Residents and arts groups urge Volusia County Council to preserve Volusia Forever and restore arts grants
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Summary
Multiple speakers told the council on Jan. 8 that Volusia Forever — the voter-approved conservation program — should remain perpetual and that recently withheld arts grants harm cultural organizations; speakers asked the council to honor voter intent and reinstate funding.
During two public-participation periods, dozens of residents and organizational representatives urged the Volusia County Council to leave Volusia Forever in its voter-approved form and to restore county arts-and-culture grant funding that the council recently put on hold.
Speakers including Patty Gertenbach (Ormond Beach), Steve Wunderly (campaign agent for the 2020 reauthorization), Melissa Lammers (Echo Volusia Forever Alliance) and Nancy Vaughn (League of Women Voters of Volusia County) emphasized that the phrase "in perpetuity" was a central promise to voters. Gertenbach told the council Volusia Forever "is a promise to your constituents that the land will be preserved forever." Wunderly and Lammers said appraisals, partnerships and the public vote were premised on perpetuity and warned that altering that promise could constitute a bait-and-switch.
Arts advocates — represented in testimony by Patricia Miles, Lloyd Bowers, Cameron Vincent and others — said the council’s decision to set aside scored recommendations for the current cultural-grant cycle has left organizations scrambling after budgeting and planning on the expectation funds would be disbursed. Lloyd Bowers told the council that overturning the recommended awards "risks undermining the integrity of every county grant process." Cameron Vincent said the program delivers a measurable return on investment and described families who will lose scholarships and youth programs if funding is not restored.
Speakers asked the council to remove goals to modify Volusia Forever from the workshop agenda and to restore and increase arts funding above the proposed $611,000. Council members acknowledged the comments and scheduled further discussion in the workshop; no immediate vote on changing Volusia Forever occurred during the meeting.
What’s next: Council agreed to discuss Volusia Forever and related workshop goals later in the day; residents asked for formal commitments to honor voter intent and to reconvene with fuller briefings on any proposed changes.