Is it time for the mayor to hang up his skates ?
Palmetto Pal <palmettopal95@gmail.com> 8:06 PM
Someone needs to remind the mayor of the old political saying, that horses and trends are most easily ridden in the direction they are going. and increasingly the trend in Port Orange is that the people no longer want what he is selling. The days of the mayor being able to manipulate issues and developer friendly projects of his choosing with the aid of a completely amoral manager and pocket vote councilman are over.
His disloyal decision to bury fraud and abuse information he was given rather than share that information with council and then leave his thumb on the scale to prevent an honest investigation from ever having been conducted has sealed his fate. His efforts to silence a swelling parade of critics is increasingly leaving him looking mean and nasty.
My goodness last evening a newcomer from the audience came to the podium to tell him to speak up, and start speaking clearly because no one can understand what he is saying.
Palmetto Pal
Interesting comment from Palmetto Pal. Throwing a rock and hiding your hand is the old middle school trick. Maybe now he will put on his big boy pants and run for mayor. Of course he will have to declare who he is. Any chance you’ll “man up”? What are you afraid of?
Bob Pohlmann
Hey Bob,
With your new found defense of the Mayor after a year hiatuses I have got to ask….. Did he promise that you can be the next Mayor again ????
Ted Noftall
Hey Ted. I can assure you that I have no desire to run for political office again in Port Orange. That would include the mayor’s position. I can also assure you that no one in town can promise anyone any elected position. But I will tell you, I reserve the right to change my mind if I want to. As I have told you in the past, I feel like I won last years election by losing. There is too much nastiness and disrespect. At the same time, I will still follow local politics, as I have for the last 30 years in Port Orange. You may not know it but I also ran for city councilman in 1986 when I was still the “new” kid in town.
As far as my “rub” with palmetto pal, I just don’t think it is cool to make disparaging comments about anyone without owning up to them. Anyone can make comments from afar and not be responsible for making them. I just feel it is “wimpy” for someone to do that. I always sign my name, you always sign your name, what is the problem with doing that. I find it cowardly not to own up to something one says but that is just me. It is OK to have an opinion, you know I respect yours even if it is vastly different then mine. Name calling and being disrespectful should not be part of the political discourse. Back up what you say by owning up and give facts about your opinion. I respect your in-depth knowledge of facts as they relate to your understanding of Port Orange government and it’s issues. That doesn’t mean I agree with everything you say. Look what’s going on is Washington with all the hatred. It is not doing our country any good and I do not see it doing any good here in Port Orange either.
Bob you are right I do sign my name and state my positions in public, BUT I have always advocated for the printing of anonymous letters to the editor for the same reason that practice was followed by our Nation’s founders … namely ideas are more important than the advocate of an idea, AND we would be ever the poorer it an idea were not published because its author cannot come forward.
A lot has changed in the year since you left PO politics. We now have numerous citizen advocates. In addition to Palmetto Pal I can name Concerned Citizen, Concerned Taxpayer, Concerned Retired Taxpayer, Constance Dogood, PO Meter Mess, and 2 or 3 others signing under Greek names. Now I feel more that confident that several of these individuals work for the City and I for one do not want to lose the information they are leaking for fear of their losing their jobs if they were to sign their real names.
So sticking with the loyalty question that palmetto pal raised ….tell us what you believe.
DO you feel that the Mayor was disloyal for failing to disclose to you and to the rest of Council the Roger Smith payroll fraud allegations he was given in July 2012 and that were kept under wraps for 9 months OR for failing to disclose the sweetheart retirement agreement with the former Finance Director when he first became aware of that travesty, and when there was still time to do something about it ????????
Bob it is really good to have your left wing lunacy back to kick around, AND as for your whining that Washington is evil and we should all get along and sing Kumbaya I would point out that the only time you Democrat hypocrites feel that way is when your Libtard heroes are in power because you were all about drawing horns on Bush the devil incarnate when he and Chaney, and Rumsfeld and Rice were in power.
Hey Ted, always a pleasure to hear from you. Can’t agree with you on the first paragraph. I just don’t like to see people hiding their opinions and not expressing them. Maybe that is the teacher part of me coming out. Always want people to be proud of who they are. I guess according to you that is too liberal.
I would hope that any city employee would be willing, and able, to fully express any irregularities that might be occurring within the confines of city operations. If they would be punished for bringing to light an irregularity, than the person handing out discipline to the informer is the one who should be punished. There should be no punishment for honesty. I dislike for anyone to have to work under those conditions but I understand where they are coming from. The truth shall set you free.
As far as the mayor goes, I would not say he was disloyal. You will have to speak with him to find out answers to your questions.
On to your last paragraph. This one will be fun and quite easy to reply to. Let me give you a history lesson because I have been following national politics from the Vietnam era when I was a teenager. When Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980 I was shocked as were most Democrats. I could not believe that the country would move in that direction. When Reagan was inaugurated in 1981 the Democratic congress went along with his agenda and supported the direction he was taking America. There was not the infighting that we see now in Washington. There was cooperation between both parties. Even though Reagan was a conservative he increased government spending by 57% and raised the debt limit 18 times. At the same time he lowered taxes on the wealthy which led to a Hugh jump in the federal deficit. You might say that Reagan was the grandfather of federal deficits. He would not be labeled a conservative by today’s standards. When Bush the second became the president he pushed for and got passed in the Republican controlled congress the Part D Medicare supplement without it being paid for which added billions to the deficit. It was terrible law when it was first passed but the democrats worked with the Republicans to make it better. It still is not paid for. Bush took us to the unnecessary war in Iraq which cost America the lives of 5000 Americans. The entire cost of this debacle was put on the credit card adding to the deficit. That was trillions of dollars. He also let Osama Bin Laden off scott free when he had him cornered in Torah Bora. Next Bush brought America to the brink of financial catastrophe, due to lack of Wall Street controls, costing middle class Americans jobs and wiping out middle class savings for millions while his rich cat friends made billions. At the end of the Bush years Bush came to congress and asked for Democratic support to fend off a complete collapse of the American economy. The Dems did not like it but they did what was best for our country and worked with Bush and the Republicans. I guess you supported the Bush/Cheney/ Rumsfield/Rice years. Yeah those were the good old days. Those people are scumbags for what they did to America and the middle class.
The people of America finally had enough of the Republicans and voted for Obama electing him twice by huge margins. And just like the Democrats saved America from WW1, the Great Depression, and WW2, the Democrats will save America again. The Democratic Party that gave us Social Security and Medicare, now gives Americans under 65 who have no insurance, a chance to get medical insurance like other civilized countries. So Obama comes to office and saves the American economy, creates the lowest tax rate for middle class Americans in over 60 years, passes the Affordable Care Act for the uninsured, and lowers unemployment. At the same time the stock market doubles in strength, and he kills more terrorists than Bush ever did. Obama gets us out of Iraq, pulls us out of Afganastan by next summer, and keeps us out of wars in Libya, Syria , and Egypt. He passes Wall Street Reform, and signs a law giving equal pay to women for doing the same job as men. This is of course without one iota of support from the Republicans. The R’s have fought him tooth and nail on every single issue. The R’s do not do what is good for America. The R’s are controlled by the super rich and the corporate welfare cheaters. The R’ are the biggest beneficiaries of free welfare in America today. And to boot, they killed the middle class. Am I proud to be a Democrat? You bet I am. The lack of cooperation between both parties comes down to some simple to understand reasons. The R’s have thwarted any progress that could be achieved by cooperating in Congress with the Democrats and they refuse to accept a black president. The Democrats have worked with Republican presidents in the past. Why not the other way around?
Bob,
I am way disappointed that you are not outraged that the Mayor did not share pertant information that he was given with Council…. but then again you always did see your role as supporting 99.9% of whatever the Mayor and Manager decided to do.
As for your lack of concern with repercussions for employees, let me hazard to speculate that after 40 years in our schools you must be aware of abuse and waste in school board spending.
So why don’t you write a nice little blog detailing same and sign your name to it ?????.
Hey Ted. Actually I am not aware of any abuse and waste in our school system. In fact I have been very impressed with the operations of Volusia County Schools. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to publicly state that. Our school system has given me an opportunity to raise my family here, own a home, and enjoy a comfortable middle class life style. You will never hear me say a negative word about Volusia County Schools. They have been great to me and the children of Volusia County. I am fortunate to live and work here. You must remember I come from Hudson County New Jersey. The capital of corruption in NJ. Towns like Jersey City, Union City, West New York, North Bergen. Very corrupt cities. No one got a job without working for the “system”. Moving here was a heaven compared to “up north”.
As I stated above, I understand the reluctance of city employees to speak out if there is something amiss. Nothing is perfect in life and there are issues with all parts of employment. I would venture to say even in your line of work there are issues to work out. Recent issues that have come to light in Port Orange are unfortunate. I was as shocked as anyone when they surfaced. But I choose not to stick the knife in and twist. Things will get better but I agree with you they seem very slow in coming around. It is a mess at City Hall. You can disagree with the mayor all you want. As I have said, I do not agree with some of his votes, and he with mine. But when you sit on the council there has to be cooperation to move forward. I don’t see that now. I don’t see anything being accomplished.
As always, I enjoy our discourse. I look forward to more in the future. I may not agree with what you say but I support your right to say it.