Deltona commissioner raffled chance to shave her head in fundraiser. Here's why

DELTONA — If you ask Dana McCool, her hair has never looked better.

But on Monday, the city commissioner, who is currently sporting a light brown long pixie-style cut, is having her head shaved before the 6:30 p.m. commission meeting.

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McCool, who announced earlier this year that she'd been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic bone cancer, said her hair is already coming out in clumps, so she thought a fundraiser benefitting the Florida Cancer Specialists Foundation would be the best way to enter her next phase of treatment.

McCool sold raffle tickets for the chance to shave her head on Monday, an event she dubbed "May 1 More Be Saved."

"I want to, in everything that I do, benefit others," McCool said in a phone interview one week before the event.

Winner chosen

A winner was picked Friday evening: Phil Norpoth, of Circleville, Ohio.

"I bought a lot of tickets, so I was hoping to win," Norpoth said by phone Friday night. "I wish I could be there."

Norpoth and McCool met several years ago through work. Norpoth is the president of Euro Trucking, and McCool runs McCool Transportation Management Inc.

"I just wish her really well," Norpoth said. "I've always admired her; she's not afraid to speak her mind."

Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood, as the grand proxy barber, will handle the haircut since the raffle winner is unable to attend.

McCool, who will turn 59 on May 8, said she isn't nervous as she shaved her head a little over a decade ago when she had breast cancer.

Good outlook

McCool said her outlook is great, and her doctors are confident about her treatment.

"I do that mental battle with myself all the time, as I think many other cancer patients do," McCool said. "It's about remaining positive and remaining focused on your recovery instead of your illness."

McCool said while she's missed a few social events, her treatment otherwise hasn't affected her ability to serve. She told her fellow commissioners and constituents during a meeting earlier this year that she would let them know if that changes.

"I feel fully cognizant of my responsibilities and what's going on in my city," McCool said. "I feel fully engaged, and I know that I have passed up a couple of social things that I would have normally gone to, but I think that that's prudent."

Also confident in McCool's recovery are friends who know her well, such as Pat Northey, a former longtime Volusia County Council member, who described McCool as tough, smart, and having a heart of gold.

"Despite this cancer battle, she continues to be laser-focused on her public work," Northey, a Deltona resident, said by phone Wednesday.

Northey's husband, Ed Northey, succumbed to his battle with cancer on Feb. 1, 2022, and Northey said McCool was a frequent and helpful presence in her home during that time.

"I think, considering all that she's going through, for her to be this open about her health issues is remarkable," Northey said. "She's not running from her cancer battle, she's facing it straight on, and she's trying to make something positive out of what is a difficult health concern."

Podcast aims to find common ground

Eric Raimundo, a legislative aide to State Rep. Keith Truenow, R-Tavares, also is rooting for McCool.

Raimundo and McCool co-host The Smoking Truth Podcast together.

The duo first met about five years ago when McCool, not yet an elected official, marched into the office of then-state Rep. David Santiago, R-Deltona, for whom Raimundo was a legislative assistant, to discuss her concerns about Deltona Water, the city's utility.

"I enjoyed the conversation with Dana because I knew she was passionate, I knew that her heart was in the right place," Raimundo said. "I'm always one that even if I don't agree with you, as long as whatever you bring to the table is something you truly believe in, I'm always willing to listen."

The pair remained friends, meeting from time to time to discuss politics over cigars, two things they both enjoy regardless of their political differences; Raimundo is a Republican, and McCool is a Democrat.

McCool felt like their conversations would make for an interesting podcast, and "The Smoking Truth Podcast" was launched last September.

"We want to show that you can be friends with people who really aren't politically aligned with you, and we're trying to get to a better way to talk about things civilly, openly, even things that are triggering for people," McCool said.

She said she limits herself to a quarter of a cigar when she has one.

Even when conversations get intense, both said they want to maintain their friendship at the end of the day.

'My politics do not define me'

"I'm defined by my friends and my family; my politics do not ultimately define me," Raimundo said.

The legislative aide said he's inspired by the way Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill famously conversed with each other, "where two individuals who probably don't agree on much can find a way to have civil disagreements and then also find ways or areas where they can have some common ground."

The duo record an episode weekly at Mike and Mike Productions in Deltona.

Some past guests: Northey; former Holly Hill police chief Mark Barker, who writes the popular blog Barker's View; State Rep. Webster Barnaby, R-Deltona; and Chitwood.

Both McCool and Raimundo cited their episode with the sheriff as a favorite interview.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Deltona Commissioner Dana McCool raffled head shaving in cancer benefit