- May 5, 2024
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Jason Davis hopes the scope of the county's investigation in Waverly Media will be determined at Thursday's meeting. Doug Daniels says there is no political motivation behind the investigation.
BY EMILY BLACKWOOD AND BRIAN MCMILLAN
Some Volusia County Council members want to hire an attorney to investigate Port Orange-based bench advertising company Waverly Media Group, which has been implicated in illegal campaign contributions to council candidates. Council Chairman Jason Davis hopes the full purpose of the proposed investigation will be made clear first.
Ormond Beach attorney Jon Kaney will submit his proposal to the council on Dec. 12. Davis said he doesn't understand why the county is hiring an outside attorney to investigate Waverly when the State Attorney's Office is already doing its own investigation.
"We have the right to investigate the county (government), but I don't think we need to get involved and muddy up the water," Davis said. "I've been asking everybody, 'What is the scope of the investigation? What are you hoping to find?' And no council member can give me an answer. The last answer was to leave it up to Mr. Kaney, who I have not ever spoken to."
County Councilman Doug Daniels is in favor of hiring Kaney to investigate Waverly's campaign contributions.
"It is a County Council problem, and the County Council has to clear it up," he said. "It appears Waverly was trying to obtain other influence from the county, and so, there is more to the story."
County's history with Waverly
In 1992, Volusia County entered into a contract with Associated Media for bench advertising. Associated Media could sell ads on benches on unincorporated Volusia land for a fee of 15% of the revenue. The contract was for one year, with an automatic renewal, meaning that if neither party objected, it was renewed without any action necessary.
In 2008, Waverly Media purchased Associated Media. Afterward, Waverly supported Josh Wagner and others as candidates for the Volusia County Council. The company supported him again in 2012, along with other candidates.
In 2013, it was discovered that Waverly Manager James Brown had made illegal, excessive campaign contributions to candidates. He was charged in April, pleaded no contest to the charges in May, and he was fired. He was replaced with new manager Kim Was.
Potential investigation
Davis considers an investigation into Waverly Media to be the State Attorney's Office's role. The Volusia County Charter says, "The council may make investigation into the affairs of the county governmental operations." Davis said that this does not authorize the county to investigate a private company.
Considering Daniels' tumultuous relationship with Wagner in the past, Davis said it could appear to others that Daniels' desire to pursue an investigation into Waverly is politically motivated.
"Perception is reality, and if this is the way it is perceived, this is what everyone's reality is going to be," Davis said.
In the meantime, if the county pursues the investigation, Davis said, "We’re taking time away from something that we really need to do. We wanted to do our business plan, our forecast, that’s on hold. It could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Waverly's view
Waverly Manager Kim Was, in an exclusive interview with The Observer, said she doesn't see the justification for an investigation beyond what the State Attorney's Office has done.
“I do believe there is definitely some politically motivated issues there,” she said, “for the simple fact that when the county sent their auditor to meet with our CPA to conduct the audit, the first thing out of the auditor’s mouth for the county was, ‘You know this is not about Waverly; this is about two politicians.’”
The politicians were identified as Doug Daniels and Josh Wagner, she said.
“I also believe it’s politically motivated just because the county is not taking into consideration that the benches do serve a valuable service to the bus ridership residents as well as local companies."
The county has severed ties with Waverly, in part because of complications with new regulations associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and in part because part of the State Attorney's Office's investigation. Without a new contract, Waverly has begun removing its benches.
“We have received several phone calls about the removal of the benches, from current customers and also one from a gentleman from Ormond-by-the-Sea, a retired, disabled veteran," she continued. "Now that that bench is gone, he has to stand to wait for the bus. If it wasn’t political, they should have purchased the benches, so that at least the disabled ridership could still use them. If they were thinking about the residents that they serve, I don’t believe they would be making the decisions they are making.”
Daniels: No political motivation
Doug Daniels told the Ormond Beach Observer that the county's investigation is not going to center on any criminal wrongdoing. He said he has had disagreements with Josh Wagner in the past, just as he had with others on the council, but it's natural to have disagreements between elected officials. This investigation, he said, is not in anyway politically motivated.
"Political motivation is a silly argument to make," he said. Later, he added: "The only motive is to restore confidence and integrity to the process."
