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Headline Surfer photo by Henry Frederick / The lighting was not conducive, but the image captures former longtime New Smyrna Beach City Commissioner Jim Hathaway and his wife Paula, at a surprise party Monday at Mayor Adam Barringer's restaurant attended by well wishers like attorney Sid Peterson, shown here with the Hathaways.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A "surprise" private party was held Monday night for former City Commissioner Jim Hathaway at Mayor Adam Barringer's beachside restaurant, SoNapa Grille, attended by his former elected colleagues, top administrative staff, including the city manager, fire chief, interim fire chief and city attorney, along with prominent civic and business leaders.
Apparently, the presence of a media representative as people gathered on the upper level upset the spouse of one of the officials who asked why I was there since it was his understanding the media wasn't invited and it was a private affair. This person insisted I was "making everyone feel uncomfortable" and called me an "idiot" before walking off, even as I explained I had the blessing of the Hathaway family in being there.
It was the second event in three days where I had to deal with confrontation. I relayed the conversation to this man's spouse that I wasn't welcomed and why before walking downstairs, where I ordered a bowl of soup and a cup of coffee and began writing my story on Hathaway.
Perhaps the party was private, though how private was it with a quorum of elected officials there. Perhaps it wasn't a formal proceeding and official business wasn't conducted. But was that the case? After all, they were there to recognize a fellow colleague in Hathaway, who had served as an elected commissioner for 18 years until Election Day when his current term expired.
Rather than seek re-election, Hathaway opted to make a run for the dist. 3 seat on the Volusia County Council. Though he won the Aug. 14 primary, he came up short in the general election. And why would anyone really care that a member of the media was there? Certainly no public official showed any discontent and those who heard about the situation were apologetic in private.
I wouldn't have even known about the party, had it not been for the mayor. I asked him if he wanted me to leave. He said that wasn't his call to make and he had no problem if I stayed. The surprise party was organized by Parks and Recreation Director Elizabeth Yancey -- not by him.
About an hour later, I returned to the party and asked Hathaway and his wife, Paula, if I could take a photo of them, to which they obliged. Those seated at his table were gracious and friendly and I returned downstairs. It was dark and the photos didn't come out so I came back a second time and again I was greeted with enthusiasm. I felt better later when several of the officials greeted me on the way out the door as the party broke up.
Hathaway, especially, said he was pleased that I cared enough to take the time to cover the event, and twice shook my hand, personally apologizing for the rude treatment I received earlier.
Both he and his wife had greeted me before the party with a handshake and a hug. On Saturday night, I attended the Holiday Charity Ball, something I have done for five consecutive years.
Like Hathaway's party, I attended the function at the Brannon Center to take photos and highlight the volunteers like Kaye Walker, who has organized the event in recent years for the benefit of charities like the Council on Aging's Meals on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity and the NSB CAPS Scholarship Program for graduating seniors. Covering the Charity Ball was something I have done for five consecutive years without incident until I was verbally attacked by a person there who had been drinking.
While taking photos among the 200 or so people there, I was verbally attacked with a barrage of expletives from David Fernandez, manager of the Trader's bar on Flagler Avenue. He was arrested last year on aggravated battery charges involving a patron in his bar, Henry Wheeler, who suffered serious facial injuries allegedly at the hands of the bar manager and one of his bouncers.
I didn't recognize who Fernandez was at first, asking him why he was being so hostile.
"You're that (expletive) guy with the camera who hides behind the computer and goes after everybody in town," he said. I responded, "Sorry, but I don't even know who you are. Who are you?" I asked. He responded, It doesn't (expletive) matter who I am. You're a no-good piece of (expletive)."
A cop there working private detail came over and pulled me aside. When I told him I couldn't' remember the man's name, he reminded me. Suffice to say, after the cop spoke with him, he was gone. It was clear to me why he was so hostile. Here's a link to that original story: http://nsbnews.net/content/406797-new-smyrna-beach-bar-manager-arrested-charges-beating-ex-con.
Not even two minutes later, I was approached by Buddy Davenport, the insurance agent whose name and face are affixed to numerous park bench ads, who asked me to step outside and berated me for his friend leaving on my account. Davenport made it clear he was one of the financial backers of the event and wanted me to leave. Again, the cop stepped in and asked him to go back inside.
Then the officer suggested I take the high road and leave, which I did, though I felt like I was being run off when all I was trying to do was report the news -- not make it. I wrote a blog of the experience on Sunday, which Davenport didn't like.
To his credit, though, he did reach out to me by e-mail Sunday night and asked me to take the write-up off the Internet, saying he wanted to start over. I did and earlier in the day Monday I called him at his request and we spoke briefly. We both agreed to talk again after Thanksgiving, recognizing that each is a stakeholder in the community.
Then came the personal affront at Hathaway's party. The mayor didn't have an issue with me being there. Neither did Hathaway. It wasn't like I was glad-handing or trying to dig up dirt on anyone. I was merely sitting in a corner chair with my laptop open working on some unfinished stories when I was approached before the party even started. I've learned from personal experience that when someone approaches like this, it's only going to be trouble so I removed myself from the situation.
Quite frankly, this person isn't important enough for me to mention by name.
I did get a text message from one of the attendees of Hathaway's party much later in the evening, who was not pleased by the way this person talked to me, adding: "I'm sorry for the way you were treated. I know (Hathaway) appreciated you being there."
Being a member of the media and covering politics in a small community is not easy, especially when you are dependent to some extent on that community for advertising. The antagonism has been there from the onset when this 24/7 Internet newspaper was launched in April 2008, with the weekly Observer folding a few weeks later before being purchased by a then-financial adviser who used his business connections to generate taxpayer-supported revenue for it.
Earlier this year, that business owner filed for bankruptcy, having racked up upwards of half a million in debts, despite enjoying tax-payer supported revenue from the city's CRA and from the local public hospital.
The weekly was purchased by another businessman through the bankruptcy and is supported again by a few business owners like Davenport. This Thanksgiving weekend, we'll publish a final investigative story on the fallout from the bankruptcy. This should put things in perspective so everyone can just move forward with the real story finally out there.
As for the unfortunate confrontations Saturday and Monday, I understand it comes with the territory. When you consider why these kinds of things occur, it's because this media outlet is covering the news and there are always going to be those individuals in a small community who are going to be easily offended when the news isn't pleasant or going their way.
All I can do is try and do my best to be respectful and report what is happening. I've been called names before, have been sworn at and even shunned. After reading this, they'll realize yet again that they can't win. In the heyday of print media, the saying was something to the effect of, "Don't fight with someone who buys their ink by the barrel." Here in the second decade of the 21st century, they'll learn sooner or later you can't win with someone whose stories and blogs trend on Google far beyond the borders of New Smyrna Beach.
After all, the sun rises the next day. The news doesn't stop for the few who think they're privileged (in this case at Hathaway's party by someone there only because of their spouse) in trying to bully someone like me.
There are so many great opportunities for greater New Smyrna Beach to shine. Each day, I look forward to the challenges of reporting the news in the community where I live and work to support my family, despite the disgruntled few who try to minimize me with name calling.
PostScript:
This graphic snapshot to the left showing the above blog in the Google News Directories for "New Smyrna Beach, FL" demonstrates why calling an electronic journalist names only brings even more unwanted attention and scorn to the name caller. A subsequent write-up gets seen by thousands of people far beyond the borders of a small community to a far greater digital-savvy world. The above blog was posted at 2:51 a.m. Within minutes, it was trending on the search engine directory giant. An Internet publisher doesn't need a barrel of ink to make a point when cyberspace gets the job done much cleaner.
Additional PostScript (or PPS):
There are two convenient ways Internet users search for their news. One is the above-mentioned popular Google News Directories where stories and blogs of legitimate media outlets are indexed around the clock by city and state (or outside the U.S. by city, province and country).
The second way is by doing a general Google search. You type in a couple of keywords if you know what the story or blog is about. When you add the key words "news for" you'll get the latest offerings like the 5th item from the top of the search here at left showing our blog, headlined, "Name calling comes with the territory."
Our blog headline was listed 5th on the very first page of the Google search among 221 million results for "news for name calling."
So let this be a lesson to name callers who want to mess with journalists who let their writing do the talking for them!
Anyone who doubts the power of journalists on the Internet need only to look here to see how fast the content from this 24/7 Internet newspaper becomes accessible to so many people.