With the common threat of Hurricane Milton bearing down, now is the time to consider the many things that unite us as a community.
We can argue petty politics later.
As Florida faces another major tropical system, I’ve seen several people reach out on social media to report they recently moved to the “Fun Coast” and are experiencing their first Hurricane.
That’s a frightening prospect for many of our new neighbors.
In my experience, if you have a proper family preparedness plan, follow the directives of emergency management officials, stay informed, take caution with generators and power tools, remain inside a substantial structure or evacuate if directed, you can drastically increase your odds of weathering the storm just fine.
The power of Mother Nature’s magnificently efficient natural processes serves many purposes, and our very survival depends upon them.
We human beings have adapted to natures wrath through advanced technology, scientific forecasting methods, and our well-evolved sense of self-preservation; but every so often, we are reminded in the most extraordinary way that there are some things our “superior” intellect and engineering simply cannot control.
Though we have developed sophisticated insurance and financial systems that allow us to build our homes and sources of income where we probably shouldn’t – and replace them in the exact same spot when we are invariably caught out – the power of nature can be difficult to comprehend when we come face-to-face with it.
As I write this, Hurricane Milton is a strong Category 5 storm, rapidly bearing down on the State of Florida, and everyone in the region should be prepared at this hour.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the devastating floods that have left much of the southeast underwater or worse – with heartbreaking scenes of total devastation in Southern Appalachia and beyond – and Milton churning in the Gulf of Mexico – I’ve heard some ask why?
A natural meteorological cycle? Climate Change? Bad luck?
I don’t know.
What I do know is that while we have harnessed many natural powers, developed complex civilizations and system of governance, split the atom, and even transported ourselves to other planets – we still need the essential elements, seasonal changes, and temperate climates to survive.
Look, I’m not an overly religious sort, but even an unrepentant sinner like me can see that a power greater than all of us has developed a wonderful natural order – systems and patterns that constantly supply us with the fundamental processes necessary to sustain and propagate life on Earth.
Despite our strange desire to kill one another with mindless efficiency and pollute our only environment like a foul bird shitting in its own nest…
Meteorologists tell us that hurricanes are the earth’s air conditioner, efficiently transporting warm air from the mid-latitudes to the colder polar regions. They also serve to move warmth from the lower levels of the atmosphere vertically, conducting solar heat from the surface into the troposphere, “mixing” the atmosphere, and ensuring a temperate balance and climate.
This natural quest for global thermal equilibrium requires a powerful force to transport all that latent heat produced by the Sun – and that is the exact purpose of these monster storms.
We just happen to get in the way sometimes.
According to scientists, hurricanes also oxygenate seawater, help replenish barrier islands and deposit a massive amount of quantifiable energy into other parts of the globe. While we can measure it, the purpose of this energy exchange isn’t fully understood.
I suspect it has something to do with Mother Nature’s constant search for balance.
To our physical and financial detriment, when these tropical weather systems interact with land, the human toll can be catastrophic.
Look, I complain a lot about politics – but trust me – our local and state first responders at all levels, are experienced and well-equipped to deal with the response and recovery phases of this emergency.
Let’s quibble over our differences of opinion later. Now is the time for unity – and generosity.
When the chips are down, neighbors helping neighbors is what community is all about.
Please continue to follow the directives of emergency management officials – and, most of all – please lend a hand to assist one another whenever possible.
It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…
Daytona Beach City Commissioner Stacy Cantu
Daytona Beach City Commissioner Stacy Cantu and I haven’t always seen eye-to-eye.
In fact, our differences of opinion on the issues facing our region are legendary. But I have always admired the fact that she has the courage to engage – and she gives as good as she gets in the competition of ideas and heated debate.
I respect that. And when Ms. Cantu is right, she deserves all the credit.
Commissioner Stacy Cantu
Wednesday night’s meeting of the Daytona Beach City Commission took a strange turn, I thought, when Commissioner Paula Reed read an open letter from “Concerned employees of the City of Daytona Beach” essentially taking Ms. Cantu to task for her “treatment” of City Manager Dereck Feacher.
In my view, the frequent friction between the two stems, in part, from the ongoing controversy and miscommunication surrounding the city’s consideration of a 63-year-old, 32,000 square foot, multistory office building at 230 North Beach Street to house just 28 employees of the city’s permits and licensing department.
A building Ms. Cantu and many others in the community believe should have been struck from the list weeks ago for a multitude of reasons…
In my view, Daytona Beach taxpayers have no greater advocate than Stacy Cantu. As an elected representative, it is clear that she will not have her voice or enthusiasm suppressed by anyone’s notion of “civility” – nor should she.
As an elected official, her role is to remain vigilant on behalf of the taxpayers of Daytona Beach, and Ms. Cantu does an outstanding job of that – always remaining fiercely independent, and incredibly attentive to the concerns of her constituents.
Besides, any elected body should have a variety of opinions, personalities, and approaches – because the alternative is a hollow echo chamber full of lockstep conformists where the tail consistently wags the dog…
Sound familiar?
With an active Florida Department of Environmental Protection investigation into the possible illegal removal of asbestos containing materials from the North Beach Street building underway – along with growing concerns over the cost and source of funds for a possible renovation – this week’s City Commission agenda had a single cryptic line under Comments and Inquiries that said:
“Deric C. Feacher, City Manager, will present options to the City Commission for the Permits & Licensing fund spending during his report.”
No contracts. No reference material. And few answers to the growing question of “Why”?
At least none that I found…
Thanks to Ms. Cantu’s independent investigation – and the excellent reportage of The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s Eileen Zaffiro-Kean – last week, wary residents learned that Mr. Feacher planned to bring back discussion of a proposal to purchase the building, a contract originally presented on July 3 with a price of $4.4 million, along with other properties for consideration.
“Although the DEP investigation remains in full gear, City Manager Deric Feacher said he still plans to bring a measure to city commissioners offering them another chance to buy 230 N. Beach St. He wants to put the 28-employee permits and licensing department in the 32,000-square-foot building.
That measure commissioners will vote on will also include other buildings they could consider buying for permits and licensing, Feacher said.”
We also learned of the ongoing attempts by DEP and local regulators to determine when and how possible asbestos containing materials may have been removed from the building – and how much of the dangerous carcinogen may remain inside.
According to the News-Journal’s report:
“City Commissioner Stacy Cantu is surprised Feacher still wants commissioners to consider buying 230 N. Beach St. When she checked out the property in July, she saw work being done inside and both Dumpsters and trash cans jammed full with building materials she suspected contained asbestos.
She grew concerned for the workers hauling out the debris who weren’t wearing protective gear, and the waste removal workers who would be hauling away what was put in trash cans.
In early July she filed a formal complaint with the DEP that sparked the investigation.”
Good for Commissioner Cantu.
Perhaps most disturbing, in June, it was reported that the City of Daytona Beach was under time constraints to spend at least $11.4 million in accumulated permits and licensing funds no later than October 4, something Mr. Feacher later refuted.
“At a meeting in June, Feacher said $11.4 million of the $19.7 million in excess funds had to be spent by the beginning of October. When Cantu reminded him of that at the commission’s Sept. 18 meeting, Feacher said he didn’t recall saying it. He now says there is no deadline to spend the money.”
That confusion clearly didn’t sit well with Ms. Cantu.
Oddly, during the subsequent discussion, we learned that the North Beach Street building is still in play – along with the former Cobb Cole and Wells-Fargo buildings on Ridgewood Avenue – although there were no specific contracts, appraisals, engineering reports, or items to be voted on.
What followed was a presentation by Deputy City Manager James Morris, who authored a report based upon the work of a committee of senior city administrators – which included Chief Building Official Glenn Urquhart and City Business Enterprise Director Michael Stallworth – discussing the pros and cons of the three properties under consideration.
Ultimately, Mr. Morris announced that the troubled building at 230 North Beach Street was the unanimous vote of the committee to recommend for purchase.
Disturbing.
After Mr. Morris expended a lot of hot air, his selling point (as I understood it), came back to the old real estate trope – location, location, location – essentially, the building would serve as another lure to draw people to Beach Street.
(Didn’t we hear the same sales pitch for the Brown & Brown Headquarters when it was billed as the panacea for all the woes of Downtown Daytona?)
To her credit, Ms. Cantu actually took the time to read the Florida State Statute governing how excess permits and licensing fees can be spent. The plain language of the law states that the funds may only be used for the “construction of a building or structure” related to code enforcement activities – not for the purchase of a building or property.
That began a convoluted discussion by City Attorney Benjamin Gross, who (as lawyers like to do when gambling with someone else’s money) quibbled the language in the law – ultimately coming to the conclusion: If they proceed with using the excess fees to purchase the building and rehabilitate it, a lawsuit could be filed against the City of Daytona Beach, and there would be potential liability…
So, why is the Daytona Beach City Commission being led by the nose by its senior staff to purchase a questionable building currently under DEP investigation – one with mounting questions over the purchase price, and potential cost of rehabilitation and renovation?
Also, to Ms. Cantu’s point, why would the municipal government want to remove the building from the tax rolls?
Time will tell…
City staff has been asked to bring back more specific information regarding each of the buildings under consideration within 45-days.
I don’t always agree with Ms. Cantu, but in this case, her exhaustive investigation into the health and safety issues surrounding the North Beach Street building – and her increasingly pointed questions for senior administrators – serve as an excellent example of how servant-leaders sometimes must use sharp elbows to push their way behind Oz’s velvet curtain to protect taxpayers – and the public trust.
Carl Persis v. Donna Brosemer – Volusia County School Board District 4
Let’s call this continuing saga “A Tale of Two Candidates…”
Last week, entrenched Volusia County School Board incumbent Carl Persis stomped his sequined shoes and continued his personal pity party in the Ormond Beach Observer with a “C’mon guys, this is serious!” rehash of recent vandalism to six of his campaign signs.
Carl Persis
I guess the 900-word self-promotion the previous week wasn’t enough free publicity?
As I understand it, the damage included a sign belonging to his wife, the other half of what passes for Volusia’s ‘Power Couple,’ Susan Persis, who is running against Jason Leslie for mayor of Ormond Beach.
In this case, someone placed crude stickers over Carl’s smiling visage on the signs – his mouth to be exact – which said, “be yourself, You Suck!” At least one of Susan Persis’ signs showed spray paint scribbled over her picture.
Look, I abhor political violence or vandalism in any form. In fact, I can’t think of anything more un-American.
But I also dislike chronic whiners who attempt to wring every drop of civic sympathy out of a goofy political statement…
During his egocentric mewl and pule, Carl fanned the damage as the crime of the century, decrying the fact his opponent in the District 4 School Board race, Donna Brosemer, “…dismissed the significance and seriousness of these actions…”
My ass.
In the interest of equal time, the Observer gave Ms. Brosemer a chance to respond.
Donna Brosemer
To her credit, Ms. Brosemer returned the discussion where it belongs – to an examination of the myriad issues facing Volusia County students, parents, teachers, and staff – and the abominable history of the current board, who not only refuse to hold failed Superintendent Carmen Balgobin accountable, but recently heaped lavish praise on her during a review…
A confused, insular, and arrogant board who slavishly serve a Superintendent (you read that right) with an almost pathological inability to effectively communicate with stakeholders.
According to Ms. Brosemer, “The district budget is equally bloated. He raised no objection when, with the Board’s knowledge, they mishandled $200 million in Covid funds. He has allowed schools to be without media specialists, students to get home at dinnertime because of a lack of buses, classes and programs to be cancelled — things that are his job to fix, and which actually matter. He apparently cares more about his own budget than that of the public.
Mr. Persis isn’t used to having to defend his record. In eight years on the school board, he has played the part of a cheerleader who doesn’t have to care whether his team wins or loses. He can just keep smiling and telling the fans how great their team is doing. If he admits anything needs improvement, he might have to do some actual work.
The team is losing. The damage to his signs is trivial. He wants someone to be held accountable. The voters will do that on November 5.”
The back-and-forth continued with Mr. Persis calling any mention of the issues a “negative attack”:
“Another negative attack from Donna Brosemer, who moved here three years ago. Rather than condemn the actions of the lawbreakers, who defaced six of my signs, she continues to downplay their trespassing and vandalism. She criticizes me for wanting to hold the people, who were responsible for damaging my signs, responsible.
She attacks me for being a positive voice for public education. She attacks the school district and speaks in half-truths. For example, I do not have a $135,000 campaign war chest. The balance is closer to $15,000. The District did not mishandle $200 million in COVID funds. We strategically invested the money to hire more teachers to enable students to learn in smaller class sizes at school, online at home, or a hybrid of staying home and learning from their teachers, who were at school.”
Speaking of half-truths, as of earlier this week Mr. Persis’ campaign account shows total contributions of $113,145.48 – with expenditures of $91,666.53 – leaving a balance of $21,478.95.
That’s over $6,000 more than he claims in the Observer, but who’s counting, eh?
I guess when you’ve drug on the public teat as long as Carl has, keeping track of money and account balances isn’t an issue.
Last Friday, Ms. Brosemer published a thought-provoking essay in the Observer entitled, “Severe classroom behaviors at Volusia County Schools need to be addressed,” wherein she quoted teachers who recently addressed the School Board regarding the physical and emotional toll of students who destroy classrooms, assault teachers, hurt classmates, and the frustration of dealing with an entrenched administration who refuses to listen.
According to Ms. Brosemer, “When it was the board members’ turn to speak, all five commented about threats to shoot up a school. Only two referred to the teachers’ concerns, with no solution offered, beyond the need for documentation before action can be taken.
In other words, the bureaucracy decides, the situation remains, and nothing changes.”
Well said. And disturbingly true…
In my view, the one constant in Volusia County governance – regardless of countywide office – is the insistence by our influential powers that be that the stagnant status quo be protected and preserved at all costs.
And absolutely nothing is off-limits in defense of lockstep conformity and averageness.
That is why for far too long, weary Volusia County taxpayers have been yoked with malleable finger-puppets like Carl and Susan Persis – political chameleons who embrace mediocrity and dutifully pace the ramparts of their respective Ivory Towers of Power – totally detached from the harsh realities faced by their constituents.
In my view, pasting on a cheesy grin and singing Everything is Beautiful in the face of gathering storm clouds at Volusia County District Schools isn’t leadership – its lunacy.
Now is the time to demand better. That positive change starts at the ballot box.
Public Defender Matt Metz
“Public shaming serves no rehabilitative or deterrent purpose. Children that are willing to do something despite the threat of arrest won’t be deterred by a Facebook post. However, children that are rehabilitated by the criminal justice system can still have their future ruined by that same Facebook post. Absentee parents aren’t changing their ways because someone posted a child they didn’t know on the internet. Instead, we are assuring that a child shamed online will never be able to outlive their past. We are putting the entirety of our frustration on our inability to stop these horrendous shootings on the shoulders of any child who makes a threat.
It is easy to applaud this action for those who, like me, grew up in a world where every mistake wasn’t transcribed for eternity on the internet. However, the reality is that these mugshots and videos will live on forever. That is before we even consider that a juvenile under arrest has the same presumption of innocence as everyone else in this country. A child arrested has not been convicted of any crime.”
–Matthew Metz, Public Defender, 7th Judicial Circuit, as excerpted from his essay in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “’Perp walking’ children will not make community any safer,” Monday, September 30, 2024
Since my retirement from law enforcement, I now have the time to read, learn, and contemplate the many contemporary issues facing my former profession, and I am consistently amazed at how fast public opinion on police tactics can change.
Now that I have the luxury of spending most of my time alone – I find that sometimes when you sit in silence, you hear the meaning of things – gaining the sense of “why” that is often lost in the din and clamor of one’s productive life. But I’ll be honest, my feelings remain torn on the issues brought forth in Public Defender Matt Metz’ thoughtful essay…
Public Defender Matt Metz
In recent weeks, amid a spate of threats against area schools, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood made headlines across the globe (literally) when he made the decision to ‘perp walk’ children – a practice where a person in law enforcement custody is led into a jail facility in such a way as to enable the media to publicize the event.
In this case, Sheriff Chitwood apparently used the practice as a means of publicly humiliating those charged with the crime as a deterrent.
Effective? I don’t know – but time will tell.
The first suspect to receive Sheriff Chitwood’s ‘walk of shame’ was an 11-year-old boy with a cache of realistic BB guns, knives, and a horrific family history. According to a News-Journal piece, the juvenile has had a less-than-ideal homelife, along with other challenges, none of which justifies his making threats against two Port Orange schools…
Another child charged with making threats is a 15-year-old said to be living with autism.
To his credit, Sheriff Chitwood refrained from publicly humiliating the autistic boy, although we have been assured, he will face the consequences of his actions.
School shootings around the nation have proven the extreme violence children are capable of, and these threats must be taken seriously, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
While I am frequently critical of the Volusia County School Board and Superintendent Carmen Balgobin, it is clear they take school safety extremely seriously – sending a clear message to parents of the importance of taking an active role in their children’s lives and education – and I join with many throughout Volusia County and elsewhere in commending law enforcement and school authorities for their excellent outreach and vigilance.
I can’t think of anything more important.
From experience, I can tell you that one of the worst homicides I ever worked ended in the arrest of two teenagers who butchered a taxi driver, selected at random, and brutally stabbed to death just for the “thrill” of it.
A tragic story written by absentee parents, feral children left to their own devices, and the callous savagery that parental neglect and mental depravity can produce.
I’m certainly not a child psychologist, but I know kids are capable of weird shit, perhaps that’s because their pea brains are still developing. That said, I also don’t know what this 11-year-old may have experienced at school that prompted him to make threats to kill, but given the life altering implications, perhaps someone should explore that?
In recent days, I’ve spoken to some of my former colleagues in law enforcement – hardboiled veterans, some of whom said they supported the measure before watching the video of a small child, otherwise compliant, being shackled hand-and-foot, paraded in front of a camera then led into a holding cell as part of a staged production specifically designed to shame and degrade…
Look, desperate times require drastic measures. That I understand.
But others aren’t too sure Sheriff Chitwood’s official humiliation of children is appropriate – or effective. This week, retired Orlando radio personality Jim Phillips asked in an opinion piece published in the Orlando Sentinel, “who benefits?”
Although Mr. Phillips agrees that Sheriff Chitwood is correct in being angry with children who threaten to shoot up schools, he also suggests the juvenile ‘perp walks’ are more for the aggrandizement of Sheriff Chitwood.
“Chitwood is grandstanding. Taping and distributing a video of a handcuffed 11-year-old accomplishes what? The risk of violence against school students must not be taken lightly, However, shaming a child via a perp walk is a type of tough love that should raise eyebrows. Unfortunately, Sheriff Chitwood (to paraphrase Shakespeare) is full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”
Personally, I struggle with the practice for many of the same reasons so compassionately articulated by Public Defender Matt Metz – not the least of which is the slippery slope of law enforcement becoming judge, jury, and final arbiter of “justice” for those charged with a crime in our American system of justice – based upon the principle that the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
That concern is leavened by the fact I have school aged grandchildren, whose safety I worry about every day…
In my view, Defender Metz showed great courage in speaking out on this controversial topic – and for giving us all something to think about.
Quote of the Week
“Avalon Park, said Ormond Beach resident Connie Colby, is a “definite problem” for Ormond Beach.
“Hand Avenue is already used as the alternate for Granada in Ormond Beach,” she said. “It’s heavily trafficked and it’s getting widened now just for the residents, us.”
Ormond residents, she said, do not need a Hand Avenue extension.
County Council Chair Jeff Brower voted against accepting the agreements, saying he wasn’t in favor of taxpayers funding any roads in the development.
“This is one of the areas that I believe we just should have never developed west of I-95, right here,” Brower said. “It’s all very wet.”
–Reporter Jarleene Almenas, Ormond Beach Observer, “Volusia to fund bridges for Hand Avenue extension,” Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the sad beginning of the end of the City of Ormond Beach as you know it…
And Another Thing!
Despite the foot-dragging and obstructionism that has become the modus operandi of the stagnant status quo, this week, Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower did what he had been warned not to do when he used his authority as granted by charter to agenda the discussion of a possible rural boundary charter amendment to limit further malignant sprawl and the resultant development-induced flooding.
Last month, At-Large Councilman Jake Johansson attempted to preemptively postpone the important discussion by kicking the issue down the dusty political trail until March 2025, and requiring the measure be taken up by the Charter Review Commission next year.
In effect, Mr. Johansson sought to put time and distance (and what his cronies hope will be the defeat of Chairman Jeff Brower) between starting the lengthy process many disenfranchised residents are praying will result in the charter amendment being placed on the ballot in 2026.
As Chairman Brower, area environmental advocates, and flooded residents have said, this will not be a quick or simple process – an issue that elicits strong emotions and varied opinions – but the overriding push from existing residents is to begin the discussion, find collective solutions, and tailor an amendment that preserves rural lands, protects landowner rights and investment, and at least slows the encroachment of out-of-control development on remaining wildlife habitat and agricultural lands.
On Tuesday, with Councilmen Johansson and Danny Robins conspicuously absent, some 19 residents from throughout Volusia County approached the dais of power in Deland to passionately express their concerns, argue the importance of maintaining rural lands, and limiting growth and density to protect the public’s health, welfare, and quality of life.
By my count, only one resident spoke against a rural boundary amendment – and most of their argument was explaining what the speaker thought motivated Councilman Johansson’s procrastination – backed by a misguided and premature letter from the president of the Volusia County Farm Bureau’s board of directors to Councilman Robins (?) opposing the measure before a preliminary discussion has even been held.
Perhaps most important, anxious residents of unincorporated Volusia County asked that their elected representatives consider putting property owners on a rural boundary advisory committee – people who have invested their lives in rural lands and now feel surrounded – and are suffering the devastating effects of development-induced flooding.
Sadly, during the well-thought presentations of several speakers, some of our elected gargoyles just got up and left – apparently cowering in the bathroom until their absence became too flagrant to ignore – rather than face the glare of their concerned constituents. At least one speaker pointed out the “body language” and “level of engagement” by those glazed over “policymakers” on the dais.
Perhaps most horribly frustrating was watching demonstrably pro-growth politicians – some of whom have held various elective offices for years – while this “growth at all costs” development was expanding exponentially across the width and breadth of Volusia County – who now sit there and paint themselves as smart growth advocates committed to limiting the ooze of urban development into rural areas.
All while approving even more zoning changes and Planned Unit Developments…
They call that talking out of both sides of one’s mouth – a political ventriloquist act employed by those hypocritical “representatives” who pay lip service to their constituents – while ensuring every want and whim of voracious developers with a chip in the game.
That’s why it does my beat-up old heart good to see such committed and engaged citizens demanding action on issues of regional concern from those who held themselves out for high office – then ignored the collective welfare of the many – to protect the greed-crazed motives of those who hold the paper on their political souls…
I’ve said this, ad nauseum, but this issue exemplifies the importance of elections – and informed voters doing their due diligence to determine who and what funds the political campaigns of those marionettes who continue to strategically dally and dawdle while the bulldozers roar.
It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…
Before we start this week’s hayride to the dark side of local politics and governance, I want to send my thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by Hurricane Helene.
Godspeed and good luck.
Sodden Citizens of Edgewater
There are dark skies gathering in Edgewater.
Across the width and breadth of Volusia County, waterlogged residents are demanding answers and accountability from elected and appointed officials at all levels of government who have sacrificed our health, safety, and quality of life on the altar of greed.
Mayor Diezel Depew
Adding to the growing instability in Southeast Volusia, last week, City Manager Glenn Irby was abruptly fired just minutes into a standing room only special meeting of the Edgewater City Council, one dominated by angry residents voicing their concerns over development-induced flooding that has left the Florida Shores area inundated in recent weeks.
Within the first five-minutes of the meeting, Edgewater’s man-child Mayor Diezel “I Need Alcohol!” Depew and his colleagues on the dais moved to terminate Irby – with Mayor Depew attempting to cobble together a list of grievances he felt would amount to the legal definition of “with cause.”
Ultimately, the majority opted to sever the manager’s contract without cause, allowing Irby to collect 20-weeks of severance.
I couldn’t help but snicker and giggle listening to Mayor Depew recite a laundry list of “violations” against Mr. Irby, some of which referenced professionalism and ethics, rudeness toward a member of the public who wished to speak, and acting inappropriately in social media posts.
Frankly, I wasn’t sure if Mayor Depew was reading his allegations – or looking in a mirror…
Some felt Irby’s demise was well-deserved – others are convinced he was scapegoated by a troubled Mayor and confused Council who lack a comprehensive vision – or mitigation strategy – for dealing with development and the resultant stormwater issues that have many worried for their future.
To assuage the growing fears of his soggy constituents, Mayor Depew claimed that someone in city government is finally getting off their duff to address problems, with water still standing in some areas:
“We’re creating a plan, we hear you. I didn’t sleep at all on Saturday. I was up until 5 am. I see it, I went through it during Hurricane Ian.”
(For the record, Hurricane Ian hit twoyears ago…)
Mayor Depew’s propensity for staying up until late aside, in my view, this civic disorientation during an emergency is the classic symptom of a local government in crisis…
Some residents cite poorly maintain drainage swales as contributing to the problem (that was Irby’s department…) while most agree new development permitted above the elevation of existing subdivisions has allowed water to do, well, what water does – find the lowest geographical place to pool – turning surrounding neighborhoods into drainage basins.
Look, I’m not an expert in fluid dynamics, but I can turn a bowl upside-down, pour water on it, and watch the force of gravity do its thing on an impervious surface.
That’s what makes this ongoing disaster so maddening.
In the view of many threatened property owners throughout Volusia County, this expanding catastrophe was so predictable – and preventable – yet, elected officials, growth managers, and public engineers at all levels of government (those who either knew or should have known the ultimate outcome) practiced career preservation, kept their mouth shut, and did the bidding of those on the dais of power who are beholden to the real estate development industry for their campaign war chests.
And that pernicious cycle has repeated, time and time again throughout Volusia County and beyond.
Now, the Edgewater City Council has directed staff to draft two building moratoriums – one covering Florida Shores, the other city-wide – except for the Park Town Industrial Center.
City officials are also exploring a possible stop work order for ongoing development.
Trust me. This problem isn’t limited to the City of Edgewater – and it will not be an easy or inexpensive fix.
For now, let’s keep our fingers crossed that Edgewater officials made the right move with the impetuous termination of Glenn Irby and can find the much-needed leadership and stability residents deserve.
Most important, let’s hope that Mayor Depew has learned a valuable lesson about the importance of credibility during a crisis…
Volusia County Councilman David “No Show” Santiago
There was a time when personal and professional credibility mattered – especially in governance.
An expectation that those in positions of power who make laws, ordinances, and allocations that affect our lives and livelihoods will humble themselves to the responsibilities of public service, listen to their constituents, share our collective values, and conduct themselves in a manner worthy of our trust.
Councilman David Santiago
After four years on the Deltona City Commission, from 2012 to 2020, David Santiago served in the Florida House of Representatives, representing District 27 (and Florida’s powerful insurance industry) for two terms.
In 2016, he was briefly a candidate for the U. S. House of Representatives in Florida’s Sixth Congressional District but bailed when incumbent Ron DeSantis entered the race.
According to an October 2020 report in Florida Politics, we learned of Mr. Santiago’s efforts in the Florida legislature to further the interests of insurance companies:
“Among his contributions were bills related to workers compensation, travel insurance, surplus lines insurance, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, pharmacy benefits managers, motor vehicle insurance, reinsurance, civil remedies against insurers, consumer finance loans, blockchain technologies, construction defects, insurance rate making and forms, and condominium loss assessments.
Concurrent with his legislative service, Santiago was a four-year member of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators, a nonprofit organization that helps legislators make informed decisions on federal and state insurance regulation.”
Interesting…
In keeping with Florida’s “one hand washes the other” environment, where former lawmakers are welcomed into the inner sanctum of lobbying firms who helped them gain and maintain office, when Santiago was term limited out of state office, he deftly squeaked past the influence peddling loophole of Amendment 12 (which didn’t take effect until 2022) and accepted a job with Colodny Fass, described as “one of the premier mid-size lobbying firms in the state,” who represents a “litany of insurance interests.”
Hummm…
In 2020, keeping with his propensity for hopscotching from one elected paycheck to another – Mr. Santiago lost to Will Roberts in a bid to become Volusia County’s first elected tax collector in 50-years.
At the time, The Daytona Beach News-Journal listed his occupation as “financial manager” (?), and reported that, while most of Roberts’ political contributions originated from local individuals and businesses, “…Santiago’s $43,300 in campaign contributions is more than double that of Roberts’ $19,420 war chest.
Approximately $33,000 of Santiago’s funding comes from political action committees and auto tag agencies, and about 80% of contributions come from outside Volusia County.”
Guess it’s nice to have friends in high places, eh?
Although we are never quite sure how (or if) these things end, reports indicate Santiago later became executive director of Floridians for Lawsuit Reform, a group pushing tort reform measures in the Florida Legislature, and he is currently listed as “strategic director” for The LIBRE Initiative of Americans for Prosperity – Florida.
In 2022, during his run for the Volusia County Council, Santiago made headlines when he was sued, then countersued, for alleged defamation.
According to a report by Mark Harper writing in the News-Journal:
“Family Health Source and its CEO, Laurie Asbury, are asking a Volusia Circuit Court for damages in excess of $30,000, in addition to attorney’s fees and other costs because, they argue, Santiago made false and defamatory statements about them in three emails he sent to the organization’s board and “third parties.”
Apparently, things got heated when Mr. Santiago was terminated by Family Health Source – a federally qualified nonprofit healthcare center in West Volusia – where he served as “chief operations development officer” with a salary of $150,000 annually (really?) – while still earning some $120,000 working for Colodny Fass…
Yeah. Hummm…
According to the Volusia County Clerk of the Court’s website, the lawsuits were dismissed by joint stipulation in January 2024, with each party agreeing to pay their own attorney fees…
Following his election to the District 5 (Deltona) Volusia County Council seat in 2022 – in June 2023, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that Mr. Santiago missed four out of eleven meetings at that time.
During the recent August primary, Councilman Santiago’s wife, Emma, made the public teat a family affair when she was elected to the District 2 City Commission seat in Deltona…
I found Mr. Santigo’s history in and around government interesting, especially in the context of his most recent lobbying efforts – this time from the dais of power in DeLand – when he literally strongarmed Volusia County advertising authorities to underwrite marketing efforts for the low-cost, limited route, “airlines” that Daytona Beach “International” Airport keeps attracting with exorbitant publicly funded incentives and revenue guarantees, then calling it “progress.”
Last week, there was a testy exchange between Mr. Santiago and Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Lori Campbell Baker, when she (like everyone else watching) thought Santiago was manipulating changes to the model the various advertising authorities use to fund airport marketing efforts without the courtesy of notifying the boards in advance.
Because he was…
During the meeting, Santiago made a longwinded motion changing the airline marketing scheme to one where funds would initially come from the county’s Economic Development fund, then be reimbursed by the authorities during the 2024-25 fiscal year.
In my view, it was a thuggish ‘powerplay’ – a subtle suggestion of what can happen when one raises their head against Santiago – or dares question his motivations (which are always instinctively political…)
According to a report in the Ormond Beach Observer:
“We, in good faith, came back with what we thought you needed us to do for this fiscal year,” Baker said.
Santiago said there seemed to be resentment among some of the authorities’ board members during their recent special meeting to discuss the budget amendments.
“I left with the impression that, ‘How dare us tell them how to spend their money?'” Santiago said. “And I think a forgetting, if that makes sense, that that board, all of these boards, serve at our pleasure, because we each appoint folks in there to do these jobs.”
Baker told Santiago that the groups are advertising authorities, not advisory committees. The council, she said, has done a “stellar job” in appointing the 11-member Halifax Area Advertising Authority, all of whom are heavily involved in the budget process.
“They use those dollars and approve those dollars as if they were their very own,” Baker said. “So, there’s accountability like you wouldn’t believe, and so that’s where I’m trying to get … and you heard them, they’re very passionate.”
“Some might say a little too passionate in some of their commentary,” Santiago replied from the dais.”
Later, the petite King David said he didn’t have anything against the board members.
Bullshit.
“I don’t want to make it personal, but I couldn’t even point out any of your members on a lineup,” Santiago said.
In essence, Councilman Santiago made a point to ridicule and marginalize the efforts of the nameless little people – those appointees with the knowledge, expertise, and fiduciary responsibility to fund the comprehensive needs of our areas tourism and hospitality industry – not just the marketing efforts of the latest here today/gone tomorrow ‘airline du jour’ at DAB.
I could be wrong (I’m not), but I think “resentment” is what naturally results when dedicated board members set their respective budgets pursuant to real needs, only to have the rug pulled out from under them by a perennial politician like David Santiago – a petty dictatorial tyrant with no visible means of support outside the public trough – who now singlehandedly decrees the allocation of bed tax dollars as he sees fit…
In my view, Abraham Lincoln was wrong. In Deltona, it appears you can fool all the people, all the time…
Quote of the Week
“I’m from South Florida, and in my 15 years here, I’ve never met one person, not one in Bunnell, Palm Coast, Flagler County, especially Flagler Beach that I said, You know what, Matt, I wish Flagler Beach was more like Orlando.”
–Flagler Beach resident Matt Hathaway speaking to the Flagler Beach City Commission, as quoted by FlaglerLive!, “Flagler Beach Hears Substantial Opposition to Veranda Bay Annexation as Developer Counters: ‘I Have Agreed to a Lot Here’,” Wednesday, September 25, 2024
And Another Thing!
I’m a sucker for a ‘David and Goliath’ story.
Always cheering for the underdog, hoping for the triumph of that which is good and equitable, empathizing with the disadvantaged, pulling for We, The Little People who band together in a cause greater than our own self-interests, those intrepid souls with the passion and grit to overcome against impossible odds.
Unfortunately, in Florida, that doesn’t happen often. Power prevails.
Money talks and bullshit (like your quality of life) walks…
Here in the biggest whorehouse in the world, those with the gold make the rules – the weak are trampled (or worse) – and anyone with the temerity to stand against common threats like environmental destruction, malignant overdevelopment, the omnipotent influence of the “Rich & Powerful,” and the greed that fuels it all, are crushed.
Last fall, Daytona Beach officials visited First Christian Church on South Palmetto Avenue and Seventh Day Baptist Church on Live Oak Avenue – both located within the vast food desert that is the Downtown Redevelopment Area – and ordered them to shut down their long-established food pantries.
At the time, we were told the enforcement action came following a complaint from someone who objected to people gathering to wait for sustenance near the church.
That came as a surprise for both houses of worship – and the hungry residents they serve – as the food pantries had been providing for the very real needs of the community long before an ordinance was passed prohibiting food distribution programs in designated redevelopment areas.
This phenomenon isn’t limited to the City of Daytona Beach.
Despite the conscience or character of their community, some government officials put their vision of “economic development” – and the comfort of those who prefer not to cast their eyes on the Great Unwashed waiting for alms – over the needs of hungry families at a time when a trip to the grocery store represents a crushing financial burden for many.
Although First Christian Church was later found to have been “grandfathered” in and was allowed to reopen their food distribution site – officials could find no record that Seventh Day Baptist had registered their operation with the City of Daytona Beach.
Fortunately, Seventh Day Baptist found a true superhero in Daytona Beach Attorney Chobee Ebbetts, who valiantly took up the church’s plight, providing his expert services pro bono during the year-long legal fight – one that was ultimately joined by Texas nonprofit First Liberty Institute and Chicago based law firm Sidley Austin LLP, who would file a motion in federal court seeking an injunction to end Daytona Beach’s ban on food distribution to those in need.
According to an excellent article by Eileen Zaffiro-Kean writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week:
“After 12 months of legal wrangling, the church is dropping its lawsuit against the city, and the city will enter into a formal settlement agreement.
That settlement agreement will include the city repealing its ordinance that bans food pantries and food banks in redevelopment areas, said Daytona Beach attorney Chobee Ebbets, who has represented the church free of charge. Seventh Day Baptist Church is located in the city’s Downtown Community Redevelopment Area.”
In my view, Seventh Day Baptist Senior Pastor Ben Figueroa said it best, “This little David defeated Goliath,” Figueroa said. “God is the one who did it. He used Chobee.”
Good stuff…
Another minor miracle occurred in Flagler County last week, when Circuit Judge Chris France ruled in favor of Preserve Flagler Beach and Bulow Creek – ending an intimidating lawsuit filed by developer Palm Coast Intracoastal (a subsidiary of SunBelt Land Management) challenging the right of the environmental group to challenge the massive Veranda Bay – a sprawling mixed-use development with thousands of residential units and commercial space proposed for pristine riverfront greenspace along both sides of John Anderson Highway south of S.R. 100.
According to an informative article in FlaglerLive!, we learned:
“France termed PCI’s action a SLAPP suit impermissible under state law, handing the grass-roots group a major victory against the chilling effect of such lawsuits on speech and participation in matters of public concern. But it’s likely not over. “I would expect they intend to appeal. That’s what we’ve been told,” John Tanner, the attorney who was named among the defendants and argued on their behalf, said today.
“Since 2000, Florida law has prohibited the filing of ‘Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation,’ or so-called ‘SLAPP’ suits against individuals or entities for exercising their constitutional right to seek redress for grievances before a governmental entity,” France wrote, granting summary judgment in favor of the group. The Legislature strengthened anti-SLAP suit provisions in 2015.”
According to the report, Mr. Tanner said, “We’re pleased with the result and pleased with the judge’s order,” he said. “This is a landmark decision and it’s a major victory for citizen’s rights.”
It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…
Volusia County Council
Last year, the Volusia County Council and the City of Ormond Beach were caught flatfooted after their respective staffs had preliminary meetings with Belvedere Terminals, a bulk fuel supplier owned by Grupo México, who has announced plans to place an industrial petroleum farm and distribution facility in an unincorporated area adjacent to the Florida East Coast Railway tracks.
As the City of Ormond Beach would provide utilities for the terminal, the city would be required to annex the 60-acre property, putting it dangerously close to residential areas, light industry, the city’s airport, and a public sports complex.
Some of us learned about the terminal when an obscure Department of Environmental Protection air permit was published in the Hometown News, other residents weren’t made aware until a shocking story appeared in The Daytona Beach News-Journal – and none of us were informed by embarrassed Volusia County or Ormond Beach officials – leaving our elected dullards looking like the out-of-the-loop know-nothings they are…
The ensuing shitstorm of controversy has proven to wary Volusia County taxpayers that when the chips are down, there are precious few elected and appointed “representatives” looking out for our interests in the cloistered Halls of Power in DeLand, or elsewhere.
When their physical safety, property values, and quality of life are at stake, concerned citizens will always take a stand, band together, and find ways to protect their families despite the blunders and omissions of an unresponsive, out of touch, and fumble fingered bureaucracy.
Recently, concerned residents and environmental advocates proposed a charter amendment to address what the Volusia County Council and some municipal governments continue to ignore – namely development-induced flooding, a complete disregard of concurrency requirements, and the claustrophobic effects of sprawl, increased density, and explosive growth.
According to a petition proposed by civic activist Cathrine Pante and others, “…a Rural Boundary Charter Amendment to the Volusia County Charter is a potential solution to this issue. The Amendment will act as a tool to control development within our rural areas, allowing the County Council to better manage and restrict expansions that pose a threat to our homes, our livelihoods, and our natural surroundings.”
“We urge the Volusia County Council and Staff to create and put forward this amendment for a vote on the 2026 Ballot. No longer can we stand by and accept the excuse that the County cannot stop city annexations. Let’s protect Volusia County’s rural areas and the people who call it home.”
Naturally, the very notion of requiring a rural margin between malignant urbanized sprawl and more of the same – typically by requiring a majority vote to approve development in those areas or before a city can annex unincorporated areas – caused a panic among those developer finger-puppets on the Volusia County Council intent on protecting the very lucrative status quo for their campaign contributors.
On Tuesday, we got another nauseating peek at just how far some on the Volusia County Council will go when At-Large Councilman Jake Johansson attempted to tee-up the issue and kick it soundly down the dusty political trail by moving to postpone discussion of the issue until March 2025 and requiring the measure be taken up by the Charter Review Commission next year.
In effect, Mr. Johansson put time and distance (and what his cronies hope will be the defeat of Chairman Jeff Brower) between starting the lengthy process many disenfranchised residents are praying will result in the charter amendment being placed on the ballot in 2026.
Another example of the Volusia County Council’s pernicious practice of off-the-agenda “public policy by ambush.”
Per usual, when Chairman Brower pushed back, describing the rural boundary amendment as an effective way of preventing what he described as “hostile annexations,” announcing that he was setting a discussion of the matter on the October Volusia County Council agenda – he was badgered by the likes of Councilman David “No Show” Santiago, accused of making “inaccurate statements,” and “rewriting the dictionary” – in one of Santiago’s hyper-theatrical displays of legislative time-wasting.
Councilman “No Show” Santiago
The ensuing wriggling and squirming turned downright ugly when Chairman Brower sought clarification from County Attorney Michael Dyer regarding his rights as Chair under the County Charter to place items on the council agenda.
In perhaps the worst display of civic insubordination I’ve ever witnessed, Dyer chirped that while the Chair can place items on the agenda – the majority can merely override it and control the timing of the item through obstructionism and procrastination – a politically risky ploy, especially when We, The Little People who pay for all this sabotage and stalling turn up to speak on the item.
It went deeper…
When Mr. Dyer raised his voice and openly quibbled whether the October agenda has yet been “published” – then accused Brower of putting “staff” between himself and the majority of the council – in my view, he crossed a very bright line between legal advice and political strategy – presented by an argumentative asshole clearly trying to publicly knee-cap Brower while preening for his protectors…
Ultimately, Councilman Johansson’s motion was approved on a 4-3 vote – with Councilmen Troy Kent and Don Dempsey siding with Brower – and the completely confused Councilman Matt Reinhart initially voting with the majority (as he undoubtedly intended), then somehow claimed he “misunderstood” what he was voting for?
Really?
I don’t make this shit up, folks…
Before we move on, let’s talk about Councilman Danny Robins’ – that ventriloquist dummy with the disingenuous ability to speak out of both sides of his mouth – on the growing issue of development-induced flooding, downplayed by his constant self-congratulatory gaslighting.
Councilman Danny Robins
Unbelievably, on Tuesday, Robins directed failed senior staff to look sopping wet residents throughout Volusia County in the eye and tell them all the wonderful things they are doing to mitigate flooding while the water continues to rise – and the bulldozers continue to roar…
Sick.
When Robins advised he attended a meeting in Edgewater where inundated residents (who are literally mad as wet hens) were passionate about flooding threatening their homes and accused Volusia County of not doing enough to help struggling property owners (because they haven’t) – he proceeded to parade his clique of senior department heads to the podium in what we are to believe was an unrehearsed defense of the bureaucracy’s ineptitude.
Bullshit.
To show the behind-the-scenes nature of these well-choreographed productions that pass for “public meetings,” Councilman “No Show” Santiago pivoted the narrative, somehow assuming that Robins was speaking of Chairman Brower as being the one who disparaged county flood control efforts at the Edgewater meeting (he was) insinuating that Brower made “false statements” to the public – something Robins readily agreed with.
It was clumsy, weird, and incredibly telling…
In my view, this coordinated campaigning from the dais – coupled with the near-constant marginalization of Chairman Brower in an internal and external attempt to gain a rubber stamp majority on the council to do the unfettered bidding of their “friends” and political benefactors – is inexcusable.
It’s probably criminal in the context of Florida’s public meeting law…
Trust me. These shameless shills do not represent your interests.
In fact, Danny Robins and “No Show” Santiagos view you as little more than an inconvenient impediment to the wants and whims of those influential insiders who own the paper on their political souls.
This is why we have elections.
Vote like your lives and livelihoods depend upon it…
First Step Shelter Board
The concept of fiduciary responsibility is a legal duty that ensures elected and appointed members of boards, councils, and commissions hold themselves to the ethical obligations that come with the oversight and direction of public and private organizations.
A solemn bond of trust between decisionmakers and stakeholders.
Does any of this sound remotely familiar to the conduct of the tumultuous First Step Shelter and its disheveled, disorganized, and wholly unaccountable “leadership” and governance?
As things deteriorate – with public confidence in the enigmatic publicly funded program at an all-time low – rather than commission a comprehensive investigation into credible allegations of malfeasance and misconduct brought by three former senior staff members against executive director Victoria Fahlberg, the First Step Board intentionally fumbled and completely ignored their fiduciary responsibly to Volusia County taxpayers.
Look, bad things happen in the best organizations. It is how leadership responds to controversy and scandal that speaks to their values and internal character.
To that end, at First Step, some board members went so far as to openly besmirch the honor and reputation of the whistleblowers – painting the allegations as a “scam” – and voting to end their incomplete investigation in what many see as a blatant cover-up that marks the beginning of the end for a program that was never fully explained or understood by those asked to pay the bills.
To their credit, last week, we learned that Volusia County is taking a cautionary pause before considering throwing another $2 million of our tax dollars to First Step over the next five-years – a program wracked by controversy and unresolved questions of financial improprieties, personnel issues, and safety concerns.
Now caught between a rock and hard place, the Daytona Beach City Commission and Mayor Derrick Henry – who also serves as president of the First Step board – recently voted to renew the “shelter’s” lease and continue funding the troubled program with $400,000 in public funds annually.
What else where they going to do?
My hope is that this signals a pending change in leadership at First Step.
During pointed comments at a recent board meeting, Mayor Henry remarked “There are things at the shelter that rise to a deep level of concern,” Henry said. “The situation we’re in is because of leadership.”
He’s right.
However, in my view, the “leadership” issues plaguing First Step go far deeper than Victoria Fahlberg. Recently, there were murmurs that the board wanted to take the program private as a way of exempting their meetings and governance from the public eye.
Why is that?
What’s the big secret that no one is talking about at First Step?
Trust me. Nothing would make Daytona Beach and Volusia County taxpayers happier than to get First Step off the public teat – but that’s not going to happen. Not now.
In the view of many weary taxpayers, the program needs a fresh start. Open the windows and let the disinfecting sunlight in, then establish some basic ground rules for the management and independent oversight of First Step.
That process begins by accepting the resignation of Director Fahlberg and the current board members, then establish a governing apparatus with volunteers more concerned about the organization’s mission than in listening to themselves spew hot air.
According to reports, the County of Volusia can revisit First Step funding after the start of the fiscal year in November or December.
Let’s hope our elected representatives on the County Council have the courage to demand answers to these lingering questions before allocating one more dime of our hard-earned tax dollars to this growing civic quagmire.
New Smyrna Beach City Commission
“Before casting his vote to approve, Cleveland said he was “delighted with the public participation tonight, and the passion with which I see our concerned citizens.”
“There are some that just say ‘no,’ a group that just says, ‘I want us to be like we used to be and don’t want anything to change,’” the mayor said. “To you, I’m very sorry — the clock will tick, and we will change.
“I want to protect our coastal community, the environment, I want to protect what we have today. But the genie is out of the bottle, it does not go back, and I know that. So caution, and math, logic and science when we make decisions like that is important, just as much as transparency and getting everybody’s opinion on it,” he added.”
–New Smyrna Beach Mayor Fred Cleveland, as quoted by reporter Brenno Carillo writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “NSB approves rezoning of 1,618-acre land where Deering Park is proposed,” Thursday, September 12, 2024
“I’m very sorry – The clock will tick, and we will change…”
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn the passing of the quaint beach community of New Smyrna Beach – a sad epitaph engraved in asphalt and concrete – by spineless politicians who pay arrogant lip service to passionate citizens seeking substantive participation in decisions that will drastically and forever effect their quality of life…
I don’t know Mayor Fred Cleveland – but I know many shortsighted political hacks like him.
Bobbleheads who know what’s best for the rest of us, and prefer the soothing tone of a polished land use attorney selling them a pig in a poke, over the impassioned pleas of their frightened constituents, then have the chutzpah to claim their decisions are based on “…caution, and math, logic and science…”
My ass.
Let’s call this latest insult to the worried citizens of New Smyrna Beach what it is – abject greed in a growth at all cost environment – facilitated by mealy-mouth politicians who lack the vision and will to protect what made their once quaint community unique.
Before his reelection in the August primary, Mayor Cleveland promised existing residents on his campaign website:
“As your Mayor, I am focused on safeguarding all that makes our city wonderfully unique as well as our city’s challenges and opportunities.”
So, what happened?
I guess a comprehensive plan amendment rezoning 1,618 acres of property once set aside as agriculture, forestry resources, and conservation (a/k/a flood control, aquifer recharge, wildlife habitat, conservation, etc.) to accommodate a developer’s desire for 2,150 houses, apartments – millions of square feet of pavement – in a mishmash “planned unit development” incorporating mixed-use/commercial/residential called the Deering Innovation Park must be one of those “opportunities” Mayor Cleveland crowed about…
Of course, land use attorney Glen Storch reassured everyone that his client isn’t looking to build anything right now.
Of course not. This is all just fun-n-games.
“This is a planning exercise. “This is not a development exercise,” Storch told The News-Journal last week.”
Sure…
While other NSB Commissioners puled and mewled over their weighty decision – always coming back to their rock-solid confidence in the developer’s mouthpiece to do the right thing and assuage the very real fears of existing residents buy claiming their every concern will be addressed in the master development agreement and planned unit development.
You know, real fears – like widespread flooding, increased density, additional traffic on already overwhelmed streets – and the rapid demise of greenspace and wildlife habitat in western reaches of their community.
To her credit, Commissioner Lisa Martin cast the lone “No” vote on the comp plan amendment – rightfully describing the proposed development as “massive” – and voicing her opinion that city officials need “to have more citizen input.”
“This will definitely impact the city of New Smyrna Beach,” Martin said. “Shouldn’t the stakeholders have more of a say?”
Not according to Mayor Fred Cleveland.
That greedy genie is out of the bottle, and he doesn’t give two-shits what existing residents forced to live with the lasting impacts have to say…
Quote of the Week
“The libertarian principle holds that government’s legitimate role is minimal, focusing on protecting individual rights and property. This principle extends to ensuring that any development does not infringe upon the rights of current residents to safely and securely enjoy their properties. It is neither anti-development nor anti-growth to demand that infrastructure issues be resolved before further burdens are placed on it. Indeed, it is a demand for responsible, sustainable growth that respects the rights and safety of all citizens.”
–Matt Johnson, DeLand, as excerpted from his Letter to the Editor in the West Volusia Beacon, “No to Rezoning,” Tuesday, September 17, 2024
What he said…
And Another Thing!
Share a secret?
I can’t do long division or figure a tip in a restaurant without counting on my fingers, and those things they call the “multiplication tables” remain an abstract mathematical mystery to me. They call it dyscalculia, an inability to comprehend basic arithmetic.
I can tell you from experience; it can be exasperating – and embarrassing. Afterall, a grown man who can’t calculate basic addition and subtraction…
Perhaps in exchange for accepting this disability, I was gifted with the almost paranormal ability to detect political bullshit in all its forms.
A finely-honed sixth sense originating in the parietal lobe of my gin-soaked brain – a supernatural sagacity, carefully cultivated after years of repeatedly touching the hot stove, sharpened by repeat victimization, an extrasensory insight that allows me to perceive political chicanery before I step in it…
A blessing and a curse, I suppose.
Which brings me to this week’s jumbled musings on why some local political candidates receive fawning special treatment (and astronomical campaign donations from all the right last names) while others receive a swift kick in the crotch by paternalistic insiders with a chip in the game…
As a dilettante opinionist and concerned taxpayer, I’ve become a champion for solid local journalism.
In fact, our civic, political, economic, and social wellbeing depend upon strong oversight, advocacy, and unvarnished facts from trusted area media sources as reported by those of, by, and for the community they cover.
Unfortunately, what remains of The Daytona Beach News-Journal is increasingly a hodge-podge of homogenized stories from Gannett properties with precious few investigative digs – in a place desperately in need of a major excavation.
That’s unfortunate. Because the News-Journal has some of the best investigative journalists in the business.
Admittedly, I’m far from objective when it comes to the absurdity of politics here on Florida’s “Fun Coast,” a dark warren inhabited by self-serving marionettes, hand-selected by extremely wealthy insiders, to protect the stagnant status quo.
Shameless tax-and-spend shills masquerading as “fiscal conservatives” who marginalize anyone who stands against the growth at all costs overdevelopment that has made the few insanely rich at the expense of our quality of life.
I could be wrong (I’m not), but earlier this week I got the discomforting impression The Daytona Beach News-Journal was playing favorites in the Volusia County Chair race…
For at least the second time this election cycle, the News-Journal gave special treatment to a 2023 speech County Council Chair Jeff Brower gave to something called the Republican Liberty Caucus of West Volusia which contained references to God and his deep faith.
Chairman Jeff Brower
During the speech, Brower expressed his personal thoughts on the religious guidance and values of our nation’s founding fathers in the context of what he believes is today’s “…corrupt national and local government that cares nothing about the rule of law or the Constitution.”
The article, which appeared on Constitution Day, was not an op/ed – and it wasn’t the first time the speech has been publicly dissected by the newspaper.
Curiously, the first mention was just days before the August primary when a clip of Brower’s speech appeared in the News-Journal – and was subsequently posted to social media by the Democratic Club of Southwest Volusia with the hashtag #weird…
This week’s News-Journal piece was published under the header “politics” – entitled, “Brower responds to criticisms regarding his views on the role of religion in government” – couched in the context of the separation of church and state on the 237th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution.
According to the report, “Brower retold that story as part of his 41-minute speech to the Republican Liberty Caucus of West Volusia in June 2023. He veered off the history in describing a nation about to erupt into civil war over the prosecution of former President Donald Trump, public education under “Satan’s deception,” “inaccurate” voting booths, Democrat-controlled cities as cesspools, politicians and press trying to destroy the republic, and a gay pride flag flying over the White House was giving “the finger” to God.”
That set the stage for some Tallahassee mouthpiece for what remains of the fossilized American Civil Liberties Union to accuse Brower of “indoctrinating” his constituents and “evangelizing” instead of serving the public in his elected role.
Then, Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, the Atlantic Coast president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, put the boots to Brower, opining that “…Brower’s comments belie his oath to “support, protect and defend the Constitution” of both the United States and Florida.”
“In both those constitutions, We the People have agreed not to permit an ‘establishment of religion’ by our government. Yet, Brower clearly seems to desire to establish his brand of Christianity in Volusia County,” said Shapiro, of Palm Coast.”
Say what?
Did I mention that Chairman Brower was speaking within the confines of the ultra-conservative Republican Liberty Caucus of West Volusia, not pontificating from the dais of power in DeLand?
Of course, the News-Journal then invited Mr. Brower’s opponent in the upcoming general election, “Car Guy” Randy Dye – the darling of the donor class – an opportunity to provide his thoughts.
Apparently, during his speech Mr. Brower, a longtime proponent of smart growth initiatives – suggested that Dye (whose campaign has been widely funded by real estate development interests) supports increased growth for his own self-enrichment, “If our population doubles, his (Dye’s) personal wealth doubles.”
According to the report, Mr. Dye responded:
“Dye said he anticipates his business “will do well,” but he’s not planning on working for the business for the rest of his life.
“First off, I don’t want to see our population double,” Dye said. “Our quality of life in our community is what’s most important to me.”
Dye said he’s an elder at his church of 25 years, City Sanctuary in DeLand, and that he aims to give grace when he has received much of it.
“I’ve probably learned more over the years from people I started out disagreeing with more than the ones I agreed with,” Dye said. “This election is really about trying to unite a community and not trying to decide who doesn’t fit in a community. (It’s about) erasing lines that separate us and building bridges that will bring us together.”
Although Chairman Brower declined an interview request, to their credit, the News-Journal included his emailed statement:
“I am a follower of Christ. Christ offers an invitation, not an imposition. Our Constitution guarantees there will never be an imposition of a state religion, and I support that. I encourage everyone to embrace their faith on a personal level in both good times and bad.”
Believe me, Brower’s fellow self-described “Conservative Republican” colleagues – some of whom have openly endorsed his opponent – weren’t falling all over themselves to defend the Chairman’s right to express his personal religious beliefs to a partisan political club.
My third eye tells me the News-Journal’s multiple reporting on a 15-month-old speech was designed to hurt Mr. Brower by painting his religious beliefs as extreme or a violation of their view of civic secularism.
In addition, earlier this week those stodgy curmudgeons who comprise Volusia’s stagnant Old Guard over at the Volusia Republican Executive Committee (a group even veteran area Republicans call divisive and angry) voted to endorse Randy Dye over Chairman Brower – even though Brower won the primary election with 42% of the vote?
Things that make you go Humm…
I was equally disappointed by a disturbing article in the Ormond Beach Observer this week reporting the recent vandalism of political signs displayed by Carl and Susan Persis – who are running for Volusia County School Board and Ormond Beach Mayor, respectively.
According to the report, earlier this month, someone defaced several Persis signs by placing stickers over the candidates photographs which said, “Be Yourself, You Suck!” and “You Suck!” with at least one sign damaged with spray paint.
That’s unacceptable.
But what followed was essentially a 900-word campaign advertisement in the Observer detailing what dandies Susan and Carl are – complete with not-so-veiled accusations that Mr. Persis’ opponent in the School Board Race – Donna Brosemer – could somehow put a stop to the criminal mischief if she wanted to…
“The hate that’s out there is very unsettling to me,” she said. “I don’t feel like Carl and I have ever done anything to anyone to deserve such hateful behavior, ever.”
Who would vandalize or remove their signs?
“That’s a good question, ‘Who’s going to benefit?” she said. “Well, the answer is quite obvious.”
Carl, the incumbent School Board member, is running against former lobbyist Donna Brosemer, who has the governor’s endorsement for the race. In 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis identified 14 school board members he wished to remove from office in a meeting with House Speaker Paul Renner, Moms for Liberty and Education Commissioner Manny Diaz. Carl was among the 14.”
Adding to the “Hate Crime of the Century” sensationalism was an inset announcing Mr. Persis is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone responsible with directions to contact the Ormond Beach Police Department…
Whatever.
Strikingly lacking from the Observer’s Persis campaign promotion was an opportunity for Ms. Brosmer to defend herself from the pretentious power couple’s baseless allegations…
In my view, that was also unacceptable.
On Tuesday, five-days after the original Persis sign article appeared, Ms. Brosmer was quoted by the Observer in a follow-up article, rightfully calling the tempest in a teapot what it was.
“Brosemer told the Observer that Carl Persis has made “a mountain out of a molehill” as he still has plenty of signs around the district, especially in Ormond Beach. Despite having her own signs damaged, Brosemer said, she feels it’s a trivial issue compared to what needs to be discussed in the school district.”
In addition, Ms. Brosemer described similar issues with vandalism and the theft of her campaign signs but doesn’t plan to file a police report.
According to the report, “The Persis name is very well known,” Brosemer said. “And he, Carl in particular, has quite a following, a very dedicated following. Sometimes passions get carried away. If any of that has happened on my side, I’m not aware of it.”
Look, I may lack basic math skills – but I can spot the exact second the exalted “Movers & Shakers” of Volusia’s oligarchy get nervous as election day approaches.
It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…
First Step Shelter Board
Once again, the “Fun Coast” resonated this week with the exasperated groans of Volusia County taxpayers expressing their utter disgust with the wholly compromised First Step Shelter Board.
On Monday, board members pulled the old distracted-referee trope – flagrantly ignoring offers of cooperation by a whistleblower and clear indicators of a toxic internal environment, before shutting down its woefully incomplete “investigation,” seemingly intent on sweeping serious allegations at the publicly funded “shelter” under the rug.
In another alarming exposé by investigative journalist Eileen Zaffiro-Kean writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week, we learned:
“First Step Shelter Board members voted unanimously Monday night to end their probe into whistleblower complaints brought by former shelter employee Patrick Smith.
The two-month investigation looked into allegations that ranged from financial mismanagement to residents being endangered. Shelter Executive Director Victoria Fahlberg, who has said very little publicly about the investigation to date, read a statement during Monday night’s meeting.
“While some people want to focus on their personal agendas, we would like to get back to focusing on our clients and our mission,” she said in the statement. “I’m glad we are moving on from this very sad and despicable waste of time and money that diverted us from our mission of transforming the lives of Volusia County’s most vulnerable.”
Seriously?
Their official response is, “Move along, folks. Nothing to see here. We’ve done a half-assed “investigation” – now, slop the trough with $800,000 more of your hard-earned tax dollars and keep your nose out of our important “mission“?
I’ll just bet Director Fahlberg is glad her bosses are “moving on.”
Because most fiduciarily responsible members of boards, councils, and commissions charged with financial and administrative oversight in the public and private sectors would never countenance this cheap charade – especially when our tax dollars are at stake.
As Fahlberg rushes to put this “waste of time” behind her – those of us who pay the bills are increasingly cynical of the mysterious inner-workings of the enigmatic First Step program – a chronic source of civic controversy that has given the City of Daytona Beach a perpetual blackeye – due, in part, to the complete lack of transparency, abject arrogance of certain board members, and the program’s historic inability to effectively impact the very visible “homeless problem” in many areas of Volusia County.
To his credit, Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry, who serves as the First Step board’s president, said publicly what anxious taxpayers have been thinking all along:
“There are things at the shelter that rise to a deep level of concern,” Henry said. “The situation we’re in is because of leadership.”
Of course, the Mayor’s painfully obvious observation didn’t seem to hold water with the rest of the “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” board members who prefer to deal with allegations and improprieties by ignoring them…
According to the News-Journal, “Board member Joan Campanaro also expressed concerns, but most of the nine First Step board members said they wanted to move on and stop spending shelter dollars on the probe.
“I think we’re making a big deal over nothing,” said board member Rose Ann Tornatore.
Board member Mike Panaggio charged that Smith’s accusations were baseless, and arose from an employee in trouble for poor performance retaliating against his boss.
“I think we’ve been scammed,” Panaggio said.”
You read that right. I’m sure the whistleblower’s attorney did too…
According to previous reports detailing the First Step debacle, the three employees who brought serious allegations of maleficence, fraudulent activities, discriminatory bias, ongoing harassment, retaliation, breaches of confidentiality, unethical behavior, and fostering a toxic work environment to light include Mr. Smith, the shelter’s former director of philanthropy and engagement, Kim Kelly, a former shelter nurse, and Pamela Alexander, the shelter’s former housing coordinator.
In her disturbing report, Zaffiro-Kean confirmed:
“Shortly after the whistleblower complaint was filed in June, Smith and Alexander were fired, and Kelly resigned on July 18.
Kelly gave a sworn statement to Scott Simpson, the Ormond Beach attorney who was paid $5,000 to investigate the complaints. Simpson said he spoke with Fahlberg and the shelter’s accountant, but not Smith or Alexander.
Simpson offered to conduct more interviews for another $3,000, but at their Aug. 12 meeting board members declined, with three of them saying they didn’t want to spend any more money on the probe.”
Board members said part of the reason they stopped looking into Smith’s allegations was because he didn’t talk to Simpson. But Smith’s attorney, Kelly Chanfrau, said both she and Smith told Simpson that Smith wanted to talk to him.”
Ah, the old “You can’t cooperate in the investigation of your complaint, because we’ve already shut down the investigation into your complaint” dodge, eh?
I don’t make this shit up, folks…
Adding to the wildfire of suspicion and conjecture is the concerted bureaucratic effort to keep Scott Simpson’s investigative report – something our tax dollars paid for – a secret.
According to reports, Daytona Beach City Attorney Ben Gross is working overtime to keep the Simpson report far away from the prying eyes of citizens and decisionmakers by using a weird slight-of-hand that opines, “…because the complaints brought by Kelly and Alexander were not formally closed out, the report will remain in the hands of only Fahlberg and the board members.”
How convenient.
Now, inquiring minds want to know what Attorney Gross and the First Step Board are so desperately trying to hide?
According to the News-Journal:
“Gross summarized portions of the report at Monday’s meeting, saying Simpson focused mainly on allegations of financial impropriety. Gross said Simpson found “a glitch” in the way a $50 donation had been recorded, and there was a concern with a $1,700 grant from the Florida Department of Children and Families, but the DCF money was accounted for.
Gross said many of the things in the complaint were “dramatic,” but most did not apply to a whistleblower complaint under the law. (Say’s who?)
Board member Don Burnette said it was hard to take some of the allegations seriously when the main complainant didn’t talk to the investigator.
“A prosecuting attorney with no witness doesn’t have a case,” Burnette said.”
Now we know that the “main complainant” – Mr. Smith – notified Investigator Simpson through his attorney that he wanted to assist in the inquiry and his offer was ignored.
Instead, based on their incomplete “investigation,” the board saw fit to shut things down, besmirch Smith’s personal and professional reputation, categorize his complaints as a “scam,” and ensure that other potential whistleblowers are aware of the life-altering fate that awaits any First Step employee who dares come forward with allegations of fraud or maladministration.
There are many reasons Port Orange Mayor Don Burnette’s political career has fizzled, and his piss-poor judgement, lack of leadership, and lemming-like commitment to groupthink are a few of them…
If history repeats (and it always does around here), what will come next is the nonsensical nattering of Board Member Mike Panaggio as we await another of his weird late-night screeds on social media.
Another self-aggrandizing harangue bashing the complainants’ motivations, crowing about First Step’s “accomplishments,” while attempting to deflect our attention from the serious accusations that continue to plague the tax supported program.
We’re wise to that ploy, Pinocchio…
My hope is that someone (like Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, the First Amendment Foundation, The Brennan Center for Justice, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Gannett, et.al.) will demand the lawful and immediate release of the Simpson report – then seek proper accountability under the law for anyone found complicit in shielding this publicly funded report from taxpayers and decisionmakers who are now being asked to allocate even more of our hard-earned dollars to this troubled program.
Kudos to News-Journal reporter Eileen Zaffiro-Kean for her journalistic diligence in seeking answers and peeling the myriad layers of this rotten onion. If you pay taxes in Volusia County, you owe it to yourself to read this informative article here: https://tinyurl.com/4yzxe6dt
Port Orange Councilman-Elect Lance Green
Unfortunately, abhorrent, even criminal, personal conduct by politicians and those holding high public office is nothing new, or particularly shocking, to a weary constituency inured to the lies, proclivities, and abject arrogance of those we elect and appoint to “represent” our interests.
In times past, the antidote for self-inflicted personal and political humiliation was to quietly apologize then step aside. Because admitting a mistake, then having the moral courage to accept responsibility and do what is necessary to preserve the dignity of the office, is important to restoring the public’s trust in our system of governance.
Not anymore.
Last week, Port Orange Councilman-Elect Lance Green and his wife, Susan, entered the Barker’s View Hall of Shame following a traffic accident near Williamson Boulevard and Taylor Road when Green’s truck allegedly collided with the rear of another vehicle.
Councilman-Elect Green
In a disturbing turn, a recent report by Frank Fernandez writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal confirmed the age-old adage that the coverup is always worse than the crime:
“A traffic camera video released after his arrest for DUI appears to show newly elected Port Orange Councilman Lance Green getting out of the driver’s seat of his pickup after it rear-ended another pickup, then walking around and getting in the passenger seat.
Green, who was with his wife, then claimed to police that she was driving.
The crash led to Green’s arrest 10 days after he won a seat on the Port Orange City Council, on which he would begin serving in December.”
Then, things went from bad to worse…
According to reports, while being questioned at the scene, Mrs. Green was captured on an officer’s body worn camera uttering the six words guaranteed to expose any tiny town pseudo-celebrity politician/spouse as the arrogant and egomaniacal assholes they are:
“Do you know who we are?”
Yeah. I know.
That haughty rhetorical question tells us everything we need to know about what Mr. and Mrs. Green are.
Things deteriorated from there…
Following his arrest, Councilman-Elect Green was transported to the Port Orange Police Department where he asked arresting officers to contact the Chief of Police (why?) before being admonished by a supervisor for disrespecting officers after Green allegedly used what the News-Journal described as “The “B” word” – whatever the hell that is – something the police supervisor rightly described as “completely out of line.”
Of course, Green denied everything…
To compound the problem, following her husband’s arrest Susan Green is reported to have contacted the police department to reiterate that she was driving at the time of the accident.
“While Green was in the cell, his wife called the police department and said she was not sure why her husband had been arrested and again said he had not been driving.”
Which, in my jaded view, proves there is a difference between the congenitally dumb and the criminally stupid. In Florida, it is a criminal offense to knowingly give false information to a law enforcement officer. In fact, it is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to one-year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Inexplicably, Susan Green made matters worse by describing her husband’s arrest as a “vendetta” – claiming the victim of the accident had a reason to lie about Lance Green driving, “Because he would like to see my husband out of office and sue us.”
Say what?
I guarantee you that 99.999% of Port Orange residents couldn’t pick Lance or Susan Green out of a line-up (unless, of course, they crashed into the ass-end of their vehicle at a major intersection, then played musical chairs…)
Don’t take my word for it.
Perform your own non-scientific study: Simply ask the next person you meet to name their mayor, members of the City Commission, or the County Council…
You’ll be surprised at the number of catatonic stares you receive.
Look, I get it. People make mistakes.
Including powerful politicians who hold themselves out for high office and ask to make decisions that affect our lives and livelihoods; ostensibly good citizens with a willingness to serve their community.
In my view, it is how they respond to those errors in judgement that exposes their true character.
I suspect at 59-years-old Lance Green knows that – especially now that he has become an embarrassment to his family, his constituents, and his community.
More to the point, if probable cause exists that Councilman-Elect Green and his wife knowingly lied to Port Orange police during a lawful investigation as the current evidence suggests – he should put his enormous ego aside and immediately resign his important office – rather than put his constituents through the time-consuming and intentionally confusing process of recalling him.
Then, both should be publicly prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law – held out as an example to others who would seek the public trust then shit on it for personal and political convenience.
County of Volusia & FDOT
Did you ever know someone who was overly confident in everything they do, boasts ad nauseum about their perceived “accomplishments,” acts haughtily superior to others, always controlling and manipulative in their dealings, lies blatantly to themselves and others, overly confident despite results, dismissive of suggestions or criticism, with no real relationships, a complete lack of empathy, and an unrealistic sense of their own self-importance?
Yeah. Me neither…
Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that those same narcissistic traits can be found in certain government organizations; especially those who have cloistered themselves, turned insular, and forgotten who and why they serve.
Sound familiar?
When it comes to bureaucratic blunders (and I’ve made some whoppers during my days in local government), in my experience, most people can forgive what they see themselves doing.
In most cases, the admission “I made a mistake,” coupled with an explanation, a sincere apology, and a genuine effort to correct an oversight or error in judgement, will go a long way toward building trusting relationships, resolving conflict, and gaining valuable experience.
They call that a ‘learning opportunity’ – an organizational or personal commitment to self-accountability – the concept of taking ownership of actions and outcomes.
That’s why the ongoing travesty that is the horribly neglected East International Speedway Boulevard – that perennially dilapidated ‘gateway’ to the “World’s Most Famous Beach” and the busiest beach access point in Volusia County – is so damnably frustrating to anyone who lives here, operates a business, relies on our area’s hospitality industry, or promotes the Daytona Beach Resort Area as a vacation destination.
Think about it: If you had the omnipotent power to wave a bureaucratic wand and completely shut down a major roadway on the beachside – one that allows access to several family-owned small businesses – would you blockade the busiest ramp in the region during the height of the summer tourism season?
What if business owners affected by the extended closure voiced concerns?
Would you lie to them – cruelly assuaging their fears with fabrications and falsehoods?
Would you tell frightened businesses that you were leaving a traffic lane open to allow customer access – then callously pull the rug out from under them – knowing full well that was never an option in the first place?
Do you see yourself doing something that hurtful just to protect your own ass?
Me Neither…
This week, Sam Tadros, the beleaguered owner of a small business near the East ISB beach ramp was quoted in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, lamenting how the project has caused him to temporarily shut his doors – and put plans for another desperately needed beachside business on hold:
“It’s just been horrible,” Tadros said on Friday morning, as a construction crew toiled away.
Tadros said that before he signed his lease, Volusia County Coastal Division Director Jessica Fentress told him that half of the road would remain open during the project, but Public Works Director Ben Bartlett said that wasn’t the county’s intent due to safety considerations.
“Unfortunately this project needs to be done and it’s going to cause a disruption, and we’re working hard to minimize this disruption,” Bartlett said.”
Let’s face it, it is increasingly apparent that the interminable roadwork on East International Speedway Boulevard is being completed by two hobbyists having fun in their spare time…
For most of the summer, the worksite has had been an uninviting eyesore with no end in sight.
Now, we are being told that Volusia County officials “coordinated” (I seriously doubt they know the definition of the word) with the Florida Department of Transportation to conduct “improvements” to the ramp simultaneous to the East ISB project.
I guess if one logistical nightmare of a high-impact road project disrupting a major thoroughfare is good, two must be better, right?
Right…
Unfortunately, it appears this Confederacy of Dunces couldn’t be bothered to “coordinate” with area businessowners who have been isolated, blocked off, and left to suffer the catastrophic consequences of another ill-thought and poorly executed fiasco that absolutely no one in government will ever accept responsibility for.
So much for that whole “admitting a mistake and making things right again” horseshit I prattled on about, eh?
In a recent interview with Fox 35 Orlando, Zoltan Kerekes, who owns a small gift shop effected by the closure said:
“This has caused a significant drop in foot traffic and visibility, resulting in an 80% to 100% decline in our business,” Kerekes said.
Despite the construction slamming their businesses, Kerekes said they still had obligations to their landlords and others.
Volusia County staff released this statement about the construction:
“Renovation of the ISB Ramp is a much-needed upgrade that will benefit the entire community, and we’re expediting construction as much as possible. As with any project, our goal is to ensure minimal disruption to businesses and residents while delivering a high-quality result in the most efficient timeline. To further reduce construction time, we coordinated with the adjacent FDOT road improvement project, and we’re pleased to report that our project remains on schedule.”
Bullshit.
Do you see your small business keeping its doors open with an 80-100% decline in business?
Me neither…
Trust me. For their expert use of the “dueling bureaucrats” ploy, a malicious scam which created the perfect bait-and-switch/he said-she said to distract these hamstrung businessowners, you can bet the enormous salaries, benefits, and pay raises of Director Fentress and Director Bartlette will continue like clockwork…
What say you, Volusia County Council members?
Do you see anyone in the Ivory Tower of Power in DeLand being held accountable for the East ISB beach ramp debacle?
Me neither…
As evidence of that, last week, Tadros and Kerekes approached their elected representatives on the Volusia County Council rightfully seeking assistance to help keep their businesses afloat during the blockade.
After all, Volusia County and our various “economic development” shills routinely provide multi-million-dollar tax breaks, infrastructure improvements, cash handouts, backroom no-bid deals, land development code waivers, minimum revenue guarantees, expansive publicly funded marketing budgets, etc., etc. – all generously gifted to massive corporations on a mere promise of relocating to Daytona Beach.
Then why not help a couple of struggling mom-and-pops who are tanking due to no fault of their own?
Set’s a bad precedence, huh?
So does corporate welfare….
According to Fox 35, “I am asking if there’s any kind of funding the county can provide at least to help cover our utilities and rent, just to get us through this,” Tadros said.
The business owners didn’t get a response from county officials at the meeting. County staff said the project was still set to wrap up in February.”
Yeah. County staff says a lot of things…
Do you believe them?
Me neither…
Quote of the Week
“The approved Volusia County School District budget is $1.4 billion, although that may be revised down because there are fewer enrolled students than were originally projected. Either way, that’s a lot of money.
I got curious recently and decided to look at where we were 10 years ago, especially given all the very loud chest-pounding over population growth. To my surprise, while our general population may be growing, our student population is not. We can’t say the same for the school district budget.
In 2014, we had approximately 61,000 students. Our budget was $777 million.
In 2024, we have approximately 61,000 students. Our budget is $1.4 billion.
My math says that’s a budget increase of approximately 80% in 10 years, with no increase in students.”
–Donna Brosemer, candidate for Volusia County School Board District 4, writing in the Ormond Beach Observer’s “My View” column, “Volusia County Schools’ budget doesn’t add up,” Monday, September 9, 2024 (Find it here: https://tinyurl.com/2xekraht )
It’s no secret.
If you live or struggle to do business in Volusia County, Florida – and aren’t one of a handful of influential insiders with a chip in the game – you are paying exorbitant taxes and fees for diminishing or non-existent services and virtually no access, without any logical explanation from those self-described “fiscal conservatives” on the dais of power.
Those bald-faced liars who looked us in the eye and promised to protect our interests (and hard-earned money) when they groveled for our sacred vote and now refuse to even acknowledge our physical presence when we genuflect at the podium…
I’m certainly not a learned economist, but in my jaded view, Ms. Brosmer’s disturbing calculations prove Wilde’s assertion, “The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.”
What I found most disturbing was the District’s hyper-defensive reaction to Candidate Brosmer’s request for basic data regarding recently added district positions and the number of employees who have no student contact – reports and personnel analysis that should be readily available to administrators at the touch of a button:
“Months ago, as new district positions were added at nearly every board meeting, I sent a public records request to the district, asking how many district employees, with no student contact, were employed five years ago, and how many were employed this year. I received an email, saying that my request required five hours of a supervisor’s time at $50/hour, and my bill would be in excess of $250. At $50/hour for that supervisor, my clerical request was being assigned to a $100,000/year unnamed employee.
Of course, the best way to discourage such requests, and make sure the public can’t get answers to simple questions, is to charge more than they will pay. It worked, so I still don’t know.
And the board doesn’t ask.”
Frightening. And infinitely telling…
In my view, the open fleecing of strapped Volusia County taxpayers is even worse across town at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building.
In that bottomless money pit, our do-nothing elected officials have adopted the “fox in the henhouse” theory of revenue allocations, where elected officials charged with acting in the public interest simply accept the suggestions (and contrived “fiscal emergencies”) of entrenched bureaucrats intent on protecting, benefitting, and expanding their own interests…
I hope you will take a minute to read Ms. Brosmer’s examination of Volusia District School’s rapidly expanding budget, now exceeding $1.4 billion, with a current enrollment of 61,000 (in a county with an estimated population of 601,049).
A horribly lopsided system where Superintendent Carmen Balgobin and her extensive (and expensive) coterie of senior administrators are allowed by our wholly ineffective School Board to repeatedly blunder from one official embarrassment to the next without question, oversight, or restraint.
In my view, we live in a time when “consent of the governed” has been replaced with a mercenary shim-sham in which compromised elected “representatives” stifle public input, disband citizen advisory boards, protect the for-profit interests of influential insiders, and insulate the status quo by any means necessary – totally convinced their malleable senior staff will cover their asses with bureaucratic bullshit carefully packaged in a PowerPoint, while “We, The Little People” are expected to keep quiet and pay for it all.
Vote like your quality of life depends upon it. Because it does.
And Another Thing!
“Fellow genuine candidates who invest in their communities by dedicating time to citizen advisory boards, charter review committees, and local nonprofits now risk their reputations being damaged by Flemm’s stunt.
For tomorrow’s young leaders, we cannot allow this circus act to dissuade anyone from becoming involved in the community, or voters from trusting that the younger generations have good intentions. We need the next generation of civic leaders to start learning community involvement and civil political skills and processes today — and it takes time!
As an elected official, I leave you with this charge: Check out your local government’s openings on advisory boards; some cities have many! Join organizations like Rotary, the Chamber of Commerce, or young professionals’ groups. Attend council meetings and candidate hob nobs. Run local 5Ks, socialize widely at these events, and talk to candidates.
Participation at this level along with voting goes a long way, and it helps officeholders develop their strategies and goals. Most of all, it restores faith between generations. We need to run campaigns on sincere platforms that can reassure the older generations that they can pass the torch because we are ready to lead.”
–DeBary City Council Member Jim Pappalardo, as excerpted from The West Volusia Beacon, Letters to the Editor, “Flemm strategy undermines tomorrow’s young civic leaders,” Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Let’s face it, dirty politics, shit-slinging character assassination, vicious mailers, ugly accusations, and intentionally skewing the playing field with coordinated donations to hand-select candidates are now sine qua non even for local political campaigns.
In his well-thought piece in The West Volusia Beacon, DeBary Councilman Jim Pappalardo opines that the mysterious John Flemm’s dubious tactics during the Volusia County Clerk of the Court primary resulted in “generational-reputation tarnishing” – personal or political conduct that paints other aspiring twentysomething candidates with a broad brush – making it infinitely more difficult for young politicians to gain the trust of voters, colleagues, and constituents.
That’s true.
As a prime example of Mr. Pappalardo’s concerns, look no further than the abysmal behavior caught on camera and broadcast to the masses on social media this week allegedly showing Edgewater Mayor Diezel “I Need Alcohol!” Depew, 20, acting, well, like all the reasons our Federal Government passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act…
Mayor Diezel Depew
Cringeworthy, indeed.
I know, let he who is without sin cast the first stone – and I readily admit to underage drinking in my day (the drinking age was 18 when I was committing those embarrassing youthful indiscretions, well-before the immediate, worldwide, and lasting theater of social media).
Now, as an elderly drunk, I remain the poster boy for the copious consumption of adult beverages, someone who has embraced the cocktail culture as a devout way of life. But, like my father before me, (and because my hypocrisy knows no bounds) I have little tolerance for sloppy drunks of any age who can’t hold their liquor and act out irresponsibly…
Poor form.
That said, in my view, Mr. Depew, who was elected in 2022 at just 18-years-old (making him the youngest Mayor to ever hold office in Florida), as the ceremonial head of the City of Edgewater, has a sacred obligation to his 23,000 constituents to conduct himself with integrity, maturity, and self-restraint.
Them’s the rules, young man…
Having served the bulk of my life in municipal government, I was taught that conducting oneself in a manner that does not bring discredit upon your office and community, being honest in thought and deed, exercising discretion, maintaining personal integrity, and obeying the law are the moral imperatives of public service.
And they are nonnegotiable.
In my view, Mayor Depew is old enough to know better and he should step aside.
Now is the time for Mr. Depew to do the right thing and resign his prominent position, leave quietly (preferably hand-in-hand with disgraced Port Orange Councilman-Elect Lance Green), get this childish self-indulgence out of his system, and come back to the arena when he can demonstrate the personal maturity to serve.
There. Another “Boomer” heard from…
That said, I find it heartening to hear a young civic leader like Mr. Pappalardo defending unfashionable concepts like returning honor, dignity, and egalitarian ethics to the political landscape.
Although hobnobbing, socializing with the “Chamber” set, and ingratiating oneself with those stodgy partisan political camps are important strategies for first-time office seekers; in my view, keeping ones public and private life unsullied, speaking the truth, honoring the office, maintaining transparency, serving with dignity, and gaining the respect of others through personal and professional example are essential to earning and keeping the public trust.
Those attributes are not dependent on age, position, or experience. It is a factor of one’s individual values – a person’s core moral character.
Those qualities that define who they are and how they conduct themselves when no one is looking – personal attributes that steel their ability to make ethical choices in a political pressure cooker – important traits that seem to be increasingly lost to the pernicious process of political evolution…
I’m not talking about honest mistakes and personal failures. Human faults and foibles will always be an integral part of the political process.
However, in my view, We, The Little People should no longer accept these shameless assholes who intentionally violate our trust – those at all levels of government who erode public confidence – the arrogant “Do you know who I am?” set who see themselves as superior beings as they succumb to the trappings and honorifics of elective office.
The fact is, there are good men and women – elected officials, senior administrators, and career civil servants – working inside local governments, and others considering elective service.
Including a new generation with a fire in the belly – aspiring servant-leaders without lockstep loyalties who are willing to seek and consider public input on prominent issues – and view public service as a sacred privilege rather than an egotistic power trip.
Age and experience come to all of us, but not all grow wiser. It is character that counts.
It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…
“S.R. A-1-A Resiliency Strike Team”
Before we start this hayride, please know I didn’t conjure up that name.
I couldn’t pull something like that out of my backside if I tried…
Last week, the Ormond Beach Observer reported that construction on the second of two “buried seawalls” is set to begin disrupting traffic, destroying the natural dune line, and displacing beach walkovers along A-1-A in Ormond-by-the-Sea this week.
The cost: $82.5 million…
According to the report, the sections will span some 2.6 miles of oceanfront, apparently to provide “long-term protection against future storms and erosion.”
(Sorry, I’m always overcome with incredulous chortles and snorts when some state agency says that…)
The project is the brainchild of something called the “S.R. A-1-A Resiliency Strike Team” (I’ll just bet you and I paid for polo shirts with that embroidered on the tit…) an imperious sounding “interagency effort” involving those Mensa members at Flagler County, City of Flagler Beach, Volusia County, FDOT, the Florida Department of Environmental Destruction, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…
Look, I’m not an expert – just a rheumy-eyed observer who has lived around these parts for over six-decades now.
In that time, I’ve seen what works – and what doesn’t – and I found it interesting that “…the next steps in construction will be clearing vegetation from the dune and adding sand to create a wide platform,” apparently to accommodate the drilling rig that will drive pilings in the ground.
Wait.
What about the $109,543 sand fence installation that brought 1.75 miles of slatted wood barrier to collect sand along the same dunes in 2020 (something that appeared to be working)?
Or the $500,000 dune stabilization project the Florida Department of Transportation completed on the exact same section of beach just two-years ago?
Remember? I do.
At the time, we were lectured by state “experts” that we shouldn’t even think about parking east of A-1-A (even as more permits were issued for oceanfront condo/hotels a few miles south?), while FDOT replanted a half-million-dollars in native vegetation on the natural dune line from Ormond-by-the-Sea to Beverly Beach in an effort to “support the existing dune ecosystem,” anchor sand in place, and reduce erosion.
Now another state agency is telling us they’ve got to kill the natural barriers and vegetation that organically control beach erosion in order to save them. Really?
Seriously. I don’t make this shit up, folks.
In the meantime, motorists along the two-lane stretch should expect “rolling daytime lane closures” while crews install what will ultimately become an extremely expensive 2.6-mile artificial reef system when Mother Nature decides to rightfully reclaim her dunes…
Friends of Tomoka State Park & Dream Green Volusia
Speaking of disastrous ideas, poorly executed…
For those paying attention, there are certain expenditures that epitomize government’s bureaucratic inability to prioritize, adapt, and change course.
Recently, the Florida Department of Environmental Destruction announced plans to pave 1.5 miles of roads inside Tomoka State Park at a cost of $1.5 million. I can assure you this decision required meticulous planning and analysis by multiple strata of state agencies and officials.
In fact, this project represents weeks/months/years of meetings, high-level confabs, developing working strategies, engaging engineering consultants, conducting topographical surveys, producing reams of reports, graphics, and schematics; pouring over design plans, issuing bid solicitations, hours/days/weeks of staff time, more meetings, briefings, press releases, status updates, etc., etc.
Unfortunately, the one thing missing from the state’s decision-making process – a method firmly based on the concept of plan continuation bias – which means blundering along the same ill-fated course regardless of changing conditions, experience, or public outcry – was the fact no one in state government thought it important to ask those who visit, maintain, and serve Tomoka State Park if paving interior roads represents the best use of limited maintenance funds at this time.
In an excellent article by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer last week, we learned that the paving project is part of a “Unit Management Plan for Tomoka State Park” – based on an FDEP led “public workshop” and “advisory group” meeting held to develop the strategy which was later summarized in perfect bureaucratese.
The management plan, “…identifies the goals, objectives, actions and criteria or standards that guide each aspect of park administration, and sets forth the specific measures that will be implemented to meet management objectives and provide balanced public utilization.”
How did you miss the opportunity to provide input and voice concerns at the public workshop?
It happened in 2012…
According to the Observer, “The Tomoka Basin State Park Unit Management Plan was due to be updated in 2022. This was not completed.”
So, twelve-years later, in February 2024, completed design plans were finally submitted, and the project went out for bid in April.
“This took place mostly unbeknownst to the park’s many volunteers and engaged community members, including the Friends of Tomoka Basin State Parks, the citizen support organization specifically formed to advocate for the local state parks. Most found out about it last week.”
In the same disturbing article, we learned “That’s one of the most frustrating aspects of the project,” said Suzanne Scheiber, founder of environmental advocacy organization Dream Green Volusia.
“I don’t think anyone would know if some of the park rangers [hadn’t] talked about it amongst themselves and to a handful of people,” Scheiber said. “It’s frustrating that the members of the Friends of Tomoka didn’t find out before now. I think that the lack of transparency to date has just been troubling.”
With $1.5 million allocated for road paving that no one seems to want – a project with the potential to disturb an important archeological site on the National Register of Historic Places, while ruining the unspoiled dirt road natural experience one seeks when visiting a state park – volunteers have been doing their level best to meet ongoing needs and expenses, including repairing pavilions, benches, and picnic tables; even replacing the transmission on the park ranger’s truck.
Unpaid (and largely unappreciated) helpers and environmentalists augmenting what should be normal repair and replacement expenses the Florida Department of Environmental Protection should be budgeting for annually.
According to the Observer’s report, “The recreational hall’s air conditioning unit has been broken since the spring, though that will be repaired in the coming days. The Friends stopped meeting in the hall because the temperatures were so hot. The hall also needs a new roof, and 19 septic systems for the park’s bathrooms are in need of maintenance.”
Regular readers of these jeremiads know that I use this space to poke fun at the absurdity of government and those who practice it.
My fervent hope is that those in the arena will catch a glimpse of how those of us who stand outside the closed portcullis, peering through the translucent pane that separate the decision makers from those who pay for it all, view this bureaucratic intransigence, then recognize the need to change course and embrace timely public input when necessary.
Instead, even when times or circumstances change, and the costs (and potential damage) clearly outweigh the perceived benefit, its full-speed ahead – current needs and future consequences be damned – a convoluted and insular process that can only happen in government.
In the private sector, these expensive defense mechanisms that protect ensconced senior bureaucrats from external criticism would put any commercial entity out of business in a heartbeat…
Kudos to Friends of Tomoka State Park and Dream Green Volusia for shining a bright light on the challenges faced by this beautiful state park, and for their continuing efforts to protect our natural environment.
Volusia County Councilman David “No Show” Santiago
In my view, District 5 Volusia County Councilman David “No Show” Santiago personifies the arrogance and insolence of the modern political puppet – and stands as a noxious example of all that is wrong with Volusia County government.
David “No Show” Santiago
Elected marionettes like Santiago “serve” solely at their own convenience – answering only to those influential insiders who own the paper on their political souls and use them like dull tools – and they don’t give a tinker’s damn what We, The Little People have to say.
In fact, Mr. Santiago and his ilk believe the power and might of government is all-important – convinced the administrative illuminati who wander the cloistered halls of the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building hold the collective knowledge of the age – the all-knowing, all-seeingclerisy who deftly manipulate a system where elected policymakers meld with the whims of the omniscient bureaucracy and the tail always wags the dog.
Don’t take my word for it.
Ask Chairman Jeff Brower the tragic fate that befalls any elected official who refuses to take the solemn Vow of Conformity, pledging their strict obedience to the “system,” dedicating themselves to stagnation and mediocrity and a devotion to groupthink, promising to crush creativity, insulate senior administrators, and abjure individual responsibility.
For instance, on Tuesday, during one of Mr. Santiago’s rare appearances in the District 5 chair, we witnessed an infuriating example of his brash snobbery during discussion of a public hearing for a proposed Planned Unit Development which would place a 90-unit duplex subdivision near DeLand.
Before the hearing, Mark Watts of the Cobb Cole law firm representing the applicant, respectfully advised the council that in recent weeks his staff has monitored social media platforms and decerned negative reactions from surrounding property owners.
In turn, Mr. Watts requested a 90-day continuance to allow time for a neighborhood meeting which would allow him to “listen to what the concerns are” and possibly develop a compromise that would address the issues.
In a shocking display – after snootily reminding Mr. Watts who held the power to approve his request – Mr. Santiago vented his disgust over the very idea of taxpayers, citizens who struggle to find a way to provide substantive input on issues that will directly and forever effect their lives in the vacuum of Volusia County government, would be heard on every person’s soapbox that is social media:
“I have to make this public announcement, it concerns me, um, that social media is driving your narrative. I hope that this is not the case, I hope you are working with our staff. Certainly we want to address the neighboring residence concerns, I don’t want to diminish that, but social media has become such a poisoned well lately of the keyboard warriors, normally there’s a small handful of people who try to dictate the future of half a million people or more in this County.”
Let that sink in…
To his credit, Councilman Matt Reinhart astutely countered that social media is a public outlet, explaining that he has received several emails regarding the proposed development, and made a motion to approve Mr. Watts’ request for a continuance.
At the risk of rising above my status as a member of the great unwashed hoi polloi – a caste whose role is to pay the bills and keep our pieholes shut – I’d like to provide my thoughts on what happened next:
In another not-so-shocking development, during what passed for a public meeting, Mr. Santiago took another swipe at eliminating citizen input – this time on the emergent issue of stormwater management and areawide flooding – when he moved to effectively silence and disband the Environment and Natural Resources Advisory Board.
The board, which was recommissioned in 2022 to provide policy guidance on minimum standards for environmental protection, was earlier this year charged with advising on flooding and stormwater issues – items of grave concern to many waterlogged Volusia County residents.
But not ‘ole “No Show.”
This dictatorial martinet assured his vassals that he doesn’t “govern by committee” (unless, of course, he needs the political insulation…)
Instead, “No Show” does exactly what he is told by those influential insiders with a chip in the game, especially when it comes to developing smart growth policies:
“I think the intent of the council, at least the majority of the council at that time, was to bring this board into a closure, and I think we’re there. I’m prepared to let the terms expire until we need to reactivate them to anything specific. I say, ‘Mission accomplished.'”
I say bullshit…
Not surprisingly, the wholly compromised Councilman Danny Robins – another developer sock puppet who couldn’t care less what you have to say – agreed with Santiago.
Councilman Danny Robins
According to a report in the Ormond Beach Observer:
“I know for me, as long as we are reducing some of these layers of bureaucracy and not having as much overlap, I think we’re heading in a better direction,” Robins said.
Just because the county has minimum standards regarding development, doesn’t mean they are “minimal,” he said, citing higher standards compared to the state and federal regulations, an argument he would later raise to Council Chair Jeff Brower during his closing comment, as the chair had said the county needed to change how it developed.
Brower, and Councilmen Matt Reinhart and Don Dempsey were against disbanding ENRAC. Councilman Troy Kent was absent from the meeting.”
Trust me. Councilmen Robins and Santiago aren’t “reducing” that morbidly bloated bureaucracy in DeLand – rather, they are trying desperately to eliminate a citizen advisory board comprised of independent experts in the field of environmental sustainability.
Why?
Because their puppet-masters are scared shitless of what the board will have to say on the issue of development induced flooding…
According to the report, Councilman Don Dempsey and Chairman Brower saw the value in keeping these experts together:
“Dempsey said the board had “heavy hitters” in terms of expertise and pointed out they were all volunteers.
“We need these people to maybe offer better ideas later on and just to sit here and say, “We don’t need you, we’re smart, we’ll take care of it,’ I think is wrong,” Dempsey said.
Brower agreed and said he didn’t believe disbanding ENRAC and handing its duties to the PLDRC and county staff would make the county more efficient.
“I think the information we’re getting from these professionals is really beneficial and flooding and LID — Low-Impact Development — are two of the most important things we face for our future,” Brower said.”
It is amazing the flexibility Messrs. Santiago and Robins exhibit when they bend over backwards to smooch the sizeable asses of their political benefactors in the real estate development community – yet intractably scoff at any reasonable efforts to develop low-impact development standards that may help protect your home and mine from the devastating effects of regional flooding.
Why is that?
As ludicrous as this sounds – the vote to disband the ENRAC stalled on a 3-3 tie – with Councilmen Jake Johannson, Danny Robins, and “No Show” Santiago opting to further limit citizen input in our county government.
The fix is in, folks. Never more evident than when the Volusia County Council is in session…
The I-95/Pioneer Trail Interchange
“There are so many improprieties associated with this interchange. So many. So many legal improprieties, it seems like this thing has just been greased through…”
–Attorney Lesley Blackner, as quoted by reporter Mark Harper in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Spruce Creek supporters raise roadblocks for FDOT’s Pioneer Trail interchange at I-95,” Friday, August 30, 2024
Last week, the Florida Department of Environmental Destruction’s “Great Outdoors Initiative” went through the Sunshine State like an ice water enema.
The mysterious “plan” (if it could be called that) would have seen golf courses, pickleball courts, disc golf, and a 350 room “lodge” constructed in state parks from South Florida to the panhandle – something Gov. Ron DeSantis later called “half baked” and “not ready for primetime” – immediately after he and his friends were caught with their hands firmly wedged in the cookie jar.
Turns out, the Great Outdoors Initiative was a little further along than the Guv would have us believe.
Earlier this week, the courageous FDEP whistleblower who exposed the inner-workings of this clandestine “plan” that would have traded pristine wildlife habitat for commercial development, has been summarily fired – a stark warning to others inside state government of the horrible fate that awaits those who bring public corruption and malfeasance to light.
In my view, this still simmering debacle proved to weary Floridians just how things work here in the biggest whorehouse in the world – a place where shadowy figures and influential insiders manipulate a legal quid pro quo system to their very lucrative advantage – and political patronage, favors, and outright graft seem to be the grease that lubricates the wheels of government and commerce.
In fact, the enigmatic FDEP “initiative” confirmed to many shocked Floridian’s just how quickly environmentally sensitive areas we were promised would be held, conserved, and protected in perpetuity can fall to greed and political favors…
Which brings us, once again, to the controversial $120 million interchange proposed for I-95 at Pioneer Trail – a project many believe was shuffled to the top of the deck in Tallahassee to the advantage of our own High Panjandrum of Political Power Mori Hosseini – whose sprawling ICI Homes Woodhaven development would gain the most from the interchange.
According to reports, Mr. Hosseini denies receiving any “favors” from Tallahassee…
What most assuredly won’t benefit from the interchange is the environmentally sensitive Spruce Creek – a designated Outstanding Florida Waterway – or the threatened flora and fauna who call Doris Leeper Spruce Creek preserve their natural habitat.
Unfortunately, fish and wildlife don’t buy 3/2 zero lot line cracker boxes in gated communities – and those critters damn sure don’t give massive campaign contributions to hand-select candidates for high office – which means, in Florida, they don’t have a say. In anything.
Neither do you.
In a previous News-Journal story, one that could only have originated in the abject lunacy of this anything goes world of Florida’s environmental regulatory agencies, we learned:
“More than a year ago, the St. Johns River Water Management District first granted the Pioneer Trail project a permit to allow stormwater runoff from the interchange into an unnamed canal that connects to Spruce Creek. FDOT engineers presented the district with findings showing their plans would actually reduce phosphorus and other harmful runoff to Spruce Creek and will not impact wetlands, fish and wildlife because of a mitigation plan.”
Yeah. I know. Read it again…
Fortunately, there are resolute environmentalists working hard to challenge the state’s specious sign off for the interchange – ensuring those federal authorities charged with protecting our environment understand what the St. Johns River Management District apparently does not:
Foul runoff from the ramps, traffic lanes, and bridge will pollute the watershed and threaten animals, plant life, and “the sanctity of the 2,513 conservation acres.”
According to the News-Journal’s latest report:
“Bear Warriors United, Inc., the Sweetwater Coalition of Volusia County, its founder Derek LaMontagne, and New Smyrna Beach resident Bryon White petitioned the state 5th District Court of Appeal to overrule an environmental resource permit granted to FDOT by the St. Johns River Water Management District in April. Arguments are proceeding.
Meanwhile, Lesley Blackner, a Tallahassee attorney, has sent letters this month to the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Transportation alerting them to what she believes is proof of the state skirting federal laws to streamline the process for getting the interchange built.”
In addition, Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower has worked tirelessly to oppose the interchange. In fact, he was the only member of the council with the backbone to speak on behalf of wildlife, water quality, and the existing residents of Pioneer Trail and Turnbull Bay Road.
Look, I freely admit to giving Chairman Brower and his “colleagues” on the dais of power in DeLand a hard way to go. Most of it is well-deserved.
However, I commend Chairman Brower for his commitment to water quality and environmental conservation.
For his vehement opposition to the Pioneer Trail interchange, Mr. Brower has been marginalized, maligned, and had his every idea and initiative crushed under the boot of Volusia’s stodgy Old Guard – those slavish loyalists who are passionately committed to the stagnant status quo and ensuring the profit motives of their well-heeled political overseers.
According to the News-Journal, “Brower argued that the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act requires the Pioneer Trail project to have an Environmental Impact Study.
“I take exception to these claims finding the I-95 Pioneer Interchange has no significant impacts and thus categorially excluded from NEPA review when absolutely no honest investigation was made,” Brower wrote, adding the categorical exclusion “is completely inappropriate and unlawful.”
I stand with Chairman Brower and those intrepid environmentalists with the courage to speak truth to powerful forces intent on ramrodding this environmental disaster in the Doris Leeper Spruce Creek Preserve.
Here in the Sunshine State, our demoralizing motto should be “Money Talks and Bullshit Walks” – and it is going to be interesting to see how our ‘powers that be’ march this odoriferous turd past an increasingly suspicious constituency…
Quote of the Week
“It is disconcerting just for this project to have gotten to this point in the process,” Gunter said. “I say ‘no’ to changing our comprehensive plan and our zoning. No to the Deering Park project.”
Steve Gunter also spoke out against the project, highlighting the magnitude of the 6 million square feet of the proposed development and the potential impacts he said it could have on stormwater drainage.
“Now what you’re trying to do is have Deering Park say that, ‘We’re going to conserve 400 acres for conservation,’ which really means 1,200 acres are going to be elevated, covered in concrete, and you’re going to push that stormwater somewhere,” he said.
The city’s west side resident said he is worried that the stormwater from the development will be “pushed down on homes in Corbin Park, Ellison Acres, Quail Hollow, Hidden Pines — all these mature neighborhoods. We’re going to receive that stormwater.”
–Concerned New Smyrna Beach residents speaking against the proposed 1,618-acre Deering Park Innovation Center at their August 27 City Commission meeting, as quoted by The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Concerns raised over Deering Park project,” Tuesday, September 3, 2024
I find it heartening that citizens in New Smyrna Beach and beyond are awakening to the “hurt here, help there” legerdemain of those ‘growth at all costs’ shills inside government and out, as existing residents begin to question the who, what, when, where, why, and how of things, before their homes are inundated with fetid standing water.
Or worse…
To me, these passionate three-minute testimonies presented at public meetings by those who see the unique characteristics of their community being threatened, speak to the concept that small local government is infinitely more receptive, efficient, accessible, transparent, and fiscally responsible than unwieldy state and county government, who have proven that the needs, wants, and necessities of individual neighborhoods are of little concern in the scheme of things.
Unfortunately, those we elect to the state legislature (and the lobbyist who keep them informed of what’s important to their future campaign funding) remain one step ahead of those of us who pay the bills.
Each legislative session brings more limitations on a local government’s ability to control the character of their communities – forbidding them to pass moratoriums that preserve water quality (while refusing to tap the brakes on development), dictating local comprehensive plans, pre-empting local government rules on zoning, density, and building heights; ensuring concessions for commercial and industrial development or face the threat of gargantuan “affordable housing” complexes sprouting in inappropriate locations, etc., etc.
Essentially blocking the ability of We, The Little People to envision, plan, and control our civic future.
Although the New Smyrna Beach City Commission has agreed to put the Deering Park project on hold while they seek more answers – if the developer, Farmton North LLC, choses to push the issue – they will get everything they demand and more.
And there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it.
I suspect the NSB City Commission – and the city attorney – are aware of that…
Perhaps this election season it might be prudent to ask those seeking our vote for state office where they stand on the concept of Home Rule.
In my view, the ballot box is the best place to send a message to “Big Government” bullies in Tallahassee and prevent them from preempting local control with “one-size-fits-all” mandates.
In fact, now might be the right time to demand that our ‘powers that be’ do something to change lopsided laws and overreaching mandates that usurp local control of neighborhood issues and permit the concept of self-determination – a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” – to ensure that decisions guiding our destiny (and density) remain local.
And Another Thing!
That acrid odor of sulfurous vapors you’ve noticed of late marks the ethereal departure of what some in local politics have called a ‘ghost candidate’ – a wraithlike and eerily mysterious entry in the Volusia County Clerk of the Court race who was known only as “Mackenzie Quinn.”
According to reports, last week the Democratic candidate withdrew from the Clerk’s race as inexplicably as he or she arrived – a move that limited the primary to Republican voters only –something many believed was strategically designed to provide an advantage to the equally weird John Flemm in his off-the-wall run against incumbent Laura Roth.
Fortunately, Ms. Roth handily defeated Flemm in primary with 79% of the vote, and with “Quinn’s” departure from the general election, rightfully returns to the important office she serves so well.
According to a report by Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week:
“Quinn didn’t respond to calls and messages from the News-Journal during her campaign. But she told The West Volusia Beacon, before quickly ending the interview, that she ran because there aren’t enough Democrats and young people in elected roles in the county.
Quinn, 22, launched no campaign website or social media pages that could be found. The qualifying fee for the race was more than $10,300.”
In my view, the primary results prove that Volusia County voters are becoming increasingly savvy to the shady machinations of those who seek to manipulate the system.
But significant questions remain.
I don’t know which law enforcement agency, gelded ethics apparatus, or state/federal authority responsible for ensuring fair and accurate elections need to hear this – but the manner and means by which the Volusia County Clerk’s race unfolded stinks like the steaming pile of excrement it is.
In my jaded view, someone with a badge in their wallet should get to the bottom of who (or what) may or may not have supplied the money for qualifying fees, political signage, glossy mailers, and other expenses behind what has all the earmarks of political collusion between Ms. Roth’s opponents.
More importantly, why?
Of all the races for offices that have infinitely more direct influence over our lives and livelihoods, why would these weird intrigues surface in a rather innocuous Clerks’ race?
I don’t know. But it has a destabilizing effect on our democratic system.
While all of this may sound inconsequential now that “Quinn” is out, in my view, Volusia County voters deserve to know that our local/county elections will, to extent possible, remain free of the manure-slinging, conspiracies, and schemes that have undermined confidence in other elections around Florida and nation.
In other headshaking happenings, last week, after perennial politician “Dishonest Deb” Denys was beaten like a gong (for the second time) by incumbent Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower in the primary, she tried to get the last word in her own obvious attempt to draw votes away from Brower by “endorsing” his opponent, “Car Guy” Randy Dye.
Who cares?
In my view, Ms. Denys is yesterday’s news. No longer relevant to the discussion.
When it comes to Deb Denys, the only thing that continues to resonate with Volusia County voters was her ill-fated attempt to besmirch Chairman Brower during their 2020 matchup when she linked him to then and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, using a nasty mailer to paint Brower as “A radical, rightwing puppet publicly supporting President Trump & his radical agenda!”
Yeah. That didn’t end well…
After shitting on everything her fellow Republicans hold dear in some self-serving gambit to be all things to all people – why anyone in the local party apparatus allowed “Dishonest Deb”anywhere near a second bite at the apple defies reasoning – other than prove Volusia’s stodgy Old Guard will stop at nothing to defeat Brower and return lockstep conformity across the dais of power in DeLand.
Perhaps Mr. Dye would be best served to send Ms. Deny’s “endorsement” back to ash heap of political has-beens from whence it came…
It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way…
Florida Department of Environmental Destruction
“Now, of course, having failed in every attempt to subdue the Glades by frontal attack, we are slowly killing it off by tapping the River of Grass. In the questionable name of progress, the state in its vast wisdom lets every two-bit developer divert the flow into drag-lined canals that give him “waterfront” lots to sell. As far north as Corkscrew Swamp, virgin stands of ancient bald cypress are dying. All the area north of Copeland had been logged out, and will never come back. As the glades dry, the big fires come with increasing frequency. The ecology is changing with egret colonies dwindling, mullet getting scarce, mangrove dying of new diseases born of dryness.”
–Travis McGee, Bright Orange for the Shroud, by John D. MacDonald (1965)
You can’t make this shit up, folks….
In a conspiratorial plot that would have made for a good John D. MacDonald novel – a bizarre mystery that could only play out amidst the insider intrigue and political machinations of the Sunshine State – the Florida Department of Environmental Protection recently proposed developing golf courses, pickleball courts, disc golf, and a 350 room “lodge” at eight state parks – including a disastrous plan that would have seen the addition of three golf courses across 1,000 acres of natural habitat at Jonathan Dixion State Park in Hobe Sound.
Jonathan Dixion State Park
You read that right.
Last week, FDEP issued a strange media release announcing the “2024-25 Great Outdoors Initiative” – an enigmatic program with the stated aim of “…public access, increase outdoor activities and provide new lodging options across Florida’s state parks—reinforcing the state’s dedication to conservation, the outdoor recreation economy and a high quality of life for Floridians.”
I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but one could assume this absurd plan was cobbled together for the sole purpose of allowing Florida lawmakers to cloak themselves as “environmentalists” in opposing the preposterous proposal without doing anything of substance beyond crowing in the newspaper, “I strongly oppose bulldozing pristine conservation lands in state parks for commercial development – and I like ice cream!”
At least that would make a modicum of sense.
What defies logic is dropping this steaming pile on an unsuspecting public with no prior notice or discussion, an official announcement that galvanized citizens and politicians alike, resulting in widespread outrage with few details or explanation.
In fact, FDEP has done what no one thought possible in uniting Republicans and Democrats in bipartisan opposition as poleaxed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle joined forces to determine the who, what, when, where, and why of this wrongheaded initiative.
Initially, Florida residents were told FDEP would be holding a series of “question and answer” sessions across the state to address building concerns about the Great Outdoors Initiative. Oddly, each of the public meetings was scheduled for the same inconvenient time – 3:00pm on Tuesday (?)
The ill-conceived plot thickened when it was reported that none of the FDEP decision makers would appear at the meetings, listen to citizen concerns, or answer questions. Instead, state officials substituted a “subject matter expert” in their place.
Hummm…
Then, The Florida Times Union reported on a leaked FDEP memorandum, explaining “…the Office of Park Planning was instructed to play pre-recorded presentations at these meetings, receive feedback and not answer questions — setting the stage for it to roll to approval next month.”
Caught with their pants firmly around their ankles, late last week FDEP officials postponed the meetings claiming, “due to the overwhelming interest” it was looking for new venues to accommodate the public.”
Sure.
In my view, Congressman Brian Mast of Florida’s 21st District in Fort Pierce – a proponent of land conservation and protecting our water quality – said it best:
“I’m demanding that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and its Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC) hold an open and transparent public forum on this proposal. EVERY member of the ARC, who will be responsible for approving the proposal, needs to be in attendance. They need to hear from ALL OF US about why this asinine idea cannot move forward.
Right now, only a “subject matter” is slated to speak. I think that’s a huge middle finger to our community. Think about that? The ARC has the power to decide the fate of our park, but they don’t have the courage to meet eye-to-eye with the people who will actually be impacted.
I think that’s bullshit and I know YOU agree. That’s also why I’m urging you to email the ARC members directly and let them know how you feel.”
On Monday, as the bruhaha continued to build, a mysterious website appeared out of the ether representing something called the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation – an obscure organization whose stark black page explained “Serving God and Country is our daily goal. That was the spirit for the idea to bring world class public golf to south east (sic) Florida, and donate all proceeds to support military and first responders’ families” – before announcing they are scrapping the plan to develop golf courses at Jonathan Dixion State Park (described by the foundation as “a dilapidated military facility”).
According to a report in The Palm Beach Post, “The Delaware-registered foundation said in a statement sent to The Palm Beach Post late Friday that the golf courses and other facilities would have told the “inspirational story of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American military pilots and airmen who fought in World War II.”
Wait. What?
By Wednesday, Gov. DeSantis was back peddling, feebly attempting to paint the controversy as a partisan conspiracy, calling the idea “half-baked,” and claiming he “never saw” the plans before they were “…leaked to a left-wing group to try to create a narrative.”
“Here’s the thing, I’d rather not spend any money on this, right?” DeSantis said on Tuesday. “If people don’t want improvements, then don’t do it.”
Improvements?
Really?
It seems the more Gov. DeSantis attempted to distance himself from the shitstorm, the more he became inextricably mired in it…
Look, the practice of shadowy string pullers forcing self-serving ideas through the ‘halls of power’ in Tallahassee is nothing new, or particularly shocking, for calloused Florida residents who have learned through aversive conditioning to expect the worst whenever our sensitive environment is part of the equation.
But this is different.
Rarely is a state agency charged with protecting our threatened environment – in apparent collusion with Gov. Ron DeSantis – caught in flagrante delicto, actively engaging in such scandalous subterfuge in a brazen attempt to ramrod commercial development in pristine parks and conservation areas – places we were promised would be held, preserved, and protected in perpetuity.
How can the Florida Department of Environmental Destruction ever be trusted again?
My hope is with Florida lawmakers firmly united in their collective outrage, the legislature will assert its independence and ensure that those inside the DeSantis administration responsible for this travesty are identified and ultimately held to account for their reprehensible conduct.
City of Flagler Beach and The Compass by Margaritaville Hotel
“Now most of the people who retire in Florida
are wrinkled and they lean on a crutch.
And mobile homes are smotherin’ the Keys;
Well I hate those bastards so much.
I wish a summer squall would blow them
all the way up to fantasyland.
They’re ugly and square, they don’t belong here.
They look a lot better as beer cans…”
–Jimmy Buffett, “Migration”
By official act of the Florida Legislature, today is “Jimmy Buffett Day” in Florida.
A time to celebrate the singer/songwriter, author, and astronomically successful entrepreneur’s “free-spirited lifestyle” and significant contributions to our “state culture.”
Whatever that ‘culture’ has become since Buffett’s company partnered with developers to sell those same retirees’ he once lamented cookie cutter zero lot line cracker boxes in faux “lifestyle” communities “starting in the 300’s…”
Genius.
Having grown up on the mystique, I find it sad that Jimmy Buffett’s “boats, beaches, bars, and ballads” legacy of escapism, coastal preservation, and environmental advocacy – a carefully crafted, and incredibly lucrative, image dedicated to the laidback way of life once embraced by Old Florida vestiges like Flagler Beach – has transmogrified into a series of high impact developments under license from the multi-billion-dollar global lifestyle brand Margaritaville Holdings – which, in my view, threaten the very way of life the hotels, resorts, and sprawling communities seek to replicate.
In 2021, environmentalists in South Carolina asked local governments to enact stricter regulations after the developer of Latitude Margaritaville Hilton Head destroyed trees and churned more land to make room for 218 additional homesites.
Earlier this year, residents, biologists, and animal advocates in Galveston, Texas sought protection for the endangered ‘ghost wolf’ and other native species whose habitat is threatened by a Margaritaville Resort planned for the island.
In Flagler Beach, the Compass by Margaritaville Hotel, now coming to completion literally in the center of the once quaint beach community, was somehow permitted to rise beyond building height limits set by city charter.
Huh. Wonder how that happened?
According to recent reports, Flagler Beach City Manager Dale Martin, who came onboard after the project was approved, described the series of missteps that led to the oversight as a “mistake.”
Adding to the confusion were exceptions for certain protuberances, fixtures, and features that could allow buildings to exceed the height limit.
Apparently, an “error in oversight or interpretation” and “oversight collaboration issues or coordination issues” – administrative blunders that were signed off by staff and later approved by the City Commission – allowed the hotel to top out well beyond set height limits.
Residents demanded answers – and assurance from their elected officials that this “mistake” could never happen again.
Last week, the Flagler Beach City Commission, meeting literally in the shadow of the hotel, put the kibosh on a weird recommendation that, rather than prevent a recurrence, would have memorialized what amounts to four story behemoths.
In an informative article in FlaglerLive! this week, the City Commission rejected a “…recommendation by its own Planning and Architectural Review Board to approve an ordinance that would have allowed some features on buildings to go as high as 49 feet.”
According to the report, “This isn’t anti business. This is anti Miami,” said Commissioner Eric Cooley, who led the charge against the planning board’s recommendation. “This is, let’s hold on to what we are, and let’s keep what we’ve done being consistent to avoid that. Because basically there’s no in between.”
Unfortunately, I think that “hold on to what we are” swayback nag has left the barn and is galloping headlong into turning Flagler Beach into just another homogenized version of some developer’s sick definition of “progress.”
Let’s hope I’m wrong.
Seemingly shocked that city staff and the review board would seek to perpetuate the mistake that allowed the hotel to violate building standards, Mayor Patti King asked, “How did we create a new document or new language that’s going to prevent this from ever happening again? I don’t understand what we’ve just done, other than make some pretty language.”
According to FlaglerLive!, next week a revised ordinance will return before the commission with regulations many hope solve the problem by prohibiting “…rooftop bars, dance floors, lounges, or any other public uses on 35-foot-high buildings in Flagler Beach, with the notable exception of the Margaritaville Hotel’s rooftop lounge, whose height city officials permitted by mistake even though it exceeds limits set out in the city charter.”
According to a wise sage writing under the nom de plume “Flagler Frank” opined in FlaglerLive!:
“Commercial properties, especially those smack in the middle of town, should be scrutinized under a microscope, not given a free pass. These projects, which so drastically and carelessly alter the character and essence of our unique town, are a disgrace. It’s infuriating that not a single person bothered to carry out a proper assessment. This kind of negligence reeks of incompetence or, worse, deliberate disregard. What’s the point of preserving our town’s identity if it’s going to be sold out to the highest bidder without a second thought?”
I encourage everyone who cares about maintaining what remains of the unique character of Flagler Beach and beyond to read the FlaglerLive! piece here: https://tinyurl.com/4u5see9r
In my view, this is important local journalism – and a breathtaking insight into how things can go terribly wrong in a small-town government – a once quaint community which seems intent on sacrificing what makes it special on the altar of “progress.”
Political Campaign Encampments
The week before the primary election, I took advantage of early voting at the Ormond Beach Public Library.
In my experience, once inside the relative calm of the polling place, the mechanics of casting a ballot are comfortable and well-organized – it’s getting there that can be a problem…
Walking through the parking lot always involves the uncomfortable hassle of juking and stiff-arming political firebrands who are maniacally waving signs in my face or jamming some skewed and unsolicited “voters’ guide” in my hand.
Add to that the ill-tempered pushing, shoving, and profane verbal skirmishes between political camps and true believers on all sides and it can be a less-than-ideal environment, especially for the 80% of disenfranchised voters who already consider the process an aggravating annoyance.
Sound familiar?
I try to be polite, but courtesy and kindness never seem to work in this setting – an asphalt Thunderdome where candidates and their supporters in battledress t-shirts, fangs out, stake their ground and make ready to do hand-to-hand combat with the competition.
The parking area awash in cheap plastic tents and campaign signs, each blending into the other, forming a kaleidoscope of bright colors, names, and shapes that encircle the polling place like an impenetrable blockade – all based on a weird belief that their very proximity to the threshold could sway a vote or two.
Unfortunately, voters who are forced to navigate the gauntlet seem to be collateral damage…
So, I screw on my best unapproachable scowl, pull my hat down low, and beeline it for the door.
Let’s face it, politics is not without drama. In fact, the system thrives on conflict.
I’m convinced that many candidates enter the pressure cooker that is our political process not because of a fire in the belly to serve – but because they love the theatre of it all – the interpersonal clashes and contrived controversies, all fueled by a strange compulsion for shameless self-promotion, that makes it attractive.
Admittedly, as a degenerate political voyeur, I can report the stilted process of governance can be bone crushingly boring – but it’s the farcical showmanship and abject narcissism that keeps me coming back for more…
Recently, the Flagler County Commission tabled a discussion of a proposed year-round limitation on the use of chairs, tables, tents, coolers, and sound amplifiers on any county-owned property – a move that would include the circuslike atmosphere outside of polling stations during elections.
Yeah, I know. Pandora’s Box…
At the time, Flagler County Commissioner Andy Dance, who won re-election earlier this month in a decisive victory over Fernando Melendez, felt it inappropriate to consider the resolution during the heat of the election season.
According to a report by Sierra Williams writing in the Palm Coast Observer, “It could be interpreted to either counter people or activity. And I just prefer to be outside of those bounds,” Dance said.
The Flagler County Commission first reviewed the resolution on July 15. The original resolution included restrictions on “disruptive behavior” and some of the commissioners had concerns the language describing those restrictions was too subjective.”
The commission later agreed to remove the language governing behavior from the resolution.
Ultimately, the discussion devolved into all the reasons why regulations on political encampments outside polling places is not possible, to include First Amendment considerations and the safety of elderly campaigners who need respite from the Florida heat, etc.
I get it. Perhaps that’s why I’m so terribly conflicted on the subject.
Sweeping prohibitions to limit a few days of campaign chaos comes with myriad unintended consequences – all of which are counter to our freedom of assembly and expression – or ability to enjoy a family picnic on county-owned property…
At the end of the day, the health of our American democracy depends upon productive conflict – the robust debate of issues and the fierce competition of ideas – tempered by our shared goals and ideals.
Yeah. I know…
That’s an antiquated concept, now replaced by glossy mailers, vicious mudslinging, and “F**K You!” fights between petty politicians and their overzealous supporters in a steaming parking lot as civic-minded citizens make their way toward the sanctity of the ballot box and consider the damnable dilemma of electing these yahoos to high office…
Quote of the Week
“County Councilman Don Dempsey — who was in favor of the Halifax Area and Southeast Volusia Advertising Authorities upping their budgeted funds for the airport, particularly to ensure Avelo continues to service DAB, in light of its departure from Melbourne Orlando International Airport — hoped that the council would support West Volusia’s budget remaining as presented. It’s the authority with the smallest budget.
“The airport’s an east side thing,” he said.
The budgets will come back to the council for review at its meeting on Sept. 17. They need to be approved prior to Oct. 1.”
–Volusia County Councilman Don Dempsey, as quoted by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer, “Volusia County Council pushes for increased marketing efforts for Daytona Beach International Airport,” Thursday, August 22, 2024
I often think Councilman Don Dempsey blurts out this nonsensical gibberish just to infuriate those of us living east of the Palmetto Curtain…
Is there another explanation?
Several years ago, I pondered aloud in this space if our neighbors in West Volusia – quiet places like DeLand, with its award-winning downtown, university vibe, and hometown charm; or quaint communities like Pierson, Seville, Orange City, DeBary, Cassadaga, and Lake Helen, the bucolic DeLeon Springs, or even that flaming dumpster that is the Lost City of Deltona’s municipal government – feel burdened being lashed to the stagnation and strategic blight that blankets the core tourist area of Daytona Beach, the boom/bust cycle of invasive eastside “special events,” and the increasingly crowded “theme” communities and accompanying bumper-to-bumper gridlock along Boomtown Boulevard?
I facetiously speculated if now is the time to cleave Volusia County into separate entities – using the traditional “Palmetto Curtain” as a line of demarcation, bisecting into two autonomous counties in some weird amoebozoan mitosis – rather than remain incestuous cousins, struggling under the thumb of that dysfunctional behemoth that is the ever-expanding Volusia County bureaucracy.
Whatever. Just my strange musings…
But it seems every time either of the two West Volusia representatives on the Volusia County Council weigh in on an issue of collective importance, they preface it with “…that’s an east side problem,” or “…my constituents in Deltona don’t care what happens in Ormond Beach…”
Perhaps Councilmen Don Dempsey and David “No Show” Santiago have already seceded in their own minds?
Or is it possible that Mr. Dempsey is so tragically obtuse that he believes Daytona Beach International Airport is exclusively an “east side thing”?
I realize Councilman Dempsey is a single-issue politician – only interested in forcing a self-serving multi-million-dollarmotocross track down the throats of every taxpayer in Volusia County regardless of which side of the divide you live on – but I find it difficult to believe that he could be that imperceptive and unaware?
Not possible.
Or is it?
Look, I realize there are probably better uses for our fluctuating bed tax dollars than underwriting the marketing budget for those start-up carriers we keep attracting to DAB like blow-flies on a turd using “risk mitigation” incentives and corporate giveaways – but to suggest the other advertising authorities allocate a larger portion of their budgets to promoting the airport as a regional asset while exempting West Volusia doesn’t seem fair or equitable.
Afterall, we are repeatedly told, ad nauseum, how much Daytona “International” Airport benefits all of us – and even “No Show” Santiago agreed it should be an across-the-board assist, lecturing our hospitality experts, “We need all hands on deck with real, serious commitments to this airport,” County Councilman David Santiago said. “… We’re making significant investments as a council and I want to make sure that our partners are doing the same thing.”
In turn, Santiago essentially held the advertising authority’s hostage – moving to table the approval of their budgets in the last-minute – forcing the agencies to huddle and determine how to get more blood out of the turnip to increase allocations for the airport.
Although the motion passed unanimously, Chairman Jeff Brower said he was concerned about sending the authorities away without budget approvals with the new fiscal year looming, suggesting the council could have shown a “level of trust” by approving the budgets on a promise the advertising organizations would return with increased allocations for DAB.
“The concern I have (is) that we’re knocking on the door of Oct. 1” when the new fiscal year begins,” Brower said.
Believe me, Chairman Brower – there has never been a “level of trust” between Volusia County government and its residents, municipalities, or other tax supported agencies and districts.
And there never will be…
Because, while Volusia County takes in enough of our hard-earned money annually to buy or build just about anything it desires – trust cannot be bought, it must be earned.
And Another Thing!
“We have to start tackling our infrastructure issues before we end up collapsing.”
–At-Large Volusia County Councilman Jake “Rip Van Winkle” Johansson, mumbling frightening truths apparently upon awakening from his long, insentient slumber, Tuesday, August 20, 2024
You’ve got to hand it to Councilman Johansson.
Better late than never, I suppose…
I find it interesting that the Volusia County Council is quick to strongarm the various advertising agencies on how their life’s blood is allocated, all while taking a much more freewheeling view of how our ad valorum taxes are pissed away.
Always wailing the “Poormouth Blues” when it comes to prioritizing critical infrastructure – the utilities, streets, water, sewage, and essential services they are responsible for – then pulling the Henny Penny routine – crying total “collapse!” – sounding the tocsin, and provoking panic long after their strategic neglect and inattention has allowed the problem to exceed critical mass.
Each budget cycle, transportation, flood control, and other woefully inadequate civic necessities are considered extravagances – while Taj Mahal administrative facilities, bathroom renovations that cost more than my house, fee increases, luxury furnishings, bureaucratic bloat, and those clockwork salary and benefit increases for senior county officials seem mandated by ancient rite.
Last week, Councilman Danny Robins dropped his suggestion to raise our property tax rate to address emergent transportation infrastructure issues – a move that would have brought about $5 million into county coffers for roads – which, according to a previous estimate by County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald, would equate to about one-mile of new roadway…
You read that right.
Instead, after being named among the most dangerous places in the known universe for traffic crashes and pedestrian deaths, Volusia County will now allocate a paltry $3.9 million in left over one-time federal covid relief funds toward “road safety and pedestrian safety projects.”
Whatever that means. (Other than the American Rescue Plan Act will go down as the greatest boondoggle in our nation’s history…)
Take comfort, my fellow pissants. We’ve been assured that the Volusia County Council will hold another hot-air generator, er, “transportation workshop,” in January (after the election…) where you can bet your bottom tax dollar the specter of another shameless money-grab in the form of a panacea sales tax increase will be trotted out…
The last arrow in their quiver of incompetence, neglect, and procrastination.
Now that our ‘powers that be’ have allowed unchecked sprawl across the width and breadth of Volusia County – the increased density turning our streets and roadways into a Gordian knot –We, The Little People are left with an unaddressed and intractable problem that has been ignored by our elected officials and those who command enormous salaries to trifle with “Growth and Resource Management” – resulting in a traffic-clogged quagmire that serves as a frustrating monument to mediocrity and continuing lack of accountability.
Don’t take my word for it. Or theirs.
Look around. Better yet, take a drive, and form your own opinion.
Ask yourself where the money goes?
And why that insatiable behemoth in DeLand can’t seem to properly allocate the $1.3 billion of our hard-earned dollars they now command annually?
Then vote like your quality of life depends upon it…
That’s all for me. Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend, y’all!
It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way.
Volusia County Voters
“Politics is the art of controlling your environment.”
–Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
To the ~20% of Volusia County voters who cast your sacred vote during the primary, I salute you!
Thank you for participating in our democratic process, a civic responsibility that reaffirms our commitment to freedom and the idea of government “…of the people, by the people, and for the people.” A time when, for one brief shining moment, the balance of power swings to We, The Little People.
The sad reality is some eight out of ten registered voters in Volusia County couldn’t be bothered to cast a ballot…
Depressing.
The basic right and responsibility of our representative democracy is voting in free and fair elections. In my view, as this apathy and indifference continue to erode our foundational principles, and individual civic virtues continue to decline, the influential oligarchy (or technology?) will eventually govern us all by default.
Maybe they already do?
Here on Florida’s fabled “Fun Coast” we repeatedly see the outsized weight of extremely wealthy insiders who long-ago purchased a chip in the game – those who contribute massive sums of money, both individually and through myriad corporate entities under their control, to the campaigns of hand-select candidates – while their political puppets on the dais try and convince us that their benefactors don’t expect a return on investment.
I always get a perverse chuckle whenever I hear that…
Now the die is cast and the field whittled down to the true players; the Big Dogs who are moving to the general. Like Dr. Thompson so eloquently said, “That is the nature of professional politics. Many are called, but few survive the nut-cutting hour…”
The “also-rans” – the fringe candidates, retread politicians, ringers, and political dilettantes whose tired message rang hollow will soon be laughed at and forgotten, their excuses ignored – because in politics, winning is all that matters, and quaint notions of “issue-focused campaigns,”“sportsmanship” and ‘how the game is played’ are for losers.
Now, the gloves really come off…
Trample the weak, hurdle the dead is the new political ethos.
For instance, do you think Volusia County’s ‘movers and shakers’ literally poured cash into “Car Guy” Randy Dye’s groaning $336,000 war chest so he could garner just 28% of the vote against current Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower?
Or was it so he could crush his competition like crippled insects early in the game?
That’s why every vote matters. Because votes beat money every time.
When Jeff Brower, a gentleman farmer from Deleon Springs and the political pariah of Volusia’s stagnant “Old Guard,” emerged on top of a field dominated by well-known, well-financed, and experienced political sharks, that told me his message of limiting unchecked sprawl, flood mitigation, and opposition to a massive fuel farm proposed for Ormond Beach are the issues resonating with John and Jane Q. Public.
In Flagler County, where about 30% of eligible voters turned out, that self-serving champion of malignant growth, Palm Coast Mayor/Realtor David Alfin, was denied a second term, coming in third behind challengers Mike Norris and Cornelia Manfre who will continue to a runoff in November’s general election.
According to reports, Alfin received just 18% of the vote.
In a post primary interview with The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s Frank Fernandez, Mayor/Realtor Alfin lamented:
“I think an older community facing growth is confused by the inevitability of the future. And I think that they may have listened to folks who told them that they would stop growth, reduce taxes,” Alfin said “Those are the kinds of pandering’s that I’ve heard and I think that an older community wants to be believe those kinds of things.”
Since when did limiting growth, requiring ecologically smart and sustainable building practices, trimming bureaucratic bloat, mitigating flooding, and reducing onerous taxes and fees become fairytale political pandering?
Perhaps the remaining contestants in local races will learn something from the success of smart growth and environmental advocates in Tuesday’s primary – grassroots candidates willing to take a stand and protect their neighbors from the pernicious greed of those who trade our quality of life for more, more, more development – including the threat of a bulk fuel facility proposed for the worst possible location on the eastern seaboard.
Time will tell, eh?
In my view, political accountability is just one reason it is vitally important to let your voice be heard at the ballot box in November.
Geosam Capital & Venetian Bay’s Town Center
Two things are certain each lunar day here on the “Fun Coast” – the Atlantic tides will ebb and flow like clockwork – and more area restaurants and small businesses will close their doors forever.
The quiet death of these establishments is usually proclaimed with a blurb in the newspaper and a heartbreaking statement to loyal customers, “It is with a heavy heart that we announce…”
Considering all the “Good times are here again, again!” bilge being spewed by redundant “economic development” shills – and the enormous incentives, tax breaks, and public subsidies being handed out to lure and prop up big corporations – I find these small business failures, and the personal toll on owners and employees, terribly demoralizing.
Like watching government use our tax dollars to skew the playing field, and callously determine who will thrive, and who will be allowed to die…
Admittedly, it takes a lot to shock my gin cauterized conscience, but I shook my head in utter disbelief last week with the news that Canadian developer Geosam Capital – the owner/developer of the sprawling Venetian Bay “master-planned community” off State Road 44 in New Smyrna Beach – has announced plans to charge customers $2.50 an hour to park and patronize the development’s struggling retail, dining, and shopping locations in Town Center.
You read that right.
According to a disturbing story first reported by WFTV’s Demie Johnson last week:
“Dozens of people packed into the Happy Deli on Wednesday with signs to push back against the new parking plan.
Homeowner Carl Scharwath was bothered by the notice from the developer called Geosam, encouraging neighbors to walk instead of drive if they don’t want to pay to park where the shops and restaurants are located.
“We live in Florida! There is rain, there is heat. That is ridiculous,” said Scharwath.
Business owners have already lost a large chunk of customer parking because of the construction of the new apartments. They claim, people often call and cancel orders or reservations because they can’t find a place to park.”
According to Venetian Bay’s elegant website – one of those typically over-the-top adverts uniquely crafted by a developer’s marketing apparatus – the contrived “active lifestyle community” (aren’t they all?) promises:
“Residents a sense a feeling of belonging. Whether it’s visiting the shops and restaurants at the Town Center, spending a family day at the Beach and Swim Club, playing a round of golf at our Championship Course or taking an evening walk along our miles of Nature Trails. Children can be seen enjoying Venetian Bay’s Parks and Playgrounds. There is something for everyone at Venetian Bay!”
Except, it would appear, when Geosam wants to shoehorn more apartments into a space without adequate parking – then the almighty law of supply and demand rules the day – and that sense of “belonging” residents were sold is quickly replaced by the feeling of being gouged…
Because they are.
In a cruel twist, Geosam’s announcement explained that Town Center merchants can opt to validate parking for customers, placing an additional burden totaling thousands of dollars annually on already strapped small businesses.
According to WFTV’s report, “We’ve got nine businesses and all of us live and work here, and we all have to share this space and it is difficult,” said owner of Happy Deli, Thomas Greiner.
“To ask people to pay more or our businesses to pay more when our food cost is up, our labor cost is up, I mean I don’t really know how we are supposed to survive off that,” said Bistro 424 employee Jenna Hawkins.”
Admittedly, I’m not a fan of these ubiquitous “master-planned” faux ‘lifestyle’ communities that our elected and appointed officials continue to rubber stamp on demand – homogenized, zero-lot-line cookie cutter subdivisions, wholly controlled by the developer, that now blanket much of Florida like an ugly patchwork quilt, dull places that offer the illusion of community in exchange for dues, fees, and fealty to the covenants – however; in my view, given the current retail climate this cash grab seems shortsighted.
In Venetian Bay, welcome to the new reality of $2.50 an hour to park when enjoying the “…wide variety of community events, activities, restaurants,” you were promised when you signed on the dotted line…
Will an “amenity fee” be next?
Good luck, residents and merchants of Venetian Bay.
You’re going to need it.
Quote of the Week
“Volusia County is hosting public meetings this month to generate community feedback on the proposed Road Priority List. One meeting will be held in each of the four impact fee zones to give residents the opportunity to comment and provide input into upcoming transportation and safety improvements.
Proposed capacity projects include widening roads, improving intersections, building new roads, and extending existing roads. Potential safety projects include adding paved shoulders, widening narrow lanes, and installing turn lanes. The information and presentations will be identical at all four meetings.
The meetings are scheduled from 6 to 7 p.m. on the following dates and locations:
Thursday, Aug. 22, at the Brannon Center, 105 S. Riverside Drive, New Smyrna Beach
Monday, Aug. 26, at the Deltona Regional Library, 2150 Eustace Ave.
Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the Ormond Beach Regional Library, 30 S. Beach St.
Thursday, Aug. 29, at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center, 123 W. Indiana Ave., DeLand”
— Clayton Jackson, Volusia County Community Information, “Volusia County Road Improvements and Capacity Community Meetings,” Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Something stinks…
Five-years ago, Volusia County government – in concert with their friends and political benefactors at the CEO Business Alliance – pushed hard for a half-cent sales tax ostensibly to fund our now insurmountable transportation infrastructure needs.
Given the pernicious modus operandi of many area politicians, most Volusia County voters were rightfully convinced the sales tax would become another slush fund for rewarding political favors, rather than a means of improving desperately needed transportation infrastructure.
Does anyone remember state priority funding for the Pioneer Trail interchange with Interstate 95, while that Monument to Mediocrity that is the two-lane pinch point at the LPGA/Tomoka River bridge remains unaddressed?
Me neither…
Those “loyalties” remain a legitimate fear in a place where the legally mandated concept of concurrency – having roads, sanitary sewer systems, stormwater facilities, emergency services, schools and other public infrastructure and utilities in place to support increased demand – have been wholly ignored by elected officials beholden to their political benefactors in the development industry.
Is there another reason?
It didn’t help when our ‘powers that be’ ignored the concerns of residents who repeatedly pointed out that growth doesn’t pay for itself – and the claustrophobic effects of this “shove ten-pounds of shit in a five-pound bag” growth management strategy that has allowed developers to haul untold millions out of clear-cut pine scrub across the width and breadth of Volusia County.
Don’t get me started on the “secret impact fee study” of 2018…
As the bulldozers continue to roar, it is becoming increasingly clear that Volusia County officials are getting anxious, fidgeting nervously, and staring at their shoes each time we ask how they plan to get us out of the gridlock and congestion resulting from unchecked growth that far exceeds our frighteningly inadequate infrastructure, while they continue to feed that monstrously bloated bureaucracy in DeLand?
Now, they want us – the already strapped taxpayers – to list our transportation priorities so they can turn the table and ask, “We see your Christmas list, how do you plan to pay for it?”
The fact is, we already pay for it – in exorbitant taxes and fees – and we should expect a reasonable return in the form of civic infrastructure that keeps pace with growth…
Earlier this week we learned that Volusia County is currently considering a budget totaling an astronomical $1.3 Billion. In a county with an unincorporated population of 117,000?
Really?
So, where does that money go?
I’m asking, because whenever “answers” to legitimate budgetary questions ooze from the inner sanctum in DeLand, they are convoluted and strategically mired in cryptic acronyms, cloaked in mind-numbing PowerPoint presentations, and spoken in obfuscating bureaucratese, so no one can figure out just how horribly overtaxed we truly are.
Just pay the bills and keep your pieholes shut, okay?
My ass…
For those with a short memory, a similar tactic was employed in 2019, during Volusia County’s second ill-fated bite at the sales tax, when officials asked the municipalities to cobble together a massive “priority list” of road construction, water quality, and flood control projects that, we were told, would be funded over the next 20-years or so.
Anyone paying attention could see the wish list was another failed attempt to generate “buy in” from taxpayers – much like the laundry list of “needs” Volusia County District Schools used 25-years earlier when it persuaded voters a sales tax was needed to fund new schools.
Fortunately, Volusia County voters recognized this shameless shim sham for what it was and rejected the “transportation” sales tax. Twice.
However, both the 2019 road priority inventory, and our collective “trust issues,” are still perfectly valid today – and growing by the minute…
Which begs the question, why are Volusia County officials seeking “resident input” on another “priority” list of transportation projects now?
More to the point, why would anyone in their right mind believe our elected officials will give two-shits what we think when the “…collected public feedback and the Road Priority List will be presented to the Volusia County Council at a future meeting”?
Trust me. This latest bait-and-switch bears watching.
I could be wrong (I’m not) but it smells like the rotting corpse of the twice failed transportation sales tax initiative is being slowly resurrected from Volusia County’s ash heap of bad ideas…
And Another Thing!
Once upon a time ago, my wife and I took the family to one of those professional haunted houses, where theatrically trained and costumed actors leap from hidden spaces, scenes of contrived carnage and gore unfold around each turn, and the suspense builds the deeper you move through the frightening maze.
One of the downsides of being a career law enforcement officer is, once you’ve seen real houses of horror, the staged variety don’t hold much excitement; but I agreed to accompany my young nephew as we toured through the shocks and shrieks, bloody chainsaws blaring, ghouls clawing out in the dark, disorienting lights flashing through the smoke and mirrors.
The giddy screams from our fellow visitors continued to build as we entered the final scene, I looked down and the boy was taking it all in stride, no more unnerved by the sights and sounds than I was.
The fact he had been raised in this crazy family of mine told me it would take a lot more than an imitation spook house to shake him, but the child was completely unfazed by it all.
When we reached the end, I asked him if he was scared and he explained, “No. I’m brave.”
“Yes, you are,” I assured him – and he responded, “You have to be brave to look at scary things.”
It showed wisdom far beyond his years…
I was reminded of that last week when the cowardly First Step Shelter Board refused to pursue an incomplete investigation into serious allegations of fraudulent practices, financial irregularities, rule violations that created a dangerous environment for staff and clients, discrimination, and workplace harassment that originated from three former senior officials of the facility.
I guess the board members lack the courage to look at scary things…
Now, many concerned taxpayers are questioning why the First Step board engaged in such blatant blame deflection and victim shaming before the investigative report was made public?
Orchestrated defamation that destroyed the character and reputation of three brave whistleblowers – contemptuous condemnation that sent a chilling message to any other First Step employee having knowledge of malfeasance or misconduct who would dare to come forward.
Perhaps most disturbing, several prominent local elected officials and community leaders populate the First Step Board – to include Ormond Beach City Commissioner and mayoral candidate Susan Persis, Port Orange Mayor Don Burnette, board president Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry, and their stroppy spokesperson Mike Panaggio – supposedly responsible public officials who should understand the potential ramifications (and optics) of maligning whistleblowers while shutting down an investigation with so many unanswered questions remaining.
Now, citizen suspicion has rightfully turned to the motivations of the First Step Board of Directors…
The Daytona Beach City Commission appoints the board members, who are charged with “…being advocates and champions throughout the community, ensuring the establishment and implementation of appropriate policies and procedures, actively participating in resource development, and exercising stewardship and oversight.”
That “stewardship and oversight” includes fiduciary responsibility for safeguarding some $4 million in essential public funds that are gifted by the citizens of Daytona Beach and Volusia County taxpayers every five years – to include contributions from other cities, individuals, and faith-based organizations.
Regardless, the First Step Shelter is most strongly associated with the City of Daytona Beach – who owns and leases the incredibly expensive building which sits on city owned land off US-92 – a city administration inextricably linked to the enigmatic program since former City Manager Jim “The Chisler” Chisholm schemed it into existence.
A program never fully explained to the community and fraught with divisive issues from its inception, not the least of which was the incredibly lucrative no-bid arrangement that Chisholm hammered out in effective darkness that allows P$S Paving, a private for-profit company, to haul publicly owned fill dirt off city property during the most prolific period of growth in our region’s history.
Given the ugly questions still swirling around the board’s response to serious accusations brought against First Step executive director Victoria Fahlberg – earlier this month, Daytona Beach City Commissioners Stacy Cantu and Ken Strickland rightly moved to table consideration of continued funding for the program and a lease renewal with First Step until more is known.
It was the fiscally responsible thing to do.
That’s why many found it odd when earlier this week the First Step lease renewal was placed on the City Commission’s consent agenda – a sparse explanation, devoid of any substance beyond City Manager Derek Feacher’s recommendation for renewal – without benefit of a fiscal impact statement, or even the estimated value of the lease as donated by Daytona Beach taxpayers?
Yet, inexplicably, the Daytona Beach City Commission threw caution to the wind and voted unanimously to renew the lease and extend funding for the First Step program for another five-years – with the same administration that is currently under suspicion still firmly at the helm…
To add insult, on Sunday evening, prior to the City Commission’s vote, and apparently speaking as a member of the board, Mr. Panaggio went on one of his nonsensical afterhours raves on Facebook’s Volusia Issues – a grammatical nightmare that left stunned onlookers in absolute disbelief – when he launched with a double-entendre, calling the whistleblowers “disturbed,” explaining, “Disturbed can mean many things, and in this meaning it means they were upset by management.”
Sure.
Then Panaggio claimed the board “investigated” the whistleblower complaints but “got no where (sic).”
Bullshit.
“We wasted money badly needed by the shelter residents. Mr Simpson did the best he could but was the wrong person got the job.”
What the hell is he blathering about?
Apparently, this is how wary Volusia County taxpayers are going to be advised of the secretive results of the board’s publicly funded partial investigation – in subjective midnight dribs-and-drabs by Mike Panaggio?
Unbelievable. And horribly irresponsible.
In my view, this time Mr. Panaggio’s late-night nattering has crossed a very bright line and created an intractable mess for the City of Daytona Beach, the First Step’s beleaguered administration, and its compromised Board of Directors – a nasty quagmire of mounting questions and potential civil liability that cannot be tidied up with more of his egomaniacal hubris, blame shifting, and absurd counteraccusations.
Now, the damage is complete.
Made worse by the Daytona Beach City Commission throwing good money after bad before all the facts are known – citing the irrational conclusion that propping up this puzzling “shelter” somehow takes precedence over the sacred fiduciary responsibility of elected officials…
In my view, how the remainder of the First Step Shelter’s directors – and those elected officials charged with allocating additional public funds for the program – choose to deal with the Panaggio Problem will tell taxpayers and potential donors all they need to know about the culture and future of this terribly troubled program going forward.
It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way.
First Step Shelter Board
When it comes to managing crisis and protecting the public’s confidence – most people can understand and forgive what they see themselves doing – that prism of principle, experience, ethics, integrity, and morality through which we view, and ultimately reconcile, those events that shock our conscience.
There’s another old truism I’m fond of: “The cover-up is always worse than the crime…”
Perhaps that’s why this week’s bombshell decision to block additional investigation into the serious allegations brought by three former employees of the First Step Shelter – accusations that include fiduciary maleficence, fraudulent activities, discriminatory bias, ongoing harassment, retaliation, breaches of confidentiality, unethical behavior, and fostering a toxic work environment – has left so many area residents (read: potential donors) in stunned disbelief.
On Tuesday, before an investigative report has been made public, the First Step Board met to vehemently pooh-pooh the findings of a $5,000 inquiry – commissioned and paid for with First Step funds – and conducted by Ormond Beach attorney Scott Simpson, who offered to keep digging for an additional $3,000 (?)
Which, to me, signals there may be more evidence and testimony to be uncovered…
Inconceivably, despite a clearly incomplete investigation, the board voted unanimously to end any further probe into the serious allegations brought by three former senior officials at First Step, to include Patrick Smith, the director of philanthropy and engagement; Pamela Alexander, shelter housing coordinator; and Kim Kelly, a shelter nurse.
Not unexpectedly, only one of the complainants agreed to sit for an interview, while Ms. Kelly reportedly provided a sworn statement to Mr. Simpson.
Look, call me crazy, but I don’t blame the whistleblowers for their reticence.
If I were a First Step employee who came forward with credible allegations of fiduciary malfeasance, fraud, discrimination, and harassment in the publicly funded program – I might wait and cooperate with independent authorities responsible for conducting public integrity investigations – or heed the advice of my personal attorney – rather than sit down with an investigator/attorney hired by my former employer.
I’m weird that way…
After digesting a disturbing article by Eileen Zaffiro-Kean writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, I found the board’s blame projection and victim shaming nothing short of bizarre:
“I’m totally against spending one more ridiculous dollar on this,” said board member Mike Panaggio. “There’s nothing we’ll get out of continuing the investigation.”
He said the shelter’s executive director, Victoria Fahlberg, should have been allowed to handle the complaints.
“I think this is appalling and it’s ridiculous we’re going through this charade,” Panaggio said.
Board members Susan Persis and Rose Ann Tornatore echoed Panaggio’s comments, saying they also don’t want to spend more money on the probe.
Panaggio charged that the complaint was part of an attempted coup to take over management of the shelter.”
Whoa. Exactly who does Mike Panaggio represent on the First Step Shelter Board?
Because something tells me his vicious tirade isn’t going to age well when it comes time for settling massive lawsuits…
“Nothing to see here, folks. Keep moving. Just a charade – nothing more than an attempted coup – appalling and ridiculous. Should have let the subject of the complaints investigate herself…”
Weird.
In another chilling exchange, Ormond Beach City Commissioner Susan Persis, a member of the board and current mayoral candidate, exposed her complete lack of reasoning, experience, and judgement when she leveled a pointed accusation against the primary whistleblower, claiming he “just wanted to cause a ruckus.”
Based on what evidence?
In turn, Port Orange Mayor Don Burnette, also a board member, and current candidate for Volusia County Chair, landed a few low blows of his own, “He wants to make a complaint, but he doesn’t want to participate.”
As usual, for reasons known only to him, Mike Panaggio took things a reckless, meanspirited, and irresponsible step further…
“This is a scam,” Panaggio said. “We know why he did it; because you (Fahlberg) wanted him to do his job and come into work. We have a mess from the last (shelter fundraising) gala.”
According to the News-Journal’s report, the subject of the whistleblower’s allegations, First Step’s executive director Dr. Victoria Fahlberg, pointed back at her accusers:
“Everyone’s focused on me and not the whistleblowers,” she said. “I’m just so angry and frustrated.”
(Yeah. That sensation you just experienced is normal. I cringed too…)
According to the report, Fahlberg said the complaints enlightened her to “what’s been going on behind my back for a year and a half.”
Say what?
To her immense credit, the intrepid Daytona Beach civic activist Anne Ruby addressed the First Step Board and cautioned them to speak to the whistleblower’s attorney and conduct a forensic audit.
According to the News-Journal, “Something smells very badly,” Ruby said.
She said when the whistleblower complaint and report are available to the public, “you’re going to be sorry.”
But board members did not agree with her.”
Wow. I agree with Ms. Ruby – something smells very badly…
It is important to note – this is the same First Step Board that recently discussed how best to exempt their meetings from Florida’s Sunshine Law – apparently forgetting they rely on a combined $4 million in scarce public resources every five years just to remain in existence.
In my view, this should signal the beginning of the end of the First Step Shelter Board.
Let me be the first to call for these shockingly irresponsible cowards to resign, en masse, and allow a proper, thorough, and completely independent investigation by law enforcement or other regulatory authority into the management and administration of the publicly funded shelter.
In fact, the City of Daytona Beach and County of Volusia should demand it.
By any measure, this is now becoming a godawful embarrassment for the City of Daytona Beach – and the board’s actions on Tuesday have irreversibly undermined the public’s confidence in the troubled program.
Regardless of how these serious allegations are ultimately vetted, the damage to the character and personal reputations of those who found the courage to come forward and bring their concerns to light is now complete – a frightening message to other potential whistleblowers of the terrible fate that awaits anyone who challenges what is apparently Mike Panaggio’s personal fiefdom…
Most important, this blatant deflection and shameful self-protection by those with a fiduciary responsibility to protect public funds should give caution to any elected official who will be asked to appropriate millions in additional tax dollars to financially support this opaque and enigmatic program.
Save New Smyrna Beach
Regular readers of these weekly raves have probably gathered – I’m not a huge fan of what our civic ‘visionaries’ perceive as “progress.” Especially when it comes to the mindless destruction of the natural attributes and inherent charm that make picturesque beach towns appealing to residents and visitors.
For years, I pointed to Flagler Beach and New Smyrna Beach as two unique seaside spots that ‘got it right.’
In the past, both communities worked hard to retain their allure while similarly situated places raced headlong into the abyss of growth and sprawl – rapidly becoming a homogenized everyplace – devoid of the character, eccentricities, and unconventionalities that set them apart.
In my view, when Flagler Beach officials allowed a “Margaritaville” hotel at the beautiful intersection of A-1-A and SR-100 – what was once a public greenspace for songwriter’s festivals, art shows, and farmers markets – is now dominated by another “theme” hotel, a faux reproduction of what was already there.
In my view, that shortsighted capitulation was the sad epitaph for Flagler Beach’s much sought-after laidback lifestyle.
Then came the “voluntary annexation” of the contrived community of Veranda Bay – marketed as the “Last stretch of Intracoastal property on Florida’s East Coast” (how sad) – which will double the size of one of the last vestiges of Old Florida left on the east coast – in my view, a mistake that may signal the death knell for one of the most distinct beach communities in Florida.
Unfortunately, the enticement of small-town politicians to a developer’s view of “progress” isn’t limited to Flagler Beach…
To their credit, concerned residents of New Smyrna Beach recently voiced their opposition to a proposed five-story mixed use monstrosity proposed for South Atlantic Avenue that would tower 60 to 65 feet above the surrounding area.
According to reports, the project – which flies in the face of New Smyrna’s zoning laws and Land Development Regulations – was recommended for approval by the city’s planning and zoning board (?), and would include a 321-space parking garage, a rooftop bar, retail space, and a restaurant.
In my view, this represents a textbook example of how developers rely on elected officials to change, amend, vary, ignore, and make exceptions to the very zoning and land use regulations that were enacted to protect the character of their community.
Don’t take my word for it – look across the width and breadth of Volusia County for glaring scenes of how exceptions have been used to destroy pristine ecological areas, foul our sensitive water supply, outpace transportation and utilities infrastructure, and encroach on wildlife habitat, as developers and their handmaidens in public office sacrifice our quality of life on the altar of greed.
According to reports, thanks to public opposition to the proposed parking garage, on Tuesday, the project’s applicant, NSB Capital Group, withdrew its agenda items from consideration by the New Smyrna Beach City Commission.
In a social media release this week, the City of New Smyrna Beach explained, “These ordinances, related to a proposed five-story restaurant and retail development with an attached 321-space parking garage, will not be considered for either approval or a previously requested continuance during tonight’s meeting.”
Some wary NSB residents are calling the postponement a “delay tactic” to allow time and space between upcoming municipal elections and what they fear will be another bite at the apple…
Time will tell.
There is a reason the citizens of New Smyrna Beach once said “No” to building heights of more than three stories in Neighborhood Business Districts. My hope is that if this project returns, New Smyrna Beach officials will remember and respect those zoning regulations for what they represent.
Kudos to the residents of this quaint beachside community for standing firm in their commitment to protecting the best attributes of New Smyrna Beach.
Commercial Fisherman Jimmy Hull and Attorney Dennis Bayer
“The arrogance of man is thinking that nature is in their control and not the other way around.”
— Ichiro Serizawa, “Godzilla”
There is one constant in the universe: In man’s futile quest to dominate and control natural processes and the environment – Mother Nature always wins…
Yet, in our infernal arrogance, we blunder on – convinced we can violate physical laws we barely understand, crashing about, trying to “fix” what we perceive as environmental “problems.”
Small minds with important titles, using the force of heavy equipment and hydraulics – supported by massive amounts of money and advanced technology – refusing to consider adaptation to live in synergy with the forces of nature.
I recently read an article questioning the practice of beach renourishment which asked the question, “How many times can a public beach vanish?”
The disturbing answer appears to be: As many times as politicians are willing to use our tax dollars to rebuild it…
Rather than consider the long-term environmental impacts and unintended consequences of dredging and pumping operations or, God forbid, limit further development along the natural erosion control provided by the dune line – we do the same thing over-and-over again, always expecting a different result – then stand slack-jawed when the inevitable storm takes artificially placed boulders, sand, and expensive riprap out to sea…
Recently, Jimmy Hull, a longtime commercial fisherman and owner of Hull’s Seafood & Market in Ormond Beach, realized something the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers apparently forgot to consider – the potential ecological impacts of beach renourishment operations off Flagler Beach that are dangerously close to a living reef and several long-established fisheries.
As I understand it, the project essentially vacuums sand (including mollusks and other small sea creatures) off the ocean’s living bottom, then transfers it to the beach where the sand is used to replenish sections of the beach lost to erosion, while the water returns to sea.
What about the mollusks, crustaceans, and other sea life? They just die…
According to an excellent article by reporter Frank Fernandez writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week:
“The project calls for placing 1.31 million cubic yards of sand onto a stretch of Flagler Beach from about Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area to North Seventh Street for a total of 3.5 miles. The Army Corps project is 2.6 miles of that stretch. Weeks Marine was awarded the $27 million contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the initial project area of 2.6 miles.”
To protect the living waters off Flagler Beach, Mr. Hull contacted Dennis Bayer, an attorney and trained zoologist with extensive knowledge of Florida’s coastline, who recently took the growing concerns of area residents to the Flagler Beach City Commission.
In turn, Flagler Beach County Attorney Al Hadeed notified the Army Corps of Engineers who convinced him that dredging operations are being conducted some 2.5 miles away from the natural reef system, with the project manager assuring the dredging is “not impacting commercial fishing areas.”
According to the News-Journal, Mr. Bayer is concerned that agencies conducting the operation were unaware of the presence of the live bottom.
According to the report, “Hull said July 30 that the dredging should be farther from the reef.
“Don’t get your sand out here where you could jeopardize this living priceless reef,” Hull said in a phone interview. “It’s all live bottom. It’s full of small shrimp, small crabs. It’s the food chain. The web of life. “
But he said plans were unlikely to change now.
“This multi-million-dollar train has left the station a long time ago,” Hull said.”
In addition, Mr. Hadeed advised in the News-Journal that according to evaluations, the Corps understands “…there will be some morbidity,” which, I think, is legalese for the fact some sea life will be collateral damage…
Look, I appreciate the reassurance from attorneys and engineers that things on the seafloor will eventually return to normal when the dredging is complete, but who – beyond concerned citizens and commercial fishermen who understand the importance of this natural resource – is independently overseeing this environmentally sensitive operation to ensure the living reef is not disturbed or buried in silt?
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a long history of beneficial public works projects, frequently taking on difficult problems in the spirit of the organization’s motto “Essayons!” — “Let Us Try!”
Unfortunately, they also have a grim reputation for colossal and incredibly expensive failures…
I think reporter Tony Schick writing for Oregon Public Broadcasting said it best in a November 2023 article on an incredibly expensive remediation plan to save salmon trapped behind the Corps’ dams on the Willamette River:
“The Corps has plunged ahead time and again with billion-dollar construction projects based on assumptions that don’t exactly pan out. In some cases, the agency goes on to spend billions more restoring the natural environment it manipulated.”
Like many, I’m hoping for the best in Flagler Beach.
That said, perhaps it is time we consider if these massively expensive artificial renourishment projects are the best way to resolve the issue of Florida’s rapidly eroding shoreline and begin the exploration of symbiotic strategies – including a moratorium on development and the possibility of a managed retreat in threatened areas – a plan to allow natural processes the ability to protect and restore beaches as Mother Nature intended…
Quote of the Week
“Someone who purchases a tract of land doesn’t, and shouldn’t, have the right to ignore the zoning restrictions for that land. Likewise, when someone purchases land for which code requires a special exception for certain uses, the buyer understands (or should understand) that limitation at the time of purchase. Property rights are clearly not absolute. They are closely tied to the zoning and approval process in place when the property was purchased.
County Council has the right to remove some of those restrictions. However, there are several reasons that they should be very careful about doing so.
First, neighbors also have property rights. Removing restrictions for one tract of land can infringe on the property rights of neighbors. Say we have neighbors, A and B, and that when B purchased their land, code prevented A from putting a hog farm on their property, or at least required a special exception. It’s not fair to B (and their property rights) for council to later reduce or drop the requirements for establishing a hog farm, and even eliminate B’s right to offer input. (B might even consider a lawsuit.)
It’s good to champion property rights, but it’s essential to also consider the property (and other) rights of others who might also be affected.
Second, there are often unforeseen circumstances and unexpected consequences. Changing from “Special Exception Required” to “By Right” forfeits the ability to address unanticipated situations, sets the county up for problems similar to what it’s experiencing with the Belvedere Terminals fuel farm, and suggests that council hasn’t learned well from that experience.
Finally, County Council should be very slow to adopt any rule changes which reduce citizen involvement.”
–Steve Wonderly, as excerpted from the Ormond Beach Observer, Letters to the Editor, “Removing zoning restrictions will need careful consideration,” Tuesday, August 6, 2024
The great Florida storyteller and editorialist Carl Hiaasen once explained, “The one thing a column does is it gives readers a sense that they’re not the only ones who feel a certain way: ‘Oh good, he not only agrees with me, but he’s putting it in writing.’ It strengthens the positions of those whose voices are not always heard, or not always listened to, as they should be…”
I agree. With both Mr. Hiaasen – and Mr. Wonderly.
Unfortunately, I don’t think anyone is listening in the cloistered Halls of Power in Tallahassee – or Deland…
In the view of many, thanks to the unchecked gutting of land development restrictions and environmental protections, Florida has become a developer’s playground – a wide-open wasteland where anything goes, and growth at all costs (and I do mean ‘all costs’) moves at such an astounding pace that the old-fashioned concept of concurrency – ensuring adequate public infrastructure to support further development – no longer factors into the greed-crazed equation.
Perhaps most infuriating, those we have elected – and the senior administrators appointed to represent our interests, plan for growth, manage resources, and protect our sensitive natural places – continue to malleably yield to mercenary forces, rubber stamping malignant growth, changing the topography of the land, destroying wetlands, paving over recharge areas, then act surprised by widespread flooding each time it rains.
In turn, those carefully choreographed “public hearings” on zoning and land use changes typically take the form of a senior staff member reading from a PowerPoint in robotic monotone, a bureaucratic apraxia, droning on, ad infinitum, while the decision-makers stare into space, lulled into a trance by the sheer tedium of the acronyms alone, waiting patiently for the opportunity to serve their masters…
Oh, you wanted to provide input, John and Jane Q?
Make a salient point, or explain how the project will directly affect your life, home, or livelihood?
Good luck. You’ve got three minutes, asshole…
As a result of their abject arrogance, many communities are suffering the claustrophobic effects of critical density – with waiting times in local emergency rooms now exceeding five hours or more on any given day, traffic congestion on most major thoroughfares requires the patience of Job to get from point A to B in (enter any Volusia County city here), and the environmental impacts are evident everywhere you look – and, most disturbing, in places you cannot see – like our endangered aquifer.
Now, election season is well underway – that time every two to four years when incumbent politicians emerge from their exalted perch in the Ivory Tower of Power and pretend to “listen to our concerns,” call us “neighbor,” and act like we’re old friends – while newcomers to the political scene try and convince us they have a different vision (while accepting massive campaign contributions from the very same developers and real estate interests that own the political paper on incumbents?).
Perhaps now is the time we should ask those seeking our sacred vote the tough questions about the tattered remnants of our quality of life – and hold those who have lied to us politically accountable for their self-serving deceit and acquiescence.
In my jaded view, we now live in a place where our elected officials have become little more than chattel – beholden to those “Big Money” interests with a chip in the game. Don’t take my word for it. Follow the money.
Cui Bono?
If not now, when?
And Another Thing!
This week I took advantage of early voting at the Ormond Beach Public Library.
As always, Volusia County’s outstanding Supervisor of Elections Lisa Lewis and her incredibly attentive staff made this sacred civic duty a friendly and efficient experience.
As a confirmed No Party Affiliate, I was limited to just two non-partisan races in the primary (Volusia County Council and Volusia County School Board District 4) – but it was well worth the time spent – because those we elect will allocate our tax dollars and shape public policy, actions that will directly (and irreparably) impact our lives and livelihoods.
I typically don’t make political endorsements on this blog site, that would be pompous and pretentious. (Fact is, I’m both pompous and pretentious, but my guess is no more valid or informed that yours.)
Like you, I do my homework, hold my nose, and roll the dice.
I naturally assume if you are reading Barker’s View you are what many politicians fear the most – an “educated voter.”
Someone who takes the time to gain insight into the collective issues we face here on Florida’s “Fun Coast” – an active and involved citizen capable of determining which candidate and platform best matches your personal vision for our future.
It can be difficult to sort the wheat from the political chaff this weird day and age – but it’s important.
The bedrock principle of our democracy – that all power is derived from the consent of the governed – is rooted in the conduct of fair and trustworthy elections, the idea of “one citizen, one vote,” that purely American concept of political equality.
In Volusia County, we can thank Supervisor Lisa Lewis and her staff for maintaining public confidence in our electoral process.
Unfortunately, far too many area residents have fallen victim to the curse of political apathy – that feeling of indifference born of having the rug pulled out from underneath them one too many times – the sense that their participation doesn’t count now that their voice is increasingly muted by elected officials (and the entrenched insiders they serve) who seek to suppress citizen input in governance.
I also believe that the abject ugliness of the modern blood-soaked political battlefield – a fetid slit-trench where anything goes – has turned many good people off, especially at a time when political polarity has turned elections into an ‘Us vs. Them’ brawl.
Now, even local campaigns resemble a back-alley knife fight, underwritten by massive contributions flowing from powerful forces supporting hand-select candidates, cash that skews the battlefield, as special interests cut-and-thrust with ominous television advertisements and exaggerated glossy mailers. (See the allegations, accusations, and insinuations flying in the Florida Senate District 7 for an excellent example).
Then there are contests like the extremely creepy race between incumbent Volusia County Clerk of the Court Laura Roth and a mysterious newcomer named John Flemm that has left veteran watchers scratching their heads.
John Flemm
Flemm, a 22-year-old resident of DeBary, has published bizarre social media posts making outlandish allegations, and recently distributed a misleading mailer smearing Ms. Roth with baseless accusations regarding issues completely out of her control – like gun rights, being “weak on crime,” and insinuating Ms. Roth gave herself pay raises. (She can’t. Her salary is determined by state statute.)
Initially, I thought the Flemm campaign was a bad piece of comedic performance art – a farcical act of political satire that would leave us laughing at the absurdity of it all. But the antics of Flemm – who comes off like an AI generated caricature of the archetypal partisan ideologue – and his handful of “supporters” aren’t humorous at all.
Just another desperate also-ran taking the low road of mudslinging, demonstrably false accusations, defamation, and confrontation.
We’ll talk more about the equally enigmatic Mackenzie Quinn the lone Democrat in the Clerk’s race who appeared out-of-the-blue, someone even local Democratic leaders suspect may be a “ghost candidate,” after the primary is decided on Tuesday…
This week, retired Circuit Court Judge James Clayton rightfully defended Ms. Roth in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, saying “Either he’s (Flemm) incredibly stupid or he’s banking on the voting public to be ignorant as to what the clerk does and what the clerk’s office functions are.”
Laura Roth
I agree.
Further, Judge Clayton explained, “The clerk of court has absolutely nothing to do with law enforcement or gun rights — period,” Clayton said. “That’s just an outright misrepresentation. Some people would call it a lie.”
As a longtime spectator of Volusia County politics, I’ve seen some peculiar strategies at play in local races, but – with apologies to John Randolph – something about the Flemm “campaign” stinks ”like a rotten mackerel in the moonlight…”
In my view, these mysterious machinations best demonstrate the importance of studying the issues – and getting to know the candidates – to include their character, competency, vision, and basic understanding of the duties and responsibilities of the position they seek.
There. I feel better for speaking out about that – and for supporting the re-election of Laura Roth.
Other local races, like those incredibly important hometown city commission and county council contests are seen by many as a referendum for fundamental change – where maintaining the status quo often means continued bureaucratic bloat, rising taxes, and the civic stagnation that has made Volusia County a cautionary tale to the rest of Central Florida…
Regardless of your views, your vote – and your voice – are important. I hope you exercise both this election season.
In Volusia County, early voting ends tomorrow, Saturday, August 17 at 6:00pm. The primary election will be held Tuesday, August 20, 2024.
Vote like your family’s quality of life depends upon it.
It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the news and newsmakers of the day who, in my cynical opinion either contributed to our quality of life or detracted from it in some significant way.
Volusia County Council
Let’s start this week’s vituperations on a positive note!
Kudos to the majority of our elected representatives on the Volusia County Council who, for one brief shining moment, put petty politics aside and voted to allow long-suffering taxpayers to access our beach without paying a separate onerous charge for the privilege.
I’ll get to the callous minority who thought it best to keep sticking it to strapped Volusia County families in favor of protecting the conveyor-like cash flow to that massive and insatiable bureaucracy in Deland – that ravenous machine they serve like the indentured handmaidens they are – in a minute…
Thanks to the tireless efforts of Councilman Troy Kent and Chairman Jeff Brower – both of whom made it a firm campaign promise to reduce or eliminate beach access fees – on Tuesday, the Volusia County Council voted 5-2 to eliminate beach driving tolls for residents, while increasing the fees for non-residents, effective October 1.
In a social media post, Councilman Kent said, “The taxpayers spend millions of dollars to fund our great local beaches, and by a 5-2 vote of the council, Volusia residents will soon have the ability to drive on it, park on it, and enjoy it the same way generations prior to us did for nearly 100 years, without having to pay for a pass to do so.”
As I understand it, to take advantage of the program Volusia County residents, and full-time students at area universities, will be required to register their vehicles through an “online portal” that has yet to be established – while non-residents will be required to pay $30 per day for vehicular beach access or $150 for an annual pass.
Whoa.
According to an excellent report by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer this week, “The beach toll changes came as the council approved a new five-year almost $4.2 million contract with PCI Municipal Services, LLC. On July 16, the council previously awarded a $1.5 million contract to the Michigan-based company for off-beach automated paid parking services.”
Unfortunately, some are calling the fee elimination a “pilot program. Free beach access for residents will expire on January 31, 2026, unless extended by the next council.
According to the Observer, although Councilman Don Dempsey voted to waive fees, “I’m seeing this as a pilot program. I would probably be against this if it wasn’t going to sunset … I’m hoping that this new structuring of fees will not result in an increased tax burden on the Volusia County taxpayers who don’t even use the beach.”
I found that interesting.
Apparently, Councilman Dempsey doesn’t have the same reservations about using taxpayer dollars to build “Dempsey’s Folly” – a ludicrous “state-of-the-art” motocross facility to be constructed on public land that a consulting firm has estimated will cost a cool $10.2 million – something, I guarantee, most Volusia County residents will never use…
In addition, Councilmembers Danny Robins and Matt Reinhart – both of whom represent beachside areas of Volusia County – inexplicably voted “No” to giving your family and mine a break on beach tolls, apparently fearing the budgetary impact to the bureaucracy.
“Robins wanted to wait until after the elections to make a decision, citing unknowns in the economy. He also suggested waiting until the county has data on how much revenue the off-beach parking fees are bringing in after they’re implemented in January.
“I don’t think anyone of us, fiscally conservative as we are would risk our paychecks or our salaries to take that kind of gamble with our money, so my thought process is, ‘Why do it with the taxpayers?'” Robins said.”
(Sorry. I just shot my fortified Café Bustelo out of my nose… “Fiscally conservative”? That’s a hoot! Whew, got me with that one…)
According to the report, Mr. Reinhart played both sides of the field when saying he “wants the program to succeed.”
Wait. After he voted to quash the measure?
Excuse me?
Whatever.
I get it. It’s a tough election cycle for Mr. Reinhart as he faces challenger Steve Miller for the District 2 seat.
I’m not sure Mr. Robins – or Mr. Reinhart – understand the concept of residents being charged twice – once in our property taxes and again at the beach toll kiosk – or the importance of bringing much-needed relief to struggling Volusia County families in the form of reduced taxes and fees.
However, both Robins and Reinhart clearly understand their primal political instincts that tell them not to give their nemesis Chairman Brower a “win” when he’s facing re-election…
Fortunately for the rest of us, Chairman Brower and Councilman Kent both champion the cause of giving our greatest natural resource back to the people of Volusia County:
“People are hurting and anything that we can do to make sure that they don’t get double-taxed and pay twice for the same service, I’m going to be for and support,” said Brower, who has been advocating for residents to drive on the beach at no extra cost since 2021.
During his closing comments at the meeting, Kent thanked the council to “take a leap” on eliminating beach toll fees for residents.
“I think that it’s going to pay dividends in the future and we did a wonderful thing for our residents,” Kent said.”
Me too.
ReGrow the Loop
I hate to be the bearer of this tragic news, but the once majestic Ormond Scenic Loop – east Volusia’s pristine environmental treasure – is gone. Now reduced to a paper-thin veneer of vegetation – a cheap façade buffering Old Dixie Highway from the perverse ecological atrocity that is sprawling development stretching west to I-95 and beyond.
The damage is done, and it is not coming back in our lifetimes – sadly, not in our grandchildren’s lifetimes…
To insinuate anything else is disingenuous and cheapens the damage that was done here.
In my view, we can thank those “visionaries” at Volusia County, the City of Ormond Beach, and various greed-crazed developers who saw dollar signs where virgin forests, old growth canopy, and a vibrant and varied ecosystem stood for millennia for what has happened along the western edge of what was once the Ormond Scenic Loop.
We also have our own collective apathy – whatever lethargy or indifference calls us to re-elect those useful idiots who reside in the deep pockets of developers who finance their political campaigns – to thank for the crushing demise of these special places we once held dear.
Perversely, once the damage is forever done, real estate developers, the sutlers who eke out a living on the crumbs left behind, and their fixers in government have found a way of living with themselves.
After slashing, burning, clear-cutting, and denuding the land of old growth trees and native vegetation, they host well-crafted public manipulation campaigns, complete with colorful PowerPoint presentations to “educate” residents – shamelessly touting how many trees have been replanted in the aftermath of the for-profit environmental destruction that churned thousands of historic hardwoods into splinters – essentially putting a cheap Band-Aid on the gaping wound they left on the land.
In my jaded view, a prime example of this syndrome is ReGrow the Loop – “a 12-month pilot program aimed at enhancing environmental sustainability within the community” – which reported its “significant milestones” earlier this week:
“…123 trees were generously distributed to community members, symbolizing a tangible step towards fostering a greener landscape and regenerating plant coverage.
Complementing this effort were 21 educational programs, ranging from formal workshops to informal walk and talks, which collectively engaged 332 individuals. These programs served as vital platforms for raising environmental awareness and empowering residents to take action.
As a result, an impressive 221 pledges were secured from participants, reflecting a resounding commitment to adopting sustainable practices and nurturing the local ecosystem. The success of the “ReGrow the Loop” initiative underscores the power of community-driven initiatives in effecting positive change and lays a strong foundation for ongoing environmental stewardship within the region.”
That’s sick.
It’s also complete bullshit.
“Take the pledge, you rubes!”
“Commit to adopting ‘sustainable practices’ in your own yard – while we continue to rape the land for massive profit! Do as we say, not as we do, suckers!”
“But what about the torrent of water flowing across Old Dixie every time it rains? What caused the flooding and standing water east of the massive subdivisions, the slaughter of wildlife on the roadway, traffic congestion, and the billowing clouds of dust blowing off the moonscape where virgin forest once stood?
“Shut your pieholes, you ungrateful assholes…
“This is progress! Bend over and accept it! We ‘generously distributed’ replacement trees, walked and talked, served as a ‘vital platform, ‘underscored the power of community-driven initiatives,’ and ‘empowered residents to take action’ didn’t we?”
“Just say ‘thank you’ for our “wildly successful” eyewash, you ungrateful schlubs…”
Screw it.
Look, my hat is off to those intrepid environmentalists who partnered in this process and have worked hard to expand what they see as “success” to a larger countywide program designed to clean up the ecological nightmare left in the wake of unchecked development across the region.
You can label whatever “new” program that will expand the best efforts of some local environmentalist countywide whatever you want, but please don’t call it “ReGrow the Loop.” In my view, that is a vicious kick in the teeth to everyone who remembers what “The Loop” once represented before the circus came to town…
The next time a developer “partners” with government and attempts to hoodwink shellshocked existing residents into believing they are “here to help” – consider the source – follow the money and look beyond the thinly camouflaged whoopla and puffery that would have us ignore the insatiable greed that has irreparably destroyed much of our quality of life.
Volusia’s Transform386 Program
Cue the eerie intro music…
(Recite in your best Rod Serling voice.)
“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area we call the Twilight Zone…”
Imagine a bizarre episode where Volusia County government receives nearly $329 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development specifically to assist residents with repair and recovery expenses from Hurricane Ian, develops a program to distribute the funds, and gives the relief program the metamorphic name Transform386.
Then, in something that could only happen in the shadowy Twilight Zone of county government – bureaucrats refuse to assist a local condominium owner with much-needed repairs for damage to his single-family condominium caused by Hurricane Ian – the exact community need the public funds were intended to meet.
Why?
Well, that’s intentionally complicated…
Apparently, county officials say HUD guidelines exclude residential complexes having more than four units – of course, HUD officials say the exact opposite – assuring that Volusia County can use the funds to assist condo owners.
Get it? Me neither…
In the meantime, a resident of a hurricane damaged condo at the Daytona Beach Golf & Country Club Condominiums is suffering the severe health effects of stress and mold due to unfinished repairs – along with the type of anxiety that only comes when dealing with a Catch-22 created by a faceless and indifferent bureaucracy that, one can assume, has already earmarked the millions in public funds for something (or someone?) else.
Is there another explanation?
According to a disturbing article by reporter Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal last week, Daytona Beach resident Robert Arnold reports:
“I get some respiratory stuff that is just a lot of congestion stuff from it,” he said. “Main thing really is it brings on depression, depression and anxiety and stuff …. from the not knowing. But I looked up symptoms of the black mold and depression is one of the symptoms of living in that.”
According to the report, Mr. Arnold “… turned to the Volusia County government for help through its Transform386 Hurricane Ian recovery effort but was denied. The reason? He lives in a condo complex with more than four units, so his property isn’t considered a single-family home.
The Transform386 program is intended to help people recover from the storm, but the way it is set up has left Arnold out and could leave other condo owners out as well.”
Although federal officials confirmed that the funds are authorized for condominium complexes, a Volusia County mouthpiece spun the news that Transform386“…was developed with a comprehensive approach to address the community’s most critical unmet needs. The plan’s primary objective is to ensure that the resources are allocated in a manner that maximizes the impact on those most severely affected by the disaster.”
Is it?
According to the report, single-family homes and duplexes made up 79% of FEMA registrants (27,061) following Hurricane Ian, while condominium owners made up 6% (2,080).
Now, as explained by a Volusia County spinmeister to the News-Journal, “here’s the rest of the story…”
“The $200 million for housing in the Transform386 program is divided into the Single-Family Repair and Replacement Program ($145 million), the Rental Repair Program ($5 million) and the Multi-Family New Construction Program ($50 million).
Each program has eligibility requirements, and all programs focus on benefiting people with low-to-moderate incomes.
The Multi-family New Construction Program is for public housing authorities and both nonprofit and for-profit housing developers. It’s intended to provide funding that can be matched with other money to build new affordable multi-family housing such as apartments. It is not a rehab program for existing apartments or other multi-family units.”
Bingo!
Welp. There you have it, folks.
It always amazes me the creativity and resourcefulness of our elected officials and appointed bureaucrats when turning a federal relief program into a sleazy pass-through to facilitate the smooth transfer of money from our pockets to the real estate development industry…
Something told me if we waited long enough there would be a provision in Transform386 to assist “for-profit housing developers,” using public funds appropriated for storm repair and stabilization to subsidize another sticks-and-glue apartment complex.
Sorry, Mr. Arnold – there are 50 million reasons you don’t qualify for this relief program – and none of them have to do with restoring your home after the devastating effects of Hurricane Ian…
Breeze Airways and Daytona Beach “International” Airport
“It’s nice to be nice…to the nice.”
–Maj. Frank Burns, M*A*S*H
This week, Volusia County elected officials – flanked by our always hyper-enthusiastic tourism and hospitality gurus – were falling all over themselves announcing another “big catch” for DAB – this time its discount carrier Breeze Airways – who announced non-stop service to four destinations beginning in November.
According to a report by Clayton Park writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Bob Davis, president for life and CEO of the Hotel & Lodging Association of Volusia County gushed “Four new destinations? My god.”
Exactly. My God…
In keeping with the theme, Lori Campbell-Baker, executive director of the Daytona Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, labeled the arrival of the no-frills flights as nothing short of a “historic occasion.”
According to the News-Journal report:
“The Utah-based low-cost airline will launch its service to Westchester County (White Plains), New York, on Thursdays and Sundays, beginning Nov. 14.
It will add flights on Thursdays and Sundays beginning Feb. 13, 2025, to and from Hartford, Connecticut, and to and from Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.
Then it will add flights on Mondays and Fridays beginning Feb. 14, 2025, to and from Providence, Rhode Island.”
As I understand it, Breeze Airways operates on a sliding fare system, ranging from a “No Flex” cattle call, to their ‘Nice,’ ‘Nicer,’ or ‘Nicest’ fares, which offer various combinations of carry-ons, checked bags, extra leg room, priority boarding, in-flight snacks, etc.
As Brian McCormick, director of airport properties for Breeze explained in the News-Journal, “Our purpose at Breeze is simple: we’re nice people, flying nice people to nice places and we’re bringing our seriously nice form of air travel right here to Daytona Beach.”
How nice…
So, how did those nice folks at Daytona “International” Airport sweeten the pot?
According to the report, Airport Director Karen Feaster said landing Breeze was “…the culmination of years of talks with the airline’s route planners to try to convince them to give Daytona Beach a shot.”
Considering Breeze Airways launched in May 2021, it hasn’t been that many years, but if county officials can’t embroider things to puff-up a big roll out, when can they embellish the message, eh?
(Don’t answer that…)
“The airport has agreed to provide Breeze with the standard incentives it offers to all airlines new to Daytona Beach: a two-year waiver of fees such as for landing and baggage handling as well as for rent.
In addition the airport and Convention & Visitors Bureau have both pledged to assist Breeze in marketing its new routes.”
Calm down, calm down…be nice. It was just the “standard incentives…”
I’m sure it’s the same incentives Volusia County offers your small business whenever you have trouble making payroll, paying rent on your building, or have nothing left to market your services…
Besides, airport officials will be quick to point out that DAB operates as an “enterprise fund” with expenses covered by the revenue it generates “and from state and federal grants” – which apparently originate in fairytale places like Tallahassee and Washington – where raindrops are gumdrops, money grows on trees, and geese lay golden eggs to underwrite for-profit discount airlines…
In addition, Campbell-Baker announced that the CVB will offer up a cool $150,000 from its budget to help market Breeze’s new routes…
How nice.
Even Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower got caught up in the excitement, pulling the number “$21 million” out of his backside before the first Breeze flight has landed when swooning over the possible annual economic impact of the four routes, “It’s a win-win all the way around, he said.”
That’s nice…
Quote of the Week
“Volusia County Schools had to return almost $5 million in state funds due to decreased enrollment numbers for the 2023-2024 school year.
As the district proceeds with planning its $1.2 billion budget for the upcoming academic year, School Board Chair Jamie Haynes said those funds could have helped with teacher and faculty salary increases.
“There are consequences sometimes to the actions that we choose to have,” Haynes said at the board’s meeting on Tuesday, July 30. “There is not a single state, district, county, area … in this entire United States that is perfect, just as there’s not a business out there that’s perfect. Every day, there are great teachers here in Volusia County Schools teaching our kids.”
The pandemic brought about “keyboard warriors,” she said — people that are using social media to bash the district and administration. Haynes said she believes this has contributed to the student enrollment decline.
“What you’re doing is you’re actually saying to parents that are watching and listening, ‘That’s not where I should keep my child,'” Haynes said.
The school district ended the 2023-2024 school year with an enrollment of 57,172 students. Pre-pandemic, VCS had an enrollment county of about 64,000 students.
“Every child we lose to one of the other choices impacts our budget,” Haynes said.”
–Volusia County School Board Chair Jamie Haynes, as quoted by reporter Jarleene Almenas, Ormond Beach Observer, “Volusia County Schools returns almost $5 million in state funds due to decreased enrollment,” Thursday, August 1, 2024
As a longtime watcher of all-things government and an insufferable blowhard – I have seen the best of elected officials and career public servants who give freely of their time and talents in service to the greater good. Those who work diligently despite withering criticism, using constituent concerns as a civic barometer rather than a personal insult, always accepting responsibility for their personal and organizational shortcomings, learning from mistakes.
Chairwoman Jamie Haynes
Unfortunately, I’ve also seen the worst instincts of petty politicians who defect blame, project their own inadequacies, shift guilt, gaslight, disparage others, vilify, avoid accountability, and engage in other egocentric defense mechanisms from their lofty perch on the dais of power.
Sound familiar?
I don’t know about you, but count me in the growing number of Volusia County taxpayers, parents, students, teachers, and staff and who are sick and tired of being condescendingly lectured by (insert Volusia County School Board member here) who refuse to take a long and introspective look at the district’s abysmal lack of leadership, effective communication, or strategic vision as they fritter away a massive $1.2 billion annual budget.
In my view, Chairwoman Haynes should realize those “keyboard warriors” she blames are citizens and taxpayers – many with growing concerns about the competency and direction of our elected officials and senior leadership in the Ivory Tower of Power in Deland – frightened by the disastrous unaddressed maladministration and angered by their arrogant refusal to listen to the needs of those in the classroom.
Perhaps that is why students, teachers, and staff continue their disturbing exodus?
Just once, I wish an elected representative on the Volusia County School Board would admonish Superintendent Carmen Balgobin and her coterie of incompetents in senior administration with the same ferocity and verve she musters when blasting those of us who pay the bills and are expected to suffer in silence.
And Another Thing!
When I say my military service was nothing special – you can take that to the bank…
During the summer of 1979, after horribly failing every course I had enrolled in at Daytona Beach Community College, my best friend and I stopped throwing a Frisbee on the beach long enough to join the U. S. Army Reserve. A few long and hot months later we completed Basic Training and Military Police School at Fort McClellan, Alabama.
It was some of the best law enforcement instruction I ever received. It also turned a wayward boy into a reasonably self-reliant man and taught me to work cooperatively with a diverse group of people under difficult circumstances.
I served the next six-years with the 345th MP Company (Escort Guard) 81st ARCOM, based in Melbourne, Florida, with first platoon located in Daytona Beach, a unit trained to transport prisoners of war by various modes.
While I never deployed – and didn’t earn one ribbon (especially not the Good Conduct medal) – I drank a lot of beer, was reduced in rank twice, and served with many great individuals, some of whom became lifelong friends and great colleagues in law enforcement.
After completing my enlistment obligation, the worst soldier the Army ever produced was incredibly proud to receive an Honorable Discharge.
As a Private E-2…
Yeah. I know.
I tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly of what passed for my military service in light of serious allegations that U.S. Representative Cory Mills may have fudged details of his military career as he runs for re-election in Florida’s 7th District that covers southern Volusia County and all of Seminole County.
Rep. Cory Mills
According to an in-depth article by reporter Mark Harper in The Daytona Beach News-Journal this week, we learned:
“Mills, a first-term congressman representing Florida’s 7th District, is facing an Aug. 20 Republican primary challenge from Michael Johnson, a retired Department of Defense employee and Vietnam-era Army veteran from Altamonte Springs.
While campaigning, Johnson is handing voters flyers that ask: “Why does Mills lie about his military service? … He is committing Stolen Valor.”
If true, those are serious allegations against a sitting United States Congressman. (See Rep. Mills’ official biography here: https://mills.house.gov/about )
According to the report, Rep. Mills’ accusers have posted their “evidence” online at www.corymillswatch.com
At issue is Rep. Mills’ claim to have been awarded the Bronze Star medal for heroism during combat in Iraq. His detractors believe he may have conflated his military service with time spent as a security contractor in Iraq, which apparently occurred after his discharge from the Army.
The Army recently completed a review of Rep. Mills’ awards and confirmed he received the Bronze Star and several other service-related medals in a July memorandum.
Then Mills provided the News-Journal with a Form 638 – the official written recommendation for the Bronze Star – signed by retired Brigadier General Arnold Gordon-Bray, who corroborated to the News-Journal that he signed the recommendation.
“Bray himself told The News-Journal that he did sign a recommendation for Mills, but neither he nor Mills answered the question of when it was signed.”
In the article, Mills detractors point out the form was dated 2021 – and Gen. Gordon-Bray retired in 2012…
In his defense, Rep. Mills was quoted in the News-Journal report, “I’m tired of the slander and the defamation,” Mills said. “I ran for office to be able to serve the American people, not to defend something I did 20 years ago over and over and over.”
I’ll bet he’s tired of these grievous smears.
Because if Rep. Mills is in fact a combat wounded veteran who was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in Iraq – he deserves an immediate apology from the Johnson campaign – right before Mr. Johnson removes himself from the race.
However, if the insinuations brought by Mr. Johnson and others are true – then Rep. Mills owes his constituents – and anyone who served honorably in the Global War on Terror – an immediate apology, right before he resigns from Congress, closes his campaign, and steps aside…
In my view, it is that serious.
In my view, claiming false service accomplishments and unearned awards for valor steals from those brave souls who earned the respect they so richly deserve with blood, sweat, and tears – or made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
Having read the timeline and assorted items of “evidence” as posted by Mr. Johnson and his supporters, I must admit, some things in Rep. Mills’ official military records (as presented in the article and on the website) don’t add up to me.
As a military veteran and Congressman, Rep. Mills must know how to file the proper form to correct his original DD-214 – something that would serve to quell the many questions swirling around these shocking claims and counterclaims.
If you live in Florida’s 7th Congressional District – or are simply concerned about good governance, honesty, and personal integrity in high public office – I encourage you to peruse both sides of this disturbing debate then form your own conclusions.
Because if this is a case of mudslinging gone horribly outside the bounds of ethical campaigning (a wide-open space in the scorched earth bloodbath that is modern politics) then it should be Exhibit A in the case to stop the personal destruction by and between candidates for elective office – something that has a chilling effect on good people considering a run for public service.
While members of Congress – on both sides of the aisle – have set an extraordinarily low bar for what passes for “statesmanship” and elective service, in my view, sitting representatives like Mr. Mills have a moral and ethical obligation to tell the truth and conduct themselves in a manner that reflects creditably on the House of Representatives, their sworn office, and the district they serve.
That means speaking the unvarnished truth to voters about their background and service.
In my view, these are moral imperatives for holding a position of public trust – and they should not be subject to quibbling, obfuscation, or false witness for cheap political gain on either side of a campaign.
Barker's View 