Peter Mallory's blog

In the “really important” election of the 2010 primary, Peter A. Mallory defeated Mike Reiter for judge in the 14th judicial circuit out of Panama City. Yes, that's right, the son of yours truly, who was raised right here in New Smyrna Beach. Peter is a lawyer in the 14th circuit that encompasses the Florida Panhandle counties of Bay, Holmes , Washington , Jackson , Calhoun and Gulf. And while we have thoroughly covered the local elections, this one was local as well, in terms of my son's roots.

With today's primary election now in full swing, the main theme we keep hearing is that this is the year of the ant-incumbentr, or put into simpler terms:"Throw the bums out" or if you prefer, "toss the bums out." Whatever phrase you choose, there are a few candidates who represent change and those who have worn out their welcome.

County Judge Mary Jane Henderson, publicly reprimanded by the Florida Supreme Court for her dealings with a criminal now in prison, fits the bill for either being thrown out or tossed.

New Smyrna Beach easily outdistanced the four other polling locations in Early Voting totals for the 2010 election primary. How could the little seaside Southeast Volusia area surpass the giants of Daytona Beach and Deltona? Easy: NSBNEWS.net. New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater, Oak Hill, Samsula, Bethune Beach and Silver Sands are blessed to have a fully-online newspaper in a 21-st century world.

Most people in New Smyrna Beach and other areas of Southeast Volusia have caught on to the fact that President Obama’s stimulus program is having no beneficial effect on the economy.

What some people do not know or understand is that a stimulus of this kind can’t possibly work -- ever.

The first necessity in getting an economy to improve is to increase production.

The citizens of New Smyrna Beach are being forced to pay twice to get progress in our city. First, we are forced to submit to a system of useless public planning that stretches all the way to Tallahassee. Second, we pay a small fortune to hire a team of planning experts to guide our building projects through a maze of planning hurdles and then finally we find that our team of highly paid experts has let us down. The fact that they are no longer employed is a good start at fixing the problem.

It looks like the people of New Smyrna are looking at the possible marriage of incompetence with sheer stupidity. The incompetence comes from failing to follow the proper procedures in permitting as outlined by my colleague Henry Frederick in his breaking news story: NSB's Flagler Avenue hotel and I-95 Wal-Mart in peril; Mayor: 'It's as bad as it can get.'

It is pitiful that many Americans do not recognize or understand that Thomas Jefferson has brilliantly captured the essence of America in the Declaration of Independence.

Jefferson stated, “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator to certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men ….” .

It looks as if city planning, bureaucracy, and incompetence have all combined into a critical mass to bring progress in New Smyrna Beach to a shuddering halt. It was brought to light by the reporting of NSBNEWS.net journalist Henry Frederick that the city has apparently failed to meet state requirements in complying with its own planning- and land-management rules in permitting the new Flagler Avenue hotel and a Super Wal-Mart store near Interstate 95.

According to a Zogby International survey, people who consider themselves left-leaning have shown themselves to be less informed on economic issues than people who are right-leaning. In order to form this conclusion Zogby asked 4,835 adults eight basic questions about economics to determine their knowledge. The questions are summarized as follows:

1.Do restrictions on housing development make housing less affordable?

2.Does the mandatory licensing of professional services increase the prices of those s services?

Every year at this time I try to pass on some ideas collected from various sources over the last sixty years that the graduating seniors might find helpful.

* Don’t panic about being the leaders of tomorrow: There are at least two generations ahead of you making sure that you won’t get to make any decision that is too important for awhile.

* Don’t get married till you are properly prepared and really want to.