Category Archives: Holly Land Park And Narcotics Anonymous

Park Employees Intimidated By Narcotics Anonymous And Alcoholics Anonymous Groups

Posted on by
7

Even though there has been a smoking ban at Newport Beach for over 7 years, park employees were too intimidated to tell the AA/NA Groups to not smoke. Commissioners said that the AA/NA groups were just too confrontational for park employees, and need police to enforce the ban. First citizens asked the 12 steppers not to smoke and obey the law, but was brushed off. Typical behavior of 12 steppers acting like they are unique and special, and that they do not have to follow the law. The citizens of Holly Hill Florida certainly can relate towards this attitude of ‘Recovery Groups’. We have been dealing with The Sunrise Group, which is part of the Volusia County Intergroup Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as the Daytona Narcotics Anonymous meetings in Holly Land Park, Centennial Park and Sunrise Park. We have to deal with parking issues, litter , vulgarity, cigarette butts, assaults, death threats and the list goes on.

Maybe the Holly Hill City Commission will listen to the all the complaints from our locals and take action!

Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous groups can’t smoke at Newport beaches

City Council
By JON CASSIDY / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

NEWPORT BEACH – Recovery groups that smoke during meetings on the beach are facing a crackdown, after the City Council rejected a plan to give them smoking permits for their weekly meetings.Smoking on the beach has been banned in Newport Beach for more than seven years, but the City Council took up the issue Tuesday as part of a revision to its rules on parks and beach use.

Those new rules included a ban on smoking in parks, as well as broader language covering permits for park use.
Two groups, one from Alcoholics Anonymous and another from Narcotics Anonymous, have been gathering at the beach near 15th Street for years, City Manager Dave Kiff said.Many of the group members smoke, he said.

“A law is only as good as our ability to enforce it,” Kiff said, adding that parks employees were too intimidated to give tickets to the large recovery groups. His proposal was to allow the groups to apply for smoking permits that cover just their meeting time, but the idea was rejected.”There’s other people that (would) see them smoking there and think now it’s OK to smoke here,” Councilman Steve Rosansky said. Councilman Mike Henn said police would be needed to enforce the law.

“Clearly what we are left with is increased enforcement and we need to figure out a way to make that happen,” he said. “I don’t think it can realistically happen with park patrol people because the people that are smoking, I know, are just too confrontational when they’re asked to stop. So we’re going to have to figure out a way to get the proper police enforcement there.”

Two residents spoke against Kiff’s exception. Resident Denys Oberman said that she had been asking group members not to smoke for years, but that they usually ignored her or told her, “Get off of it” or “Go about your life.”

Two others came to ask that the basketball court at 38th Street Park on Balboa be closed at 7 p.m. rather than sunset; the council agreed. Those were the only two changes to a package of revised regulations approved on a 5-1 vote, with Councilman Ed Selich opposing and Rosansky not voting. The new regulations for parks include a smoking ban, a permit requirement for commercial use by coaches or trainers, and a permit requirement for “any games” played in the city’s 73 parks.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/smoking-340405-beach-smoke.html

DAYTONA NA MEMBER SWINGS BASEBALL BAT AT FELLOW NA MEMBER AT HOLLYLAND PARK

Posted on by
9

On September 10th 2011 Hollyland Park, Holly Hill Florida, The Daytona Beach Narcotics Anonymous Area Group sponsored a softball tournament that included NA Groups from other Florida counties. There was a fight that broke out between two Daytona NA members, and one of the members responded by swinging an aluminum baseball bat at this person. According to an inside source that was a witness, if the guy would not have ducked when he saw the bat coming at him, it would have killed him. NA members broke up the fight. There were many witnesses, and the victim called the police. Now wouldn’t you know that Holly Hill PD did not get the name of the person who tried to kill this guy? No official report was written on this incident. No charges were filed.

When the Daytona Beach Narcotics Anonymous Group reserved the field they did not take out a special use permit for this very large event with over 100 people. This happened in Hollyland Park / Centennial Park right across the street from the Holly Hill PD. With an event that size  there should have been a special event form filled out, and police present at the event. Failing to hold this event according to Holly Hill’s special use permit guidelines almost cost someone their life! It could still cost someone their life in the future, because this nut is still on the loose and has already shown he is capable of trying to kill someone.

There were no arrests made. I would bet Daytona Beach Narcotics Anonymous members talked the victim out of pressing charges, as an attempt to keep bad press down and not to expose members identity. They already know that much has been written about their horrendous behavior in Holly Hill Parks. Some things are hard to keep a secret when you have a ton of witnesses. It’s a good thing this NA member lived to tell about this fight, not all Narcotics Anonymous members do. Hiding this just enables this sort of behavior, letting dangerous perpetrators hide behind anonymity.

Is the City of Holly Hill going to wait until someones’ head is bashed in before they try to make the parks a safer place?

Here is an article where an AA sponsor was killed when attacked with a baseball bat by his court mandated mentally ill AA sponsee.

http://nadaytona.org/2011/10/02/aa-member-beat-sponsor-with-baseball-bat/

Holly Hill Florida Looks at AA NA Meeting Procedures in the Parks

Posted on by
9
Holly Hill Looks at Park Meeting Procedures

AUDREY PARENTE – STAFF WRITER
January 10, 2011

HOLLY HILL – Children romping on playground equipment at Sunrise Park giggled and shouted in the dark recently, under the watchful eyes of their aunt, Beth Thomason.

On the same night a woman’s low voice nearby murmured about her drug problem. She sat at a picnic table with a camp lantern glowing on nearly 20 adult faces, many under hoodies and knit caps in the cold. Thomason said she knew it was a self-help group, because she once attended similar meetings in support of a relative. No incidents occurred Friday at Sunrise. But recent conflicts over park use by large groups caused citizens to request commissioners look at stronger regulations for the city’s parks.
Park rules and policies will be discussed at a public workshop 5 p.m. Tuesday in City Commission Chambers.
According to a flier on a City Hall table, anonymous self-help groups meet daily at Sunrise and other Parks in Holly Hill. AA Daytona Beach Meetings in Daytona.
In Holly Hill, park reservations by large groups aren’t required, but an option to assure a spot is available for $25, said Acting City Manager Mark Barker.
An individual at Friday night’s meeting, who didn’t want a name used because the group prefers anonymity, said the number of people at a meeting varies and many who attend are required to be there by drug court.

Commissioner Rick Glass said he’s anticipating help from the city attorney at the workshop. “I have had many, many people call, and I just got off the phone with a citizen who was talking about it,” Glass said. “They want (sign-up) procedures put in place for parties – basic policies like other cities have, where parties of 20 or 25 people have to pull a permit.” Park regulations for municipalities at municode.com show other cities, including Ormond Beach and Edgewater, regulate many issues from conduct and park hours to penalties. Barker said “right now, to control certain behaviors,” other regulations are used – not park specific – such as laws covering alcoholic beverages, firearms and public safety issues.

Commissioner Liz Towsley Patton said the issue has been discussed before – not at length. “We will look at all sides and decide,” she said. “I am open to that, but, do I think we need to shut parks off to groups or go through a certain process? No.” Commissioner Donnie Moore said: “As it stands right now . . . I do see some issues, and we can work on that.” Moore said requiring reservations by large groups might be considered, but he also hopes to designate playgrounds as non-smoking areas. Commissioner Roy Johnson said he aims to find “what is best for everybody,” but not “restrict people from using the park.” A local business operator across from the park believes the city should regulate park use. “I am in a little store where people stop to get their whatnots, and they say what’s on their mind. I have heard grumblings,” said Mr. Sanderford. He spends seven weekdays operating Holly Hill River Mart, and said local residents complain about meeting groups monopolizing the park and the parking. The complaints resulted in a petition asking city lawmakers to look at the issue, he said.

Former mayoral candidate Steve Smith presented the petition. Barker said an unsigned copy of the petition is on record. Smith said his trouble at the park began while running for mayor. He reserved the pavilion once a week for 10 weeks, having cookouts and campaigning, but encountered harassment and disagreeable persons in a group meeting at the park pavilion with no reservation, he said. “The city should limit (the number of) times,” of use by large groups, Smith said, and all groups “should be submitting some remittance to the city for the maintenance of the park.”

Smith also had a solution.

“The thing that is missing is, we don’t have a leisure services or parks director, so there is nothing scheduled.” Organized activities would help, he said.

JAMES McCROSKEY NEW HOLLY HILL CITY MANAGER

Posted on by
Reply

Below is an excerpt from Hollyhell.com.Looks like the writer was right. McCrowskey DID demand more money from Holly Hill and got it! Sounds like his days were numbered at Daytona Shores-So why is the City of Holly Hill overpaying McCrowskey even against very vocal citizens opposed to it? Seems like the citizens are getting chewed up and spit out! We dont even have safe parks but McCrowskey wanted a raise even though he has been quoted as saying Holly Hill doesnt have enough money to fix a pot hole!

PS-He wont protect the children or locals in the parks from the harassment of Daytona AA or NA meetings either……..

James McCroskey Named New Holly Hill City Manager – 1/31/11

PREDICTION from the “Inside”: James McCroskey New Holly Hill City Manager

Currently making about $125,000 per year as the Assistant City Manager in Daytona Beach Shores, Jim McCroskey is stepping up to become the City Manager on a six month trial basis in Holly Hill.

Despite the city offering a paltry $95,500 City Manager contract, and with no severance package, Holly Hill received over 25 applications but only a dozen or so met the criteria of a 4 years college degree and 5 years experience.

With Holly Hill uncermoniously firing their City Manager Oel Wingo and renegging on her severance package, one has to wonder what McCroskey’s motivation is. Obviously on the surface job security is not on the table, that is unless there is a deal “under” the table.

McCroskey handles the CRA in Daytona Beach Shores and his contract was nearing an end, plus with the property values in decline, the CRA was not in a healthy financial position and cannot continue to sustain paying McCroskey for his CRA duties. No money, no plan. But McCroskey is a very capable manager. Let’s hope he doesn’t get chewed up and spit out by commissioners who don’t get their way.

Remember that in 6 months McCroskey will be able to get more money or he will tell the commission to start looking again. Also, remember that three votes controls.

Watch close citizens, this hiring deal was made by more than one elected official out of the public eye and smacks of Sunshine Law violations.

Listen in to the negotiations and “voting” in the workshop of 2/1/11. Of course they cannot vote in a workshop, but they may choose and bring it to the agenda for Feb. 8th.

Watch and see. From the “See all – Know all” from the inside.

Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood Death Threats Increase

Posted on by
1
Daytona Beach Florida May 11th 2011 Police Chief Mike Chitwood death threats increase after recent raids and multiple drug arrests of the city’s most hardened criminals.
Chitwood is known for being tough on crime. But the collateral damage is these people end up being mandated to Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings. In nearby Holly Hill Fl, Daytona Beach NA and AA come to our parks and playgrounds to have meetings. Chitwood does not tolerate this in his town where there are many more parks than Holly Hill has.There is not 1 meeting listed that is located in a Daytona Park/Playground. We are the dumping ground for these hardened criminals. When will the City of Holly Hill Fl address this safety issue crisis? They need to take a page from Chitwood’s book. Volusia County needs to look how there policies of mandated Daytona NA AA meetings are hurting the local communities and putting there citizens at risk.