VOLUSIA POWER STRUGGLES RESULT IN COUNTY MANAGER RESIGNING

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports today that Volusia County manager Cindy Coto is resigning effective December 31, the end result of a year of deteriorating relations between her and the County Council, especially Chairman Frank Bruno.

Bruno is the county's first elected chairman, but his powers are generally undefined and his vote is the same as the six other commissioners...something the County Charter Commission will have to resolve. In nearby Orange County, the chairperson can hire and fire department heads.

In the Friday morning meeting with Bruno, he said Coto also was frustrated with trying to cut the budget to reduce the tax rate, which the council requested, and with the council's reversal on several key issues. Since two new council members took office in January, the group has changed its mind and allowed Deltona to annex 5,000 acres and Port Orange to build waterlines in the rural Tomoka Farms area.