Ep. 70 - More Than the Beach: Daytona’s Story of History and Growth (with Deric C. Feacher)

In this episode of The Jentry Podcast, Jonathan Mason sits down with Deric C. Feacher, City Manager and Chief Administrative Officer of Daytona Beach, Florida, for a wide-ranging conversation about public service, leadership, housing, history, and the responsibility of building for the next generation. Deric shares how his path into local government started early, shaped by his mother’s career with the City of Winter Haven and a youth city government program that introduced him to the power of public service. He later worked his way through multiple departments, learning local government from the ground up by riding on garbage trucks, working with parks crews, spending time with firefighters and seeing the daily work behind city operations. The conversation explores Daytona Beach’s unique identity as more than a tourist destination. Deric highlights the city’s deep history, including Jackie Robinson Ballpark, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s legacy, NASCAR, higher education, major employers, and the city’s role as a place where people come to live, work, learn and visit. At its core, this episode is about bridge building. Deric explains how local government leaders must balance growth, affordability, infrastructure, quality of life, public expectations and long-term responsibility while planting seeds for a future they may never personally get to sit under. Takeaways Daytona Beach Is More Than the Beach The city’s identity includes tourism, higher education, NASCAR, Jackie Robinson’s legacy, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s history, major employers and a deep sense of place. Leadership Requires Doing the Work Deric’s experience across sanitation, parks, fire, police, communications and operations shaped how he leads. He believes leaders must understand the work before they can effectively manage it. Bridge Building Is the Job Whether navigating housing, infrastructure, elected officials, staff, residents or development, Deric frames leadership as the work of building bridges across competing priorities. Housing Needs the Middle Daytona Beach has multifamily and single-family growth, but the missing middle remains a major need for working families, young professionals and residents who want to stay. Government Moves Through Process for a Reason Deric compares government to a yacht moving through a canal. It cannot turn instantly, but leaders can still remove bureaucratic barriers and focus on how to get to yes. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Daytona Beach overview 02:30 What makes Daytona Beach special 04:57 Deric’s childhood and public service roots 06:10 Youth city government and early leadership 07:20 Learning city operations from the ground up 10:24 Why hands-on leadership matters 12:43 Daytona Beach’s strategic priorities 14:39 Workforce housing and affordable housing 15:14 The missing middle housing need 19:49 Growth, amenities and community tradeoffs 20:55 Infrastructure, land and bridge building 28:30 Public-private partnerships and signature projects 32:27 Last chance questions begin 33:21 Code enforcement and policy execution 34:05 Election cycles and long-term promises 36:23 ADUs, code enforcement and unintended consequences 38:33 Why government moves like a yacht in a canal 42:40 Promises, process and public expectations 47:29 Final reflections on public service 48:08 Engaging the next generation Keywords #DericCFeacher #daytonabeachflorida #Florida #localgovernment #citymanagement #publicservice #economicdevelopment #Housing #workforcehousing #Infrastructure #bridgebuilding #JackieRobinson #MaryMcLeodBethune #NASCAR #civicleadership