Former Finance Commission member William Testen addressed the City Council yesterday, voicing a number of concerns about how the city has negotiated the sale of Vero Electric.
While emphasizing that he believes the electric system should be sold or operated competitively, Testen was most critical of the Council’s decision to not issue a formal request for proposals from all qualified buyers. Former Councilman Warren Winchester has more than once brought the same concern before the Council.
Testern said negotiating exclusively with Florida Power & Light was analogous to a homeowner putting their house up for auction, but only after first announcing that they would only consider one offer from one specific bidder.
The former Finance Commission member also questioned if the negotiations have been held at arms length, siting statements by Council members to the effect that the city and Florida Power & Light are “one big family.”
Testen said he also believes city officials surrendered their negotiating leverage by publically describing FPL’s initial $100 million offer “a very good deal.” GAI consulting had valued the system between $160 million and $200 million.
Finally, Testen said, “If it is such a good deal, how will the budget shortfall be covered?”
Without first revealing their plans for keeping Vero Beach “a vibrant city” in the wake of the sale, Testen told the Council it was premature to ask voters to approve the deal.
Indian River Guardian 
Unfortunately no one who is opposed to the sale of the electrical service has been able to articulate what the real threat is to Vero Beach being a “vibrant city” after the sale to FP&L. The city in fact will be much more attractive when the old dinosaur no longer exists.
I am, however, in agreement with the statement about the lack of an RFP. This is a pattern of business that I have seen elsewhere in the community and it makes no sense to not use 21st cntury tools in planning for the future. However, it is wrong to blame the COVB elected officials for the fact that no other entity other than FP&L responded to their letters requesting interest in the sale. The city had no choice in dealing with only one potential buyer. Thus, the analogy to a home being auctioned is not appropriate.
How a process that has been ongoing for years can be declared as “premature” simply does not make sense.
This is just common sense. It makes one wonder what the motivation of the City Council troika is. It is obviously not how to benefit the City. It is not the preservation of jobs for the City’s Civil Servants. It is not to preserve our City services at their current level. I just can’t help but think that maybe they really are out to have the City swallowed by the county and to establish their own Vero Village on the beach for the haves and to hell with the have-nots. If you were looking for a way to destroy the City, you could not have found a better one.
What Mr. Teston said was that it is premature for the Council to ask voters to approve the deal without first revealing a plan to keep the city “vibrant” in the wake of the loss of some $7 million in revenue from Vero Electric. Perhaps the question is why this information has not come forward, giving that the process has been, as you say, “ongoing for years.”
No one can seriously believe that the COVB elected officials have a goal of “destroying” the city. Running for elected office in and of itself shows a commitment to improving the community in which you live. There is a vast diffrence between maintaining the status quo and acting to improve the quality of life for all residents.
No elected official in this day and age can protect the jobs of all its civil servants. However, the sale will finally allow the COVB to meet its obligations to the past and current employees with a more financial stable pension system. The current roster of elected officials are repairing the damage done by previous administrations.
I agree that the COVB have no justification in not telling the public what the plans would be to maintain the level of services after the sale of the utility. Planning seems to be something that is foreign to our current crops of elected officials at the local, state and Federal level.