Before the Indian River County Commission receives recommendations from a private, non-profit group formed and headed by Commissioner Tim Zorc to develop proposals for addressing the Lagoon crisis, Commissioners, by a 5-0 vote yesterday, directed County Attorney Dylan Reingold to determine whether they group should be complying with Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Law.
When the group was first announced, Zorc said he hoped to recruit one representative from each local government: Fellsmere, Sebastian, The Town of Orchid, Indian River Shores, Vero Beach and the Indian River County Commission. Zorc has said the group, or committee, will have an invited membership of as many as 25 “stakeholders,” including scientists and others involved in lagoon research. Scott Stradley, who serves on the board of the nonprofit corporation with Zorc and local seawall manufacturer Jeff Meade, said the group was formed privately so that members could discuss their research and ideas privately between meetings.
Commissioner Bob Solari described Zorc’s group as “a step away from transparency and open government.”
Particularly because Zorc’s group will include elected officials and will be making proposals that could require significant public investment, questions have been raised about whether Zorc’s group can and should be working in private.
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Indian River Guardian 
Zorc is all wet on this issue. The man has a bloated ego for some strange reason. Just what makes Zorc and Stradley think they have any special power to keep the public in the dark on an issue important to all of us. Who are they to determine who the invited few will be ? Don’t we have elected officials who must operate in the open ? Something smells with this deal and it’s not marsh grass.