COMMENTARY
MARK SCHUMANN
The editors of two local newspapers, though they seem to fancy themselves as “watchdog” journalists, are acting more like lambs. As a result, Vero Beach is now more or less in a “brownout” when it comes to news about the proposed sale of Vero Electric.
Over the past few weeks, the island tabloid and the Press Journal have remained silent about two important meetings that took place between negotiators working to structure a deal that will not breach Vero Beach’s contractual obligations to the Florida Municipal Power Agency and its bondholders.
As a result of those discussions a so-called “Plan A” has been shelved. No “Plan B” yet exists in any substantive form.
This latest setback in the negotiations only serves to further confirm the imprudence of signing a binding contract with Florida Power & Light before determining if the City’s contractual obligations to the FMPA could be resolved.
Joining Council members Tracy Carroll, Craig Fletcher and Pilar Turner in burying their heads in the sand regarding the FMPA issues, the editors of the island tabloid and the local daily seem to have dug holes for themselves, as well.
All the while, the public is left to believe the oft-repeated and unrealistic claim that the sale is likely to take place some time in 2014. The fact that a closing during the next fiscal year now seems all but impossible has not been widely reported, and yet the city is about to take up a draft budget that assumes Vero Electric will be handed over to FPL by April.
Numerous assumptions in the draft budget, including projected rental income from the power plant, franchise fees and additional property tax revenue from the sale are all predicated on wishful thinking about an early 2014 closing. That assumption is only made possible by denial of strong evidence to the contrary.
The news emerging from the recent negotiations would suggest that not only are the negotiations stalled, but that the wheels may be coming off the deal. Don’t hold your breath, though, waiting for the two newspapers that strongly supported passage of the March referendum to now report that the negotiations are not going well.
For their part, the editors of the island tabloid seem constitutionally incapable of offering anything other than a negative view of the city.
Meanwhile, the Press Journal’s silence on the troubled negotiations, and its support for approval a binding contract long before critical facts were known, suggests the newspaper is content to do FPL’s bidding. The Press Journal’s editors appear to have joined in the same delusional thinking that has afflicted Carroll, Fletcher and Turner, namely that the FMPA issues are surmountable through sheer determination and force of will.
From day one, FMPA representatives flagged the tax issues that stand as a huge impediment to Vero Beach handing over its electric utility to FPL. Yet, city leaders, aided and abetted by a compliant press, plowed ahead, and managed to convince voters to approve a contract that obligates the city for three years.
That same contract includes a $5 million penalty for failure to perform, putting the city at still more financial risk, should it be unable to secure FMPA approval for the deal.
Since the local press seems unwilling to fulfill its role in guarding the public interest, it is time for more citizens to come before the Council to ask some hard questions of their own.
Indian River Guardian 
Good job Mark. You are absolutely right. Keep up the great work
Thank goodness for your superb reporting on Inside Vero. We city residents appreciate it!
If anyone at city hall was convinced of a 2014 closing, they would not be advertising a management position at the T and D department.
This deal barely has a pulse at this point.
Failure to report known pertinent facts is the equivalent, in my mind, of an intentional effort to mislead. The Press Journal’s bias has been obvious since this issue emerged for the first time this century. I don’t think they took a position when there was a major effort to sell to FPL in the 1970’s (but as far as I know, the publisher was not married to an FPL executive in those days). I haven’t read 32963 enough to know what they have reported on the proposed sale so I don’t feel qualified to proffer any criticism toward that publication on this issue.
By watching the meetings, my major concern was the treatment given by certain council members to concerned citizens who, while not opposed to the sale, did raise some legitimate questions that deserved a respectful answer rather than the ridicule they received. On the other hand, those appearing before the council with suspect numbers supporting the sale were lauded. These are questions that should have been raised by a responsible press.
It is akin to having a sleeping Chihuahua as a “watchdog”; a dog that can bark but won’t.