New Florida ‘Public Safety’ Councilman Arrested on DUI Charges

A newly elected Florida councilman who previously said public safety was his main priority has been arrested for allegedly driving under the influence.
Lance Green, who won his primary race and secured his District 4 seat on the Port Orange City Council in August, was taken in by police on Saturday, Volusia County bookings records show.
He faces charges of driving under the influence, DUI with damage to persons or property and obstructing an officer without violence.
The 59-year-old was arrested in the early hours of the morning and released a few hours later, at 7:46 a.m., with a $2,000 bond made up of $1,000 for the DUI charge and $500 for the remaining two.
It came after Green said public safety and police resources were one of his top three priorities when he ran for his position.
At the beginning of July, local newspaper The Daytona Beach News-Journal interviewed the two candidates running for the District 4 seat, Green and Joe Mialki.
Green, a former construction manager, listed the following as his first priority: “Continue to improve public safety and staffing of our police department: new and retention.”
His other two concerns were adequate drainage to alleviate any future flooding and maintaining traffic signalization.
“I want to protect the small-town feel of Port Orange and our parks and recreation so we can continue to accommodate all of our residents,” he said at the time.
Newsweek has contacted Green, the City of Port Orange’s Public Information Office and the Volusia Sheriff’s Office via email for comment.
Mialki, who lost the primary to Green, also listed public safety as one of his top three priorities at the time.
He said: “Public Safety: working hand-in-hand with our men and women in law enforcement and fire rescue to protect our citizens and city.”
When asked why he was running, he said he wanted to “work to protect their safety and rights as residents.”
Newsweek has contacted Mialki via email for comment.
Florida does not rank within the top 10 states of DUI arrests, according to a June analysis of FBI data carried out by High Rise Legal Funding, which offers loans to plaintiffs in personal injury cases.
Newsweek created a map showing the top 10, with Alaska leading the nation at “an alarming rate” of 726.13 DUI arrests per 100,000 people. In a single year, the state saw a total of 3,227 DUI arrests.
After Alaska, South Dakota had the second-highest number of DUI arrests per capita, with a rate of 718.53 per 100,000 people. It was followed by Pennsylvania, which had 30,134 DUI arrests, or 526.28 per 100,000 people.