COMMENTARY
Editor’s Note: Vero Beach 32963 is simply wrong it its assertion that Amelia Graves was not enrolled in a University of Florida Master’s program. That factual error and other inaccuracies in the island weekly’s reporting will be address in a story to appear in Inside Vero’s election special edition to be mailed late next week.
MARK SCHUMANN
Just when you might think the editors of the island weekly have stooped to new journalistic lows, they somehow seem to find another gutter in which to wallow.
As predicted, the island tabloid this week published a hatchet job on Vero Beach City Council candidate Amelia Graves, complete with a photo-shopped image. In addition to falsely claiming Graves had not been enrolled in a Master’s program with the University of Florida, the local captains of yellow journalism sought to dismiss, discredit, and mis-characterize everything admirable Graves has done in her adult life.
Suffice it so say, 32963 reporter and Brevard County resident Lisa Zahner is no friend of anyone who cares about the future of Vero Beach. Her front page attack on Graves can only be characterized as calumny.
Whoever penned the island tabloid’s editorial was, like Zahner, writing from the garbage pit of false accusations, innuendo, snark and sarcasm that is signature Vero Beach 32963.
Why would the barrier island’s version of the National Enquirer interject itself in the City Council election? Quite simply, despite the fact that the newspaper’s editors two months ago called for Tracy Carroll to step aside, they are now circling their wagons around the Council’s most combative and controversial candidate, all because they have overdosed on FPL’s Kool-Aid.
The truth is that FPL External Affairs Manager Amy Brunjes and Tracy Carroll are friends. In addition to wanting to repay Carroll for her past support, FPL is investing tens of thousands of dollars in a Glenn Heran controlled political action committee in an effort to buy Carroll’s re-election.
Why is FPL so invested in Carroll’s remaining on Council? Despite the fact that the City and FPL have a signed and binding contract, the state’s largest utility giant is not taking any chances. The fine folks at FPL are more than willing to subject the people of Vero Beach to two more years of Tracy Carroll’s arrogance, rudeness, and indifference to our quality of life.
FPL’s executives do not care about Carroll’s support of weekly and daily rentals and they have no concern for the tranquility of our neighborhoods or for the preservation of everything that makes Vero Beach a special community. All FPL really cares about is using the City of Vero Beach as a pawn in its effort to march across Florida acquiring more municipal electric systems. Cracking the Florida Municipal Power Agency contracts is the key to FPL’s strategy, and they want the assurance of Carroll’s continued support.
Indian River Guardian 
The “32963” attack on Miss Graves is an affront to all who have been here for a few generations and have an address that includes ‘Vero Beach’…..regardless of whether they live inside the City Limits or not. Perhaps that old saying “What goes around, comes around” will make that circle and give those folks their comeuppance some day. I certainly hope so anyway.
Will the 32963 rag print a retraction when their scurrilous ,false charges are proven false ? Do you think the RAG would have asked Miss Graves before printing their printed trash? I bet they didn’t. Truth is not the goal,but Getting Tracy Carroll elected is , and at any cost. The 32963 rag lacks integrity and intellectual honesty. They have gone out of their way to hurt a good person; they are a disgrace to mass media.They nauseate me.
One of the negatives that the local weekly tabloid and others have asserted is that Amelia Graves has not had experience working on local councils. If that is the criteria for selection of our elected officials, then we are going to be restricted to a very small universe of people. Local politics is precisely where one is expected to gain experience in public service!
Actually, Zahner send Amelia some loaded questions demanding answers by Monday at 5:00.
As I have said before “desperate times calls for desperate measures”.
Loaded questions, time demands from Lisa Zahner. Just who does she think she is? Something smells in this entire political episode. Again , anything to get Tracy Carroll elected.. 32963 is using the time honored ploy of deflecting away from the real issues such as Carroll’s nastiness, her greed, her flaunting of our city codes and much more. Yellow journalism at its worst.
Lisa Zahner demanded that I show her the names on the recall petitions, and when refused her response was “So I guess we just have your word and that of Brian Heady that those 500 signatures you presented represents just a portion of the recall signatures?”…my answer was “that is up to you weather to believe me or not and I don’t care what you write either”. The people who have signed the recall petitions are now thanking me for the thank you letters that they are receiving in the mail…also reminders on who not to vote for (Tracy Carroll). Ms. Zahner is a pusher and presents herself as an “editorial thug”. Her writing abilities deserve an “F” for failure. Failure to work for a decent paper and failure to put out the truth.
They have only just begun. Put on your seat belt.
Experience is what got us into the messes we are in! Yes, all of these people in office, every one of them, claimed to have “experience,” and particularly “business experience!” If we want to go from bad to worse, let’s just keep voting for experience! If we want to elect people who can work in government, who know and understand concepts and principles and – yes – theories about how government works, if we want people who understand that government is NOT a business, but far much more than a business (and it is!), then we need to elect people with those qualities and choose that over ex-per-i-ence.
I remember when I was on the board of Keep Indian River Beautiful and we hired….drum roll please, Lisa Zahner to run KIRB’s Reusable/ Exchange Center. Now, how do you make the leap from a non profit organization like KIRB to being a professional journalist? Just asking. I rest my case.
Professional journalist???
Follow the money trail. Me thinks something is rotten in Vero Beach.
Glad to see that many were not taken in by that hit piece in 32963. It was sad. Amelia Graves needs the opportunity to respond, and I hope she does, but time is growing short. Mark is right about FPL’s interest in rounding up the generating members of FMPA.
Caroline Ginn