Breaching a sacred trust, Press Journal remains silent
COMMENTARY
MARK SCHUMANN
Funding an electioneering communications organization established by utility activist Glenn Heran, Florida Power & Light seems prepared to do whatever is within its means to control the outcome of Vero Beach’s Nov. 5 municipal election.
Because Heran and FPL were prohibited by law from using a political action committee established in 2011 to aid Tracy Carroll in her bid for re-election, Heran cleverly rebranded what was Citizens for a Brighter Future to Citizens for a Better Future. Heran’s new FPL-funded group is an electioneering communications organization. ECO’s, unlike Heran’s earlier PAC, are free to forage for cash at will and to directly support or oppose candidates.
Last summer, during the Republican primary elections, an ECO based in Bradenton flooded Indian River County with political advertising viciously and relentlessly attacking Supervisor of Elections Leslie Swan.
The Brandon-based group’s effort was in support of Swan’s challenger, Sandi Harpring, a former staffer for State Representative Debbie Mayfield. Harpring and Mayfield claimed to have no connection with the Bradenton-based ECO. Voters did not seem to appreciate the out-of-town meddling in local politics, re-electing Swan by a 40 percent margin.
Heran’s FPL-funded ECO filed its first financial report yesterday, listing total contributions of $5,100, $100 from Heran and $5,000 from FPL. Earlier this year, FPL gave Heran’s now disbanded group, Citizens for a Brighter Future, $97,000. Nearly $40,000 was left in the PAC’s account as of Aug. 20. Between Aug. 21 and Sept. 11, though, Heran disbursed the remaining money and closed the PAC. See Earlier Report
Essentially, what was Citizens for a Brighter Future is now Citizens for a Better Future, though Heran would almost surely describe the metamorphosis differently. The cast of characters remains the same, and the money is still largely coming from FPL. The only difference is that FPL can now funnel tens of thousands of dollars through Heran to directly support Tracy Carroll.
Which begs the question: Who is Tracy Carroll working for? Does she represent the interests of the residents and taxpayers of Vero Beach, or is she and will she be beholden to the executives and stockholders of FPL? Anyone who thinks the interests of the City of Vero Beach and those of the state’s largest investor owned utility are one and the same simply does not understand the concept of arms length negotiations.
Then there is the question of the nearly $40,000 disbursed from the bank account of Citizens for a Brighter Future between Aug. 21 and Sept. 11. Heran insists the money went to pay vendors for printing and mailing services, polling, signs and campaign consulting work done for his PAC in its push for passage of the March 12 referendum. Heran claims the vendors paid recently are just now getting around to invoicing for work done five months ago. Interestingly, one invoice was for voter information purchased Sep. 10, which Heran said was needed to do “wrap up” work on the March campaign.
Sources familiar with campaign finance say it is most unusual for the kind of work Heran paid for recently to be done on credit, certainly not on five month’s credit. These facts beg for a review by the Florida Elections Commission, and surely merit a story in the Press Journal – the “newspaper” that claims to employ “watchdog” journalists. Yet, the Press Journal remains silent, both on the subject of what appears to be questionable disbursements from Heran’s FPL-funded PAC, and on FPL’s current effort to manipulate the outcome of a local election through its funding of a new ECO controlled by Heran.
Why the Press Journal’s silence? The newspaper’s staff can hardly be ignorant of the story. Perhaps they are up to their ears in the Indian River Lagoon, writing their 1,387th Lagoon story. Or, is the newspaper, whose publisher is the husband of a key FPL executive, simply ignoring the story?
For its part, the island weekly seems to have done a 180 degree reversal of course, and it now soft-peddling Carroll’s many missteps. The paper’s publisher recently hosted and moderated a “debate” clearly staged for Carroll’s benefit, but which more or less backfired. Even some Carroll supporters were heard to be grumbling that the Vice Mayor was not doing herself any favors.
Heran’s use of the word “Better” in the slightly-new name for his slightly-new group is more than a little ironic. It seems doubtful the singularly-focused utility activist has given any consideration to the long list of reasons why even the island weekly recently suggested Carroll has little chance of re-election.
The many reasons why Carroll has such high negatives makes for a long list, indeed: her push to allow short-term rentals, her many votes to cut city services, her constant belittling of city employees, her abrasiveness and rudeness during Council meeting, her effort to hand over public land to a private club, her now infamous affront to Humanists – and the list goes on. Not withstanding her support of the sale of Vero Electric, there are many, many reasons why Carroll’s re-election would not be “better” for the residents and taxpayers of Vero Beach.
If FPL were not willing to buy this election, the island weekly’s earlier observation that Carroll stands no chance of re-election would probably be on the mark. But money talks, and FPL has plenty of it, and the Press Journal, breaching a sacred trust, remains silent.
Indian River Guardian 
The press Journal has abdicated its duty to report the news. When it concerns FP&L there is either a news “blackout’ or a distorted and slanted news report. Why? Outsiders like FP&L and the two Indian River Shores politicians should stay out of our local election. I wonder if the two politicians from Indian River Shores who endorsed Tracy Carroll are in favor of Weekly rentals? Please let your voters know asap.There are many issues involved well beyond the Vero Electric sale. First and foremost , is the issue of weekly and transient rentals which Mrs Carroll has espoused and used to her advantage. If allowed to continue, every neighborhood is endangered by her precendent setting egregious and selfish rental practices. Weekly rentals are a garanteed neighborhood destroyer. Just think a new neighbor every week. Yet, The Press Journal stays silent. The only remaining question is, when will the Press Journal and 32963 endorse the strident, arrogant and highly disliked Tracy Carroll .
The Press Journal seems to have more focus on Stuart now than in Vero Beach so it is harder to get information on a whole host of things of concern to Indian River County ciizens.
the weekly rental idea wont just stay in vero if allowed. remember 32963 doesn’t just encompass vero beach city limits. plenty of houses to be rented to the south and north that are county or another city limits.
On the barrier island, most of the homes in the in incorporated area are within deed-restricted, gated communities where short-term rentals are prohibited by homeowners association covenants.
For all intents and purposes, with the Brunjes connection, the Press Journal should label themselves as a subsidiary of Florida Power and Light. FPL and Carroll are definitely home on the range on the Scripps ranch. They display the watchdog abilities of a hamster.
Mr. Heran’s choice of words should backfire since the word “better” indicates a dissatisfaction with the status quo and, unfortunately for us, Ms. Carroll is indicative of the status quo. Perhaps the word “bitter” would be more appropriate to include in the revised PAC created to support Carroll. She has consistently been a shill for FPL so her corporate loyalties should surprise no one. Her second constituent is herself. The people of Vero Beach do not seem to figure into the equation.
but not always in the in the county. indian river shores, yes and to the north near marbrisa but to south of the city limits theres not as much gated communities.
I stand by my mantra on Bea-isms. ABC…A nybody B ut C arroll
If the folks who signed the recall petition, 817 Vero Beach Voters, come out in big numbers and vote ABC maybe Tracy will be beaten. Then Vero Beach can look forward to a better future, without the blond cackling hen.
Bea, The strategy/mantra you propose is simplistic and, if followed, will be disastrous for the city. An “ABC” strategy does not take into account the fact that a fairly even split of votes between the “ABC” candidates (Graves, Guffanti, Heady and Winchester) will leave Carroll with enough votes to remain in office another two years, thus enabling to Troika to continue to rule and ruin. Certainly Carroll and her patrons at FPL must be hoping the opposition will continue to repeat your mantra.
Well intentioned tough they may be, Joseph Guffanti and Brian Heady do not have anywhere near enough support to be elected. A vote for either Guffanti or Heady, then, would essentially be a vote for Carroll. It then comes down to a choice between Amelia Graves and Warren Winchester. Graves has been endorsed by the IRNA, and, I suspect, will gather other endorsements in the coming week. As difficult a choice as it may be between Amelia’s youthful enthusiasm and her heart for the city and Warren’s experience and credentials and his equal heart for the city, a choice must soon be made. To split the vote between Amelia and Warren would be to inflict the community with the long-term consequences that will surely follow from another two years of heavy handed rule by Carroll and the Troika.
As I said to you the other day, there comes a time when you have to put a flag in the ground as say, “This is where I stand.”
“Shill” is a perfect word to describe the most disliked council member in recent memory. Other words to describe her are: arrogant, bigoted, strident and unethical. Even slick ,well timed propaganda sent out to every home by FP&L may not be enough to get her re-elected. She is that poor a councilwoman !
Mark, you might view Heady as a “bull in a China Shop”, but realistically I do trust him for he has always kept his word! You realize I do not have a vote in this election, and quite possibly the dilution by so many candidates in this election could give, as you might think, Carroll an edge, I disagree! The idea is to choose one of the others, certainly not Mrs. Carroll! Your INside Vero has done an excellent job exposing her to over 10,000 readers, I have faith that they will not vote for her. There is enough time so we do not have to panic, but to find the second best choice. Congratulations on giving all of us an honest platform to express our views, even though some of us have different thoughts as to who the best candidates are!
The best thing Warren Winchester could do for Vero is step aside and endorse Amelia. That goes also for Brian and Mr. Guffanti. Without a real chance to win, a vote for them is at least a half vote for carroll. After the two forums,it should be pretty clear that we have a rising star and should grab on.
I would agree with you Larry. Brian can be TRUSTED to everywhere and always fill the role the consummate self-promoter.
Anthony is 100% correct..
Larry, Larry, Larry, Brian can be “trusted”. He is the biggest self promoting liar I’ve ever seen. He twist things around to meet his needs and is the “half truth man”. He also has cost the city a lot of money needlessly. Please do you homework.
Mark, ABC will not be disastrous to the city. Simply put, ABC stands for Anybody But Carroll and that means exactly what it says. If everybody who were able to vote in the city election went to the polls voting for anybody but Carroll, that means that Carroll would get no votes….That is what Anybody But Carroll means. People will still have two votes and if they used the ABC method of voting than two people other than Tracy Carroll will be elected. Of that you can be sure.
Bea, in a perfect scenario, your ABC theory would work. However we all know that there is a well oiled (slimy?) and well financed campaign willing to pull out all of the stops to assure that Ms. Carroll is re-elected. There is almost a sense of desperation reeking from that campaign. She will get a good number of votes based upon the electors who are gullible enough to believe the lies in their printed propaganda and her sham of a campaign. Plus, she has name recognition and the lazy voter will not be aware of her shameful record. The even lazier voter will not bother to even vote. Apathy and ignorance will work in Carroll’s favor.
I may be in favor of selling the power plant to FPL but I am opposed to FPL controlling our election process and having much of the local media at their beck and call.
As much as I admire, Mr. Winchester, I am planning to write him a letter asking him to withdraw from the race. He has served us well over the years but I feel that a vote for him will be a vote for Ms. Carroll. After watching both debates, my concerns about Amelia Graves have been quashed and she and Richard Winger have my support. It is apparent that she has the best interests of Vero Beach at heart and has the integrity so obviously lacking in Ms. Carroll.
Mr. Winchester’s supporters will not support Ms. Carroll but I believe they will support Ms. Graves; especially with Mr. Winchester’s endorsement. Taking votes away from Ms. Graves, I believe, will guarantee the return of our corporate sponsored shill for two more years of obnoxious behavior and embarrassment to our city.
I am going to write Mr. Winchester and ask him to step down in the best interest of our city. Having never written such a letter before, it is going to be difficult to do because of the admiration I have for the man (after all I was his close friend’s Miami Herald paperboy when I was but a lad with a bicycle).
I am planting my flag for the second vote based upon what I think is best for the city. I am somewhat amazed that I am supporting a Democrat but bigger than that, I believe I am supporting what I hope for the future of my home town.
Bea, the only weakness in your strategy is that it flies in the face of logic. Carroll has a core of supporters. There is nothing you can do to change that fact. If those who want to see the city move beyond Carroll and the Troika split their vote, then none of Carroll’s challengers, save Dick Wingers, will have enough votes to prevail.
I think Bea had one come on her blog and post for a while then leave.she wasn’t budging on the facts either.