ORMOND BEACH
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 13, NO. 22
CHAMBER AWARDS PAGE 3A
FREE ON NEWSSTANDS | THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2025
Fluoride cut from Ormond water In surprise vote, Ormond Beach City Commission directs removal of fluoride from its water supply. PAGE 5A
INSIDE
District champs
ART FESTIVAL
11th annual Granada Grand Festival of the Arts returns to Ormond Beach PAGE 5C
Seabreeze girls soccer team clinches district championship, boys finish runner-up PAGE 1B
UPWARD TREND Volusia County Schools recognizes improved graduation rates. PAGE 2A
Holly Hill man shoots alleged car battery thief in Ormond Ormond Beach Police have arrested a 66-year-old Holly Hill man who shot a man Tuesday morning while making a “citizen’s arrest” for the theft of his car battery charger. Police responded to the first block of Seville Street in Ormond Beach around 7:52 a.m. after receiving a call about a shooting. Once on the scene, officers found the victim laying on the grass with a gunshot wound to his right thigh area. The shooter, Ivan Arsenault, told officers that he had been at his home when a man in a sweatshirt wearing a bulletproof vest asked him about charging his dead car battery. Arsenault told him he couldn’t help him, according to his arrest report, at which point the victim stole the charger off Arsenault’s vehicle and took off running. The man chased him in his vehicle and told the victim he was making a “citizen’s arrest.” The altercation became physical and a nearby homeowner got involved, hitting the victim with a chair. During the struggle, Arsenault shot the victim. Police believed the victim “did not have full mental capacity,” according to the arrest report, as he told officers that the “Space Force” told him to check on houses and ask for help getting his vehicle started. In a statement, OBPD said that there is no active threat to the community and that all parties involved have been identified. “Also, in situations like this, if there’s an altercation or if you witness any suspicious behavior from anyone, we strongly encourage you to contact law enforcement immediately,” OBPD stated. “It’s important to let us intervene, as the safest course of action is often not to handle the situation yourself. We are here to protect and support our community.”
INDEX
Calendar..................... PAGE 5C Comics ....................... PAGE 4B Cops Corner............... PAGE 4A Letters........................ PAGE 6A Public Notices............ PAGE 6C Real Estate................. PAGE 5B
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Seabreeze girls head soccer coach Eli Freidus takes the annual selfie with his team after winning the District 6-5A championship game against New Smyrna Beach. Photo by Michele Meyers
Q + A JASON LESLIE, ORMOND BEACH MAYOR
First months in office JARLEENE ALMENAS
why, but there is still concerns. We all have concerns about the flooding and future flooding and so I think that that’s really what the main topic was, and why that project was denied.
MANAGING EDITOR
O
rmond Beach Mayor Jason Leslie held his first “Coffee with Mayor Leslie” event on Tuesday, Jan. 28. What have the first couple of months as the city’s mayor been like for Leslie? “It’s been busy. I was told this is a part time job, but whoever said that was lying,” he said with a laugh. “But I don’t mind it. It’s been great.” The Observer spoke with Leslie on Tuesday to discuss topics such as development, fluoride and future priorities.
What is a top priority that you’re hoping to address during your first term as mayor?
I think that one of the things that I’d like to do is try to bring more high paying jobs here. Everybody wants to live in this community. But the last time I saw the numbers, the average three bedroom, two bath home is $410,000 in the area, and so in order to purchase a home like that, through a mortgage with the minimum down payment, you have to make $150,000 a year. I’d like to try to bring more high paying jobs here so that we can raise that median income, so people can afford to buy a home and live here, because people want to live here.
Editor’s note: In a follow-up email to the Observer, Leslie said his income estimation was based on a family of four, including two young children, and other living expenses. Simply put, he said, a family of four needs an income of over $100,000 plus a year to afford the cost of an average home and other living expenses. The City Commission recently unanimously denied the Little Tomoka Village development. What were your concerns?
A lot of talk right now is about flooding, and the County Council and the county chair had a special meeting about the moratorium, and I know the moratorium didn’t pass, and I think that made sense
Some are concerned that the decision to remove fluoride from the city’s water supply will result in long term negative effects. Do you think the item should have been placed on a future agenda for discussion?
It will be actually on the agenda. It’s going to be an amendment to the ordinance, which will have two rounds of readings, as you know. So there’ll still be opportunities for the public to come and comment.
So the decision isn’t “final,” so to speak?
No, because it could fail the two rounds of voting, for whatever reason. A lot of things come up in public comment that we can learn from. I love public comment, I do. I think public comment, it really helps us as a commission learn things. I will say with the fluoride, there’s a lot of concerns and there’s studies on both sides. I just think that, for me personally, I don’t like government telling me what to do or what to do or what to put in my stuff. If I want fluoride, I have toothpaste, I have mouthwash. But I don’t drink it though.
The other thing is we put less than the minimum standard. So if we’re not putting the minimum standard in, and we’re doing less than that, where’s the benefit anyway? A study for a new emergency operations center and public safety complex is moving forward. What are your thoughts on an EOC and a new police station?
As an elected official, public safety is always our top priority. I did law enforcement when I was younger, I was a volunteer firefighter, so I understand the importance of these type of jobs and needing the equipment and the facilities and all the stuff that goes with it, and if it’s something that we need, that’s going to provide better services to people when they need it, then I’m all for it. If it’s going to be something that’s not going to be used, and it’s going to be not utilized to benefit the residents, then that might be a different story, but staff has said to us that this is going to benefit SEE Q+A ON PAGE 2A