Photos for Headline Surfer / Above Left: District 1 Volusia County Councilwoman Barbara Girtman is shown above left on the dais of the Frank T. Bruno, Jr. County Council chambers in DeLand, Florida. Above right: Girtman is shown from her Facebook profile pic. Insets: Girtman is shown at a local speaking engagement, and her image and office were displayed on a street light fixture banner on Main Street in DeLand during Black History Month in February.
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DELAND, Fla. -- There is no more deserving endorsement among the candidates running for public offices in Volusia County in 2022 than District 1 County Council incumbent Barbara Girtman of DeLand.
As such, Girtman is the first candidate formally endorsed by Headline Surfer in this year's elections.
There is no primary for the District 1 seat on the county council since Girtman drew only one opponent when qualifying ended last month: Don Dempsey, also of DeLand, and a criminal defense attorney. Both will square off in the Nov. 8 general elections.
District 1 encompasses the incorporated areas of DeLand, Orange City, DeBary, Lake Helen, and Pierson; and the unincorporated areas of Astor, DeLeon Springs, Emporia, Seville, Barberville, and surrounding areas.
The winner of this election will serve a four-year term.
This is Girtrman's second election campaign. She won the District 1 seat in 2018, defeating the incumbent, Pat Patterson in the general election. She also bested Patterson in the earlier four-way primary. Jeff Brower finished a distant third and out of the running. Brower did come back in 2020 to defeat Deb Denys for the county chairmanship with no incumbent in the race.
Photo for Headline Surfer / Volusia County Councilwoman Barbara Girtman is shown carrying supplies (600 COVID-19 masks, disinfectant wipes, and books she helped raise through local business and civic organizations to the Noys & Girls Club of DeLand on Oct. 18, 2020.
Like Girtman, this is Dempsey's second run for elected office. Dempsey, a registered Republican, ran as a non-partisan candidate in 2020 against State Attorney RJ Larizza and lost handily.
Larizza won 64 percent of the votes cast in Volusia, Flagler, Putnam, and St. Johns counties, all of which comprise the 7th judicial circuit of the State Attorney's Office, based in Daytona Beach.
Dempsey had a strong campaign platform but had trouble getting his message out to the voters with Larizza's huge advantage in campaign funding-- $175,605 to Dempsey's paltry $29,253.
Headline Surfer believes Dempsey is a fine candidate for offices such as state attorney, public defender, or even a county or circuit judgeship (his wife, Angela Dempsey, won election to a county judgeship in 2014).
Dempsey will have a tough time challenging Girtman, who has done yeoman's work during her two years on the county council.
Girtman's learning curve on the council was very short, perhaps a couple of months before she started hitting her stride in doing what at two others on the dais have failed miserably at - building consensus and setting policy, which is their job.
Girtman has rarely found herself on the losing side of a council vote with Brower, the chair, and District 4's Heather Post on the losing end of many critical 5-2 votes.
Girtman is so well-liked and respected by her elected colleagues on the dais, she was voted by them as vice-chair of the council back in January for the calendar year 2022.
Dempsey will have a tough time challenging Girtman, who has done yeoman's work during her two years on the county council. Girtman's learning curve on the council was very short, perhaps a couple of months before she started hitting her stride in doing what at two others on the dais have failed miserably at - building consensus and setting policy, which is their job. Girtman has rarely found herself on the losing side of a council vote with Brower, the chair, and District 4's Heather Post on the losing end of many critical 5-2 votes. Girtman is so well-liked and respected by her elected colleagues on the dais, she was voted by them as vice-chair of the council back in January for the calendar year 2022.
With no primary to worry about in terms of campaign revenue, both candidates will focus on gearing up for the general election with far more voters in play.
Girtman has a sizeable lead in campaign funding. She has raised $26,416 but has spent $13,575, leaving her with $12,840.75 on hand.
Dempsey's has raised $3,000 in campaign contributions, but has spent two-thirds of it, leaving him with $1,088.08.
It should be noted that Barbara Girtman is only the second Black woman and person of color to hold elected office on the Volusia County Council. The first was Joyce Cusack who served eight years as the at-large council member, retiring in 2016.
Cusack, who grew up in the then-segregated Westside of New Smyrna Beach before her family moved to DeLand, also served as a state representative in the Statehouse during which she rose to the send highest ranking among elected Democrats. Cusack is one of only a handful of elected politicians to run multiple times and never lose an election.
Cusack is a member of the Headline Surfer Hall of Fame as is Frank Bruno, the council's first-elected county who retired in 2012, during which his colleagues on the dais honored him y renaming the chambers the Frank T. Bruno, Jr. County Council chambers. Bruno (2016) and Cusack (2018) are both members of the Headline Surfer Hall of Fame.
Like Cusack, Girtman, a Democrat and Black, has had to overcome stereotypes and partisan labels, even though the County Council seats are non-partisan. Bruno, the last Democrat to hold the chairmanship, has said labels such as "liberal" and "radical" have become more institutionalized in the past decade in Volusia County politics and throughout the Sunshine State as a whole, especially with the advent of social media, exacerbated by Donald Trump's Big Lie.
Still, Bruno sees Girtman as a strong advocate not only for African-Americans but all Volusia County residents. Headline Surfer agrees and has seen Girtman make great strides on a dais, and as mentioned above, culminating with her colleagues on the dais voting her in as vice-chair of the council back in January.
Like Cusack, Girtman, a Democrat and Black, has had to overcome stereotypes and partisan labels, even though the County Council seats are non-partisan. Bruno, the last Democrat to hold the chairmanship, has said labels such as "liberal" and "radical" have become more institutionalized in the past decade in Volusia County politics and throughout the Sunshine State as a whole, especially with the advent of social media, exacerbated by Donald Trump's Big Lie.
Still, Bruno sees Girtman as a strong advocate not only for African-Americans but all Volusia County residents. Headline Surfer agrees and has seen Girtman make great strides on a dais, and as mentioned above, culminating with her colleagues on the dais voting her in as vice-chair of the council back in January.
With Headline Surfer's endorsement now set, endorsements will follow for the other council seats as well as several municipal elections, plus several school board seats, and state and federal races for Volusia County voters in this election cycle, though few if any will be as involved as the endorsement for Barbara Girtman.
This is how the County Council shakes out this election cycle: The only holdover is Brower, the chairman, whose four-year term expires in 2024. Besides Girtman, the only other incumbent seeking re-election is District 3's Danny Robins.
District 2's Billie Egger Wheeler is retiring at year's end after eight years on the dais. Johnson, too, the at-large incumbent after four years in office, is retiring as well. He was Volusia County sheriff before that.
District 4's Heather Post decided to run for the at-large seat, but then abruptly withdrew before qualifying ended. She leaves at year's end. District 5's Fred Lowry, has opted to run for a seat on the Volusia County School Board in the 2022 elections.
So here is the line-up of County Council races in the 2022 elections:
• District 1 (Greater DeLand): Challenger Dempsey vs. incumbent Girtman in the November elections;
• District 2 (Greater Daytona Beach): With no incumbent, two candidates who qualified to run are Danny Fuqua and Matt Reinhart, who will square off in November;
• District 3 (Greater New Smyrna Beach): Incumbent Danny Robins and challenger Ted Noftall will square off in November;
• District 4 (Greater Ormond Beach): With no incumbent, four candidates will square off in the August primary with the top two moving on to November unless the primary's top vote-getter can amass 50 percent of the votes plus one more vote to win the race outright. The four candidates are Troy Kent, Rob Littleton, Mike McLean, and Ken Smith.
• District 5 (Greater Deltona): With no incumbent, three candidates will square off in the August primary: Victor M. Ramos, David Santiago, and Julio David Sosa. Two of the top four vote-getters will square off in November unless the primary winner garners 50 percent plus one more of the total voters to win the race outright.
• At-Large (Countywide): With no incumbent, there are four candidates running in the August primary: Sherrise Boyd, Jake Johannson, Andy Kelly, and Doug Pettit. The top two vote-getters will square off in November unless the primary winner generates 50 percent of the overall votes plus one more vote to win it outright.
Photo for Headline Surfer / This pic from Barbara Girtman's Facebook page epitomized her adherence to social distancing and masking throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
• West Volusia Hospital Authority, 2014-'18;
• West Volusia Realtors Legislative Committee, Chair, 2016-'17;
• DeLand Economic Development Committee, 2014-'17;
• Rotary Club of DeLand Board Member;
• Beacon Newspaper, Past Board Member;
• Fall Festival of the Arts Board Member;
• Minority Elected Officials of Volusia County Board Member;
• Greater Union Life Center Board Member;
• West Volusia NAACP Executive Committee;
• Leadership West Volusia, 2014.
• DeLand Chamber of Commerce;
• West Volusia Chamber of Commerce;
• Village Improvement Association, Orange City Women’s Club;
• Krewe of Amalee;
• Krewe of Nouveau.
About the Byline Writer: Henry Frederick is a member of the working press and publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched in 2008, that serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando from Lake Mary, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed close to 150 award-winning bylines in print & online. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism from Full Sail University in 2019. He was a breaking news reporter (metro cops & courts beat) for the Daytona Beach News-Journal for nearly a decade. And Before that worked the same beat for The Journal-News/Gannett Suburban Newspapers in Rockland/Westchester counties, NY, dating back to 1989. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and covering other high profile cases, Frederick has appeared on national crime documentary shows on Discovery ID, Reelz, and the Oxygen Network series "Snapped" for his analysis. • Award-Winning Journalism: Florida Press Club recognizes Headline Surfer for nine stories in 2020 statewide competition. • Award-Winning Journalism of Henry Frederick.