How many of you agree with Volusia County Council Chairman Frank Bruno's state of the county address Monday in which he said: "My message to you is that the state of Volusia County is good -- no, we're better than good."
Are we?
Really?
Volusia County's own Department of Economic Development cites the county's unemployment rate for December at 12.2 percent. There were 30,848 people out of work in a workforce of 252,649. In 2009, Volusia County's unemployment was 11 percent: Higher than Florida's 10.5 percent and the nation's 9.3 percent.
But according to County Council Chairman Frank Bruno, "My message to you is that the state of Volusia County is good -- no, we're better than good."
Foreclosures are an eye opener as well, according to statistics from RealtyTrac.There were 9,547 Volusia County homes in foreclosure last year. In December alone, four cities had triple digit foreclosures: Deltona led the way with 371, followed by Daytona Beach with 361, DeLand with 240 and New Smyrna Beach with 206.
These were followed by Ormond Beach with 85, Port Orange with 80, Edgewater with 55, DeBary with 51 and Orange City with 42. Among the smallest communities, Pierson and unincorporated DeLeon Springs each had five, followed by tiny cities Lake Helen and Oak Hill at four each.
But according to County Council Chairman Frank Bruno, "My message to you is that the state of Volusia County is good -- no, we're better than good."
Just five weeks into the new year, Volusia County has already had four gun-shot related murders: One in Ormond Beach, the second in Deltona, the third in greater New Smyrna Beach and the fourth in DeLand.
But according to County Council Chairman Frank Bruno, "My message to you is that the state of Volusia County is good -- no, we're better than good."
Many of Volusia's cities have long since instituted hiring freezes in municipal government and eliminated some positions altogether through attrition and vacancies. Several municipalities did not give employees raises in the last fiscal year. Municipal leaders can't even count on the so-called "roll-back rate" in trying to sell taxpayers on the idea that their taxes haven't really increased, even if city spending has not gone up -- not with Florida's reality that virtually every city in the state is now referring to it as a "roll-forward rate" because assessments have dropped dramatically.
But according to County County Chairman Frank Bruno, "My message to you is that the state of Volusia County is good -- no, we're better than good."
Many of Volusia's cities are struggling not only to pay union-negotiated wages for their cops and firefighters, the city of Port Orange went as far last year as exploring the idea of bagging its own police force in favor of coverage from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. But the cost difference was minuscule and didn't gain traction. Still, municipalities across Volusia County are struggling to come up with money to cover the escalating costs of pensions for police and firefighters.
But according to County Council Chairman Frank Bruno, "My message to you is that the state of Volusia County is good -- no, we're better than good."
One thing Bruno stayed clear of was the financial crisis still befalling Daytona State College, which lost as much as $1.8 million in the disastrous American Music fiasco. Bruno was on the ad-hoc committee that supposedly was looking for ways to make the college whole. Of course, the money is still owed. To make matters worse, 11-year DSC President Kent Sharples was sent packing by his own board, led by chairman John Tanner, the former state attorney, with the final three contractual years of Sharples' salary and benefits totaling $1.5 million, paid in one lump sum.
And so Daytona State is really out more than $3 million, including the money for Sharples' ouster, which is looking more and more like a vengeful act. As for coming up with the money lost by the college in the festival fiasco, Tanner, in fact, has recently suggested the college might just eat the loss.
But according to County County Chairman Frank Bruno, "My message to you is that the state of Volusia County is good -- no, we're better than good."
Ironically Sharples was among the 600 people in attendance at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach for Bruno's speech. Sharples, of course, landed back on his feet from his humiliating departure from the college less than 10 weeks ago with a new job -- that of private business recruiter for Volusia County, with five of the most powerful business leaders, among them Brown and Brown's Hyatt Brown, Daytona International Speedway's Lesa France Kennedy and NASCAR's Brian France, each putting up $100,000 annually for three years for a grand total of $1.5 million. This will cover undisclosed salaries for Sharples and an assistant, plus travel and marketing expenses. Not bad for a decent educator, administrator and community leader, who was really doomed because he agreed to have the college acquire the Daytona Beach News-Journal Center, the $29 million albatross, nearly half taxpayer-funded, that led to last year's fire-sale of the newspaper and nearly 500 people losing their jobs.
But according to County Council Chairman Frank Bruno, "My message to you is that the state of Volusia County is good -- no, we're better than good."
Really?