The cheers, applause and faux excitement in the chamber added weight and drama to Little JimmyвЂ™s вЂњGrand Reveal.вЂќ Regardless вЂ“ when the announcement was made, the room fell apart in over-the-top ebullience and unbridled joy. Something tells me thereвЂ™s more to that story than meets the eye. Something about Starwood Hotels being sold to Marriott Corporation, yada, yada, yada. Adbulhussein is requesting an extension of the date of completion вЂ“ and permission to change the franchise from Westin to вЂ“ wait for it вЂ“ Hard Rock. Abbas Abdulhussein, the owner of Summit Hospitality Group, who for over two-years now has been renovating that haunted house formerly known as the Desert Inn into what we were originally told would be a вЂњ4-StarвЂќ Westin hotel вЂ“ a languishing project that looks like itвЂ™s being finished by two guys working on weekends вЂ“ needs more time.ДЄccording to Little Jimmy, Mr. Dinneen proceeded to tell us what we all knew in our heart-of-hearts was coming, sooner or later: With all the dramatic flair of a fart in church, Mr. What happened next was something straight out of a TheaterВ of the Absurd вЂ“ with you and I playing the starring role of the hapless dupes who are supposed to be overtly astonished by the grand revelations of the Boss Clown.ДЄs directed by his handler, Chairman Kelley dutifully threw it to Little Jimmy right on Que. If youвЂ™ll give it to me IвЂ™ll introduce him and tell about the letter we got on the Hard Rock вЂ“ okay?вЂќ So itвЂ™ll be вЂ“ right before we do public hearing вЂ“ before you do number two (yeah).

Jimmy: вЂњAnd then we start right after consent вЂ“ before you get into the public hearing.вЂќ Chair, I want to bring up the thing with Abbas.вЂќ ItвЂ™s amazing what a microphone picks up, eh? Just after the prayer and pledge, Sneaky Jimmy creeped his way onto the dais, leaned over Chairman Ed KelleyвЂ™s shoulder вЂ“ speaking sotto voce вЂ“ and gave Old Ed his marching orders for some whale shit-level political flimflam. When it comes to the intrigues of the Volusia County Council, IвЂ™ve had my intelligence insulted more than once вЂ“ so have you вЂ“ but ThursdayвЂ™s вЂњbreaking newsвЂќ act by County Manager Jim Dinneen takes the cake. Now, we will get a unique opportunity to see whoвЂ™s interests our elected officials вЂ“ and county attorney вЂ“ really represent as the bait-and-switch games begin. It is increasingly clear that construction on the вЂњHard RockвЂќ wonвЂ™t be completed by the date specified in the ordinance.

If the performance standards set in the ordinance were not met by that date, we were assured that beach driving would not be removed from the strand behind the hotel. This piece was originally published on April 7, 2017, in the immediate aftermath of County Manager Jim DinneenвЂ™s surprise announcement that Summit Hospitality Group would be requesting a franchise change for the languishing Desert Inn/Westin/Hard Rock project вЂ“ to include an extension of the completion date to February 28, 2018.

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