MARK SCHUMANN
Recent news commentary and statements made by supporters of Tracy Carroll suggest the Vice Mayor’s reelection is crucial to prevent the sale of Vero Electric from coming off the rails.
Those who claim a new Council, absent Carroll, will have the option to pay FPL $5 million in liquidated damages to walk away from the contract are perhaps unaware a key provision in the agreement (Section 10.12), which gives both parties the right to specific performance in lieu of liquidated damages.
“There is no ‘opt out’ for $5 million on either side of the Agreement between the City of Vero Beach and FP&L,” wrote transactional attorney John Igoe in response to an inquiry from Inside Vero. “The City cannot vote to pay FP&L $5 million to terminate the Agreement. Each side has the remedy of specific performance, meaning either party could get a court to require the other party to perform its obligations under the Agreement,” Igoe added.
The contract between the city and FPL does include a provision, (Section 9.2), which addresses the circumstances under which a defaulting party would be liable for liquidated damages of up to $5 million. However, as Igoe explained, the non-defaulting party, which in this scenario would be FPL, retains the right to the other party to fulfill the contract.
Further, in the case of willful breaches of the contract, such a would be the case if a new City Council majority unilaterally deciding it to walk away from the deal, the liquidated damages provision does not limit the amount to $5 million.
Supporters of Tracy Carroll may have legitimate reasons to advocate for her re-election, but the claim that she must retain her seat at the dais in order to prevent a new Council majority from scuttling the deal with FPL is simply not true.
Indian River Guardian 
It is clear that desperation tactics are the only avenue for Tracy Carroll to win re-election. The problem is that most voters in COVB are intelligent enough that that train has already left the station. The contract has been signed by the COVB “leaders” so now the decision rests sorely with the various governmental and quasi-governmental bodies who must give final approval. This was the alleged justification for the COVB “leaders” to authorize wasting more tax dollars on lobbyists.
Voters have to judge Tracy Carroll past on her past performance. The sale of the city utilities is not a factor in the upcoming election.
Question: How much has the COVB spent on the transactional attorneys to date?
Approximately $1.7 million.
Thank you. I thought it was much higher.
FPL claims in their mailing to us this week that they expect the deal to be complete by the end of 2014…..so the attorneys still have plenty of time to line their pockets with more of our City’s money. And, yes, why do we need Tracy Carroll around for what apparently can’t be undone – except, maybe by some glitch beyond any of our control? I’m going to choose someone much more pleasant for whom to vote (in addition to the one incumbent with good sense).