Name= Van Conoley;

Age= 62 yrs.;

Address = 25 Rosedown Blvd.; DeBary, Fl. 32713;

phone = 386-668-8959 ;

e-mail = “not to be published”

No web site;

Office = DeBary City Council Seat #3.

Biographical data: Education: A.A. Degree; Miami-Dade Community College; 1967; B.A. Degree, University of Miami, 1970; Master of Science(MS Degree), Barry University, 1973; Master of Business Administration (MBA Degree), Barry University, 1979; Ed.S., Florida Atlantic University, 1992.

Occupation/work: 1) Office of the State Attorney of Dade County, 2) Research Psychologist at Penny Parade Foundation, 3) Graduate Instructor at Barry University ( While working on MS Degree); 4) Teacher of Science - Florida Public School system, 5) Teacher of Mathematics - Florida Public School System; 6) Presently retired after 27 years of public school teaching. Married to MaryAnn Benoit Conoley, retired teacher of mathematics.

Question 10a) Part 1- In the past, the DeBary City Council has failed to give clear direction to the City Manager. This lack of direction has led to a number of problems within our city. If I am elected to the City Council, I will attempt to work with my fellow councilmen and give clear direction to our city manager. This should solve many problems and should be a win/win/win situation for the Council, the manager, and most importantly the Citizens of DeBary. 10b) I strongly support open, honest, and clean government. The DeBary City Council has made some errors. Here are a few 1) The Council attempted to remove an honest and law abiding citizen from the Volusia Growth Management Council and subvert the governmental process. 2) The Council purchased huge flower pots for the city at a cost of $ 1,100.00 each. Most citizens considered this very wasteful spending. 3) The city council, at the behest of the manager, hired a "grant writer" and paid $5,000.00/month for this service. Unfortunately, the "grant writer" never wrote a grant and seldom showed up for city council meetings. 4) The city council gave $5,000.00 of taxpayer money to a political action committee to influence voters. I will attempt to prevent actions like these if I am elected.

This is the answer to 10b. On attachment one, by error I labled 10a-part 2 as 10 b, Please correct this for me since my computer's security system does not allow a file change. Here is 10b) The State Legislature has the power and authority to regulate both county and city governments. Therefore, the question that I shall address is: " Do I believe that the Florida Legislature has acted wisely as it relates to legislation regarding local governmental revenues and taxation?" No. I believe that too many members of the Legislature of both political parties are much more concerned with promoting their own Machiavellian political interests than in promoting fiscal responsibility of local governments. The Legislature should avoid legislation that attempts to control too many aspects of local government. If this trend continues, local governments will be crushed by unfunded State mandates and unfunded Federal mandates. I strongly oppose unfunded state mandates and unfunded Federal mandates.

11) Development and Growth- As a candidate in 2005, I developed a policy of supporting slow and planned growth that would benefit all of the People in DeBary. Unplanned and unchecked growth could destroy the basic values of our city. I will not hesitate to vote against unplanned growth that does not benefit all of our citizens. However, I will support reasonable growth that benefits all of our citizens and preserves our community. Also, I would like to point out that in the past, the City Council has allowed growth without supporting a reasonable infrastructure. We do not have a middle school or a high school in DeBary for our children. We also have roads that are not paved and we have citizens who do not have clean drinking water because they are not connected to the county water supply. We can and must do much better. As a candidate, I shall not accept financial contributions from developers, political action committees that do not share our views, special interest groups, and other political groups. I will maintain my independence and work for the People.

Question 12) Revenues/service I read budgets. I read and analized the County budget, the School Board budget, and the DeBary Budget. The DeBary City Budget has sufficient funds to continue to provide services to all of our citizens at the present levels. The problem in DeBary is wasteful spending. Past City Councils have: 1) Wasted tax dollars on huge flower pots at a cost of $1,100 each , 2) Hired a grant writer who never wrote a grant and paid her $5,000.00/month with our tax dollars, 3) Given a contribution to a political action committee to influence voter choices(This is not a proper role for government) , 4) Imposed a stormwater tax and also borrowed money for stormwater improvements, yet we have not completed one stormwater project that is in my view satisfactory and cost efficient. The answer is simple: 1) Reduce wasteful spending and 2) Closely supervise projects, like our stormwater project, so the People will know that the tax dollars are working for them.

Question 13) Specific issue- I sought election to the DeBary City Council in 2005, and I did very well with over 49% of the vote. On my campaign literature in 2005, I clearly stated that stormwater was an issue. Also on my literature, I clearly stated that we could solve this problem with little or no cost to our taxpayers by working with the St. John's River Water Management District (SJRWMD). The SJRWMD had literature to read, and I read all 18 pounds of materials sent to me by the SJRWMD. It was extremely clear to me that if our city would take the time to carefully write grants, the SJRWMD would pay most if not 100% of our stormwater costs. So I watched and waited. Not only did DeBary fail to submit one grant to the SJRWMD, but they hired a "grant writer" at $5,000.00/month who never wrote a grant. Also, the stormwater system has not been supervised in a professional manner. The answer is clear, our City Council needs leadership and clearly needs to understand the need for !) short term planning, 2) Intermediate term planning, and 3) Long term planning. If elected in November, I shall work with the other Councilmen to develop sensible planning to better serve our Citizens.