NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- For a guy with a phD, New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer is not very bright. Here he was holding court as the guest speaker for the New Smyrna Beach Board of Realtors at a luncheon his friend, Chad Shilsky's beachside restaurant. And what does he do? He rips your's truly, actually mentioning me by name. Wow!
I didn't know I was so important to be brought up in front of 70 Realtors by the mayor. One of my spies said the presentation was embarrassing and that the mayor made a lot of colleagues uncomfortable.
Actually, I have some pretty good relationships among the real estate crowd in greater New Smyrna Beach. They, like thousands of others in Central Florida, enjoy the news coverage on HeadlineSurfer.com.
Perhaps that's why the mayor was so defensive.
"He kept going on and on about you, Henry," the anonymous Realtor said. "He kept bringing up your name and how you and your online newspaper, Headline Surfer, are making him and the other city officials look bad, but he was really making himself look bad. He was whining and it was pathetic. Nobody cared and couldn't understand why he brought you up in the first place."
The source continued, "He was trying to explain he was only doing something nice for Hathaway retiring after 18 hearts and that he only charged $30 a meal and could have charged more."
It was if Barringer was trying to cleanse his soul, a half-hearted mea culpa. And as if that weren't enough, Barringer mentioned the NSB Shadow as though the two websites were in cahoots against the mayor and the city.
The source said Barringer pretty much blamed me for the reason he and City Manager Pamela Brangaccio are saddled with multiple ethics complaints. So let's set the record straight. Barringer brought all of this negativity on himself by being a sleazy politician. If there were a word synonymous for bar ringer, it would be "arrogance." He thinks he's better than everyone else. That's he doesn't have to be responsible for his actions.
Well, let's be clear about this: Adam Barringer brought heat on himself because of his own behavior and decision-making. That's what happens to the best of these slick politicians like Barringer after five years of leading the City Commission in the pledge of allegiance before the start of every meeting. The same goes for his overpaid city manager, Brngaccio.
Here's the scoop: Back in November, Barringer hosted a private retirement p[arty at his SoNapa Grille on Third Avenue for then-former City Commissioner Jim Hathaway, who gave up his seat in favor of running for the diet. 3 seat on the Volusia County Council. Hathaway lost to Deb Denys of New Smyrna Beach in the Nov. 6 general election.
At the time, Barringer was writing a blog for me, "NSB Mayor's Message," so I guess he felt obligated in telling me of the surprise party. He didn't invite me -- he didn't not invite me. I just showed up.
Well that didsn't sit well with Guy Mariande, the glad-handing husband of City Commissioner Judy Reiker, who confronted me as to why I was there. I asked him why he was so privileged, to which he called me an "idiot" and said I was making everyone feel uncomfortable.
Let me be clear about this: Unlike Mariande, I paid for my food. I had a bowl of Lobster Bisque and a cup of coffee, downstairs at the bar while waiting for Hathaway so I could snap a photo of him.
The next day, citizen watchdog Bob Tolley put in a request with the City Clerk's Office to find out if the taxpayers were charged for this party. Low and behold, they were.