COMMENTARY
MARK SCHUMANN
Because Charlie Wilson so regularly appears before the City Council and the cameras during public comment time, and because he so frequently interjects himself in Council deliberations, many suspect the outspoke civic activist plans to run this fall for a seat on the Council.
Though Wilson may claim he was only gathering scrap paper, he recently requested and received from the City Clerk’s office forms he will need to submit if and when he attempt to qualify to be a candidate in the next city election.
Long active in local politics, Wilson has previously run for the Indian River County Hospital District Board, the Indian River County School Board, the Indian River County Commission and the Vero Beach City Council. As a resident of St. Lucie County, Wilson ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives and for the office of tax collector.
In 2009, Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers editorial page editor, Larry Reisman, wrote, “…Wilson has politics in his blood, whether he’s running for office, running someone’s campaign or trying to get a government contract. That’s if he’s not writing his own e-newsletter or otherwise acting as a news person. Wilson can be charming, self-deprecating and mean at almost the same time.”
Wilson’s one successful bid for public office came in the fall of 2009, when he ran for the City Council advocating the sale of Vero Electric. At the time, Wilson told voters the city could expect to net $90 million in cash from the sale. Florida Power & Light is now proposing the customers of Vero Electric pay a $26 million surcharge to help fund the sale.
Wilson’s time in office was short-lived however. A month after Wilson took office, Circuit Judge Paul Kanarek removed him from the City Council for failing to meet the residency requirements for council candidates.
Indian River Guardian 
What is his story this time around in running for elective office? At COVB meetings, he only gives a P. O. Box number. What address will he use in 2014 if he completes the paperwork to be a candidate?
He would not ever get elected, but just in case, I can visualize a lot of us going to the podium and giving him the same treatment he’s given to members of the Council. I can honestly say, he is one person I will NOT sign a candidate petition for.