BY MARK SCHUMANN

During a recent City Council meeting, Vice Mayor Tracy Carroll listened quietly as Charlie Wilson attacked former councilman Ken Daige, falsely accusing him of withholding evidence and essentially obstructing justice. Later, Carroll seemed to be assuming responsibility for presiding over the meeting as she interrupted and then scolded Brian Heady for criticizing her and other council members.  Near the end of the meeting, the Vice Mayor’s interest in maintaining civility and decorum waned, as she attacked Councilman Jay Kramer, making comments Mayor Craig Fletcher said were inappropriate.

Fletcher’s attempt to maintain control of the meeting was ignored by Carroll, who was determined to get in a few more verbal punches on her fellow councilmember.  Carroll was, of course, doing what she often does – play to the cameras.

At one point, I checked the channel on my television, wondering if I had inadvertently tuned in to professional wrestling.

Carroll was content to let Wilson deliver his diatribe uninterrupted because his attack on Daige served her purposes.  Unwilling to follow through on her earlier threat to ask the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the circumstances under which the city’s wholesale power agreement with Orlando Utilities Commission was negotiated and signed, Carroll at least seemed pleased to let Wilson, the quintessential water boy, carry a bucket or two for her.

It seems to be a strategy of the proponents of the sale of the electric system to continue calling into question the legality of the city’s agreement with the OUC, just as they continue to insist a reasonable and customary provision for liquidated damages is somehow a “penalty.”

Heady then entered the ring.  His criticisms of Carroll weren’t to be tolerated, though, at least not by the Vice Mayor, who seems willing to dish out a lot more heat than she is able to take.

Perhaps what was most inconsistent about Carroll’s behavior during last Tuesday’s Council meeting was her attack on Kramer for “working against the sale.”  Somehow Carroll seems to have the idea council members who are in the minority on a given issues are stripped of their right to free speech.

If that were true, if it was incumbent upon the minority to remain silent and compliant, then opponents of Obama Care would not be crisscrossing the country working to block the law’s implementation until they can repeal it.

Contrary to Carroll’s view, it could be argued that Kramer has both a right and a responsibility to continue to express his concerns with the way the Council troika is letting the city be lead around by FPL in what is supposed to be an arms length transaction.

Among the hurdles the deal to sell the electric system must still clear are reviews by the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency, the Department of Justice and the Florida Public Service Commission. If Kramer has information he thinks would be important to regulators in making their decision, I hope he will share that information with them.  Anything less would be withholding evidence, and that, as Wilson might be inclined to put it, would be a “crime.”