DELAND The first Volusia County tax collector in 50 years took over Tuesday, beginning a yearlong transition to assume all the duties of the office, from collecting property taxes to issuing driver’s licenses, birth certificates and concealed carry permits.
Will Roberts was sworn in on the steps of the Volusia County Historic Courthouse, with a small crowd of elected officials, staff and family somewhat socially distanced. The temperature slowly climbed from an overnight low in the 40s.
“For the guy with the most unpopular job in the county, this is a pretty good turnout,” a smiling Roberts said after taping a printout of his new office s logo over the Volusia County seal on his podium.
Let s start with the good news: 2021 will be a different year from 2020. That alone was worth celebrating at midnight.
But then there s the less-good news: 2020 created a lot of heavy lifting for 2021. Here are 10 things to be looking for in the year ahead.
1 – The coronavirus winds down.
No, it won t just go away as outgoing President Donald Trump claimed some 40 times in 2020. In fact, Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned that outbreaks will worsen before they get better. But he also said things should begin winding down by spring, so there s that.
Not since the polio vaccine rolled out in the 1950s has a vaccine been so eagerly anticipated. Despite the first round of doses already becoming available, it s going to take time for a significant portion of the public to get vaccinated. And remember that the two-dose vaccines need to be taken 28 days apart, so add a month to whatever you thought.
The Volusia County Council on Tuesday held its final meeting with its present lineup. Two new members will take their seats at the Jan. 7 meeting which will be the biggest change for the body since Ed Kelley was elected county chair in 2016.
As always in final sessions, this last go-around was emotional with several members still smarting from the election fights and defensive of their records. Going through this last campaign, began outgoing Council Member Deb Denys, the things that we do to serve you, you never know. And you never know what a family goes through, what they walk away from, what they endure, what they hear you ve been called, what they hear their mother called, what they hear their grandmother called, and they have to smile and take the high road.