COMMENTARY
Originally posted, April 2, 2014
MARK SCHUMANN
As an actor mounting the stage, Charlie Wilson, acerbic and confrontational as ever, went before the City Council and the cameras again Tuesday. Along with a few fellow grandstanders, Wilson performs at nearly every Council meeting, often appearing in more than one act.
During public comment time Tuesday, Wilson went toe-to-toe with Mayor Richard Winger. At one point in the exchange, Winger asked Wilson if he trusted City Attorney Wayne Coment and City Manager Jim O’Connor to represent the city in discussions with representatives of the FMPA in a meeting being held today in Orlando. “What difference does it make? I’m not there. The problem is you didn’t invite me and you didn’t invite the press.”
That comment, I suspect, gets at the heart of the grievance that is driving Wilson. He seems to believe he deserves a place at the negotiating table, as well as a seat on the Council.
Riding a wave of pro-sale support, much of it energized by exceedingly ambitious financial projections of the supposed benefits of the sale, Wilson was elected to the City Council in Nov. 2009. Just one month later, though, Circuit Judge Paul Kanarek removed Wilson from office after determining he had been less than forthright in claiming to have met the City’s residency requirements for Council candidates. Wilson blames his removal from the Council on “ambiguous” wording in the City Code.
In my opinion, and it is only my opinion, Wilson is at least partly driven by a conviction that he was wrongly removed from office. Having lost his seat on the Council by court order, Wilson now takes every advantage of his right to address the Council, sometimes in an apparent attempt to interject himself in Council deliberations. Recently he went so far as to raise a point of order recording the agenda.
Both yesterday and the day before at the Utilities Commission meeting, Wilson leveled unfounded charges against Vero Beach resident and retired attorney, George Christopher, who was recently appointed to the Utility Commission. In accusing Christopher of “a probable violation” of public records laws, and of collaborating with Florida Municipal Power Agency representatives to obstruct the sale of Vero Electric, Wilson demonstrated just how disconnected he is from reality.
Now that is has become obvious the transactional attorneys and Florida Power & Light negotiators wasted more than two years negotiating and structuring a deal that fails to comply with the City’s contractual obligations to the FMPA, Wilson is acting like someone who has been struck on the head with a 2×4. He seems dazed, and is striking out carelessly and irresponsibly, missing with every wild punch.
My sense is that Mr. Christopher, a responsible citizen, a fine gentleman and a brilliant attorney, is not much troubled by Wilson’s antics, though it must have been offensive to hear Wilson liken him to a royalist scheming with the British during the American Revolution.
Wilson’s use of the Revolutionary Way analogy in his public attack on Christopher is yet another indication that he sees the power sale, not as a difficult negotiation, but as a war, of sorts. One of the first casualties of war is often the humanity of the combatants, for they inevitably find ways of dehumanizing and demonizing the “enemy.”
If and when the electric sale is resolved, I hope the likes of Charlie Wilson will find more positive and productive ways to use their time. Even more, I hope the acrimony and bitterness will subside, for incivility is unbecoming of our community.
Indian River Guardian 
Mr. Wilson’s comment indicating he and the press were not invited to attend this meeting makes me wonder if he’s equally upset with FPL for not inviting him and the press to their meetings. The past is behind us all – we can’t change it. If we could, I’m guessing a majority of us in Vero would have insisted on seeing that the kinks were worked out BEFORE making a commitment….and we would have reduced the price of electricity while increasing the City’s property tax. But – the past is gone…..long live the present….and let’s plan for the future!
As a retired Federal employee, I have seen more than my fair share of the Charlie Wilson types of the world. There is something in the DNA of those who seek elective office that makes it impossible to accept the reality that they are no longer public employees when they leave office — whether by an election result or change in employment status. In D. C. the disease ineffecting such individuals is known as “Potomac Fever.” I don’t know what we would call those in Indian River County who suffer the same infection.
I do know that I have the same reaction when I see either Charlie Wilson or Sarah Palin at the podium. I want to scream at the TV set and say your 15 minutes of fame is over. Get use to it and exit stage right.