INSIDE VERO EDITORIAL

When Vero Beach voters go to the polls Nov. 5, they will make a decision that could irreversibly alter the course of the city.  Quite simply, if Tracy Carroll is re-elected, the current three-person majority of Carroll, Craig Fletcher and Pilar Turner will continue to cut services, move to hand the city’s profitable water and sewer system over to the County, relax zoning regulations and in other insidious ways abandon this community’s proud heritage.

Tracy Carroll – The long list of Carroll’s offenses against the city and its citizens are reason enough for voters to replace her.  Carroll has assaulted the tranquility of neighborhoods, leveled ceaseless criticisms at City employees and has shown a disturbing dismissiveness of citizens who come before the Council.  Beyond her individual transgressions, Carroll can be counted on to continue to support Fletcher and Turner in further gutting the city and diminishing a quality of life it had taken decades to build.

Carroll’s supporters, including and especially Florida Power & Light, are making every effort to mislead the public into believing that if the Council’s most combative and controversial member is not returned to office, the sale of Vero Electric to FPL will unravel.

This claim is simply not true.  Current and future Council members are and will be contractually obligated to make every reasonable effort to conclude the sale under the terms of the signed, binding sales contract between the City and FPL.  Put simply, the deal is out of the hands of the City Council.

The claim that a new Council majority, perhaps of Amelia Graves, Jay Kramer and Richard Winger, would simply pay a $5 million penalty and walk away from the City’s contract with FPL has been debunked for what it is – foolishness.  As transactional attorney John Igoe has made crystal clear, there is no $5 million opt-out provision in the sales contract between the City and FPL, and talk of such is political baloney.

Utility activist Glenn Heran and others continue to attempt to sow seeds of doubt about Councilman Richard Winger’s support for the sale.  Their accusations against him fall flat when measured against the truth.  Winger has consistently voted to move the sale along, and has worked diligently to find a way forward, while protecting the interests of the City and its residents and taxpayers.

If reasonable minds sharing a fidelity to the truth can agree that the sale of Vero Electric to FPL does not hinge on Carroll’s continued presence at the dais, the question that follows is whether a Council member who challenges City code, seeks to hand over public land to a private club, belittles City employees, insults members of the public, spars regularly with fellow Council members, lacks any appreciation for the separation of church and state, and is by her own admission not a reflective person, can better serve the city than one of her challengers.

Joseph Guffanti – Though Guffanti is likeable and well intentioned, and though his stated priority of restoring civility and respect to Council meetings is an important priority shared by many, he is simply not prepared to serve on the Council.  During a recent radio interview, for example, Guffanti said he had not followed and was not familiar with the current Council’s recently concluded budgeting for the coming fiscal year.  When asked what City services he would consider essential, Guffanti said he is not familiar enough with city government to answer the question.

Brian Heady – Heady is who he is, often hot headed and confrontational.  His regular program on Channel 10 Television isn’t titled “Fired Up” for nothing.  A combative self-promoter, Heady comes across as just reasonable enough to be worthy of consideration.  But around the next corner there is always another zinger.  When Heady is not being escorted by a Vero Beach Police Officer from the lectern in the Council Chambers, he is just as likely to get up and walk away from a conversation that isn’t going his way.  Heady may be a source of entertainment to some, a court jester of sorts, but the Council simply has too much important business before it to waste time on Heady’s tirades and antics.

Richard Winger – The word around City Hall is that Councilman Winger spends as much time interacting with the city manager as does the remaining four Council members combined.  During his first two years on Council, Winger has taken his responsibility seriously.  He has brought to the Council a breadth of experience and a depth of knowledge that has been invaluable in limiting the current Troika’s efforts to diminish all that makes Vero Beach a special place to live.

Winger does his homework, is always informed and consistently demonstrates a commitment to doing what is best for the City.  He is, as former mayor Warren Winchester recently said, one of the best City Councilmen to ever serve Vero Beach, bar none.  Vero Beach voters would be wise to return Winger to office.

Amelia Graves – Of the remaining three candidates, Amelia Graves, Joseph Guffanti and Brian Heady, Graves is clearly the best choice.  Graves offers what has been described as “a breath of fresh air.”  A fifth-generation Vero Beach resident, she has shown herself to be poised, knowledgeable, articulate and a quick study.  She clearly has a heart for the City and its residents.