Show to honor cancer survivors SEE PAGE 3
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REV. JESSE JACKSON: TRUMP TRAFFICS IN RACE AND DIVERSION PAGE 4
HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP: FLAGLER PALM COAST VS. SPRUCE CREEK SEE PAGE 7
%AST #ENTRAL &LORIDA S "LACK 6OICE OCTOBER 19 - OCTOBER 25, 2017
YEAR 42 NO. 42
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Ready to take his talent countywide Longtime city worker Percy Williamson retiring; running for Volusia County Council BY ANDREAS BUTLER DAYTONA TIMES
Percy Williamson is leaving his longtime Daytona Beach job and has his sights on a Volusia County Council seat. Williamson is retiring after 15 years as Daytona Beach’s Leisure Services Director. He has announced that he will seek the Volusia County Council at-large seat in the 2018 election – the position currently held by Joyce Cusack. Because of term limits, she can’t run again. “I’ve been thinking this for a
Percy Williamson
while. I looked at what was accomplished during my time here, and I looked to see if the department was better off than it was when I got here,” Williamson told the Daytona Times.
Gratifying city job Williamson said his time with Leisure Services, a department he has worked in since 2003, has
been gratifying. “It gave me an opportunity to come to my hometown and use all of my assets. I was able to upgrade the entire department and infrastructure to bring it up to a standard that was even-handed on both sides of the river,” Williamson commented. Before working for the City of Daytona Beach, Williamson spent 25 years in the banking industry, having worked for Wells Fargo and Bank of America. He retired from his banking job as an executive. “I left banking and came here at the urging of then City Commissioners Yvonne-Scarlett Golden and Charles Cherry Sr. They asked me to consider ap-
plying for the position. They convinced me to come back and work in my community in my hometown. I was sought out for my business background,” he recalled.
City priorities Williamson said he received criticism during his tenure at the city over fees and programs. He explained, “I made the inequities and lack of facilities my top priority. Before the Cypress Aquatic Center was built, nothing new had been constructed on the Westside for 40 years. I had a focused effort to bring the standard up in the core community. If you ride around town now, you
see our new recreation facilities. “We got corporate sponsors to help cover the cost for the Cypress pool for kids who can’t afford it. We have a free learn-toswim program. The fees for facilities are determined by city commission ordinances. We went back and redid the fees after finding they were too high.”
Number of achievements Williamson once oversaw as many as 160 employees (now 58), 10 recreation centers and 28 parks. He also for a time oversaw the five revenue enterprises that operate like small businesses. They are the Halifax Harbor MaSee WILLIAMSON, Page 2
Job fair at Campbell to help parents, community BY ANDREAS BUTLER DAYTONA TIMES
Celebrating their baldness Bazaar honors Alopecians and cancer survivors
Above: Ann Marie Sorrell, Angie Bee, Donna M. Gray-Banks and Wanda Marie.
Angie and Bartee Productions, the City of Daytona Beach and F.R.E.S.H. Book Festivals collaborated to bring awareness to alopecia, a type of hair loss, on Saturday at the Bold, Beautiful & Bald Beauty Bazaar. The event took place at the Yvonne Scarlett Golden Cultural & Educational Center,1000 Vine St., Daytona Beach. Cancer survivors also were honored during the bazaar in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A highlight was a fashion show with clothes
Right: Fashions were provided by Klassy Koutoure. PHOTOS BY DUANE C. FERNANDEZ SR./ HARDNOTTS PHOTOGRAPHY. COM
provided by Klassy Koutoure in Orange City, which specializes in fashions for full-figured women. The event was originally supposed to be held last month, which was National Alopecia Awareness Month. Organizer Angie Bee, a local evangelist, said she wanted to bring an event to the area where “other Alopecians like myself can shop for wigs, try makeup, enjoy music and a fashion show and shop, without feeling like the only bald woman in the room.’’
Suicide rate declines in Volusia; remains higher than state SPECIAL TO THE DAYTONA TIMES
Lowest among Blacks
Suicide is on the decline in Volusia County but rates remain consistently higher than the state’s, according to a report on mental health and suicide released by the Florida Department of Health in Volusia County (DOH-Volusia). The report examines Volusia County’s suicide rates and youth mental health well-being, including differences among geographic areas and races. The full report uses data from 2012 through 2016 and is online at volusiahealth.com/stats.
Suicide rates exhibit stark differences among races. White residents consistently had suicide rates that were two to three times higher than Blacks and Hispanics. Rates were lowest among Black residents. Geographically the highest suicide rate was in southeast quadrant of Volusia County. Rates were lowest in the northwest and southwest corners of the county. The report was compiled using data from the Florida Department of Health Vital Statis-
ALSO INSIDE
tics death files and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration hospitalization file.
Youth surveyed Mental health well-being among Volusia’s middle and high school students partially was assessed on a Florida Youth Tobacco Survey. The middle school student response patterns closely resemble high school students when looking at feelings of hopelessness and self-harm. The report does not examine cause and effect relationships.
The department prepares these types of health reports for use by community partners who serve various populations or address health risks. Reports also help to raise awareness among the general public, according to Patricia Boswell, DOH-Volusia administrator. For information on suicide prevention training, contact Melissa Witmeier, director of training and community engagement at the Florida Linking Individuals Needing Care Project, at melissa@fccmh.org.
Campbell Middle School is trying to do its part to help residents living near the school find jobs. The school will bring in 25 local businesses and companies on Friday, Oct. 27, for a job fair in its cafeteria. The job fair, will be 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at the school, 625 S. Keech St. “We know that there is a need for families to find employment. Since we have good relationships with some of our businesses partners, we felt that we could bring in resources to help support those in the community find jobs,” Dr. Jerry L. Picott, principal of Campbell Middle School told the Daytona Times this week.
Jobless rates Campbell is located in the heart of the Daytona’s Black community. There are 777 students enrolled at Campbell and 64 percent of them are Black. African-American unemployment numbers are higher than other ethnicities. The unemployment rate for Blacks in September was 7 percent compared with 3.7 percent for Whites and 5.1 percent for Hispanics, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The overall latest jobless rate in September was 4.2 percent. Volusia County’s jobless rate is 4.3 percent. “A lot of the families we are coming in contact with are not being employed because they may have been arrested, have a previous record or some other stipulation that won’t allow a company to hire them,” Picott explained. “We also want to help those who may have things that may prevent them from getting hired. We have ways of helping them.”
First time Job fair participants will include Daytona State College, Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Goodwill, Launch Federal Credit Union, Hope Harbor Therapies and Sandalwood Nursing Center. Job fairs at middle schools aren’t common as most job fairs at educational institutions are held at colleges and universities. Picott commented, “I am not sure about other schools. This is our first time ever trying to do this. We don’t know how it’s go-
COMMENTARY: MARC MORIAL: A SON OF BIRMINGHAM BECOMES ITS MAYOR | PAGE 4 NATION: OUT OF THE SHADOWS: OVERT RACISM FLOURISHING IN THE SOUTH | PAGE 5
See CAMPBELL, Page 2