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Your support means a lot to me. Thank you!
There will be a lot of sleazy attorneys and ignoble citizens very disappointed by this.
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2016/1220/?Tab=BillText
My sister is awesome and so are the respectful residents of Orange City.
The Fleecing of DeBary
May 6th- City Attorney provides memo stating surveys are not public record. Oct 2nd- Rick Dwyer instructs Dan Parrott to add “Surveys and Mailbox” to the Oct 7th meeting agenda. (The day before my bicycle tour) Oct 11th- Norman Erickson requests surveys from the city. Oct 12th- News Journal requests surveys from me. Oct 15th- City Attorney advises I make records public to avoid potential legal issues. Oct 27th- I return from my bicycle tour, get the records, and make them public. Oct 28th- News Journal contacts me to set appointment to view surveys. Nov 9th- News Journal meets me and inspects the surveys without incident. Nov 12th- Norman Erickson files a frivolous lawsuit. Nov 17th- Insurance Attorney recommends that I offer the surveys to Norman Erickson. Nov 17th- I send Norman Erickson an email which states:
“I received a copy of your lawsuit from the City Attorney and it appears that you are seeking to review the surveys from the Mayor’s Mailbox. They have very recently become a public record and it goes without saying that I’d be happy to have you review them at your leisure if you are still interested. Please advise.” ***I still have received no response to this offer - Norman Erickson has refused to inspect the public records***
Feb 3rd- City Council votes 4-1 to approve a $10,000 settlement to avoid fighting the frivolous lawsuit.
Insurance attorney states that this unique situation is new territory and there is no case law to support or deny the validity of the initial memo regarding the surveys not being public records. His recommendation to settle was based on his belief that it simply is not financially reasonable to pursue the fight in court. I voted against the settlement because I believe giving $10,000 away so easily will inspire others to file similar frivolous suits.
Imagine, if you will, a world with no Facebook Groups.
Pots, kettles, & poetry.
It would be more funny if it weren't so sad.
Common Sense
“Volusia County is trapped in a cycle of dependence of government that even has the Chamber in its grip. We have a drastically underutilized commercial sector that only contributes about 30% of our total property tax revenue while Seminole County gets over 60% from commercial. ... Google Florida Tax Watch and pull up the 2009 study on independent taxing districts by Dominic Calabro. He points out that most other Counties dissolved their taxing districts decades ago so that only a dozen are left in 67 Florida Counties. We have three of them in Volusia in a tribute to our dependence on the public sector their taxing districts. They are redundant and put an extra 10% burden on property tax in Volusia that damages our local economy. Who is going to open a business in DeBary, Deltona or Orange City when they can go across the river to Sanford and save seven mils on their property tax. That may be their entire profit margin. The assessor has shown us how our tax millage (The highest in Florida) has discouraged business development while save our homes has shifted even more of the burden to commercial property and high end homes. The exemptions our politicians give out only exacerbate the problem by taking so many off the tax rolls they rarely show up to protest modest hikes. It’s a great political system, but a lousy economic model. Once again, the best solution is not to let government morph into a behemoth in the first place.”
The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.
Mayor's Maxim #29
Rich Gailey said you insulted a DeBary business owner. Is this true?
I never put down a local business owner and the guy he is referring to is (for the record) a Deltona resident. Former county council candidate Rich Gailey is a liar and exaggerating issues in an effort to remain relevant in local politics. Very sad!
Misery loves company.
Most people can respect you for fighting the good fight. The ones who won't never would anyway.
Will the trees that line Ft. Florida road be cut down as part of the 700 unit development that was approved this week ?
The developer stated in the meeting he planned on creating a buffer to maintain the natural tree canopy over Ft Florida Rd. I too would like that and will clarify at the next hearing on it.
They hypocrisy and ignorance is strong in this one.
Get it? I get it.
Dare to Dream
Dear Mayor,
I have owned a home in DeBary since 2002. In 2011, we ventured off and purchased another home in Pinehurst, North Carolina. I have watched the slow growth of DeBary over the years. There are many attributes in DeBary that could make this community stand out. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that ideas are scattered, at best. I would like to propose my thoughts. I brought these matters up years ago, but would like to try again in hopes that someone might take an interest.
I am not sure if you have ever been to Pinehurst, North Carolina. If not, a short trip out there in the spring, summer, etc. might give you some insight into my suggestions.
1. The town is small. There are several garden groups that all work together to make the area beautiful. The Pinehurst Country Club is probably the center of the community, but there are two small villages within 25 minutes. There is also a train station in Southern Pines, NC which is one of the Villages. The area where the train station is located (Southern Pines) has tree lines streets with small, individually owned businesses and small locally owned restaurants. People come from all over to these small shops, via train or car. THE MAIN THEME THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITIES IS CONTINUITY. ALL CANOPIES OVER THE WINDOWS ARE DARK GREEN (STANDARD) FLOWER POTS ARE EVERYWHERE, HANGING OR BESIDES THE BUSINESSES. These flowerpots are filled by local garden clubs. ( a small Village concept could be done on the corner of 17-92 and Dirksen. It is ideal. (see attached) Coordination could be made with the Gateway Arts Center to have Art Shows along the streets, small cafes, small individually owned businesses with a paved street down the center. It doesn’t have to be big. It has to be well done.
2. The same is done with the Village of Pinehurst. The Garden Clubs, each year, has a plant sale. The monies they make from the plant sales goes to the planting of flowers, pots etc in the Village. All pots are filled in unison – beautifully done. The Garden Club plants all the flowers. There is one coordinator that completes the project. DeBary has these beautiful large pots. The plantings should be uniform and lush and done by a local Garden Club. The DeBary Country Club would be a great place to start – trying to get people organized to start a local Garden Club responsible for the plantings of these pots.
3. When you drive down 17-92 there is an array of canopies on these buildings, hundreds of different colors. I would suggest a standard that these businesses should be held two. (Dark Green canopies or some other color but all to be the same. The colors of the buildings should be a certain color combination – giving them four or five choices all that are compatible.
4. Businesses that line 17-92, in my opinion, be made to line their parking lots with planters of scrubs, hiding the parking lot from visibly being seen from the road. It is all about curb appeal. It doesn’t take a lot, it just takes a little continuity from the City
DeBary has a lot of attributes: Train Mall within a short distance Family owned businesses New theatre within a short distance Access to I-4 A reasonable distance to Orlando and activities In my opinion, the key to making DeBary a great place is take what is here here and enhance it. Small, individually owned businesses will want to come here. You have the attributes, make it visually appealing.
I am sure you get several letters from residents. I am in hopes that mine stands out and some attention is given to it. I would be happy to meet with you. I look forward to hearing from you.
Angela PS - your email address is undeliverable as is the City Manager
When you stand up for what you believe in, when you put yourself out there and start to go after what you want, some people will inadvertently stop liking you. Truth is, they never really liked you in the first place. Or perhaps they just wrote you off as 'safe'. But the moment you started doing something that they didn’t have the courage to do themselves, they panicked. That panic translates itself into, "I don’t like that guy/girl". Don’t let that get to you. Don’t internalize it. It’s a perfectly normal reaction, and it happens at all levels.
Mayor’s Maxim #28