
According to reports, Deltona City Manager Dale “Doc” Dougherty, who desperately wants to change Deltona’s raucous image, recently proposed a series of controversial “rules” and over-the-top diktats (such as allowing Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. to sanction anyone deemed to have “excessive body odor”?) under a subjective policy titled “Disorderly Conduct at Meetings Prohibited” including a “DECORUM POLICY.”
Sound familiar?
Unfortunately, when one thinks of the two most dysfunctional and inaccessible local governments in the region, the Volusia County Council and the Lost City of Deltona rank right at the top.
One thing both entities have in common is repeatedly attacking the public’s right to address their elected officials. On Tuesday, several of our “representatives” on the Volusia County Council let us know in no uncertain terms that these are their “business meetings” — and they would prefer if We, The Little People kept our cake holes shut, email any piddly-a– problems we may have, and stop the time-wasting grandstanding at the podium.
(Seriously. Councilman Jake Johansson believes the only reason Volusia County taxpayers seek to participate in person is because “…it’s the only time you can communicate on the podium in front of the TV so you can go watch yourself later…”)
Don’t take my jaded word for it, watch Item 6 here: https://tinyurl.com/my537vc2 The fun begins at 2:04:46…
Look, I don’t live in Deltona, but if you care about good governance in your own backyard, you should care about good governance everywhere, and as a large and influential municipality in Volusia County, what happens in that troubled community ripples across the region.
For instance, when potential entrepreneurial investors consider relocating job-producing enterprises here, they use government stability and accessibility as an important metric.
Unfortunately, Deltona continues to struggle with the concept of meaningful public participation and the ability of citizens in a free society to express themselves, provide substantive input, seek redress of grievances, disagree, and voice their opposition.
What are they afraid of?
In the view of many, it is time for thinskinned Deltona officials to stop the suppression of public participation to hide dissent and embrace the constitutional protections that allow citizens to voice their opinion, criticize decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods, and provide essential input on public policy.
— Barker writes a blog, usually about local government, at barkersview.org. A retired police chief, Barker says he lives as a semi-recluse in an arrogantly shabby home in coastal Central Florida, with his wife and two dogs. This is excerpted from his blog, lightly edited (he swears a lot) and reprinted with his permission