GUEST COMMENTARY
BEA GARDNER
PT Barnum said it well….”There’s a sucker born every minute”. So, who is the sucker in this thing called the Vero Beach Electric Utility SALE? It’s beginning to look like Vero Beach is the sucker and let me count the ways.
When Vero set out to sell the Electric Utility without going out to bid they set themselves up to be a big sucker in the process. (And History is proving that to be true)
When Vero Beach suckered the public with a 3-2 vote and not requiring a super majority of their elected officials to sell off an asset valued at close to $200 million then I believe they set themselves up for problems. I think a super majority vote should have been asked of the council in order to do such a large and important transaction.
Sucker Referendum number 1:
When the voters were asked to vote to lease the land that the Power Plant sits on to FPL without first having a lease, they were being a suckers…in other words, the public voted on a blank piece of paper. To my knowledge there still is NO LEASE.
Sucker Referendum number 2:
The public got suckered in to the second referendum when asked to vote whether or not they wanted a sale to take place before there was a signed sales agreement in hand.
It takes a real sucker to sign a sales agreement before the details of the sale are completed and….that is exactly what three (the troika) Vero Beach elected officials did. As we speak, deals are being made behind closed doors to facilitate a sale…. I read where this sale is being discussed in a dinner meeting between FPL big shots and FMPA big shots. Hmmm.
Another sucker punch came when it was noted that the City would be giving up valuable land for a sub-station to be included in the deal after the deal was made.
Only a sucker would sign a sales agreement knowing that the deal is not a good deal. In other words, who, in their right mind, would sell a $200 million dollar asset only to realize an “iffy” $3 million profit? Not a very good return on your money is it? Hmmm.
It takes a real sucker to pay millions of dollars to negotiate such a bad deal and it appears that is exactly what Vero Beach is doing.
Not only is FPL smart enough and cunning enough to wiggle their way into this GREAT DEAL for themselves, they got the real sucker’s, the Citizens of Vero Beach, to pay them to do so. I recall reading that Vero Beach is paying OUC about $64 million dollars to clear the way for this sale. Hmmm.
Vero Beach Electric Customers are being made to be suckers? Just look at your electric bill. It always was higher than FPL and that was sometimes hard to take but when this City Council chose to raise the rates EVEN HIGHER in order to pay for the expenses of selling off this asset, the bills became too high even for some of the suckers who believed a sale was necessary. Over a million dollars so far just to have the attorneys tell us that it is a complicated matter. Yep, even the high priced transactional attorneys are making suckers out of the City.
And now, when it comes down to the big hurdles of getting out of a whole bunch of commitments, only now is FPL willing to pony up some of their own cash to pay off even more commitments, namely to FMPA. So, who is the sucker here? Vero Beach is the sucker because they should have required FPL to pay off all of their commitments before ever signing any kind of agreement.
If FPL is willing and able to cut side agreements with FMPA….more power to them however it is time for Vero Beach to stop being a sucker. Vero should make FPL ”belly up to the bar” and pay them what the Electric Utility is really worth. Vero Beach electric customers and especially the City of Vero Beach should get more than cheaper rates at the conclusion of this sale. They should get more money….a lot more money than the $111 million dollars that FPL has agreed to pay.
Seems like the sell at any price crowd, namely the Red Herring (aka Glenn Heran) and his gang of spinners, is now venturing out to make the County Commissioners suckers too. At this late date in the negotiations the Red Herring is asking the County Commission to spend $100,000.00 more of taxpayer’s money to hire a consultant to help in the negotiations. As PT Barnum says, there is a new sucker born every minute. I think the County Commissioners will be the new suckers on the block.
Editor’s Note: Bea Gardner is the creator of Bea-isms at beagardner.com.
Indian River Guardian 
Who’d have thought so many in this county are actually related to Mortimer Snerd (think Edgar B. & Charlie McCarthy–the latter being Mortimer’s fellow dummy). Just hearing that FPL is “paying off” FMPA sends shivers through me….at least we are seeing how large, private companies do business. We grouse about big business this and big government that – but it isn’t the size but the business ethics (or lack of) that concerns many of us. Yes, it appears that Barnum was right about suckers and we are the proof.
Cathy Katrovitz has made the perfect analogy. In the USA today there is a big debate about the National Security Agency allegedly spying on Americans. This is not an issue that should be a worry to any citizen because the NSA data base pales in comparison to the data base of Big Business and tthe level of detailed informaiton that they have on every citizen.
Another issue that the average citizen should worry about comes from organnizations like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) who have purchased so many Republicans to do their own bidding. We even have the sad situation in which our current representative in the
U. S. Congress has on his official web site that he has won awards from ALEC for doing their bidding. Bill “Birther” Posey is the poster child for what Big Business is able to do when they make a wholesale purchase of politicans.
Pat, This is not a forum to bash Republicans.
I was merely trying to point out the fact that we have all been suckered into a very costly process that is not yet ready to finalize and frankly, partisan politics has nothing to do with who has been a sucker on this deal. You need to go back to the top and re-read this article before commenting on it.,
And, thanks Kathy. I do remember Mortimer Snerd very well and you used the analogy well in relationship to what I am saying in this article.
You are right on the money .Bea. 100% correct. Keep on exposing the stupidity of some elected officials..This sale is deplorable and harmful to every taxpayer. When will it end?