MARK SCHUMANN & MILT THOMAS

Commenting on community gadfly, Charlie Wilson’s, recently announced rogue effort to establish a new chamber of commerce, a long-time business man of standing in the community suggested the news must surely have past Chamber executives, Earl Thatcher, John Tippin, Jim Kressler rolling over in their graves and J.B. Norton seething.

No doubt, the corrosiveness that has characterized local politics of late would cause many of Vero Beach’s pioneers to wonder what has become of the special community they carved out of the Florida wilderness so many years ago.

With the recent City Council election and the resulting change on the Council, many are hopeful of moving beyond divisiveness.  There will be no return to cooperation and consensus building though, if the likes of Charlie Wilson and his small band of supporters have their way.

Wilson migrated to our community from Fort Pierce in the 1980s, leaving behind a trail of controversy.  (See story page 7) The fact that Wilson’s public life in Vero Beach and Indian River County has been punctuated by one hullabaloo after another only goes to prove the old adage that wherever you go there you are.

Those of us who remember a time when local politics and business dealings were more likely to be characterized by cooperation, consensus building and civility are saddened to see people like Wilson working to tear the community apart.

The original Vero Beach Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1922 to represent all businesses in Indian River County. Local business and political leaders worked together to attract new businesses and residents to the area.  They even rolled up their sleeves once a year to participate in the annual Chamber Beautification Day.

In 1958, as the northern area of the county grew, the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce was formed to serve north Indian River County and southern Brevard County.

The Indian River County Board of County Commissioners later appointed the Vero Beach Chamber as the official agency to handle tourism and economic development. Rather than staffing government-run offices of tourism and economic development, County leaders wisely chose to partner with the local business community to more efficiently carry out these efforts.  Today, this approach is knows as outsourcing.  Back when the Chamber and the County Commission decided to work together, the approach was simply considered common sense.

To more accurately reflect its responsibility for serving the entire county in tourism marketing and economic development, as well as the Vero Beach business community, the Chamber’s name was changed to the Vero Beach/Indian River County Chamber of Commerce. In 1997, it was shortened to its current designation, the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce. However, its mission has not changed. The organization’s membership remains Vero-centric and has never attempted to compete with, replace or usurp the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce. In fact, the two Chambers regularly work in concert on a wide range of efforts.

If the official Chamber had never changed its name and remained the Vero Beach Chamber, what would this new entity be named – The Other Vero Beach Chamber?

The idea of having two chambers of commerce in Vero Beach is not only redundant, it is probably unprecedented.

Somehow, Charlie Wilson, along with Mark Mucher and Dan Stump have gotten the short-sighted notion that Vero Beach businesses need another chamber of commerce.  We need those three helping us with tourism marketing and economic development about as much as a drowning man needs a glass of water.