Volusia lawmakers hear pleas for storm aid, other items: 'We need you now more than ever'

One by one, they came Monday with requests, everything from funding and relaxed regulations for hurricane recovery to safer street design, the freedom to carry a weapon without a permit and a convention of states to put the brakes on the power of the federal government.

Four of the six men who represent Volusia County in the Florida Senate and House of Representatives listened to more than three dozen requests Monday in a ritual known as the legislative delegation meeting.

With their 60-day session starting on March 7, Sens. Travis Hutson and Tom Wright, as well as Reps. Webster Barnaby and Chase Tramont, got a message loud and clear from some of Volusia County's coastal cities: We need help. Barnaby pointed to fiscal responsibility by lawmakers in years past (while not mentioning billions in federal aid), helping Florida to a $20 billion surplus.

"I can tell you that all my colleagues on this dais will do our utmost best to ensure that you get the emergency treatment and help that you seek as quickly as possible,” Barnaby told New Smyrna Beach Mayor Fred Cleveland.

Cleveland made perhaps the most dramatic appeal among a group of mayors, city managers and city commissioners who approached the lawmakers.

"We have been holding on and doing all we can to put right our lives, our homes and our businesses following the county’s highest recorded wind speeds and rainfall during the long-suffering Ian followed by the knockout blow of Nicole, directly on NSB’s 41 square miles," he said.

The city needs money for a number of drainage projects, but also help "to navigate the voluminous, awesome, contradictory and seemingly disconnected federal, state and city regulations" that must be navigated for recovery, Cleveland said.

"We need you now more than ever," he said. "This can be your defining moment to lead us, to show us, to enable us to rebuild, reconnect and recover."

All of New Smyrna Beach's walkovers to the beach are damaged and closed. Approximately 1,000 homes and businesses had indoor flooding, and 200 homes were structurally damaged. "Hundreds" of residents have not been able to return home, Cleveland said.

Nancy Miller, mayor of Daytona Beach Shores, told the legislators some of her coastal city's seawalls have been temporarily restored, but none have permanent walls.

"I’m sure you’re all aware at one time we had 27 properties that were deemed unsafe. So those residents had to leave in record time, leave their homes and leave their belongings. As of today we still have 10 that are unsafe," Miller said.

Business has fallen off by 35% to 50%, she said, as damage to the beaches has reduced tourism and foot traffic, she said.

Other cities had other asks for lawmakers.

For instance, DeLand Mayor Chris Cloudman said his city will seek funding to assure "long-term stability" for the West Volusia homeless shelter, The Bridge, which works to help homeless people find permanent housing.

Holly Hill Mayor Chris Via said more than $2 million is being sought to build a new fire station, while other cities haven't settled on their final requests. Ormond Beach City Manager Joyce Shanahan said her staff is working on proposals in the areas of water resiliency, water quality and economic development.

Education: Calls for increased teacher pay, wider school choice

Lawmakers heard a plea for more money to allow school districts the flexibility to offer higher wages to first-year and veteran teachers. Noting Volusia County Schools has about 140 vacant teaching positions, Elizabeth Albert, president of the Volusia United Educators, also proposed lawmakers lift a six-month waiting period for educators who retire before they can return to the classroom.

Ray Sanchez, speaking on behalf of the Volusia 912 Patriots Inc., said he is pleased that Gov. Ron DeSantis is "leading the charge for freedom in education here in Florida."

"Our public education system is stressing our good teachers and failing our children. A decline in student achievement in reading, writing, mathematics, science and history is well-documented. Good parents and teachers are faced with evil agendas being foisted upon our children at public schools. They are fed up and know we can do better."

Sanchez proposed a constitutional amendment that will "secure the right of any parent to choose any school within the state for their child's education and use state tax money to do so, to give public school teachers the option to teach at any school accepting these state funds and keep their existing insurance and retirement benefits."

Shimene Shepard, executive director of FUTURES Foundation for Volusia County Schools, sought a statewide funding increase for the Take Stock in Children scholarship and mentoring program by $1 million. The program provides one-on-one mentoring and comprehensive college success services for more than 8,500 low-income students statewide, including 87 in Volusia County.

Other requests: Safe streets, prison enhancements

Colleen Nicoulin, executive director of the River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization, called for state funding and policy to be steered toward safety, particularly with regard to pedestrians.

Florida has annually rated among the most dangerous states for pedestrians in an annual Smart Growth America report on fatalities, and in 2022, the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach metro area finished as the worst in the nation, with 4.25 deaths-per-100,000 residents over a five-year stretch ending in 2020.

"Our nation's streets are dangerous by design. They're designed primarily to move cars quickly at the expense of keeping everyone else safe," Nicoulin said.

In 2020, when traffic was reduced because of the pandemic, pedestrian deaths rose by more than 25%, and they rose again in 2021, Nicoulin said.

Kathleen Becks, a Daytona Beach resident, urged legislators to consider joining a convention of states, as allowed under Article V of the Constitution, as a means of putting the federal government "back into the box it should operate within." Federal powers have led to out-of-control spending and a loss of sovereignty by the states, she contended.

"Our founding fathers knew that there would likely come a time when the federal government would exceed the powers granted to it and even become tyrannical and that there must be a mechanism to put a check on their power," Becks said. "This is what a convention of states is all about."

Two residents, including Eric Oxfeld of Ormond Beach, suggested the state improve conditions for prisoners and provide early release to individuals deemed to be safe.

Oxfeld, who said he has had his eyes opened after seeing a friend imprisoned, called for parole for convicts who have served 20 or more years and have had their progress reviewed for an earlier release date.

"Use some of our budget surplus to air-condition some of our antiquated prisons. This is 2023. Inhumane conditions in our prisons are life-threatening and illegal for dogs, and they are unconscionable for human beings," Oxfeld said.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia legislators take requests: storm relief, teacher raises