- June 17, 2026
County Council structure. Restricting reimbursements for officials. Amendment 10 updates. Removal of personnel system requirements. A registry of protected conservation lands.
Volusia voters will get a say on five proposed charter amendments this November, following a third and final public hearing at the County Council meeting on Tuesday, June 16. The charter amendments were brought forth after a year of work by the 2025-2026 Charter Review Committee, a 15-person body appointed by the council to review the county's existing charter and ordinances.
Though the public hearings were conducted during council meetings, officials lacked the authority to revise the proposed amendments or decline to place them on the ballot.
"We often get reminded that the people voted," County Council member David Santiago said. "The people spoke on other items that have been before us —that we should listen to them, because the people have spoken, right? We hear that all the time. Well, guess what? The people will speak on this too, and we'll know very loud and clear whether 60% or more, or less, want what is being argued for or against, so the debate really needs to happen amongst your neighbors."
The five proposed charter amendments are:
Some voters at Tuesday's hearing argued that the amendments weaken the citizen voice in Volusia County government. Resident Gary Singleton said some of the amendments "attempt to fix something that isn't broken or ignore the will of the people."
"Citizens should retain the right to choose the county chair, refusing to hand over that right to politicians," he said. "The will of the people must be protected."
Singleton added that restrictions on spending for council members should remain in place, that personnel administration shouldn't require a change in the county charter and that residents have "overwhelmingly" voted for large-scale conservation with Volusia Forever.
A sixth proposed charter amendment, initiated by the council, also involved the sale and transfer of conservation lands. It was tabled in a 4-2 vote.
This amendment proposed requiring a unanimous vote of the County Council to sell or transfer property acquired by the county through its endangered lands or Volusia Forever programs, unless otherwise required by a contractual or legal obligation of the county as part of the eminent domain process, according to a county staff report.
This was a result of arguments made by some environmentalists who felt that the fifth charter amendment involving conservation lands takes away protections because it will allow council to sell these lands or use them for a "public purpose."
Dream Green Volusia founder Suzanne Scheiber, a member of the Charter Review Committee, stated on her organization's Facebook page that public purpose is "defined by case law and can be a wastewater treatment plant, a fire station, a road, a water treatment plant, a park, etc."
She advocated for the county to emulate Alachua County, where lands placed on a conservation registry can only be sold via a voter referendum. As county legal opinions say this wouldn't hold up in courts, Scheiber asked the council to pass an ordinance requiring a unanimous vote to sell or transfer conservation lands, and put the sixth charter amendment on the ballot for voters to decide.
"It strengthens the initial voter referendum and does not affect Volusia Forever's original intent," Scheiber said. "Show us that you have no plans to sell our Volusia Forever conservation lands, and that words spoken in support of the program meant something."
Charter Review Committee member and former Volusia County Councilman Ben Johnson said that a lot of what's been said about the conservation lands amendment — during the public hearings and on social media — was "a lot of unmitigated bull----."
"I've sat here and listened to people come up here and stand up ... and tell you part of a truth, not the whole truth — trying to sell a story that we're trying to weaken the ability about selling this property," Johnson said. "I have always voted for Forever and ECHO. I've always voted for it because they are great programs. I don't want to see the property sold or done away with, but the idea of having to put a 7-0 vote ... when I sat on that council, we couldn't even get a 7-0 vote when we had free food in that back room about what time we were going to eat."
Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower said he asked for the amendment to be placed on the agenda because conservation lands, and maintaining them in perpetuity, has been a highly debated topic in the public.
"I wanted to go take it a step further and give the protection to the voters of Volusia County — the greatest protection they could possibly have, and that is a unanimous vote by this council, or actually by future councils," Brower said.
Brower and Volusia County Council member Troy Kent voted against tabling the amendment indefinitely. Councilman Jake Johansson was absent.
