COMMENTARY

MARK SCHUMANN

Update: Mon. Sept. 30, 1:00 – According the Richard Winger and Amelia Graves, they were informed by a reporter from the island weekly that the start time for the Thursday evening debate to be held at the Costa d’ Este has been moved to 8:30 to accommodate the candidates participating in the Candidate Roundtable to be held from 6 to 8 at the Heritage Center.

In the current Vero Beach City Council election, well before the votes are to be cast, the public is already faced with choices. This Thursday evening a Candidate Roundtable will be held at the Heritage Center in downtown Vero Beach, while a debate hosted by the island weekly will take place at the beachfront Costa d’ Este Resort.

Amelia Graves, Warren Winchester and Richard Winger will join in the Candidate Roundtable, while Tracy Carroll and Brian Heady will square off in the “32963 Debate.”

The Candidate Roundtable, to be held from 6 to 8, promises to be an elevated discussion on the future of Vero Beach.  It will be recorded for later broadcast on Channel 10 TV, and on WAXE 1370 AM and 107.9 FM, and will posted on InsideVero.com.

While Graves, Winchester and Winger are thoughtfully articulating where they propose to lead the city after the sale of the electric system, Carroll and Heady will face off it what will almost surely be verbal slug fest.  Heady, one of Carroll’s harshest and most vocal critics, said he is attending the “32963 Debate” to prevent it from becoming a pep rally for the Vice Mayor.

As late as Sunday evening, a reporter for the island weekly was calling candidates urging them to either withdraw from the Candidate Roundtable, or to at least agree to scurry over to the island as soon as possible Thursday evening to join Carroll and Heady in what, by that point, will almost surely have turned into a mud wrestling match.

The scheduling conflict arose when the island weekly belatedly arranged its “debate” more than a day after news of the Roundtable Discussion was released to the public.  The island weekly initially scheduled its “debate” for 6:30, though it had already been announced that the Candidate Roundtable would begin at 6:00.  The “32963 Debate” is now set to begin at 7:15, which still conflicts with the previously scheduled Candidate Roundtable.

Why would the island weekly editors intentionally schedule a “debate” on the same evening as the Candidate Roundtable, and why would they think it reasonable to ask the candidates to juggle their time and energy between two events on the same evening?

Some have speculated the island weekly is attempting to give the controversial Carroll, its likely endorsee, a plausible excuse for not participating in a roundtable discussion to be focused on quality of life issues, which, arguable, is not the Vice Mayor’s strong suit.

As unfortunate as it is that these two candidate events will be held the same evening, the responsibly rest solely with Vero Beach 32963 publisher Milton Benjamin and his staff.   After learning Inside Vero would host a Candidate Roundtable the evening of Oct. 3, the island weekly had every opportunity to select a different date for their “debate,” or pep rally for Carroll, or whatever they intend it to be.