades to the city’s outdated and grossly overcapacity utility infrastructure that is now under a consent decree issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Destruction.

In Florida, the biggest whorehouse in the world – a fiefdom controlled by the real estate development bund through their rental representatives – impact fees can only be spent on expansion, not improvements or maintenance of existing infrastructure, so the bulk of the upgrades will be borne by existing ratepayers, which further proves growth doesn’t pay for itself…

On Tuesday, the Palm Coast City Council (with beleaguered Mayor Mike Norris absent) agreed to ignore the massive increase proposed by its experts, proposing instead a toned-down version calling for a 70-90% increase to avoid a “shock to the system.”

Which, I think, means limiting the needed increase in the face of overwhelming need to appease their political puppeteers in the real estate development community…although the reason given was “balancing interests,” so as not to price essential members of the workforce, like police officers, firefighters, and teachers, from buying homes in Palm Coast.

Earlier this year, the Daytona Beach City Commission voted to approve “linkage fees” on new construction to fund affordable housing and are considering a second revenue source taken from a portion of property taxes generated from rising property values.

In addition, the City of Daytona Beach recently announced it was considering increasing impact fees – something it hasn’t done since 2006 – as the malignant sprawl continues.  Mysteriously, earlier this month public workshops to discuss the proposed 45.4% increase were postponed with “new dates to be announced once established…”  

According to the Observer, in Palm Coast “All four council members present – Mayor Mike Norris was absent – agreed to enact the fire services impact fees as recommended by the study. The parks and recreation fees, however, were cut by around 20% by removing projects from the 10-year Capital Improvement Plan.

The projects removed from the list were a recreation center, an event center and clubhouse and a cultural arts center.

For the transportation fees, the council decided to remove Highway U.S. 1 from the list of major roadways in the study that would need improvements on Palm Coast’s dime to keep up with growth. That road, they argued, is managed by the state. As well, the council asked the amount of anticipated state funding in the equation be doubled from $25 million to $50 million over the next 25 years.”

For the uninitiated, “state funding” is not a guarantee. 

Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed some $10 million appropriated for much needed Palm Coast utilities infrastructure, drainage improvements for flood-prone areas, and wastewater projects – while authorizing funds for road construction to facilitate the city’s asinine “westward expansion” (at a time when Palm Coast utilities are under a state mandate due to overcapacity for current needs?)

The Palm Coast City Council will vote on impact fees at their June 3 and June 17 business meetings.

Halifax Area Homelessness – Putting All the Eggs in One Basket

Last week, The Daytona Beach News-Journal published a piece by Eileen Zaffiro-Kean touting the personal accomplishments of 21 alumni of the First Step Shelter housing program.  According to the report, the former participants have transitioned from the shelter to the WM at the River, a subsidized riverfront apartment complex in Daytona Beach.  

In my jaded view, the luncheon had the appearance of another choreographed attempt to rehabilitate the tarnished image of the program and its beleaguered executive director, Victoria Fahlberg…

However, I must admit, it was nice to finally see the tangible results of our sizeable collective investment in First Step, nearly a decade after the homeless occupation of the county administration building on Beach Street…

According to the News-Journal, as residents dined on a catered meal that included “hors d’oeuvres and fancy mini cupcakes,” they were treated to the accolades of Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry, who serves as president of the First Step governing board, and the self-appreciating remarks of Director Fahlberg.

“You are worth every minute of every day that we spend, all the challenges that we face as a staff, you are worth it,” said Fahlberg, who got choked up as she spoke. “Seeing you sitting here today, it means everything.”

Fahlberg said when she’s old and looking back on what she accomplished in her life, she will think of every First Step Shelter resident who rebuilt their lives and got a roof of their own over their head.

“You are my legacy,” she said. “I know when all of you do well, you give my life meaning.”

Great.  Glad we could help affirm the Fahlberg legacy…    

And by “We” I mean you and me. 

The thankless Volusia County taxpayers who underwrite the enigmatic First Step program with our hard-earned tax dollars but have yet to receive adequate answers to the serious allegations of mismanagement (and worse) lodged by whistleblowers last year.

Serious claims that are now the subject of expanding lawsuits naming both First Step and the City of Daytona Beach… 

According to First Step, the “housing program” has helped 822 people go from the streets to housing (the News-Journal reported the number at 940) which the News-Journal reports is about half of all participants who have come to the program since it started in 2019.

I assume “permanent housing” means successful program participants are being placed in publicly subsidized apartments where residents pay a percentage of their meager income under voucher programs?  

According to the News-Journal, the newly renovated Windsor and Maley Apartments, now known as WM at the River, are “privately run and owned,” with the Daytona Beach Housing Authority maintaining 1% ownership interest.

“The new ownership charges market-rate rent, but utilities are included and residents only pay 30% of their income, which for many residents is just Social Security checks. Housing vouchers provided by the Housing Authority cover the rest of the rent.

Monthly rent for studio apartments is $787-1,295; one-bedroom units are $1,544; and two-bedroom apartments are $1,889.”

In my view, the work of Louisiana based Knight Development at WM at the River is an excellent example of what private entities with the expertise in renovating and revitalizing distressed affordable housing can accomplish – especially in a region where the need far exceeds limited resources as evidenced by the perennially closed “waiting lists” at area housing authorities.

Given the market rate price of a two-bedroom apartment with a guaranteed subsidy, looks quite lucrative too… 

Which brings me to “Barker’s uncomfortable question of the week.”

Is First Step little more than an expensive conduit between one publicly subsidized program and another?  An unnecessary “middleman” that temporarily houses participants who meet specific admittance criteria until they transition to privately operated public housing? 

In my previous professional experience with the chronic homeless, I find it remarkable that First Step can take someone from the depths of destitution, debilitation, addiction, and homelessness to productive rehabilitation and a sustainable “roof of their own” with an average stay of 60-days?

And what happens to those low-income families with children who are forced to wait for space to come available on a “first come/first served” public housing and Section 8 list?

While the demand continues to grow…     

In addition to the enigmatic First Step “transitional housing” program, there are several faith-based organizations – such as the wonderful efforts of Halifax Urban Ministries – who are working tirelessly to provide food, shelter, and basic services to homeless persons and low-income households that remain dependent on private donations.   

Which raises the question – what are the benefits of area governments putting the bulk of limited homeless assistance funds into one basket?  A mysterious “low barrier housing program” that clearly falls short in meeting the needs of Volusia County’s increasingly visible homeless population.  

I’m asking…

Where I live, the brain trust at the City of Ormond Beach contributes a reported $85,000 to First Step annually.  As taxpayers, my neighbors and I are wondering if we are getting the best bang for our buck?   

Recently, the Ormond Beach City Commission started one its tempests in a teapot when Mayor Jason Leslie publicly asked if the city’s substantial contribution to First Step was paying dividends on the street? 

For asking the obvious, Mayor Leslie was beaten like a borrowed mule for his temerity – while his “colleagues” unabashedly toasted the First Step Shelter to embarrass him – clearly oblivious to the wretched refuse shuffling along the sidewalk outside the Commission chambers… 

For the edification of my elected representatives Mizaru, Kikazaru, and Iwazaru here in what the late, great civic sage Big John referred to as the “fingerbowl district,” last week, a dear friend reported driving north on busy Ridgewood Avenue in Ormond Beach when she observed two homeless gentlemen building an open cookfire just off the sidewalk near the intersection of Granada Boulevard.   

An odd scene in a place that considers itself one of the poshest communities in the eclectic mosaic that is the Halifax area…

Recently, my wife and I drove past a zombie at Hand Avenue and Nova Road. 

He was notable for the tufts of hair and bald patches that gave the appearance someone had made a half-try at scalping him – all his possessions in a dirty backpack – catatonically ambling down the sidewalk, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. 

Driving east on Granada Boulevard, my wife and I looked for the two obviously homeless women who regularly range from Orchard Street to the beachside, always seen together, perhaps taking care of one another on the mean streets.

Last weekend, on my way home from the grocery, I came upon two “urban outdoorsmen” – straight out of a Steinbeck novella – loitering with their bedrolls and plastic garbage sack luggage on a very tony section of John Anderson Drive. 

Perhaps the most exclusive neighborhood in all of “Old Or-mond.” 

I could keep going, but you get the idea…

Despite the fact Volusia County’s clueless ‘powers that be’ seem fine throwing good money after bad, the sight of homeless bindlestiffs wandering the streets and neighborhoods in Ormond Beach (and beyond) has become a frequent occurrence.

This isn’t a law enforcement problem.  You can’t “arrest” your way out of it with ordinances or official harassment of the lame, sick, and crazy – those living their lives under difficult (often self-created) circumstances – an intractable civic and social ill that requires a multidisciplinary approach.

That takes money – and vision.  

In my view, it is time for Volusia County governments to push past the distraction, self-aggrandizement, and questions at the First Step Shelter and begin a serious discussion of how best to allocate increasingly scarce funds to better meet an omnipresent problem with serious civic, social, and economic consequences for the Halifax area.  

Quote of the Week  

According to the (Florida) chamber, more than 730,000 children live in poverty statewide, including many in Volusia County.

“32114 (in Daytona Beach) is one of the poorest ZIP codes in the state of Florida,” said Forough Hosseini, the founder and chair of Food Brings Hope, a local nonprofit that provides food for families with children struggling to make ends meet. Hosseini is also the chair of this year’s Florida Prosperity & Economic Opportunity summit.

–Business Editor Clayton Park, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Casey DeSantis to speak at Daytona economic summit on reducing childhood poverty,” Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Last week, I took some well-deserved ribbing in the News-Journal for pooh-poohing the obvious renaissance we’re experiencing here on the “Fun Coast” – a virtual rebirth – as foretold by the celestial “signs and wonders” in the form of a Trader Joe’s grocery and Tesla dealership…

I guess the positive economic “puzzle pieces” former Daytona Beach Mayor Glenn Ritchey spoke about, the “compounding momentum” former Daytona Beach City Commissioner/Realtor Carl Lentz mentioned, and the “rising median income that brings us nice things” cited by J. Hyatt Brown can’t get here quick enough, eh? 

Don’t take my word for it. 

Because when I try and say it, for some reason the words come out, “That’s not a gamechanger.  It’s just another insurance office,” or “Using our tax dollars to underwrite risk for all the right last names isn’t revitalization, it’s an artificial economy,” or, well, you’ve heard them all… 

But you better damn well listen to the sage wisdom of Prosperity Summit Chair Forough Hosseini – the penultimate civic influencer next to her husband, our High Panjandrum of Political Power Mori Hosseini, which is why everyone who is anyone is attending the summit today.

Whatever it takes to get them around the table I say…  

To her credit, Mrs. Hosseini – who genuinely cares about the plight of underprivileged families in our region as evidenced by her generous philanthropic efforts like Food Brings Hope, Homes Bring Hope, and Hope Place – announced this week that the City of Daytona Beach is one of the poorest zip codes in Florida…

Hey, she said it.  I didn’t.

Unfortunately, the problem is not limited to Daytona Beach.  Not by a longshot.   

Two years ago, the United Way noted that some 47% of Volusia County families are living below the ALICE threshold – Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.  Households that earn more than the Federal Poverty Level, but less than required to meet the essentials of housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care, technology, and taxes.   

Which also means nearly half of Volusia County families could give two-shits about a Trader Joe’s…

In a shocking op/ed in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week, Mark Wilson, President and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, described the stark neighborhood-to-neighborhood disparity in the Halifax area when he pointed out that 2,787 children are living in poverty in zip code 32114 (Daytona Beach) when compared to just 270 in 32128 (Port Orange). 

(Find Mr. Wilson’s disturbing essay here: https://tinyurl.com/bd9p2sd5 )  

In my view, the prevalence and entrenched nature of the problem in Florida tells me that most elected and appointed officials only care about childhood poverty when there is an election on the horizon – or a scandal brewing that desperately needs virtue signaling…   

Here’s hoping this year’s Florida Chamber Prosperity & Economic Opportunity Solution Summit is a rousing success – something more than an opportunity for the capos of local business, industry, and education to polish the apple.  More substantive than a photo-op, another social media pose, or a cheap attempt to clean up the abject shit-show that is First Lady DeSantis’ Hope Florida debacle, which has now resulted in bipartisan calls for an expanded criminal investigation.

Call me a jaundiced asshole, but I won’t hold my breath…

According to the News-Journal, “Casey DeSantis and Dr. Audrey Gregory of AdventHealth will give a presentation on “Hope Florida: Building Pathways to Prosperity Through Community Partnerships across Florida.”

Great.  

Let’s hope our best and brightest find actionable solutions this time and make good on their promise to find workable answers to the root causes of generational poverty.  Then develop neighborhood strategies to end to the economic, civic, and social drain that ensues when the cost of life’s basic necessities exceeds the area’s median wage. 

The summit will be held today from 9:00am to 4:00pm at Daytona International Speedway.  According to the Florida Chamber of Commerce, in-person registration is $385.  Each.

Interesting.

For the record, according to the USDA, in April the average per-person food cost for a child was $234.40 a month…

And Another Thing!

“At the request of District 4 Councilman Troy Kent, the Volusia County Council plans to talk about the possibility of creating another inlet along the coast, specifically, one near Highbridge Road in the area of Ormond-by-the-Sea.

Kent floated the idea to discuss the topic during closing comments at Tuesday’s meeting. He received unanimous support to have staff bring back information on what that would entail and have a discussion at another meeting.

“Recreationally, it would be incredible. But it would also clean up the Halifax River, the Intracoastal in that area as well,” Kent said.”

–District 4 Volusia County Councilman Troy Kent, as quoted by reporter Sheldon Gardner, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Troy Kent wants to discuss making a new inlet in Volusia County,” Wednesday, May 21, 2025

I consider myself reasonably well-informed.

No smarter than the next tax-strapped rube – just a blowhard with too much time on my hands – who keeps a critical eye on current events, parses the “news” and spin, then speculates on the weird machinations of what passes for governance here on Florida’s “Fun Coast.”  

To be honest, it’s like watching a trainwreck.  You can’t turn away.

Scientists say there is a physiological reason we are paradoxically drawn to rubbernecking at the scene of a disaster.  Something about how the brain evaluates our perceptions, determines if what we are witnessing is a threat, then evokes the ‘fight or flight’ response. 

I suppose it’s that same morbid curiosity (and a whole lot of Pepto-Bismol) that allows me to watch the petty melodramas that we call public meetings, ruminate on what I’ve just subjected myself to, then write down my shambolic opinions and pass them around in this space. 

I don’t recommend it as a hobby. 

Playing the role of community curmudgeon doesn’t make me many friends among our dull-normal “decision-makers” and those uber-wealthy insiders who influence them – our “movers and shakers” who would prefer We, The Little People simply pay the bills and keep our pieholes (and prying eyes) shut… 

Regardless, this sense of civic vigilance causes me to question how those we elect and appoint to govern – ostensibly sentient beings who are literally in the eye of the political storm – can be so completely out of touch with Volusia County’s growing hierarchy of needs?

Gotta admit – a multi-million-dollar motorcross facility paid for with public funds to facilitate the recreational pursuit of Councilman Don Dempsey, dredging a new inlet north of High Bridge, and studying the feasibility of horses on the beach wasn’t on my triage of urgent problems requiring the immediate attention of Volusia County’s senior staff… 

Look, I get it. 

I’m just not sure when the house is on fire the priority should be raking the lawn and erecting a swing set in the backyard… 

Councilman Troy Kent’s exuberance for improving the quality of life of his constituents exceeds that of an overstimulated puppy – a good instinct which brought us the highly successful dog-friendly beach in Ormond Beach and freed Volusia County residents from the yoke of beach access tolls and parking fees – but on Sunday, we’re going to hear a whole lot about the ominous start of the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

A time when many Volusia County residents are reminded of the inundation heavy rains, tropical systems, and afternoon thunderstorms will bring to their waterlogged neighborhoods – while those overcompensated incompetents in Volusia County’s growth management and engineering departments continue to dream-up ways to waste time and deflect from what residents from Edgewater to Deleon Springs already know:

Unchecked sprawl, slash-and-burn land clearing, the environmental impacts of fill-and-build construction, and overwhelmed stormwater systems have resulted in widespread flooding across the width and breadth of Volusia County. 

In my view, trying to distract flood victims with tales of horses frolicking on the beach – and the astronomical expense, environmental destruction, and physical disruption that would come with dredging a manmade inlet on the North Peninsula, installing a bridge on A-1-A, etc. – is like trying to satiate starving children with stories of cookies and pictures of cake.

That’s not helping.  It’s cruel.

While I have no doubt Mr. Kent’s motives are pure, the notion of looking beyond immediate needs – pending disasters that frightened families routinely remind the Volusia County Council of each meeting – with pie-in-the-sky horseshit (literally) seems as detached from our collective reality as a motorcross facility being purchased with tax dollars earmarked for conservation and passive outdoor recreation.

Yet here we are…

In my view, now is the time for our elected and appointed officials to remain focused on those pressing issues they promised us were important to them – like improving infrastructure, retroactive “concurrency,” and reversing the engineering failures that have contributed to development-induced flooding and civic claustrophobia that is destroying our quality of life.  

Especially at a time when none of the various taxing schemes and scams coming out of Tallahassee bode well for funding the exponentially expanding needs of local governments that have allowed malignant growth to far exceed our ability to pay for it.

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