ED TAYLOR

Mayor Dick Winger suggested that “we are being hoodwinked” by certain legislation proposed by State Representative Debbie Mayfield which was advertised giving the appearance that the bills were supported by the city.  Winger made it obvious during a recent city council meeting that the city was not supportive of the proposed house bills and asked City Attorney Wayne Coment to draft comparable legal advertisements stating the bills did not have the support of the city and that Mayfield’s legal notice was misleading in suggesting that they do.

The text of the advertisements placed in a local newspaper by Mayfield states in part:  “NOTICE OF INTENT TO SEEK LEGISLATION The City of Vero Beach, the Town of Indian River Shores and Indian River County, Florida do hereby give notice pursuant to Article III, Section 10 of the Florida Constitution and Section 11.02, Florida Statutes, of their intent to seek legislation before the 2014 Florida Legislature . . . “

Winger said that the notice was deceptive and gave the appearance that the City of Vero Beach was a sponsor of the bill.  He said that the proposed bills were not in the city’s best interest and this attempt to mislead the public was nothing more than “politics, politics, politics”.

“The city never asked that this be done,” the mayor said.  “This is totally untrue.”

Winger said that Mayfield had the duty to advertise a public hearing before claiming that the city endorsed a piece of legislation.  According to the mayor there was never an advertisement or a public hearing on any of the proposed bills.  He described the legal notice as “deceptive and not true”.

One of the proposed bills (House Bill 813) could hurt cities that currently provide services to unincorporated areas of a county by requiring the city to relinquish the service area once the service contract has ended even though the city owns and created the infrastructure that provides the service to the area.  Locally, the city provides water and sewer service to areas on South A1A in the county, which the county is attempting to take over.

“We own the assets and we own the business and need to stand against anything that negates that,” Winger said.  “The proposed change in legislation would put our city bonds in jeopardy. The county cannot serve that area without drilling under the lagoon.  It will be difficult, if not impossible for the county to step in.”  He added that the Florida League of Cities would be joining Vero Beach in fighting the proposed legislation.

Winger also expressed opposition to Mayfield’s House Bill 861, which the mayor called a shot at the Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) at the worst possible time. “This throws a monkey wrench in our attempt to complete the sale of our electrical system to Florida Power and Light (FPL),” he said.

“Nothing good can come out of this for the city,” Winger said.  “We can resolve the electric issue without the state legislature.  We have a fine water and sewer service and are committed to provide equally good service to our city and county customers.”

The proposed legislation would also require supervision of local utilities by the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC).

Activist Charlie Wilson took the podium to address the council stating he lacked knowledge regarding the proposed bills but the city in the past had joined in a lawsuit that went before the PSC and by doing so had implicitly given Mayfield the right to circumvent the city on local bills.  Winger declared that to be untrue and told Wilson that the city council was a “body unto itself” and would not be bound by Wilson’s claim even if it were true or relevant to the issue being discussed.

Wilson then claimed that the council was “pitting city against county residents” by opposing legislation he admittedly was not familiar with.  “I don’t know about the situation about the bills,” he said. He also stated that it was not fair to have this discussion without Mayfield being present.  “She represents the city residents as well as the county residents and as our state representative; she has the right to file bills,” Wilson said.

“She has no right to speak on behalf of the City of Vero Beach,” Winger responded. “We have asked for pre-notification on any proposed legislation affecting the city from Representative Mayfield and have received none.”  Vice Mayor Jay Kramer along Councilmembers Pilar Turner and Amelia Graves agreed with the mayor that no one should be speaking on behalf of the city council.  Councilmember Craig Fletcher did not participate in the discussion.

Ultimately the council voted unanimously for the city attorney to draw up a legal ad rebutting any notion that the city was a sponsor or was in support of the Mayfield legislation.  The mayor made the motion saying that he had consulted with the Florida League of Cities and counsel on retainer in Tallahassee regarding the best way to address this issue.  The advertisement will be presented to the council at a special called meeting prior to approval.  If approved, the notice will then be delivered to all parties involved including individual members of the Florida Legislature.

“Regardless of any merits of this proposed legislation, we are being hoodwinked here,” the mayor said.