Hi, Kids!

Well, this week I drove down to the Ormond Beach Public Library to cast my “early vote.”

As usual, the parking area was awash in campaign signs, each blending into the other to form a kaleidoscope of bright colors and shapes that encircled the entire lot like an impenetrable blockade.

So many signs in such tight confines that the individual messages became meaningless.

Like in years past, I navigated the cheap nylon tents and lawn chairs occupied by perspiring candidates and their supporters, each wearing campaign t-shirts like battledress, sucking on water bottles, and staking out territory at what must be the ragged edge of the solicitation restrictions.

Getting to the polling place can be a pain in the ass, but once inside, Volusia County elections volunteers make the process relatively painless.  Besides, I consider this simple act my sacred civic duty, and I hope you do too.

As a confirmed member of the growing non-party known as “No Party Affiliation,” my choices in the primary were limited to just three questions – two judicial seats and the at-large Volusia County Council race.

Hardly seemed worth the time, but it was.

A group called Florida Fair and Open Primaries recently filed two proposed constitutional amendments to open Florida primary elections to all voters regardless of party affiliation.  Under the plan, the top two finishers would move on to the general election – even if they are members of the same party.

With the number of NPA voters increasing by leaps and bounds, it’s certainly something to consider.

Regardless of your affiliation, I hope you will take the time out of your busy schedule to cast a vote in Tuesday’s primary races – or perhaps you’re one of those who prefers to wait until autumn when the field is set, the also-rans have had their hopes dashed, and the real players have taken the field.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our friends and neighbors who boldly stood for election in races large and small this season.  It takes courage to participate in this incredibly important process, and many who worked very hard won’t be moving on after next week’s primary.

I find it inspiring that there are still people who will disrupt their lives and livelihoods, walk many hot and humid miles knocking on doors, talking issues, attending civic meetings, pressing the flesh and sitting through living room gatherings to try and convince an often-disinterested electorate that they have a better idea for our collective future.

Recently, I read a post by NPR Weekend Edition host Scott Simon who wrote, “Democracy also needs people who are bold enough to try and lose.”  

Whether we agree on the issues or not, if you held yourself out for high office – willingly entered the pressure cooker of Volusia County politics for all the right reasons – then you have my eternal respect and appreciation, regardless of outcome.

From Barker’s View to you – thank you for the effort.

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

Let’s look at who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:

Angel:             Bethune-Cookman University Marching Wildcats

Those of us who live in Central Florida have long known the precision and excitement of B-CU’s Marching Wildcats.  Now, thanks to the school’s participation in the Netflix documentary series ‘Marching Orders’ – the world will get a chance to know the most innovative band around.

The 12-episode series began earlier this month and follows Director Donovan Wells and documents the hard work and dedication required of talented B-CU students – many family legacies of former musicians – as they struggle to earn a place in America’s best marching band.

With B-CU facing an uncertain future, it’s nice to see that the true attributes and traditions of this historical university have the opportunity to shine on the national stage.

Recently, the wonderful journalist and blogger J. L. Carter, Sr. wrote in HBCU Digest:

“Most of us want to be able to separate the two realities of band and institution. It is the same challenge for schools like Southern and FAMU, which while not in the same financial crisis as Bethune-Cookman, face similar challenges in the politics and corruption eating away at their leadership infrastructure and profitability while their bands help strengthen the blinders for students and alumni, while camouflaging the work of campus enemies.

 We cannot separate the two. If marching bands were the marketing and branding cure for all that ails HBCUs, the sector at large would have more than one out of every 10 black students enrolling in our institutions. If the Marching Wildcats could go on tour like the Fisk Jubilee Singers of generations ago and raise the money to pull Mary’s school out of debt, they would have published the traveling schedule by now.

 So, we can watch the series, help it to trend on Twitter and make it a feel-good story for the weekend. But that won’t raise the attention or the resources necessary to save this school — which even if it can broker and settle its way out of its bad contracts and lawsuits, will still have big bills, big distrust amongst its core stakeholders, and likely the same old board calling the shots.”

Kudos to Director Wells and everyone connected with bringing our own Marching Wildcats to the attention of the world.  These dedicated young people deserve our highest respect for their incredible dedication to the university, our community, and each other.

They make us all very proud.

Asshole:          Volusia County Schools

Imagine this scenario:

You are a young student on the first day of class at Orange City’s University High School.

It’s a stressful time – the back-to-school jitters – not knowing what to expect – a different routine, meeting teachers, seeking out old friends and making new ones while learning your way around campus.

You don’t have much, but your mom has taken steps to ensure that breakfast and lunch will be available under a program that provides free or reduced-price meals for less fortunate students.

After selecting lunch in the cafeteria, you approach the cashier, provide your account number – and are promptly told – in direct view of your new classmates – that you will be going hungry the rest of the day because your account is, wait for it – .15 cents short.

Then, in some sick attempt to make a point, reports indicate that a cafeteria worker physically took the food away from the student and threw it in the garbage – leaving the student to walk away humiliated and hungry.

Who does that?

I guess this is the curriculum approved by Volusia County School Superintendent Tom Russell – and our elected representatives on the School Board who refuse to hold him accountable – for teaching indigent and low-income students the hard lesson that those who have eat, while those who don’t go without.

According to Roger Edgcomb, a professional mouthpiece for Volusia County Public Schools, “The school is always willing to work with students and families as needed – The school will be contacting the family directly to help resolve this issue,” whatever that means. . .

Apparently, they weren’t willing to work with this student when it mattered most – so, who will be held accountable for this and other nonsensical policies that have seen School Board members and senior administrators begging spare change from area municipalities to pay for school security initiatives in the face of an obscene $900 million budget – the largest of any taxing authority in Volusia County?

The answer is:  Nobody.

The very concept of responsibility and accountability among senior officials in Volusia County is anathema in a system that shamelessly quibbles facts, covers the sizable asses of senior administrators and openly admits that it doesn’t have a clue how to turn around our struggling schools.

Once again, the abject ineptitude and tone-deaf policies of another Volusia County bureaucracy has brought us to the attention of the World.  This ugly incident was reported by network news outlets and international media and has offended the sensibilities of good people around the globe.

In a valiant effort to ensure that district staff never have the opportunity to embarrass another student, the child’s mother, Kimberly Aiken – with the assistance of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law – has started a GoFundMe account to provide a safety net for Volusia County students.

Thanks to the international exposure, good people from as far away as Qatar – where a member of the United States Air Force offered financial assistance – and the famous rapper “T. I.” – are selflessly donating to fund an account that cafeteria cashiers in Volusia County Schools could access in the event a child’s account falls a few cents short of the cost of a meal.

Once again, this sick joke of a School Board needs to be bailed-out by external funding sources and the largess of well-meaning people who care about the education and welfare of Volusia County children.

My God.

Here’s a Barker’s View tip o’ the hat to Ms. Aiken and her daughter for bringing this despicable policy of shaming children – and forcing them to go hungry – whenever their meal account falls pennies short.

Given the number of homeless and indigent students in Volusia County Schools, on-campus meals may well be the only sustenance they receive all day.  Think about that.

Obviously, these dullards on the dais of power in DeLand don’t have the common human decency to step down and turn this out-of-control shit show over to someone – anyone – who can figure out how to educate 63,000 students, and provide our dedicated teachers a living wage and benefits package, with a budget approaching One Billion dollars.

So, maybe its time we find someone who can?

I think that process begins at the ballot box.

These assholes should be ashamed of themselves.  But they’re not.

Angel:             The Taxpayers of Volusia County

 Last week, the physical transformation of the former Hurst Elementary School was completed – making way for Hope Place – a transitional homeless shelter for families with children and unaccompanied youth.

We first learned of this plan back in late 2015 when The Daytona Beach News-Journal did a story on Halifax Urban Ministries, a faith-based non-profit that has been engaged in homeless support services in Daytona Beach for many years.

At the time, Forough Hossieni, the civic-minded wife of ICI Homes CEO and King Power Broker Mori Hossieni, was working hard to establish a family-based residential homeless assistance center in Daytona Beach.

At the suggestion of Mrs. Hossieni, in just six short months, County government identified the Hurst Elementary site as a suitable location for a homeless assistance center.  It purchased the property from the School Board (with the structures valued at $1.3 million alone) for the bargain basement price of $200,000, then negotiated a land transfer and operations contract with Halifax Urban Ministries, allocated $3.5 million for renovations, ignored the recommendation of the Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission and unanimously voted to approve the project.

Six months.

At last week’s ceremony, during which the keys were turned over to the new “owners,” HUM Executive Director Buck James thanked everyone in attendance – including the individuals and business owners who gave thousands in in-kind donations and services.  It was reported that he also took the time to thank the Volusia County Council, our elected representatives on the School Board, and the HUM building committee.

In turn, Mrs. Hossieni took the stage and presented a check in the amount of $50,000 to Anne Evans, board chair of Halifax Urban Ministries, on behalf of ICI Homes to assist the Hope Place endowment.

A generous contribution which will go a long way to assist struggling families in the Halifax area.

“This is a faith-based ministry,” said Evans. “So, I just want to thank God and everyone who helped.”

 According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “In an interview before the meeting, Hosseini said Evans and former County Manager Jim Dinneen were key in making Hope Place a success.”

 Yep.  Everyone who is anyone was recognized for their efforts to make Hope Place a reality:

Mr. & Mrs. Hossieni’s

ICI Homes

Little Jimmy Dinneen

The Volusia County Council

The Volusia County School Board

Business owners

The HUM Building Committee

God

(Probably in that order. . .)

So, I wanted to take a minute to thank you – the hardworking, long-suffering taxpayers of Volusia County who – without any direct input in the matter, and against the serious concerns of many living in the already challenged Derbyshire neighborhood – contributed public land and nearly $5 million of our hard-earned tax dollars – making you and I the largest collective contributor to seeing the dream of Hope Place become a reality.

I’m sure We, The People were just an honest oversight – so I won’t be a petty asshole and bring attention to the fact that no one bothered to recognize our significant contribution.

After all, I’m sure those dullards we elected to represent our interests on the dais of power in DeLand accepted everyone’s glowing thanks and congratulations as much on our behalf as their own. . .

Right?  Right.

Asshole:          Former B-CU Trustee Joe Petrock

In my view, anyone who wants a primer on all that’s wrong with Volusia County government – and the slow deterioration of important institutions that have been seized by a small coterie of ‘Rich & Powerful’ insiders – need look no further than the classless departure of former Bethune-Cookman University Trustee, and past board president, Dr. Joe “Community Pillar and Philanthropist” Petrock.

After Mr. Petrock and his fellow board members stood idle while so-called “administrators” and various hangers-on financially gutted Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s sacred institution, leaving the school hundreds-of-millions in debt – then were less than transparent with local media and concerned alumni about the school’s dire financial condition – while fleeing the building, Petrock had the balls to sidestep any responsibility:

“I’m fed up with it. I’m out of there,” Petrock said. “But it’s not because I did something wrong.”

He’s fed up with it?  Really?

Jesus.  I don’t make this shit up, folks.

According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Petrock said he resigned because he has grown tired of being unfairly blamed for B-CU’s financial problems, in particular the fallout over a deal to build new dormitories that school officials have since said they can’t afford.”

 “I wasn’t the chairman when the housing project was presented, and I wasn’t on the executive committee,” Petrock said. “I was just a member of the board. We weren’t given all the information.”

Wow.  How’s that for leadership, folks?

You’ve heard of the Nuremberg Defense – the “I was just following orders” and should not be held accountable for the directives of a superior, regardless of how clearly immoral those orders may be?

Well, let’s call this the Halifax Defense – the idea that a person in a position of vital oversight and high responsibility can be inexplicably struck deaf, dumb and blind while the institution they are ethically and fiduciarily responsible for is looted from within – then claim, “I was just a member of the Board of Trustees – but we weren’t given all the information.” 

Seriously? 

Since when did simply admitting “I was an ignorant asshole” become the universal alibi that permits someone to walk away from the steaming wreckage without accepting responsibility for the crash?

Unfortunately, former funeral director Nancy Lohman, who, along with her husband Lowell, have become wildly successful developing and managing apartment complexes, also resigned from the board after just seven months, even as the financial conflagration continues to consume the school.

Look, I like Nancy Lohman – she and her family continue to do wonderful things for our community – including a $1 million matching donation to the Halifax Humane Society which recently allowed the organization to reach its goal of raising $3.6 million to renovate its facilities off LPGA Boulevard.

“I thought I could help but I have concluded that I can’t.  I remain committed to the importance of HBCUs and I believe in access to education for all Americans. My love for the B-CU students and for Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and all she stood for has not wavered.”  

I guess its easier to talk about leadership than it is to actually roll up your sleeves, get down in the trenches and say, “Follow me.”

Things are about to get ugly – and I understand the need for well-connected people to get as far away from this brewing storm as possible – but I hope we can all agree on one thing:

Folks like Joe Petrock, Dr. Kent Sharples (who led Daytona State College into the expensive quagmire of the American Music Festival debacle, now leader of the secret society of millionaires known as the CEO Business Alliance, and recent industrial real estate speculator) and any of our other ‘Movers & Shakers’ who were involved in the B-CU catastrophe – should not be allowed within 500 yards of an institute of higher learning ever again.

Look, if these pathetic dupes want to give each other awards and accolades at elegant circle jerks year-in-and-year-out – what do I care?

But they should never again be granted the opportunity to bring a once venerated institution to its knees – then simply walk away – acting as though their hands, and their conscience, are clean.

Angel:             City of Holly Hill Mayor John Penny

 Kudos to Holly Hill Mayor John Penny on his recent nomination for the prestigious 2018 E. Harris Drew Municipal Official Lifetime Achievement Award sponsored by the Florida League of Cities!

Every so often a politician emerges at the right time and place to make a true difference in the lives of others.  As a five-term member of the Holly Hill City Commission, Mayor Penny has provided exceptional leadership – and through his personal example – fostered a strong sense of community pride among constituents and fellow elected officials.

The fact that Mr. Penny’s neighbors have consistently reelected him to office is a testament to his commitment to the community he serves.  In my view, that is the very essence of constituent confidence in an elected leader.

The City of Holly Hill can be proud of the fact that, in November, Mayor Penny will resume his role as the District 1 Commissioner after being term limited for another mayoral run.  He will replace the equally dedicated long-time public servant Commissioner Arthur Byrnes.

It is heartening to know that the community I love so dearly is so well represented by true servant-leaders like John Penny.

Congratulations on this exceptional recognition of your dedication and spirit in service to others.

Quote of the Week:

“We need stronger ethics laws. We need to address that issue in short order.  It is up to us as citizens to ensure that our federal and state lawmakers strengthen ethics laws in a comprehensive and meaningful manner which protected the public.”

–Lonnie Groot, Attorney for the City of Daytona Beach Shores, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Florida needs tougher ethics laws,” Sunday, August 12, 2018

Amen, Mr. Groot.

We need a lot of things here on Florida’s Fun Coast – but, in my view, a revamp of our toothless ethics apparatus and campaign finance reform is a damn good place to start.

And Another Thing!

By any metric, politics is a dirty business, and most people really don’t give a shit how a candidate wins – because the losers will be forgotten to the ash heap of history before the victory celebrations wind down on election night.

It’s an all or nothing proposition and, trust me, there are no participation trophies for those who tried and failed – only personal shame and the stark knowledge that 51% of your neighbors reject everything you stand for.

To the victor go the spoils.

During election cycles, I take a perverse glee in watching arrogant incumbents prostrate themselves and grovel for votes, hoping against hope everyone will forget how rotten they truly are – and reading the righteously indignant social media posts and letters to the editor of once respected (and highly partisan) locals who throw their good name to the wind as they become weird surrogate defenders for their candidate.

They crow and cry, lambasting the campaign rhetoric of his or her challengers as “despicable lies,” accusing them of all forms of wrongs, and calling their very character into question – all while portraying their choice as a “local hero.”

A great example of this mean-minded mudslinging is the heated battle between perennial politician Fred Costello and the so-called ‘carpetbagger’ Michael Waltz – both Republicans running for Florida’s 6^th Congressional District seat.

Whatever.

But, in my view, the weird maneuvering of incumbent Volusia County Councilman – the Right Reverend Fred Lowry – who denied his qualified opponent, Dan Hunt, the opportunity to debate the issues in a public forum (and blocked the rest of us from actually hearing Rev. Lowry’s position on the issues of the day) was a new low – even for Volusia County politics.

I understand that Rev. Lowry’s father is ill – and I can respect the need to step off the campaign trail to spend time on important family matters – but when the intrepid News-Journal reporter Dustin Wyatt asked Councilman Lowry if, and when, he would debate his challenger, he said, “I’d challenge him (Hunt) to a fishing tournament.”

WTF? 

 I can only guess that Rev. Lowry has bought into the notion that with enough money – from the right last names – Volusia County ‘elections’ are little more than a foregone conclusion.    

He may be right.

My hat’s off to Daytona Beach News-Journal Editor Pat Rice who took the time to sit down with Mr. Hunt yesterday and videotape an interview.  During the session, Mr. Rice allowed Hunt the opportunity to answer the questions he would have been asked if Rev. Lowry hadn’t made the strategic decision to dodge the debate.

That’s a stand-up move by Pat Rice – and Dan Hunt – and I, for one, am glad the candidate had the chance to speak.

Now, I won’t watch the interview – and I doubt many of you will take the time to track down the video – but I do hope that constituents in District 5 remember that, to his credit, Dan Hunt didn’t run and hide when it came time to answer the hard questions.

 By any metric, this current iteration of the Volusia County Council has been the worst in recent memory – and given our dismal history – that’s saying something.

I suppose, under the circumstances, if I were Rev. Lowry, I wouldn’t want to stand in front of my friends and neighbors and attempt to defend my abysmal record of lockstep conformity in service to my political benefactors while my opponent hammered away at me either.

But in this era of ‘high-information voters’ – We, The People want to hear from our so-called “leaders” – we want them to look us in the eye and explain themselves and their positions on the important issues of the day.

We learn from the honest debate of competing ideas.

Most of all, we want candidates to tell us – in very specific terms – how they plan to deliver us from the cycle of blight, dilapidation and prevailing sense of hopelessness – that continues to cast a pall over large sections of Volusia County.

We want to know what they plan to do about the plague of low pay and high taxes.

We want to know that they care enough to defend their decisions in an open and public way.

Dr. Lowry may think he’s just playing cute political games – or maybe he finally lost his marbles – but, in my view, his weird taunts of a “fishing tournament” in lieu of a debate merely expose his Fear.

In my view, Dan Hunt – and Rev. Lowry’s long-suffering constituents – deserve better.

That’s all for me!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caveat Emptor.

According to the venerated Black’s Law Dictionary, that’s Latin for “Let the buyer beware.” 

“This maxim summarizes the rule that the purchaser of an article must examine, judge, and test It for himself, being bound to discover any obvious defects or imperfections.”

Similar to the old horse-trading phrase, “Sold as is. . .”

There is a lot of money moving around during this rotten summer of 2018 – some of it mine – and politicians are working overtime to win our sacred vote now that nut-cutting time is here.

Next week’s primary will cull the wheat from the chaff – and not all who were called will be moving forward.

Last weekend a smart friend and I enjoyed a beautiful late summer afternoon at a fundraiser for Sons of the Beach and Friends, a recently formed political action committee, and sister organization to Sons of the Beach, Florida’s premiere beach access advocacy.

The SOB and Friends PAC provides financial support for candidates with a proven commitment to beach driving and stopping the privatization of our most precious natural resource.

I laid a hundred-dollars down for what I hope were the right reasons.

As the late, great Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was fond of saying, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.”

I rail against our weird campaign finance laws that permit uber-wealthy political insiders to spend hundreds-of-thousands of dollars collectively to openly buy access and influence on the dais of power in DeLand and beyond.

Unfortunately, money greases the political wheel, and it allows candidates to purchase those glossy mail-outs, radio and television ads and ugly, yet ubiquitous, yard signs.  In fact, with enough of it – a politician’s rapid ascent to a position of power is all but assured – a fact that has left Florida’s Fun Coast in one hell of a predicament over time.

During the fundraiser – I met a lot of folks who have boldly ‘thrown their hat in the ring’ and are running for high office.  Some I agree with – others I don’t – but it was nice to press the flesh and talk issues with people who think enough of their neighbors and community to stand up and try like hell to make a difference.

For all my demeaning bluster and satire toward politicos – I admire that.

I spend a lot of time fixated on the machinations of Volusia County government.

It’s not that I’m some weird masochist who derives perverted gratification from pain and humiliation, I’m just fascinated by the fact that ostensibly smart people who hold high public office continue to allow local government – and our important civic, social and educational institutions – to wither and die a grotesque and painful death.

Yet, no one who should seems to care.

So long as all the right last names get their share of the pie, everyone involved knows the cycle will continue and our anointed insiders will get what they need from it, i.e., a campaign contribution, an elective office, a job, a promotion to a position they are wholly unqualified for, an ‘economic development’ handout, etc.

Those we elect and appoint to administrate Volusia County government have exposed themselves as half-bright dullards – wholly-owned chattel or compromised bureaucrats who have learned that simply serving the needs of the highest bidder in lockstep conformity allow them to avoid the difficult process of strategic thinking and visionary leadership.

Instead, our ‘powers that be’ seem to feel they can simply do as they are told by their wealthy political benefactors – then feign moral outrage when We, The People, take a dissenting opinion and point out our heartbreaking reality – the blight, dilapidation and prevailing sense of hopelessness all around us – and demand positive change.

When we oppose clearly lop-sided public policies – or question the who, what and why of a nonsensical arrangement that allows the same people to remain firmly ensconced in positions of power and influence as Rome metaphorically burns – we are marginalized, chastised and told we are not “paying attention” or are simply too stupid to understand the difficult concepts.

Bullshit.

In my case, I’ve been labeled a contrarian, a radical, a troublemaker and a malcontent; and I’ve become virtually unemployable – something best kept at arms-length.

And they’re probably right. . .

The fact is, I am an outcast who would rather reveal my troubled opinions on the important issues of the day – to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves – and expose the flaws in our deteriorating system to the disinfecting light of day – even if it costs me the approval, security and financial gain that come from ‘going along to get along.’

Trust me, I’m no more courageous than the next citizen – I just don’t have that much to lose – and I can no longer, in good conscious, stand idle.  While I may not have any direct influence on the situation – or even an articulable solution – I can damn sure shine a light into the dark places.

The base arrogance of our elected elite seems to have given the rest of us a collective inferiority complex.

Now, during the heat of an election year, incumbents who have run roughshod over our wants, needs and dreams stand before us, and – with a straight face – tell us that public confidence in county government remains high, and that if we only give them one more bite at the apple, they will use their “experience” to our advantage.

Yeah, right.

In my view, when we spend hard-earned money to support the candidate of our choice – just like Mori Hosseini, J. Hyatt Brown or any of the other “King Makers of Volusia County” – it is important to vet, scrutinize, and clearly understand the views and motivations of those we contribute to.

Are they an empty suit – a pretty talking head on the television who seems clueless about the issues whenever they are forced off-script?

Are they in the race for the right reasons?

Do they have a personal and professional record of serving others – putting the needs of their community above their own self-interests?

Do their values and beliefs align with yours?

If they are an incumbent – do their past actions and statements comport with their campaign rhetoric?  Or have they leveraged their position and compromised themselves to the ‘Rich & Powerful’ special interests for personal or political gain?

Simply put – are they in it for us – or themselves?

I realize it’s hard to tell.  But I also know a Leopard doesn’t change his spots, either – and the only true predictor of future performance is past deeds.

Look, I don’t particularly care about ideology – I’m neither a Republican or Democrat – just an ‘every-man’ who still believes in the sanctity of governance, and the notion that we are all equal under the law – that everyone deserves to be heard, and have real input in the process of local government – regardless of socio-economic status or the power of our last name.

Perhaps naïvely, I still believe that political power and self-determination should derive from the people, by the people and for the people – not just those fortunate few who can afford to ‘pay-to-play.’

Caveat Emptor, folks.  It’s important this time.

 

 

 

Did you see the report by The Daytona Beach News-Journal entitled “Riverfront carnival a flop”?

Most agree that traveling carnivals are like any guest:  You’re glad to see them come – and equally glad to see them go.  After all, the time-honored ‘Carny Code’ is GTFM – “Get the Fuckin’ Money” – and after the local rubes have been fleeced, it’s time to move along.

Like ice cream and orgies – they’re only fun for a little while.

The News-Journal recently told the story of some slightly down-at-the-heels midway amusements which inexplicably set up for the second year in a row in an unlikely location on Beach Street between the no man’s land of Manatee Island and the News-Journal Center.

I found it strange.  But what else is new?      

This isn’t the first time Hildebrand Rides, Inc. have parked their gimcracks and whirligigs – complete with garish neon lights and fading paint – some dotted among high weeds near the neglected Riverfront Park – others still loaded on semi-trucks and trailers.

In 2017, the King of Empty Promises, Daytona Beach Redevelopment Director Reed Berger, beat his chest with pride when he “convinced” the ride operator to put a few amusements at the Boardwalk – something Berger touted at the time as the next big thing – it was to be the beginning of our renaissance, “This is where we needed a catalyst to get that place cleaned up,” Berger said. “The timing all worked out.”   

So, how did that work out for us, Reed?

You don’t have to be Hurcule Poirot to deduce that the presence of these shabby carnival rides in Downtrodden Downtown Daytona – like many things in the Halifax area – seem oddly out-of-place.

A check of the Hildebrand Rides website shows their season seems to be the fall fair and festival circuit – October to April (although it hasn’t been updated since 2012) – so my conspiratorial mind quickly went into overdrive and ran through the possible scenarios.

Was this some strange trade-off for Hidebrand Rides setting up on the Boardwalk and taking the heat off local redevelopment and tourism officials in the lead-up to the Shriners “mega-convention” – a clearly rushed process, without any request for proposals or competitive bidding process – or is it merely a misguided attempt to do something, anything, to salve the very real fears of Beach Street Merchants who are hanging on by their financial fingernails?

Or did a savvy carny determine that for the price of a permit he could warehouse his Tilt-a-Karts and Rocket Spinners in plain sight during the off-season – and maybe turn a quick buck in the process?

What gives?

Why were the hours of operation never posted – at least anywhere anyone would see them – and why wasn’t the carnival ever advertised outside the esoteric Riverfront Shops website?

Did they expect word-of-mouth to serve the purpose, “Howdy, neighbor!  We’re taking the kids down to the big Community Carnival near Manatee Island – you know, across from the vacant motorcycle shops, on Uncle Hyatt’s new front yard?  Wanna come with?” 

The operator claims to have spent some $15,000 in radio and television ad’s – but I’ll be dipped if I ever saw or heard one.

And why would the City permit food and drink concessions within a stones throw of places like Rhokkoh’s Frozen Yogurt and Tia Cori’s Tacos – two small year-round businesses that have openly struggled through hurricane flooding, the Great Homeless Occupation of 2016, civic neglect and other natural and manmade disasters?

And if, as the operator said in the News-Journal, he only planned to be on the site from June 29^th to July 15^th – and no one showed – why would he renew the permit to keep his boarded-up midway sitting idle on public property through Labor Day?

Apparently, that’s the plan.

In late June, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that the carnival would run through July 15th – touting the fact that it’s three-day run in May 2017 “did well.”

At the time, Hildebrand president Harlan Bast said, “A lot of the parents will drop their teenagers off and go right down the street and go have a beer and a sandwich or something.”

Look, I don’t know anyone in their right mind who would drop their teenager in the company of itinerant circus folk near Manatee Island – at night – while they drink beer on Beach Street, but I’m overprotective that way. . .

At the time, I commented to my wife that it wouldn’t be long before J. Hyatt Brown came over from the sandy site of his future, publicly-supported, Brown & Brown headquarters building and screamed, “Get off my lawn!”

 Make no mistake, it is most definitely his lawn. . . and something tells me a rinky-dink carnival midway isn’t exactly the image Hyatt and Cici envision for Riverfront Park – yet, there it sits.

Now we’re approaching late August and the rides and concessions are still ensconced.

“City records show Bast paid $15,841 in various fees for a permit he applied for in February and received in May. He applied for a second permit July 19, and still owes close to $9,000 on roughly $13,000 in various charges, records show.”

However, Mr. Bast explained, “The city was more than gracious to us.  They tried to help us out with a discount on the rent.”

Who arbitrarily “discounts” rent on public property?

The City Commission?

Director Berger?

Because if Hildebrand Rides, Inc. receives a discount – I’ll just bet there are some established struggling businesses in the City of Daytona Beach that could use a discount on fees and rent as well.

I’d like to know more about that, how about you?

It’s like some weird Funhouse with one of those Hall of Mirrors that distorts reality.

But, why is this one sitting idle while the weeds grow?

Is this a legitimate Community Carnival – or has our downtown become the summer quarters for a traveling midway – and how, exactly, does that fit with J. Hyatt’s vision for the future economic development of our beleaguered downtown?

Nothing about this makes sense to me.

But maybe that was the plan from the beginning?

 

Photo Credit: The Daytona Beach News-Journal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, kids!

Happy Friday, everybody!  Let’s get to it, shall we?

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

Let’s look at who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:

 Asshole:          Bethune-Cookman University Board of Trustees

 Bethune-Cookman University is in real trouble.

A seemingly unrecoverable financial death spiral, and no one who should seems to care.

This week, B-CU’s National Alumni Association did the only thing they could to force positive change when they issued a desperate letter to Board of Trustee chair Michelle Carter-Scott demanding her immediate resignation – and they rightfully want her to take Joe Petrock and former Daytona State College president, and current hired hand of the CEO Business Alliance, Dr. D. Kent Sharples – with her.

I applaud their effort.

It takes courage to stand tall in the face of powerful forces and protect that which is important.

In my view, what has happened at Bethune-Cookman University is criminal.

In demanding the Board’s ouster, the alumni wrote:

“How is it that Kent Sharples, the former president of Daytona State College, Joe Petrock, the former board chair of Daytona State College, Jacob F. Bryan, a wealthy Insurance Magnate, and others on the Board of Trustees who share similar pedigrees, approve a dormitory deal that absolutely no one the Board of Trustees understood! How is it that the Board of Trustees, being such an eclectic group, to this day, cannot adequately explain why $85 million dollars was borrowed to build dormitories that cost less than $60 million dollars? Where is the other $25 million dollars Dr. Carter-Scott? Joe? Kent? If $25 million dollars was misplaced or misappropriated at Florida State University, it would be a matter of great concern, so you can imagine what $25 million unaccounted for dollars means to a small, private school like Bethune-Cookman University?”

Those in a position to know better – the Board of Trustees – had an ethical, moral and fiduciary responsibility to alumni, students and staff to ensure the best interests of this historic university were protected from the self-serving motives of former so-called ‘administrators’ and predatory shysters.

Instead, Petrock, Sharples and the others stood idle while the sharks fed.

That’s unconscionable.

As I’ve previously written,  how many more local institutions of higher learning are we going to allow ol’ Kent to involve himself with?

I’m just asking.

Because only in Volusia County can you go from the American Music Festival disaster that rocked Daytona State College to the boardroom of the CEO Business Alliance and Bethune-Cookman University.

In most industries, senior officials are given one bite at that apple before they are exposed as inept jacklegs and cashiered out of the service, but not in what passes for Halifax area academia – or Volusia County Star Chambers.

Is it possible everyone was too busy accepting honorary doctorates and bullying whistleblowers to notice that Dr. Bethune’s beloved institution was being looted by the very executive leadership charged with protecting and promoting it – or was something even more nefarious afoot?

I mean, how could the Board of Trustee’s not have known?

According to B-CU alumni, during their rotten tenure – Carter-Scott, Petrock, Sharples and the other conveniently deaf, dumb and blind “trustees” are directly responsible for:

Taking the school’s bond rating from A+ to junk status.

The school being place on probation by the school’s accrediting association.

Getting the school embroiled in lawsuits costing thousands of dollars a month in legal fees

Denying alumni representation on the Board of Trustees resulting in a lawsuit filed against the board by the school’s alumni association.

The school being over $120 million dollars in debt.

Causing alumni to place restrictions on funds they donate to the school because of a lack of trust and the lack of ownership of the problems they created.

And for building dormitories that the school cannot pay for.

My God. 

Gentle readers, this is a burgeoning tragedy of monumental proportions.    

In my view, it is past time for federal authorities to move swiftly and intervene to stop the on-going abominations being committed against B-CU before it is too late.

It is also time that the community at large decides how many more opportunities are we willing to give Dr. Kent Sharples, or Joe Petrock, to stand around with their thumbs wedged firmly in their ass while this venerated place of higher learning is financially gutted on their watch?

In my view, not only should these ineffectual scumbags find the door – but they should be required to explain their almost strategic inaction to the proper authorities.

Frankly, the CEO Business Alliance should take a long hard look at the weird happenings at B-CU during the board tenure of their exalted president, Kent Sharples – and decide how much more damage and embarrassment the university – and our community – should be expected to endure.

If, in fact, our secret society of millionaires at the CEO Business Alliance truly care about the future of Daytona Beach and the health of our colleges and universities as the economic engines they are – then it’s time to put their money where their mouth is and get control of Dr. Sharples and this coterie of shameless posers that have brought a once proud institution to its knees.

Frankly, barring outside intervention, they are the only ones I know locally with the power to effect positive change.

I stand firmly with the Bethune-Cookman University National Alumni Association in their desperate efforts to save the institution – and preserve the important legacy of Dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune – and all it means to our region and beyond.

Clearly, the current B-CU Board of Trustees lack the common decency to step down and permit strong, ethical and prudent leadership to take the helm before this crippled ship founders.

I sincerely hope the National Alumni Association is successful in returning sanity to this abysmal tragedy.

Angel:             City of Holly Hill Police & Fire Departments

The good Lord blessed me.

A long time ago, we made a deal that he would allow me a lifetime of happiness in my dream job – the chance to perform work worth doing in service to others – so long as I agreed to do it with honor and integrity.

He lived up to his end of the bargain – and I tried like hell to live up to mine.

Although I failed time-and-again, the result was a career most can only imagine.

And, for over 30-years, I was given the wonderful gift of serving a grateful community in the company of some of the most talented, dedicated and courageous men and women I have ever known.

I hope I was faithful to my end of the bargain – and when the Great Scorer comes to write against my name – he will say I played the game well, and for all the right reasons.

The members of the Holly Hill Police and Fire Departments will always be my personal heroes.

Imagine my overwhelming sense of pride when I opened the newspaper last week and read the most heartwarming letter thanking the outstanding men and women of the Holly Hill Police and Fire Departments for their service at the scene of a recent fatal traffic crash near Flomish Avenue and Nova Road.

In her touching tribute, Ms. Mary Ann Trussell of Holly Hill wrote in The Daytona Beach News-Journal:

“I was recently involved in a motor vehicle accident.

 I would like to applaud the Holly Hill Police Department, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department, the Holly Hill Fire Department, the ambulance emergency medical technicians and all the first responders.

 There was also a gentleman in street clothes who was immediately assessing everyone involved in the accident, then informing the first responders as they arrived.

 Professionalism, compassion and extreme competence were all displayed by this team. It did not go unnoticed! Thank you, and God bless all of you for your dedication to helping others during such frightening and helpless situations.”

The greatest privilege of my life was serving alongside these brave men and women for most of my adult life, and I am forever grateful just to have been counted in their number.

Well done.

Asshole:          Volusia County School Board

I wrote about this earlier in the week, but it bears repeating.

Recently, Volusia County School Board Member Melody Johnson crawled before the Deltona City Commission with her hand out – moaning the blues over the fact that the municipality had previously declined to be openly fleeced by the school district.

“I was very concerned when I was notified by our School Board chair that you declined to help our schools,” she said. “It is our intention to only ask for a one-year assistance — only 30 percent of what we need.”

“As you know it’s challenging to do something without any funding.”

 Without any funding?  My ass.

Folks, the sight of our School Board begging for change like some penniless mendicant is not only unbecoming of elected officials who know better – but it crosses the line on how our hard-earned tax dollars are allocated.

The Volusia County School District is an independent taxing authority with the responsibility and political accountability for managing public funds, organizing assets, preparing a budget and levying assessments to meet the needs of thousands of students, teachers and staff.

With a current budget approaching $900 million – the largest of any government entity in Volusia County – I find it incredulous that our elected officials on the School Board seem physically incapable of identifying internal funding cuts to provide for this priceless service to our precious children.

Where is it written that when a taxing authority fails to live within its means – or refuses to take austerity measures to prioritize and reorganize allocations to meet emergent needs – it can simply cry poor mouth and shame the cities into handing over tax dollars they collected from us for critical municipal services?

The School Board seems perfectly capable of lashing us with millions in debt for Taj Mahal building projects, on top of a half-cent sales tax increase, then engaging in serial poor decisions – such as appointing wholly unqualified middle-managers to fill the vitally important role of School Security Specialist, rather than finding the very best expert we can afford – or keeping Superintendent Tom Russell in place after some seventeen Volusia County schools dropped one letter grade or more last year.

Or how about the ham-handed “secret negotiations” that resulted in our elected officials approving a five-year contract with Florida Hospital – sorry, “AdventHealth” – naming the healthcare provider the “exclusive student education and student wellness partner of the School Board for all purposes and on all levels” – for just $200,000 in cash each year. . .?

The agreement ended some 15-months of shadowy, back-alley negotiations by district officials that resulted in an agreement that gives AdventHealth all the marketing exposure they could have dreamed for – including naming rights, sponsorship options, districtwide distribution of branded material, and graduate recruitment options, among other benefits.

One might have thought that given our current dire financial straits – a direct advertising campaign reaching some 63,000 Volusia County families might have been worth a tad more?

Whatever.

At a recent meeting, School Board member Carl Persis said, “It seems like with $21 million (in federal Title 1 funds) you can fix anything,” he said. “My whole point is we’re not doing well. Systematically we have failed.  And it’s okay to say that we’ve failed.  Now we have to do something about it.”

Here’s an idea, Carl – fire Superintendent Tom Russell and his toady’s in the “Superintendent’s Cabinet” (really?), then get some visionary leadership in place who can turn things around – someone with a clearly defined systemic action plan to save our students and teachers from this curse of mediocrity.   Do it now.

In the meantime, we are left in the untenable position of having a decades old backlog of school infrastructure projects, complete stagnation in negotiations with our teachers – who are desperately seeking a living wage for their important work, along with benefit improvements to stop the hemorrhage of talent as educators continue to flee Volusia for more responsible districts or professions that appreciate their contributions – and the stark realization that we cannot adequately fund prudent and necessary security measures.

In my view, this situation is serious – and only getting worse.  In fact, I can’t think of anything more important.

Now, it is time for the Volusia County School Board to stop bumming money from the municipalities in some weird double-dipping scheme and begin the difficult process of living within their means.

That will require taking the politically difficult steps necessary to adequately fund service delivery in this new reality and focus precious resources where they belong – in the classroom.

If they are incapable of doing that, perhaps it’s time We, The People, elect someone who can.

Asshole:          City of Ormond Beach

Hey, Ormond Beach City Commission – thanks for nothing.

After sitting in utter silence for years as area residents living near the city’s main tourist corridor watched their property values circle the toilet bowl of dilapidation while the county-owned shopping center at Cardinal Boulevard and A-1-A physically rotted into the pavement – now that the eyesore is being demolished – our local ‘powers that be’ finally take notice?

Bullshit.

According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Ormond Beach Deputy Mayor and Developers Shill Troy Kent yammered, “I’m pleased that we are going to have more off-beach parking, but I wish it were on the east side of A1A.  I have concerns about safety and convenience. When you don’t have to cross four lanes of traffic to get to the beach, that’s always a good thing.”

Now you have concerns?

Jesus.

Hey, Troy – where were you as this godforsaken blight generator was destroying the quality of life for hundreds of citizens, and thousands of visitors, whose last memory of Ormond Beach will forever be the mildewing wreck of a haunted shopping center in the very heart of our core tourist area?

Or the place was used as an open dumping ground by Volusia County Beach Management – a hodge-podge of overgrown weeds, signage and lifeguard towers haphazardly stored in plain view of a neighborhood?

We, the long-suffering residents of Ormond Beach didn’t hear a peep out of you.

And where were you, and the other lackeys who have ensconced themselves on the dais of power for over a decade, while Volusia County took some of the most expensive real estate in our community off the tax rolls in favor of “off-beach parking” and a warehouse?

A fucking warehouse?

 (Hell – once someone explained it to him – even our doddering old fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley, found that one tough to swallow. . .)

Now, Mr. Kent whines with pseudo-concern that his constituents have to schlep their children, beach gear and worldly belongings across four lanes of traffic to get to the beach?

Really? 

After all the shit we’ve eaten, the horrible abuse we’ve suffered, and the damage to our image and quality of life caused by this festering shithole – Mr. Kent is worried about residents being inconvenienced? 

Wow.   I don’t make this shit up, folks.

I hope my friends and neighbors will join me in voting for someone – anyone – who stands for election against these compromised shitheel incumbents.

Let’s take our beautiful community back while there is still something left to worry about.

Angel:             Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Lisa Lewis

 A Barker’s View tip o’ the hat to our intrepid Supervisor of Elections for her efforts to bring all but two of Volusia County’s mosaic of municipalities into the light of day.

In a wonderful effort to make things easier for area voters – and increase transparency in our cockamamie campaign finance system – Supervisor Lewis undertook an initiative to require municipal candidates for public office to file campaign treasurers reports electronically – allowing her to consolidate that important information in one convenient location on the County website.

I dig that.

The electronic filing allows voters a clear glimpse into our weird oligarchical system which allows a few well-heeled political insiders to openly purchase access and influence by funneling massive amounts of cash into the campaign accounts of hand-select candidates for local office.

Unfortunately, two east Volusia communities – Ponce Inlet and Ormond Beach – have refused to come out of the dark ages, preferring instead – for dubious reasons – to keep it business as usual.

In a current election season awash in insider money, you don’t need a hack like me to explain why some politicians might want to keep their benefactors close to the vest.

However, in my view, their reluctance speaks more to the dubious concerns of those trying desperately to hold onto positions of power, than to the needs of an increasing number of high-information voters.

Good work, Ms. Lewis.

Quote of the Week

“I think it stinks, forcing the issue to get what it wants.  I think this is a terrible agreement. This city gets nothing from this. We get absolutely zilch.”

–Daytona Beach Shores Mayor Harry Jennings, speaking in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, after casting the lone vote to reject a ‘settlement’ with Volusia County that will turn prime oceanfront real estate into a county owned parking lot, a move that will cost the small community some $200,000 in tax revenue annually.

Some things are worth fighting for – like the sovereignty of an incorporated municipality.

For far too long, the County of Volusia has stomped around inside the cities like an aggressive behemoth – a rich tyrant with no qualms about spending our hard-earned tax dollars on lawsuits and threats against any city or constituent who dared challenge the omnipotence of the Monarchy in DeLand.

During a wild spending spree – more akin to a drunken sailor on shore leave from the USS Piss Money than a well-planned public property acquisition – in 2015 former County Manager Jim Dinneen slinked into the small village of Daytona Beach Shores, literally behind the back of city officials, and surreptitiously bought two parcels east of A-1-A in exchange for some $4.5 million of our tax dollars.

Two-years on, those arrogant assholes on the County Council shit on a proposal that would have provided the Shores a well landscaped off-beach lot with park-like amenities for residents and visitors, in favor of a spartan, high-density, 190 space parking slab.

Rightfully, Shores officials balked at this aggressive buggery and, for a time, mounted a tepid legal effort to fight for their independence from Volusia County tyranny.

Unfortunately, that effort was short-lived when Shores Councilman Richard “Caspar Milquetoast” Bryan, pulled his appeasement strategy, a cowardly unilateral move which resulted in divisive infighting between the elected officials, who ultimately agreed (wrongly, I believe) to capitulate, roll-over, and take it like the good little submissive serf’s they just became.

You know, I vehemently defended Councilman Bryan’s First Amendment right to speak his mind before the County Council – even though I felt what he said was wrong – and I still believe that elected officials must be permitted the same Constitutionally protected rights and responsibilities as everyone else without fear of having the will of the voters overturned in a cheap coup d’état.

However, I also believe the voters of Daytona Beach Shores should jettison his sycophantic ass from the dais of power at their first opportunity.

Bryan can crow all he wants about protecting taxpayer dollars from expensive legal bills – but if you are not willing to use the full force and might of the local treasury to fight for the community’s independence and right to self-determination – then I believe you are doing your constituents a true disservice.

In my view, standing down and cowering away from an aggressive bully only emboldens that despicable behavior.

Where does it end?     

And Another Thing!

 On Wednesday afternoon, Florida Today published the following interesting tidbit:

“The Naples City Council selected six city manager finalists Wednesday morning from a pool of more than 80 applicants. The finalists, in order of the number of votes received:

1. Joyce Shanahan, city manager of Ormond Beach
2. David L. Andrews, town manager of Carrboro, North Carolina
3. Charlie Chapman, county administrator for Hendry County
4. Mike McNees, city manager of Melbourne
5. Jim Dinneen, former county manager for Volusia County
6. Erdal Donmez, former city manager of Coral Springs

Finalists are scheduled to visit Naples for a tour and public reception Sept. 12, with formal interviews on Sept. 13 and 14. The Naples City Council is expected to make a decision Sept. 14.

Dinneen?  I could care less – just so he’s not within 200 nautical miles of Volusia County.

Joyce Shanahan will be hard to replace.

Also, Sons of the Beach and Friends, a political action committee and sister organization to Sons of the Beach, Florida’s premiere beach driving and access advocacy, will hold a fund raiser this Sunday, August 19^th, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm at the Oasis Tiki Bar & Grill!

This will be the first fund raiser for SOB and Friends, and all proceeds will go to support current political candidates who have demonstrated their commitment to protecting beach access and stopping the privatization of our most precious natural resource.

If you are interested in meeting the candidates and talking issues, this is a great opportunity.

The Oasis Tiki Bar & Grill is located beachside at the Fountain Beach Resort, 313 South Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach.

Hope to see you there!

That’s all for me, have a great weekend everyone!

 

 

 

In the words of the immortal Walter Sobchak – “Am I the only one around here who gives a shit about the rules?”

Look, I admit it.  I can be a curmudgeonly asshole.

When something ‘steams my beans’ I’m not one to let it go – bringing attention to the obvious is kind of my stock-in-trade.

For instance, since I began this experiment in alternative opinion blogging, I have railed against our wholly corrupt campaign finance laws that permit the “Rich & Powerful” to purchase undue access and influence through the infusion of massive political contributions to the campaigns of hand-select candidates – a system that I believe has transformed our representative democracy into a bastardized oligarchy.

Why?  Because it’s wrong.  That’s why.

I’m weird that way.

When I spy something demonstrably wrong – counter to our sacred democratic principles – I spout-off about it, draw attention and scream “Hey, looky here, everybody!  There’s a turd in the punch bowl!”

For my trouble, many powerful people here on Florida’s Fun Coast don’t like me very much.

They believe my screeds are counter to their opaque “plan” to renew, revitalize and ‘bring high paying jobs’ to the beleaguered Halifax Area (while lining their pockets, and those of their friends, with the crumbs along the way) – and a naysayer sitting around in his boxer shorts drinking gin and pointing out our warts isn’t helping.

For the record, our ‘Movers & Shakers’ weren’t exactly inviting me to cocktail parties before I started this blog. . .

Now, our County Council is fretting about our ability to attract a qualified County Manager (a brokeback snake could do a better job than what we’ve experienced over the past decade) due to negative comments on social media.

Then, last week, our contract Medical Examiner (who has apparently made a cottage industry out of telling local government officials what they want to hear) is wringing his hands about the trouble we’re going to have finding a qualified forensic pathologist, what with Volusia County’s dismal reputation on the “Internet” and all. . .

Why is it inconceivable to our ‘powers that be’ that – just maybe – it’s the abject mismanagement, quid pro quo corruption, outsized influence of powerful insiders and the growing public distrust of county government that will have the biggest prohibitive effect on finding quality talent to fill our current executive vacancies?

I mean, why is it always someone else’s fault?

What became of the quaint notion that taking responsibility is the highest mark of leadership?

Like many of you, I have a fundamental problem with people who are elected to serve as stewards of our tax dollars – then carelessly, even maliciously, misuse our hard-earned money – and demand more of the same under the guise they are doing us a favor.  Or worse, when politicians try and convince us – the long-suffering taxpayers – that “things” conspired against them, or they were simply caught off guard. . .

A prime example is the still unfolding saga of the Volusia County School Guardian program, a state-mandated school security initiative which places armed civilians in elementary schools to augment sworn school resource officers posted to middle and high school campuses.

In my view, this program has been rushed from its inception, as the legislature attempted to do something – anything – to palliate the very real fear and outrage in the aftermath of Parkland, leaving county school districts with an underfunded mandate to provide armed security in every school in the state.

Now, the Volusia County School Board has taken the unprecedented step of literally begging money from the municipalities to cover the apparent shortfall.

On its face – it sounds reasonable, and I thought the Daytona Beach News-Journal did a good job of making the school board’s point in their recent editorial “Cities’ stake in school security.”

“The restriction hit particularly hard in Volusia County, which is in tight fiscal constraints and embroiled in negotiations with its teachers’ union. The budget approved last month dips into school reserves and includes a slight property-tax increase — but still falls short of the district’s needs by nearly $2.5 million. Even though the district has chosen a relatively low-cost option for elementary schools, hiring 50 specially trained “guardians” instead of using law enforcement, there’s just not enough money.”

Unfortunately, putting the arm on the cities to fill budget needs is not the way it works.

The Volusia County School District is an independent taxing authority with the responsibility and political accountability for managing public funds, organizing assets, preparing a budget and levying assessments to meet the needs of thousands of students, teachers and staff.

With a current budget approaching $900 million – the largest of any government entity in Volusia County – I find it incredulous that our elected officials on the School Board seem physically incapable of identifying internal funding cuts to provide for this priceless service to our precious children.

Where is it written that when a taxing authority fails to live within its means – or refuses to take austerity measures to prioritize and reorganize allocations to meet emergent needs – it can simply cry poor mouth and shame the cities into handing over tax dollars they collected from us for critical municipal services?

The School Board seems perfectly capable of lashing us with millions in debt for Taj Mahal building projects, on top of a half-cent sales tax increase, then engaging in serial poor decisions – such as appointing wholly unqualified middle-managers to fill the vitally important role of School Security Specialist, rather than finding the very best expert we can afford – or keeping Superintendent Tom Russell in place after some seventeen Volusia County schools dropped one letter grade or more last year.

Or how about the ham-handed “secret negotiations” that resulted in our elected officials approving a five-year contract with Florida Hospital – sorry, “AdventHealth” – naming the healthcare provider the “exclusive student education and student wellness partner of the School Board for all purposes and on all levels” – for just $200,000 in cash each year. . .?

The agreement ended some 15-months of shadowy, back-alley negotiations by district officials that resulted in an agreement that gives AdventHealth all the marketing exposure they could have dreamed for – including naming rights, sponsorship options, districtwide distribution of branded material, and graduate recruitment options, among other benefits.

One might have thought that given our current dire financial straits – a direct advertising campaign reaching some 63,000 Volusia County families might have been worth a tad more?   

Whatever.

Now we are left in the untenable position of having a decades old backlog of school infrastructure projects, complete stagnation in negotiations with our teachers – who are desperately seeking a living wage for their important work, along with benefit improvements to stop the hemorrhage of talent as educators continue to flee Volusia for more responsible districts or professions that appreciate their contributions – and the stark realization that we cannot adequately fund prudent and necessary security measures.

In my view, this situation is serious – and only getting worse.  In fact, I can’t think of anything more important.

Now, it is time for the Volusia County School Board to stop bumming money from the municipalities in some weird double-dipping scheme and begin the difficult process of living within their means.

That will require taking the politically difficult steps necessary to adequately fund service delivery in this new reality and focus precious resources where they belong – in the classroom.

If they are incapable of doing that, perhaps it’s time We, The People, elect someone who can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, kids!

Wow!  I want to thank every member of the loyal Barker’s View tribe who took the time from your busy lives to send so many good notes and best wishes on my birthday this week!

It does my busted old heart good – and I was sincerely touched by your thoughtfulness.

Like most guys, I like to celebrate birthdays in high-style – after all, it damn sure beats the alternative – and it gives us over-the-hill types a good excuse to prove to ourselves we can still party like Rock Stars (until about 9:30pm, anyway) – as we commemorate another successful trip around the sun.

Now, in my 58^th year, you – the incredibly faithful readers of this goofy alternative opinion blog – have given a renewed purpose to my life that I never thought possible.  Whether we agree on the important issues of the day or not – please know that you are never far from my thoughts – and I am genuinely grateful for your friendship, insight and support.

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

Let’s look at who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:

Asshole:          Volusia County Council

 Strap in, kids.  This one’s going to be a bumpy ride. . .

There are two things that give those of us standing on the outside looking in a brief peek through the greasy peephole of government – the budget, and those all-to-infrequent “goal setting” and “visioning” sessions – which are usually anything but.

Tuesday’s County Council “workshop” was no exception.

 In the aftermath of former County Manager Jim Dinneen’s murky machinations, physical neglect of public assets, backroom ‘deals’ that always seemed to benefit all the right last names and his abrupt departure, it took our elected representatives just two-hours to establish our collective priorities – this from a group that took the better part of a long day to discuss how many chickens may occupy a residential lot – which direction doors on beachfront portable toilets should face – and authorize an internal study to get to the bottom of perhaps the most perplexing problem of our era: Overfed seagulls fouling the pool decks of Daytona Beach Shores condominiums. . .

My ass.

If we learned anything from Tuesday’s lukewarm “workshop” it is that our doddering fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley, would rather take an ice water enema than submit to a forensic audit of Volusia County finances.

Seriously.  Old Ed really doesn’t want anyone from the outside looking in.

According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, rather than do the right thing and live up to his fiduciary responsibility to ensure accountability and increase public confidence in their government – our duly elected Council Chairman crowed, “Transparency, my foot!” he said, arguing that there’s plenty of that already in county government without throwing away money on an audit. “There’s nothing to hide.”

Wow.  I don’t make this shit up, folks.

Ed Kelley really is that dumb – or that compromised. . .

In addition, our County Council decided that Jim Dinneen’s mysterious plan to extend the Daytona Beach Boardwalk – which included looting $2.5 million in ECHO funds each year and stashing cash for a publicly funded boondoggle that was never fully explained or understood (just as Little Jimmy intended) – will never come to fruition.

But what about the $100,000 in public funds that were allegedly spent on a shadowy “boardwalk study” that was authorized in October 2016 – which produced a few pretty sketches and spreadsheets – but has never been released for public consumption?

According to the uber-arrogant Councilwoman Deb Denys,  “The boardwalk took a long walk off a short deck and it’s gone.” 

Unfortunately, it was holding hands with $100K of our hard-earned tax dollars when it took the plunge. . .

But who gives a shit? 

Easy come, easy go, right Deb?

During what passed as a “visioning” session, the much-ballyhooed Taj Mahal five-story Beach Street courthouse – which is planned to replace the upgradeable City Island courthouse, and has already resulted in the closure of the New Smyrna Beach facility – was listed as a “priority,” at least by the lame duck Councilwoman Joyce Cusack.

Remember when Old Ed Kelley – you know, our chief elected official – exposed his abject ignorance of the “behind-the-scenes” meetings by county staff when plans for the new and improved $260-million-dollar courthouse were discussed (“Meetings?  What meetings?”)

I do.

Well, now Councilwoman Deb Denys – who is locked in the political fight of her career – would have us believe that nothing has been finalized (except shuttering the New Smyrna courthouse and the Volusia County Administration building on Beach Street) and that the Council needs an “agenda item with all the information.” 

Say what?

Apparently, Deb is just as clueless as the rest of us hapless dupes.

“We haven’t agreed to anything,” Denys said, noting that the original concept never appeared on a council meeting agenda (since when was that a prerequisite for action by this council?)

“We need an agenda item with all the information.”

Am I the only one who remembers when Volusia County paid an Orlando-based consultant – you know, the proverbial out-of-town expert with a briefcase – a quarter-million-dollars to “study” the issue of our aging judicial facilities – then reported on six options with a nod to the total obliteration of existing space on City Island in favor of building a monstrous, five-story consolidated complex near the current S. James Foxman Justice Center on Beach Street?

(Which, as it happens, fit neatly with Old Ed and Little Jimmy’s plan to turn City Island over to their developer friends for condominiums. . .)

At that time, our highly-paid consultant’s presentation to the County Council (during which he telegraphed his institutional knowledge of our area by referring to Ridgewood as “Rockwood”) was repeatedly interrupted by then County Manager Jim Dinneen during a well-rehearsed (and totally contrived) explanation for his ambush-style July 2017 announcement of his Grand Courthouse Plan.

My point being – what became of the Dewberry study?

Probably mildewing in that dank depository of astronomically expensive consultant reports in DeLand where good ideas are sent to die.

I’ve got an idea, Ms. Denys?

How about you – as our duly elected representative – demand that county staff produce the results of the $248,000 courthouse study before the next iteration of the County Council forgets about it and commissions yet another consultant?

Yeah, right. . .

During the workshop we were also treated to another Dog-and-Pony Show by the Martha Stewart of Medical Examiners, Dr. Jon Thogmartin – the best marketing huckster for contract forensic pathology to ever storm a public podium – who reiterated that former Volusia County Medical Examiner and whistleblower, Dr. Sara Zydowicz, was full of ca-ca when she called foul on substandard facilities, a backlog of some 240 cases and dangerous working conditions at the morgue.

“All of the problems with the office were self-inflicted,” he (Dr. Thogmartin) said, adding that it took two weeks to catch up on the backlog and resolve cooler space issues.”

Two-weeks?

Now, you and I will just have to take the Good Doctor’s word for it – because Old Ed and the Funky Bunch on the dais of power aren’t really into transparency and independent verification of facts as a matter of public policy – not when it’s sooooo much more convenient to accept a highly compensated “expert” opinion, anyway.

According to Thogmartin, it won’t be easy finding a new chief medical examiner – what with all the negative chatter on the Interwebz and whatnot.  But I’ll just bet Dr. Jon “Have Skull Saw, Will Travel” Thogmartin could help us out for the right price?

I almost forgot – during the regular meeting of the minds – councilmembers approved yet another study (this time it only cost us $54,000) for an unnamed “third-party company” to set priorities for transportation infrastructure improvements.

You read that right.

According to Jon Cheney, Volusia County’s traffic engineer, “What we are wanting to do is (address) all of this tremendous growth.  The question we have asked is which project do we do next? We are looking at a lot of ‘what-if’ scenarios.”

 I’ve got a ‘what-if’ for you – what if we summarily terminate the employment of every bureaucrat clogging the Volusia County Traffic Engineering Department who can’t immediately and definitively determine, based upon their institutional knowledge and expertise, how to prioritize transportation infrastructure projects?

There now.  That didn’t cost the taxpayers a dime. . .

Angel:              The Long-Suffering Citizens of Deltona

What part of “we want her gone” doesn’t the Deltona City Commission understand?

Here, let Big Daddy help:

For months, residents of Volusia County’s largest municipality have begged, pleaded – and now demanded – the removal of Deltona City Manager Jane Shang.  In my view, the very real concerns of area residents are infinitely well-founded.

As I’ve written before, two ardent critics of the current administration recently found themselves reduced to outlaws when Shang – apparently with the full acquiesce of the elected officials – misused the full force and might of government to silence criticism with dubious criminal charges and the trespass law.

Folks, I can’t think of anything more anti-democratic – or detrimental to the concept of government of the people, by the people and for the people – than the reckless use of a law enforcement agency to bring a politically active citizenry to heel.

During a highly contentious public meeting earlier this week, residents all but hurled rotten tomatoes at the dais as their fervent calls for Shang’s ouster – or at the very least her suspension from office until an independent investigation of her despicable actions by the Florida Department of Law enforcement could be initiated – fell on deaf ears.

In fact, beleaguered Mayor John Masiarczyk had the stones to menace his constituents into compliance with the not so veiled threat, “Don’t force us into doing things that are just going to be ugly.”

You mean there is something uglier in your arsenal than falsely accusing critics of a felony crime?

Just asking.  Because in over 31-years in municipal government, I never saw a sitting mayor – or any other politically accountable official – openly bully taxpayers in that grotesque manner.

To her great credit, Commissioner Anita Bradford made a motion to suspend Shang until an inquiry could be launched into her blatant misuse of law enforcement, dubious code enforcement practices and the flagrant violations of Florida’s public records law.

Commissioner Bradford also pleaded for definitive action by the elected body to ensure that the terror experienced by citizens persecuted by Jane Shang’s vindictive rule never happens again.

Her motion to protect residents was openly ignored by Shang’s toadies on the dais.

Thanks for nothing Commissioner (and current mayoral candidate) Heidi Herzberg.

My sincere hope is that someone – anyone – in a position to do something about the open thuggery being perpetrated by these stool stacks that have the temerity to call themselves ‘public servants’ – will find the courage to flash a badge and launch an in-depth investigation into the myriad issues that have pitted the citizens of Deltona against their own government.

Asshole           Volusia County Attorney Dan Eckert

 Look, there is enough blame to go around on this one – but something about the termination and subsequent financial settlement with former Volusia County Sheriff’s Deputy John Szabo – stinks.

I was a police officer for a long time – over thirty-years – and one of the things you learn early in your career is that cops complain.

It’s too hot, it’s too cold.

We bitch when we get promoted – and we bitch louder when we don’t.

There’s either too much overtime, or not enough.

Your pants are always too tight, and you cuss every new burrito stain on your uniform shirt – then whine about the convoluted call you caught five minutes before the end of a 12-hour shift.

The citizens you protect don’t appreciate your service and the boss is a major league asshole (usually uttered with a few choice expletives while inadvertently sitting on your radio microphone – transmitting to everyone on the channel – including the chief).

It’s what we do.

As a police executive – you understand that its when cop’s stop complaining that you have a real problem on your hands.

Back in September, Deputy Szabo took to a union social media site (if you can’t bitch there, where can you?) to criticize Sheriff Mike Chitwood’s decision to commission an internal affairs investigation into the actions of two deputies who failed to have their body cameras activated during a pursuit on Interstate 95.

During the incident, somehow the tires of the wrong vehicle were deflated by Stop Sticks deployed by the deputies.

According to a recent article in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Szabo wrote to his coworkers, “No wonder so many people are leaving. Funny how anyone who legitimately tried to do the right thing gets (expletive) in the (expletive).  Just wondering if Chitwood had his body camera on. Wonder if the deputies didn’t have their (body cameras) on because they were pulled off the highway looking for the suspect vehicle and more concerned with not getting run over.”

 Trust me.  I’ve been called worse by people who worked for me – in retrospect, probably well-deserved – and we’re still friends. . .  Because I did the same damn thing to my boss when I was at their age and stage.

After learning of Szabo’s tirade on social media, Sheriff Chitwood apparently sought the advice of County Attorney Dan “Cujo” Eckert – in my view a mean-spirited asshole who has no qualms about suing his own constituents, with their own money, if it means protecting “the system” – who reportedly recommended that Deputy Szabo’s six-year career with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office be terminated.

Wow.

According to the News-Journal, Chitwood explained, “That decision was based on county legal telling me that his actions by posting on Facebook were a violation of county merit rules and was a terminable offense,” Chitwood said. “And based on the information I received from county legal, is what I went on and made my decision.”

 “I have quote, unquote labor attorneys that are supposed to be specialists in this field,” Chitwood said. “They tell me somebody violated the policies and the penalty is dismissal.”

 For bitching about the boss?  Really?

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

And therein lies the rub.

Many are wondering how Sheriff Chitwood – an extremely charismatic, outspoken elected official who has made some pretty wild public statements about his own former boss, Jim Dinneen, (lying sack of shit, etc.) and recently made a weird remark about Councilwoman Deb Denys’ knowledge of law enforcement being limited to the “fur-lined handcuffs on her headboard” – can find the moral authority to end a man’s career for speaking out in frustration on what amounts to a union bulletin board?

Sheriff Chitwood would have to be pretty thin-skinned to ruin a good cop’s career just because he spouted off to his coworkers in the locker room – or on Facebook, for that matter.

Look, from past experience watching Mr. Eckert in operation – I’m going to give Sheriff Chitwood the benefit of the doubt and trust that he based a difficult personnel decision in the Szabo case on bullshit legal advice from the County Attorney’s Office.

It wouldn’t be the first time Old Dan fucked up – or wasted our hard-earned tax dollars, for that matter.

So, at the end of the day, who do We, The People, ultimately hold responsible for the irreparable harm to former Deputy Szabo’s personal and professional reputation – not to mention the $42,000 in public funds required to settle the matter?

In my view, it’s time Dan Eckert was shown the same door that hit Jim Dinneen in the ass a few months back.

When is enough, enough?

I sincerely hope that John Szabo goes on to a full life of service in the industry of his choice, and that the indignity of this sorry blemish does not hinder his obvious contribution potential to law enforcement and public service.

Terribly sad.

Asshole:          NASCAR Chairman Brian France

On Sunday, police in the Village of Sag Harbor – a tony summer playground for the rich and famous in The Hampton’s – stopped a Lexus operated by NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France, 56, after he reportedly ran a stop sign.

Preliminary reports say that France was shitfaced – driving with a blood alcohol level over twice the legal limit.  Following his arrest, France was “found to be in possession of five pills, yellow in color, that were identified as Oxycodone.”

 Unfortunately, this wasn’t Mr. France’s first go-round.

He was charged with reckless driving in Seminole County in 2005, and the following year, the awkward grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France made the papers when he ping-ponged his Lexus down Beach Street before coming to rest at his Marina Point condo.

 Damn.  Even a no-account boozer like me can pronounced the word: UBER. . .

I took some heat earlier this year when I opined on an unfortunate leak from investment bank Goldman Sachs that the France family was exploring the sale of NASCAR.  Naturally, the news sent shockwaves through the industry – and the company’s headquarters on ISB.

Look, I don’t have a financial or emotional investment here – but our community does.

NASCAR lost me a few years ago – just like it lost thousands of other fans and lucrative sponsors – thanks to continuing mismanagement, weird rule changes like “stage racing” and the goofy “playoff” format, coupled with a parade of cartoonish television color commentators who make the “sport” unwatchable.

Add to that the loss of any driver with a real personality not crafted by some marketing department’s image group, and, frankly, it’s become a snoozefest – a  monotonous drone of cookie cutter cars – punctuated with the occasional staged fistfight between 20-something no-names in a feeble attempt to link today’s showbiz dreck with yesterday’s bare-knuckle motor sport.

What I do care about are friends and neighbors who work for NASCAR and its various subsidiaries here in Daytona Beach.  They rely on both the France family’s stewardship – and the viability of the sport – for their very livelihood.

For decades, the Daytona Beach Resort Area has enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with DIS and NASCAR.

It was good while it lasted, but clearly our ‘powers that be’ haven’t actively planned for “what comes next” (come to think of it, they haven’t planned for anything, really.)  Instead, our elected and appointed officials throw millions in public funds at the problem (anyone remember the $40-million Daytona Beach and Volusia County gifted to ISC for their One Daytona project?) then hope things work out for the best. . .

Let’s face facts, like most family-businesses, stock car racing was never the same after the founders passed – and history shows that generational wealth is both a blessing and a curse – but I will never understand why the quirky France family, and those they pay to advise them, stood idle as the product slowly died?

Don’t take my word for it, watch any televised race – the grandstands look like a ghost town.

Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that the France family was, “. . .being criticized by drivers and team owners, who fear the Frances are incapable of reversing the fade in fan interest and retreat by sponsors.

In my view, the oddball behavior routinely exhibited by Brian France (to include his bizarre performance at last year’s NASCAR Champions Banquet when he handed a box containing the 2017 Cup Series ring to Martin Truex, Jr. – then turned and walked away, without a handshake, or even eye contact, with the Champ) has contributed to diminished fan and industry confidence in the ‘brand.’

Look, if Brian France – or any other millionaire with the smarts to know better – wants to publicly immolate himself with booze and recreational pharmaceuticals, who am I to judge?  Just have the common decency to leave the helm of a business that thousands of people rely on to feed their families.

In my view, the time has come for Mr. France to finally gain that elusive sense of personal and professional responsibility that has evaded him for 56-years and step aside.  Permanently.

NASCAR is the foundation of a sport that desperately needs resuscitation – a CEO with a fresh set of eyes, hardworking hands and a renewed focus on returning the excitement of high-speed competition – before uniformity and ludicrous rules made it impossible to tell a Ford from a Chevrolet – and the charismatic, hard-scrabble drivers who appealed to the sports fanbase were replaced with cosmetic models.

You know, a true leader who will actually be at the track on race day – like Brian’s father and grandfather before him – not ripped to the tits on some suburban street in Long Island.

In my view, Brian France – and those who have allowed him to keep his hands on the wheel this far into the crash – are irresponsible assholes who have jeopardized a major source of jobs and revenue for our struggling area.

That’s unconscionable.

After all, the citizens of Volusia County have invested heavily to ensure the success of the France family – and their various subsidiaries.

We deserve better.

Angel:             The Daytona Beach News-Journal

Kudos to The Daytona Beach News-Journal staff writers and photojournalists who recently captured nine awards – including four first-place honors – during last weekend’s Society of Professional Journalists’ State Awards banquet.

The intrepid Dinah Voyles Pulver – who I believe is one of the finest journalists in the business today – took first place in environmental writing for her outstanding “Rising Seas” series.

In addition, chief photographer Jim Tiller was a finalist for photojournalist of the year, and honored in the breaking news category for his memorable image of a teenager who just learned she had been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Sports columnist Ken Willis also took first place in feature writing for his piece about a man who was struck by lightning while fishing on the Ponce Inlet jetty.

The outstanding investigative reporter Seth Robbins received a second-place award in the same category for a series on Puerto Rico’s response to Hurricane Maria – with Lola Gomez taking third place in photography story for her work on the same piece.

In the crime and courts reporting category, staff writer Suzanne Hirt was honored for a series of stories about how underage girls become victims of human trafficking.

One of my favorite columnists – the incredibly insightful Mark Lane – was recognized in the general commentary and criticism catagory for his excellent “Footnote” column.

Well done!

And well deserved.

Quote of the Week:

“Ormond Beach can rejoice yet again if we adopt this rate because the city leaders have made Ormond Beach’s budget yet again our priority.  We run a lean, mean, machine in Ormond Beach.”

 –Ormond Beach Vice Mayor Troy Kent, the face of unchecked development, rejoicing in a proposed tax “decrease” from $4.28 per $1,000 of taxable property value to $4.17 – which remains 2.85% higher than the rolled-back rate of $4.05 so is technically considered a tax increase.

My God.  How do these people sleep at night?

The only lean, mean machine Mr. Kent champions in the City of Ormond Beach is another industrial woodchipper turning acres of old growth forests into cheap commercial development.

And Another Thing!

Well, summer’s over for Volusia County school students who head back to the grindstone on Monday morning.

I’ve been hypercritical of our district administrators for their handling of the new state mandated School Guardian program – a first-of-its-kind security measure that will place armed civilians in elementary schools throughout Volusia County.

My problem isn’t with those brave souls who answered the call, stood proud, and said “send me.”

I have nothing but pride and admiration for their willingness to serve in this important role.

However, I have a serious concern about the Volusia County School Board’s decision to place people, who in my view, are wholly unqualified to provide effective leadership and oversight of this sensitive program.

As many of you know, the results of a recent public records request revealed that our new School Security Specialist is a former band director and assistant principal whose lack of law enforcement or military experience would prohibit him from qualifying for the position he is charged with overseeing.

In another head-shaker, I was told directly by a senior school administrator – apparently in some weird attempt to lend credibility to a program that desperately needs it – that an associate security specialist had “FBI experience.”

I later found out that the individual’s federal law enforcement experience was limited to her time as a secretary in the FBI’s New York field office.

Now, I understand that there are serious doubts if our new school guardians will be adequately trained and equipped to provide their vital service to our precious children beginning Monday morning.

Myriad questions remain – and I, for one, am demanding answers from those who have been elected and appointed to serve the needs of Volusia County children and classroom teachers.

In my view, with a budget approaching $900 million dollars – it’s time we find out why our highly compensated superintendent and school board members failed to conduct a search for the best and brightest school security expert we could afford – rather than simply appointing a senior staffer who happens to be married to the district’s personnel director.

That’s all for me.

Have a great weekend, folks!

 

 

Today starts my 58^th trip around the sun.

Go figure.

I’d like to lay some visionary insight on you, tell you that I’m smarter for the experience and sagely prognosticate about our collective situation here on Florida’s Fun Coast like some sapient Hosea for this weird time and place – a Prophet of Doom and Restoration.

But I can’t.

To be honest, I’m just as dumb as I was yesterday – a prime example that age does not define wisdom.

However, I am firmly convinced that I possess an ancient karmic soul with many lives behind me and many more to come.  This time around, it appears that exposing these shits and charlatans who accept public funds to serve in the public interest – then do the exact opposite – is my spiritual dharma and sacred cosmic mission.

Through the millennia, my preternatural ability to smell political bullshit and spot a cheese stealing rat like a gazehound seems to only get better – sharper, more focused and well-defined – and the longer I wait and watch, the clearer the three-dimensional political landscape becomes.

Trust me – that isn’t an easy feat, and it takes a practiced eye, especially during an election year.

This weekend, the intrepid reporter Dustin Wyatt – with the assistance of Dinah Voyles Pulver, truly one of the finest journalists working today – published an excellent exposé entitled, “Developers, builders fork over big money” – a remarkable piece that shines a very bright light on what I believe is the preeminent issue facing Volusia County.

After all, I’ve written about it, ad nauseum, for the past three years.

It’s the scourge of ‘pay-to-play’ politics that has turned our representative democracy into a bastardized oligarchy where a few well-heeled political insiders have found an effective means of subverting the electoral process, and subjugating the will of the people, through the infusion of massive campaign contributions to hand-select candidates for local offices.

Clearly, our current election cycle is no exception.  (Did any sentient being think it would be?)

The News-Journal’s analysis found that, “Of the $423,729 reported to the supervisor of elections office through July 6, not including contributions made by the candidates themselves, $1 of every $5 has come from a developer or someone in the construction or building industry. . .”

I just hope no one out there believes this is a new phenomenon here in Volusia County – or that the problem is limited to the real estate development industry.

It isn’t.

Following the 2016 Volusia County Council District 4 election – perhaps the worst display of auction house politics in recent memory – the News-Journal identified the largest contributors in that ugly race as, “George Anderson, developer of the Ocean Walk and a real estate investor; J. Hyatt Brown, chairman and chief executive officer of Brown & Brown Inc.; homebuilder Mori Hosseini, chairman and CEO of ICI Homes; Theresa Doan, whose beachside properties and investments include three Main Street bars; businesses affiliated with International Speedway Corp. and its president, John Saunders; and companies affiliated with Consolidated-Tomoka, a land holding company.”

In fact, these High Panjandrums of Political Power gave $281,950 (out of total contributions of $503,000) through some 67 different corporate entities, “…many of them showing little to connect them back to their owners besides a mailing address.”

Perhaps what I find most disturbing is that our “Rich & Powerful” – and their obsequious, bought-and-paid-for chattel on the dais of power – would insult our intelligence and attempt to salve our very real fears of quid pro quo corruption by telling us all – with a straight face – that money doesn’t buy influence and access.

According to the colossally arrogant Councilwoman Deb Denys, “I have never been told how to vote by any of my contributors.  Not ever.”

My ass.

Surely, they can’t believe we’re that stupid? 

Or worse, actually believe their own gibberish, right?

As I’ve previously written, when you consider the shit train of favorable rulings, millions in “economic incentives,” infrastructure support, tax abatement, multi-year extensions on “temporary” projects, unchecked growth, overlooked environmental atrocities, half-price public land sales to private interests, astronomically low impact fees, corporate giveaways and an atmosphere where the mere presence of these power players at a public meeting ensures an outcome favorable to their personal or professional interests – you understand how our system of county governance has become a shameless plutocratic oligarchy populated by political pimps and whores.

No more, no less.

While these uber-wealthy power brokers may not directly manipulate the figurative rods and strings that animate their elected fantoccini with formal requests, the money and empty accolades they lavish ensure that the selfish needs of those with the ability to control the outcome of elections are consistently met and properly camouflaged by the affectations of government.

They don’t have to ask – the money demands fealty to the process.    

And, in my view, anyone who tells you differently – or crows about their corporate “fiduciary duty to make sure we stay involved in this leadership” is a self-serving shit and a damnable liar.   

According to King Mori of the Exalted House of Hosseini – whose unbridled political power and vast financial influence extends to literally every nook and cranny of local, state and federal politics – “You can call every one of the council members and ask them if Mori has ever called and asked for a favor,” Hosseini said. “None of them will tell you that I have. … I believe the leaders we have are doing a great job altogether and collectively. They make a big difference in the future of our community.”

Bullshit.

Don’t take my word for it, look around.

Wade through the widespread civic stagnation, the creeping blight, dilapidation and overwhelming sense of hopelessness on our diseased beachside – or attempt to do business in this artificial economy where corporate welfare eliminates risks for millionaires and billionaires while small businesses continue to wither, collapse and die.

Or try and earn a living wage as a member of the slavish pool of cheap labor that serves the needs of a rotting hospitality industry – in a place where intractable problems are ignored as the smart money moves west, where taps in the sprawling “lifestyle communities” currently being built on our sensitive recharge areas will soon spew recycled sewerage, and the rest of us hapless dupes struggle under one of the highest tax rates and lowest per capita incomes in the State of Florida – then tell me again how the “leaders we have are doing a great job altogether and collectively.”

Folks, I don’t mind the illusion painted by our ‘powers that be’ – or even watching rich people openly play to the overweening vanity of dimwitted politicians – after all, lying boldly and fueling false hope is all part of modern politics – and the distorted delusion of prosperity and “leadership” espoused by our elected officials and their political benefactors is infinitely more appealing than our current reality.

Just stop blowing smoke up our ass and causing my neighbors and I to doubt our own instincts.

In my view, it is a dangerous proposition – one that threatens the very foundation of our sacred system of governance – when political hubris, bolstered by massive sums of special interest money, results in small-minded politicians believing their own lies.

 

 

 

 

This piece was originally published in September 2017 – obviously, our ‘powers that be’ didn’t seize the opportunity. . .

Florida hangs off the continental United States like a weird appendage – a salty protuberance inhabited by an eccentric tribe that, since prehistoric times, have carved out their lives and livelihoods in the state’s swamps, pine scrub and coastal dunes.

For some, it’s the end-of-the-road – a chance for a fresh start in good weather.  For others, Florida represents the subtropical paradise of post cards, a tourist and retirement mecca for refugees from the Northeast who are trying to reclaim and recharge what’s left of a life spent servicing a corporate machine’s “customer base” that never even knew their name.

As the local, state and national media outlets flogged the impending arrival of Hurricane Irma last week (something I think we, as an advanced civilization, need to reexamine) – whipping every man, woman and child in the Southeast into a froth of fear and trepidation – residents of the Sunshine State got a stark reminder of just how vulnerable we are to the fury of Mother Nature’s processes.

Last week, Michael Grunwald, a senior staff writer for Politico and author of “The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise” (Simon & Shuster 2006) wrote an excellent (if, in hindsight, slightly premature) piece entitled, “A Requiem for Florida, the paradise that should never have been.”

 According to Grunwald:

“The first Americans to spend much time in South Florida were the U.S. Army men who chased the Seminole Indians around the peninsula in the 1830’s. 

 And they hated it.

 Today, their letters read like Yelp reviews of an arsenic café, denouncing the region as a “hideous,” “loathsome,” “diabolical,” “God-abandoned” mosquito refuge.

“Florida is certainly the poorest country that ever two people quarreled for,” one Army surgeon wrote.  “It was the most-dreary and pandemonium-like region I ever visited, nothing but barren wastes.”  An officer summarized it as “swampy, low, excessively hot, sickly and repulsive in all its features.”

The future president Zachary Taylor, who commanded U.S. troops there for two years groused that he wouldn’t trade a square foot of Michigan or Ohio for a square mile of Florida.”

The descriptor that I enjoyed most was attributed to an early visitor who remarked that if he owned Miami and hell, he would rent out Miami and live in hell.

I suspect if that wise sage could see things today, he would hold the same opinion. . .

In the late 1800’s, smart people realized that if man could control the flow and retention of water, much of Central and South Florida could be transformed from fetid swampland into something suitable for development – and sale.

And, quite literally, the floodgates of people and money began flowing in to the state and it hasn’t stopped for over one-hundred years.

Now, as old Robbie Burns reminded us, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry – and those of us who choose to live here know deep in our hearts that we are but one good blow away from returning to that “God abandoned” place so aptly described by those weary soldiers way back in the 1880’s – yet, we continue to do it the same way – time-after-time – hoping against hope that we can somehow fool nature and escape the inevitable.

Our colorful history also includes pirates and privateers of all stripes who prowled the waters of Florida plundering anything of value in the name of King or greed, and openly preying on the weak or disabled.

And they’re still coming – gaudy costume and cutlass replaced by thousand-dollar suits and Gucci loafers.

Earlier this year I wrote in the opinion piece, “On Volusia: Gird your loins for the Big Boom!” that it appears the idea of “growth management” in Volusia County – like representative democracy – has been effectively neutered, compromised or simply sold-off to those who stand to benefit most.

After all, it’s no longer about We, The People.

When it comes to managing development on this exposed spit of land, and the threat of urban sprawl and environmental exploitation, the public is no longer considered part of the discussion – our two-cents were outbid by a guy with two-dollars.

Instead, we learn about enormously intrusive and expensive projects in ambush-style, over-the-top announcements by County Manager Jim Dinneen – or get a glimpse of what our life will look like from some glitzy corporate press release, enhanced and regurgitated verbatim by our local news media – with glamor shots of our elected officials wearing goofy hardhats on their swelled heads wielding golden shovels to turn-over damp loam atop a water recharge area or the barrier dunes in the name of “progress.”

Here, on the “Fun Coast,” our “powers-that-be” never once consider the communal impact of massive development.  They are driven solely by the all-important question of who stands to make the most money in the most expedient way possible.

Then, those who receive public funds to serve in the public interest ignore their ethical responsibilities and work quickly to remove all obstacles and assume any potential risks to the developer through the liberal application of public funds and economic incentives.

With the hindsight of the potential loss an eyewall hit by a powerful hurricane could have posed to our extremely vulnerable area still fresh in our minds – perhaps we should use this as a fortuitous, God-granted, opportunity to reexamine the environmental and infrastructure impact of proposed residential projects from Farmton to the Flagler County line.

Just maybe, before we start churning thousands of acres of ecologically sensitive lands into “brand-immersive lifestyle destinations,” we should consider the effects – positive and negative – that massive, unchecked development will have on our collective quality of life beyond the short-term benefits to a few well-connected insiders.

 

I’m touched by the kindness of my readers.

The fact that someone takes the time to seek out and read an alternative opinion blog tells me they are active and engaged in the affairs of our community – thoughtful, inquisitive citizens who consider all sides of an issue before forming views on the important issues of the day.

When I started this experiment, I could not have imagined that just three years on thousands of people from across the globe would read Barker’s View each month – and I am incredibly moved when someone reaches out to compliment my writing style, or say that my goofy take on things made them laugh.

I often say that I don’t write well – but I write a lot – and I am reminded of that fact every time I read the work of an author or journalist I admire.

Because I don’t have a formal education, I’ve become a good mimic of writers, poets, playwrights, reporters and columnists that move my emotions because, at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about – altering perspectives and challenging the reader’s views in a way that brings positive change – or provides, as Conrad said, “That glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask.”

A colleague asked me the other day, “Why do you do this?”

He pointed out that my often-provocative essays have changed how some very important people view me in the community – in fact, many in a position of power really don’t like what I have to say about the machinations of government – or the sources and origins of the money that greases the wheels.

That’s okay.

Trust me – there are a few very influential insiders in Volusia County who benefit, personally and financially, from this bizarre system that consolidates power in weird Star Chambers like the shadowy CEO Business Alliance, comprised of incredibly successful millionaires and billionaires – many of whom have received tens-of-millions in government subsidies, handouts and contracts.

I get it.

But who will call bullshit?

Who works to expose the inner-workings, the sausage-making and backroom intrigues, collusion and maneuvers?

The answer to my friend’s question is at once simple, yet extremely complex:

I write my opinions on the injustices, the ineptitude and inherent corruption of this oligarchical system we find ourselves mired in because I desperately want positive change – I want people to know that we don’t have to accept this blight, dilapidation and neglect that is the natural byproduct of a “pay to play” hierarchy, where the needs of a wealthy few always outweigh those of the silent majority who are expected to pay the bills and remain silent – or else.

I want what we all want – even those who despise everything I stand for.

Believe me, I’m no more courageous or intelligent than the next person – in fact, most of what I see in the shadows of government I don’t understand at all – I simply want my sweet granddaughter and future generations in the Halifax area to live in a place that offers them a level playing field.

A place where achievement is based upon a willingness to work hard at work worth doing.

Where her ability to succeed isn’t dependent upon the color of her skin, or the size of her bank account, or measured by how many politicians she may or may not have in her back pocket.

I want her to live in an environment with clean water to drink, and fresh air to breathe – a place where every tree isn’t felled to make way for another convenience store or half-empty strip center – where greenspace and natural areas are valued as much as mega-developments and ‘theme’ communities with 8’ lot lines and a sickeningly contrived ‘lifestyle.’

And I want her to have the ability to control her destiny – and that of the community in which she lives – through an inclusive, participatory government based upon our hallowed democratic principles – a system which actively listens to the thoughts, opinions and diverse views of its constituency and weighs the needs and wants of the lessor among us with the same vigor and importance given to those of the ‘Rich & Powerful.’

I also want her to have the ability to speak out on issues of civic concern without facing the intimidation and fear of those elected and appointed to represent our interests on the dais of power.

If you haven’t already, I strongly encourage everyone to read the intrepid reporter Katie Kustura’s excellent exposé in today’s News-Journal, “Deltona complains of woman’s recording,” which details the despicable bullying tactics of Deltona City Manager Jane Shang, and that cowardly troupe of compromised flunkies on the City Commission, who have knowingly and intentionally misused the full might of Volusia County law enforcement to silence a vociferous critic.

It’s shocking.

It tells the story of Brandy White, a concerned citizen and activist who has worked tirelessly to expose the dysfunction and ineptitude of the Shang administration.  In April, Ms. White went to City Hall to obtain the results of a public records request regarding the city’s controversial civic center.

To document the encounter with public officials, White recorded her interaction with Deltona Finance Director Tracy Hooper in a public area of the building.

In turn, Shang – apparently with the full knowledge and acquiescence of the elected officials – directed Hooper to provide a sworn complaint to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office alleging intentional interception of oral communications.

When this serious felony charge had the desired effect of silencing Ms. White – in May, City Manager Shang used the same appalling tactic against another critic – Patricia Gibson – when she rightfully pointed out state licensing issues with a caterer hired by the City of Deltona.

If you’re not moved to seething rage – perhaps you need to rethink what’s at stake here.

You really want to know why I write this goddamned blog? 

It’s to bring attention to shit like this – a wholly dysfunctional and completely corrupted “government” run amok – public officials (in the loosest sense of the term) who set upon outspoken critics like a pack of rabid wolves and crush dissent under the iron boot of an incestuous system intent on preserving the status quo regardless of who or what they have to destroy in the process.

Fuck that.

It’s high time Governor Rick Scott, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Office of the State Attorney turn their focus to the likes of Jane Shang and those elected officials who have abused their constituents, flagrantly violated both the letter and spirit of our sacred open records law and blatantly misused the omnipotent power of the law to secure an advantage over the citizens they ostensibly exist to serve.

It’s wrong, dammit – and this cannot stand.

Hi, Kids!

I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as I’m enjoying mine.

Look, I’m not a huge fan of the heat, humidity and violent thunderstorms that have blanketed us these past few weeks, but as Floridians, it comes with the territory I suppose.

Nothing to do during these languid Dog Days but flop near the water with a cold beverage in your favorite Tiki tumbler and wait it out until October when our weather returns to whatever passes for “normal” here in the subtropics.

I suppose we all have our favorite season, and while some like it hot, fall is the time I enjoy most.

With a short pilgrimage to western North Carolina or East Tennessee, you can enjoy the foliage, wear something northerners call a ‘sweater,’ (it’s like a long-sleeved woolen thing) and get a taste of what it’s like to live in a place that actually has four distinct seasons.

Oddly, I also enjoy that weird autumnal Festival of the Macabre known as All Hallows’ Eve – a night for trick-or-treat, when adults dress up in goofy costumes, get wildly drunk at orgiastic parties in tony neighborhoods and live out their French Maid or Pillaging Pirate fantasies without the judgement that would be common the other 364 days of the year (you know who you are. . .)

Speaking of Halloween, I recently stumbled upon a real bonus for our friends at the Daytona Area Convention and Visitors Bureau – something that just might give them an opportunity to redeem themselves after spending $400,000+ (not counting in-kind services) to lure the much-ballyhooed back-to-back Shriner’s Mega-Conventions – another less-than-spectacular “game changer” which ultimately attracted less folks than a quilting bee. . .

So, here’s my plan:

On Wednesday, our friends at Universal Studios Orlando issued a press release announcing a cool new promotion for this year’s Halloween Horror Nights, which begins on September 14^th and runs through November 3^rd this year.

“Carnival Graveyard: Rust in Pieces will revolve around a dilapidated carnival full of decayed rides and games.  Along the way, guests will encounter guard dogs, a grotesque tunnel of love and armed carnies, according to Universal.”

I immediately thought, “Hot Damn!  Our ship has finally come it!”

I mean, we’ve got one of those very same “attractions” right here on the Fun Coast!

It’s called the Daytona Beach Boardwalk and it has all the spooky features and creepy inhabitants that Universal’s creative team has worked months and spent lavishly to recreate!

Here, you be the judge.

Take a look at the photographs below, and see if you can determine which one depicts a rusty graveyard of dilapidated carnival rides, ghoulish zombies and armed carnies (I’m not even going to describe the “grotesque tunnel of love”) – and which is a carefully conceived and artfully constructed special event which draws tens-of-thousands of Halloween revelers to the Universal theme park each year:

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’re welcome CVB!  This one’s on me – Gratis!

I’m just surprised our highly compensated Myrtle Beach Marketing Maharishis at The Brandon Agency didn’t jump all over this?  Because the eerie similarities between the two went through me like a double-dose of Dulcolax. . .

Never let it be said that Barker the Bitcher doesn’t bring real solutions to the table, dammit!

(Will someone please let the Halifax Civic League know I’m available to accept the J. Saxon Lloyd Distinguished Community Service Award this year?  Thanks. . .)

Now, let’s see if our ‘go-getters’ down at the Daytona Beach Economic Development office will seize this real opportunity to turn our frown upside-down and throw up some turnstiles around this “Haunted Hellhole” and turn it into a potential goldmine for city coffers this fall!

Trust me.  This thing has legs.

Like Mr. Kurtz,  I understand horror in the Conradian sense – and if our Boardwalk is going to scare the living shit out of tourists with the very real possibility of being maimed by a rickety roller coaster, or having their skull gnawed on by a cannibal wino behind the Bandshell – why not capitalize on our seedy reputation while its in vogue and make bank, right?

Right.

How about we turn a jaundiced eye toward the newsmakers of the day – the winners and losers – who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life, or detracted from it, in some significant way.

Let’s look at who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:

Asshole:          Volusia County Council

 I recently read an interesting article in Psychology Today that discussed the basic human emotion of shame (look, I’m too cheap for therapy, so reading PT and self-diagnosing is the next best thing, okay?):

“Embarrassment is a painful but important emotional state. Most researchers believe that its purpose is to make us feel bad about our social or personal mistakes so that we don’t repeat them, and its physiological side effects—like blushing, sweating, or stammering—may signal to others that we recognize our error and are not cold-hearted or oblivious.”

 Cold-hearted and oblivious.  Sound familiar?

When I read headlines like, “Volusia votes to hold line on taxes,” I often wonder if politicians are born without that cranny of the primitive brain that produces the emotion of humiliation – or if it is simply cauterized by the rush of overweening hubris once they are elected to high office?

After playing fast and loose with public funds since taking their seats, this latest iteration of our County Council now has the gall, in an election year, to act out this tired Kabuki on the dais – totally straight-faced – telling us all what courageous public servants they are for adopting the roll-back rate.

With a $768 million-dollar budget and a half-billion in the bank – in one of the most abominably overtaxed counties in the State of Florida – they act like they’re doing us a favor?

Seriously?

Look, during a 31-year career in law enforcement I developed a pretty strong stomach, but I physically gagged as our elected officials preened and crowed about what brave “risk takers” and watchful stewards of our treasury they are – even as they prepared us for a massive buggering in 2020 with horror stories about the “motherload of all tax increases.”

If it wasn’t all so blatantly choreographed, it would have been mildly entertaining.

For instance, “Sleepy” Pat Patterson was quoted in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “If we have another storm, we will have a real problem,” said Councilman Pat Patterson, noting the recent two hurricanes drained $30 million from the county’s coffers, most of which still hasn’t been reimbursed. “We will have to roll the dice here and see how much risk we are going to take. I’m in favor of (no tax increase for residents) but I guess I’m a bit of a risk-taker.”

My ass.

While “Sleepy” Pat may fancy himself a wildcatting “risk taker,” in my view, he comes off as a narcoleptic political retread who has done everything in his power to protect the status quo in that bloated bureaucracy in DeLand – including destroying the personal and professional reputation of whistleblowers who tried in vain to point out real problems to those we elected to solve them – while blatantly stealing our century-old heritage of beach driving and demonstrating just how ineffectual he is when it comes to important issues like impact fees, transportation, corporate welfare, etc., etc.

The fact is, Mr. Patterson, and those other dullards we elected to represent our interests, have sat idle while our public infrastructure crumbled, dozed insensibly as our former County Manager secretly manipulated public policy and openly lied to their constituents, then voted in lockstep to ensure every whim of their political benefactors was met regardless of cost or appearance.

In many ways, Councilman Patterson represents all that’s wrong with this slimy oligarchy that passes for county governance.

Of course, the always arrogant Councilwoman Deb Denys literally got in on the “act” – tut-tutting at the weak knees of her worried colleagues and showing that special brand of strong, determined leadership we only glimpse at election time – as she droned on about our “strong fiscal position” and calmed the trembling masses by assuring us she is “100 percent confident that we can protect our citizens,”  in the event of a disaster with currently available funds.

Did anyone really think they were going to do anything other than roll-back?

Hell no.  Because lowering taxes is anathema to a system that needs an increasing number of tax dollars like a parasitic insect needs the blood of its host.

My God.  How frigging stupid do they think we are?

Why is it that every election cycle politicians throughout Volusia County turn into a bad community theater troupe – poorly portraying the role of engaged public officials after years of completely ignoring We, The People, as they exclusively serve those special interests with the ability to ‘pay to play.’

Jesus.  It’s painful to watch.

I’m embarrassed for them.

As the “silly season” heats up, we’re about to be inundated with similar fantastic fairy tales embossed on glossy mailers telling us all how good we have it under our current crop of incumbents – many of whom are personally and demonstrably responsible for this civic death spiral we find ourselves in.

The fact is, the likes of “Sleepy” Pat, the painfully egotistical Deb Denys and our doddering fool of a County Chair, Old Ed Kelley, have irreparably ruined the public’s trust in their government – and that, gentle readers, is inexcusable.

So, the next time you hear one of these giddy assholes spouting off about how bright our future is thanks to their ‘bold, visionary leadership and experience’ – even as you drive by one hocked-out shithole of blight and dilapidation after another – or when you are told how wonderful it will be to drink our own recycled sewerage passed off as potable water – and are forced to sit desperately stranded in stand-still traffic thanks to unchecked and unplanned western sprawl – remember who is responsible for this quagmire in the first place.

Then, do the right thing and vote your conscience.

Angel:             Votran Driver Paul Okumu

Last Friday evening, the driver of a Votran bus courageously intervened to stop the sexual assault of a female passenger in Ponce Inlet.

You don’t see that much anymore – someone standing tall and putting all they have, and all they will ever have, on the line to help a total stranger.

Just before 7:00pm, the suspect, identified in reports as Michael Lemuel Speaks, 34, of Deltona pulled down his pants and underwear and began menacing the unidentified female victim as the bus traveled on South Atlantic Avenue in Ponce Inlet.

Most frightening, during the attack Speaks was armed with a knife – and was later found to have a handful of condoms in his pants pocket.

Without hesitation, and obviously little thought for his personal safety, Driver Paul Okumu, 26, of Port Orange guided the bus to a stop and physically confronted the armed degenerate in a valiant attempt to protect his passenger from harm.

During the confrontation, the suspect grabbed Mr. Okumu by the throat.  The ensuing struggle sent both men into a side window shattering the glass.

According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Ponce Inlet Police Chief Frank Fabrizio hailed Okumu for the hero he is, “The Votran bus driver did a great job,” he said – adding that Speaks was “real uncooperative” – and threatened officers, spit at them, and attempted to kick out the window of a patrol car.

Scumbag.

Following his arrest, police confirmed that Speaks is a habitual offender who has been booked into jail no less than 35 times in the past eleven years.

Barker’s View offers a hearty tip o’ the hat to Mr. Paul Okumu – one tough bus driver – for his incredible courage and intrepidity in stopping a violent felon in the act of committing a heinous sex crime and ensuring that our criminal justice system gets one more opportunity to get it right and remove this dangerous piece of human excrement from our community.

Asshole:          Volusia County School Board

I wrote about this earlier in the week, but it bears repeating.

The author Joseph Heller wrote in his novel Catch 22: “Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.”

While the County of Volusia has developed quite a reputation for accepting mediocrity as public policy – I’m not sure the safety and security of our schools is the place for what we have come to accept as ‘business as usual’ in DeLand.

As many loyal readers of this forum know, I was recently passed over for a position as a School Guardian – a state mandated security program which will place a hybrid of armed civilians and law enforcement officers on every school campus in the state.

According to district officials it was my own damn fault.

Although they received my resume and application, somehow my name didn’t appear on “the list” of qualified applicants that were called to serve.

Like the Amazing Kreskin, somehow, I knew instinctively that was going to happen before I applied. . .

But the experience piqued my interest in the mysterious inner-workings of this enigma who spends nearly $900 million of our hard-earned tax dollars each year ostensibly educating our children.

After four public records requests to district officials, I was finally able to review the qualifications of those who have been appointed to oversee this sensitive program – and I found that two of the three couldn’t qualify for the position they are charged with managing.

In my view, the credibility of this program is paramount to achieving the internal and external buy-in that will be required for success, so I asked for the names and qualifications of those appointed by Superintendent Tom Russell to provide for the safety and security of our precious children.

On July 16^th, I received the following information from Greg Aiken, the district’s Chief Operating Officer, which read, in part:

“I have 22.5 years of military experience and 15 years in the School District where 14 of those years has been building and managing the safety and security program for the district.  I am a certified FEMA and TEEX Adjunct Instructor  for the past 10 years teaching all facets of emergency management all over the US.  

I am right now working with the current classes of school guardians to bring that program up and running by August 13th.  Mr. Craig Pender was appointed by the board to take over the day-to-day responsibilities of the Safety and Security program and comes to the department with school-based emergency management experience.  That position is a level 9.  Ms. Rosalyn Velasquez-Morales, has FBI experience and has been working the safety and security program for over a year now.  She is a level 6.

We have identified three (3) employees that will have the duties as the School Safety Specialist to ensure we have back-ups when the others are on vacation or out sick.  Mr. Pender is the primary with Rosalyn and myself as the back-ups.”

When I finally received the public records, I discovered that Mr. Pender – our brand-new school security expert – began his career 1994 as a Band Director at Southwestern Middle School – and most recently served as an ESE supervisor and Assistant Principle at University High School in Orange City.

However, he does have one very important credential – Mr. Pender is married to the School Districts Chief Human Resources Officer.

Now that’s an impressive career track for a middle-manager – but, in my view, without the required military or law enforcement experience – it doesn’t qualify Mr. Pender to assume the massive, almost unprecedented, responsibility for physically securing and providing close personal protection for 63,000 children and an untold number of teachers, staff and visitors.

Oh, remember Ms. Rosalyn Velasquez-Morales?  The one with the highly touted “FBI experience”?

Well, come to find out, she served as an “administrative secretary” in the FBI’s New York Field Office. . .

Again, Ms. Velasquez-Morales has an impressive career trajectory, I’m just not sure her secretarial duties at the FBI equate to the terribly important job she is being paid to perform.

Now, I don’t know shit about playing the clarinet in a marching band – but I know a little about what it takes to lead, supervise, motivate and administrate a group of armed professionals – brave men and women who are asked to go in harm’s way and provide a vitally important service.

I sincerely hope Mr. Akin, Mr. Pender and Ms. Valasquez-Morales are prepared, certified and capable of assuming this enormous responsibility.  If not, perhaps they have the collective personal and professional ethics to reconsider this “fake it till you make it” approach to school security administration – because it’s crystal clear Superintendent Russell didn’t think this through.

You know what pisses me off even more?

When someone in a position of high authority –  who receives public funds to serve in the public interest – blows smoke up my ass and tries to convince me that someone charged with overseeing the dynamic and gravely important mission of supervising armed security officers in elementary schools is painted as having federal law enforcement experience when they don’t.

Ms. Valasquez-Morales didn’t claim to have “FBI experience” – her boss claimed she did.

But why?

To appease my curiosity – or to bolster the credibility of a program that desperately needs it?

Regardless, in my view, a senior official misrepresenting Ms. Valasquez-Morales’ tenuous law enforcement credentials as a means of salving over my very real concerns about the leadership of the Guardian program is disingenuous at best – and borders on a bald-faced lie.

And that, gentle readers, causes me to question if there is more about this program, or other aspects of this festering bureaucracy, that are being obscured with double-talk?

Asshole:          Hard Rock Daytona

 There’s an old idiom that holds true time and again:  A picture is worth a thousand words. 

This is the public face of the “Four Star” property our elected and appointed officials in Volusia County sacrificed 410 linear feet of our unique heritage of beach driving to bring to our most important natural amenity and regional economic engine: The World’s Most Famous Beach. 

Remind me again exactly how a dismal scene like this “enhances the visitor experience”?

Now that the cocktail parties and fireworks are over, don’t ever tell me that Summit Hospitality – or anyone on the dais of power in DeLand – gives two-shits about us ever again. . .

Quote of the Week:

“I’ve been hammering away at this since I was elected.  They deserve to be paid better. One second, they’re sitting there dealing with someone who has a cat up a tree and the next second they’re dealing with someone who is delivering a baby or someone who is suicidal. They are a vital cog in what we do. What they do is a high-risk, high-pressure job. It really is.”

–Sheriff Michael Chitwood, as quoted by The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Volusia County sheriff pushes raises for ‘underpaid, undervalued 9-1-1 dispatchers,” July 23, 2018

In my view, it’s high time these unsung heroes were compensated with a living wage for the incredibly important work they do to ensure our safety and security 24-hours a day.

And Another Thing!

After a stellar 25-year career with the Daytona Beach Police Department, Lieutenant Jake Mays is honorably retiring from public service after having been accepted to the Florida A&M University College of Law!

During his long career serving the citizens of Daytona Beach, Lt. Mays served in operations, administration, field training and evaluation, code enforcement and as a detective in both narcotics and general investigations.

In addition, his military service includes work as a K-9 handler with the United States Air Force Security Police from 1989 to 1993 – and mutual aid support in explosives detection for the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Navy and other law enforcement agencies.

It does my beat-up old heart good to see a former colleague bring a wonderfully fulfilling career to an honorable and successful close while he’s still young and healthy enough to contribute and enjoy another adventure.

We can be eternally grateful that men and women of Lt. May’s character and professionalism serve us so faithfully each and every day as members of the Daytona Beach Police Department.

We’re glad you passed our way, Jake.

Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement – and best of luck in your future law career!

That’s all for me, kids!

As always, thanks for taking the time to visit Barker’s View – please come back and sit a spell when you have the time.

Barker’s View will be on hiatus next week as we travel back to our Nations Capital for a few days – I’ll be posting some Best of Barker’s View in the meantime.

Have a great weekend everyone!