COMMENTARY

“In truth, by pushing for Carroll’s re-election, FPL is really seeking to ensure it will have in place one more Council member willing to agree to approve changes in the contract that will almost surely involve additional costs to the City and its taxpayers.  For a company like FPL, investing $24,000 in Carroll’s re-election is a small price to pay to have one more vote in its pocket.”

MARK SCHUMANN

When Florida Power & Light External Affairs Manager Amy Brunjes told the Rotary Club of Vero Beach this week the state’s largest utility giant seeks to honor the will of voters, she made no mention of the company’s track record in influencing the outcome of elections and in strong-arming government to get its way.

Less than a week before the municipal election, Brunjes, who has been busy politicking for Tracy Carroll, was invited to speak to the Rotary Club, of which Tracy Carroll’s husband, John, is a member.  Tracy Carroll is a member of the Sunrise Rotary Club, and a former president of the now-disbanded Treasure Coast Rotary Club.

Several years ago, when FPL could not secure approval from the Florida Public Service Commission for a $1.1 billion rate increase, the company lobbied the Florida Legislature, successfully persuading lawmakers to fire two members of the PSC.  (See Earlier Story)

When FPL faced the loss of its franchise to serve 7,500 customers in the City of South Daytona Beach, Eric Silagy, a former lobbyist and now president of FPL, essentially declared war on the South Daytona City Council.

Armed with an unlimited war chest, FPL operatives went to work to convince the residents of South Daytona Beach to change their city charter. Having won that fight, FPL then prevailed in convincing the voters of South Daytona to reject their Council’s effort to buy their electric system back from FPL.  When the dust settled, FPL had spent more than $400,000 to bend the will of the voters in South Daytona Beach.

In Vero Beach, it is a similar story.  FPL has invested $121,000 in direct contributions to a political action committee and an electioneering communications organization headed by local utility activist Glenn Heran.  Brunjes claims FPL is simply responding to a request from a broad, grassroots effort.

Campaign treasurer’s finance reports tell a different story.  Of the $24,135 in contributions to Citizens for a Better Future, $24,000 came from FPL.  Glenn Heran kicked in $100 dollars, and Rosemarie Wilson gave $34.  If Brunjes believes Heran and Wilson constitute a broad grassroots effort, then she is drinking way too much of her own Kool-Aid.

Last spring, FPL gave $97,000 of the $110,000 raised by Citizens for a Brighter Future, a political action committee which pushed for passage of the March 12 referendum on the sale of the electric system.

In addition to $121,000 in cash contributions to two Heran-controlled political groups, FPL has been mailing out letters and post cards, and placing newspaper advertisements, all intended to aid Carroll’s re-election.  The company’s claim that Carroll is critical to concluding the sale of Vero Election does not square with the facts.

In truth, by pushing for Carroll’s re-election, FPL is really seeking to ensure it will have in place one more Council member willing to agree to approve changes in the contract that will almost surely involve additional costs to the City and its taxpayers.  For a company like FPL, investing $24,000 in Carroll’s re-election is a small price to pay to have one more vote in its pocket.