GUEST COMMENTARY
LYNNE LARKIN
The sounds of jubilation started running through the headlines last week when Eric Silagy, FPL’s head honcho, suddenly revealed the offer FPL was willing to make with FMPA. $52 million more.
“The deal is on!!” Hooray!!!
“It will be complete in a year!!” Hoooo – raaaaay!!
“It will cost you only $26 million more!!” Hooo – huh??!!
“Your rates will go up!!” Whoooo pays what???!!!
FPL suddenly couldn’t wait to tell us what it seems the Feheranty crowd already knew, since they were calling for another referendun [VB32963 itself announced it] even before the $52 million bombshell went off. And the Feheranty/FPL delegates to the Council, Fletcher and Turner, were suspiciously waving off attempts to lower rates. They must’ve known something was up regarding the now-three-month-old offer from FMPA went to FPL.
Even the City Manager, Jim O’Connor, was at bat for the “new plan” and its timeline before discussing anything with Council. He was setting up meetings on behalf of FPL with council members before discussing it with them himself. That is, well, unusual.
Yes, instead of counseling good internal review, he was leading them without warning into meetings where once again FPL could plug in the public relations I.V.s and pass out the Koolaid. He was setting a referendum date and hailing the good news.
Well done, FPL PR, get the public all riled before they realize the bad news.
We’ve had five years now of FPL running this City and controlling its message. Fletcher made sure it was clear anyone on staff who didn’t share his FPL religious fervor would be fired, and the Troika and City Manager made that happen.
A good city manager takes care of his or her council by informing them, asking them for guidance on what comes next, and even telling them what more they need to know. A good council has plenty of questions. Why isn’t this happening?
Perhaps we can blame the last five years . . . habit. A reflex. But bad habits should be broken, and now. Does Nicorrette make a patch for withdrawal from this addiction to FPL “facts?” Do we need de-programmers before all of city council finally starts asking what is best for the City? How will these numbers add up, or more like subtract, concerning services, quality of life, and taxes – shouldn’t that be the first question before “When do you want the referendum?”
Even though it’s been pointed out many times before that there is more to the picture, that the “transactional” attorneys for the city have not done their job, that we’ve been holding wishful thinking up as our main plan . . . even though this has all been FPL flaks talking smoke and mirrors, we now must be getting the picture. The “deal” is and has been an elusive sham, the contract is no longer the contract, and every new development costs us millions more.
If Vero Beach wants to continue to go blindly down that path, it may do so. It would be better, however, to question the people who have continually been wrong in their promises, wrong in their financial estimates, and wrong in making unilateral statements that can’t be supported by facts.
It may well be that $52 million, or $26 million, still isn’t the whole picture. The odds of that are pretty good. Darn good. It’s like that car dealer who wants you to come in for a new car that costs $500! Tires are extra [$10,000]. Paint? Extra [$10,000]. You get the idea.
So chuck aside “HOORAY” for the moment – unless we want to thank George Christopher for a moment of great sanity in admonishing Turner, Fletcher and the FPL flaks for trying to silence any person talking to ALL the parties, not just one. HOORAY Mr. Cristopher, indeed, HOORAY.
Indian River Guardian 
It really is difficult to maintain the feeling of there going to be a new day a-coming. This FPL deal appears to be a hopeless, excessively-expensive journey into Never-Never Land. Sounds like we’d be better off putting an end to this now while we can still climb out of this money pit. Thank you, Lynne, for this easy to understand (considering the subject matter) article.
I got a phone call the other day from my uncle Warren in Omaha. After some small talk he asked me if I could give him some money. I said uncle Warren doesn’t Berkshire Hathaway have billions?His reply was “well I read that FPL which has BILLIONS is asking the homeowners in Vero Beach where you live nephew John, give them the money to purchase of the Vero Electric and we are just taking a page out if their acquisition plan book. I said well what’s that? Well Johnny it is cheaper to acquire a company using some one else’s money than your own. And we like FPL have BILLIONS of asset but we do not care to part with these assets.