COMMENTARY
MARK SCHUMANN
Further demonstrating his inability to comprehend the complexities of the power sale story, Scripps pundit, Russ Lemmon, served up another one of his stream-of-consciousness columns today — drip, drip, drip.
Lemmon, who may well have scribbled out his latest offerings on a napkin while enjoying breakfast at Bob Evans Restaurant, claims the hurdles the City must clear in exiting its contracts with the Florida Municipal Power Agency have “morphed into Mount FMPA.”
To validate his assertion, Lemmon quoted his go-to source on the power sale story, Pilar Turner, but he did not broaden or balance his report by citing other sources. See: Winger, O’Connor, Coment discuss FMPA negotiations
Reporting on a heated exchange which took place during last week’s City Council meeting between Charlie Wilson and George Christopher, Lemmon might have bothered to inform his readers that Wilson not only accused the Indian River Neighborhood Association of attempting to block the sale, (a charge the IRNA’s leadership denies) but he also attacked Christopher personally.
Before the City Council and the camera, Wilson erroniously claimed Christopher placed more than 100 calls to the FMPA in a single month. Either Wilson does not know how to understand redacted telephone records, or that he cannot count to three. See: Perhaps the time has come to hold City Council meetings in a circus tent
Lemmon then “reported” that Mayor Richard Winger is “perceived” to be dragging his feet on the sale. Winger is “perceived” as a foot dragger by whom? Maybe Lemmon, Turner and Wilson have convinced themselves Winger isn’t doing everything they would do in his position, but even Florida Power & Light’s Vice President of External Affairs, Amy Brunjes, went before the City Council recently and thanked Winger for his efforts to move the sale forward.
Having served up the pro-sale party line for several years now, Lemmon seems to need to convince himself and his readers the facts about the City’s contractual obligations to the FMPA are changing. In truth, what has morphed is Lemmon’s slowly developing understanding of facts that have been clear to others for years. Just because Lemmon is only now beginning to understand this side of the story doesn’t mean the realities about the City’s FMPA contracts are changing.
What has changed are the terms of the deal. A substantial surplus in sale proceeds once estimated to be as much as $156.5 million has now evaporated. FPL’s latest proposal in an “offer” to extract $26 million from the customers of Vero Electric in the form of a surcharge. Lemmon, a pro-sale fundamentalist, is all for this surcharge. Indeed, it is hard to imagine a price Lemmon would not be willing to see others pay to fund the sale.
Indian River Guardian 
Pilar Turner and her cronies failed to consider that the contracts signed by COVB were truly legal agreements and would have consequences for the city if broken. At the same time, she was not seeing that FMPA had an obligation to protect itself from a wolf in FPL clothing. It’s obvious FPL’s goals include taking every one of those municipal power systems into its fold. Surely Mr. Lemmon can see this situation beyond his own front gate? Maybe not. Mayor Winger, in my opinion, is not rushing madly ahead because this is not a race but a move into a Power Promised Land….and we know it took a long time to reach the Promised Land of old. We’re being promised a lot by those pushing the sale. Once the sale is made, I assume there is no turning back – no 48 hour change our mind clause. We’re hooked. Forever. On less important transactions, it wouldn’t make any difference, but Mr. Lemmon must understand this is not a minor change for us in COVB.
And he states that FMPA “rejected” FPL’s “offer” of $52 mil, when it was FMPA who made the offer to settle part of the disagreements on liability. FPL tried to spin that back, and LEmmon is helping out, trying to say that FPL’s continued change in position is all due to FMPA. Nightmare reporting.