COMMENTARY

“Lemmon and Wilson remind me of the character, Alice, in the story of Alice In Wonderland. Alice said she once believed as many as six impossible things, even before breakfast.”

MARK SCHUMANN

Surprise! Surprise!  According to Press Journal columnist Russ Lemmon, Charlie Wilson says he is going to make another run for the Vero Beach City Council. Presumably this time around, Wilson hopes to hold his seat for longer than a month, before a judge more or less yanks him from the dais, as happened in 2009.

The campaign press release Lemmon wrote for Wilson, which he presented as an opinion column, was as full of misinformation as any presentation Wilson has even given before the City Council.

“It is obvious the current City Council doesn’t have the fortitude to get the job done,” Lemmon wrote.

Like Wilson, Lemmon seemingly cannot grasp the fact that it is beyond the City Council’s authority to overturn the Florida Supreme Court, or to force the Florida Municipal Power Agency board of directors to exercise discretion where none is granted by law. 

Whether Lemmon and Wilson like it or not, the fact is the FMPA cannot overrule the bond counsel acting on behalf of its bond trustee.  What Wilson and Lemmon want of the FMPA board it simply cannot give.

In his effort to help launch Wilson’s campaign, Lemmon wrote, “Three council members — Jay Kramer, Dick Winger and Amelia Graves — have shown no gumption whatsoever for getting the job done.”

Again, like Wilson, Lemmon seems to have become untethered from reality.  Incredibly, the Press Journal’s lead columnist, who is supposedly also an experienced journalist, actually believes what Wilson is telling him.

Continuing to get his facts wrong, Lemmon wrote, “The FMPA rejected FPL’s $52 million offer to make Vero Beach’s contracts go away.”

It is troubling to realize that a writer with Lemmon’s audience could be capable of such simplistic, almost prepubescent reasoning.  Does Lemmon, like Wilson, actually believe that for any amount of money the FMPA board is free to make contracts “go away,” despite the fact those agreements are enforced by bond trustees charged with protecting the interests of investors?  Lemmon and Wilson remind me of the character, Alice, in the story Alice In Wonderland. Alice said she once believed as many as six impossible things, even before breakfast.

Wilson is not only running for City Council, he has his sights set on wielding the gavel. Lemmon quoted Wilson as saying, “I want everybody to know that I’m not only running for City Council, I’m running for mayor.”

It figures that Wilson would not want to be anything less than the center of attention.

Like his colleagues at Scripps, Lemmon selectively presents only the facts that support his argument.  The “watchdogs” at Scripps seem convinced the way to reverse the gradual decline of Western Civilization is to sell Vero Beach’s electric system to FPL.  For example, the Press Journal has yet to report on the City’s recent 4.2 percent cut in electric rates; and the “newspaper” has not reported so much as one word about the Council’s decision to conduce a rate and systemization study to look for ways to further reduce rates.

When Wilson ran for the City Council in 2009, he famously promised the sale would net the City $90 million in proceeds.  Wilson explained that money would be invested to make up for the loss of utility revenue.  There would, he said, be no need for tax increases or cuts in services.  In his column posted this evening, Lemmon did not bother to mention Wilson’s failed predictions. (See: 2009 Interview with City Council candidate Charlie Wilson)

Every once in a while, the truth slips out of Wilson’s month.  Yesterday, for example, he admitted before the City Council that he is “the world’s worst lawyer.”  Now that’s just what Vero Beach needs in a mayor, someone who cannot make heads or tails of the law.

See: Is the bloom off the rose for confrontational politicians? Let’s hope so.

Assuming Jay Kramer and Pilar Turner run for re-election, and assuming Ken Daige, and Brian Heady join Randy Old and Charlie Wilson as challengers, the next City Council election will be interesting and competitive.  There could be a close race between Ken Daige and Pilar Turner for third.  If Craig Fletcher runs again, which seems increasingly unlikely, he and Wilson may run a tight race for fifth.

Preliminary prediction for November City Council election:

Most votes: Jay Kramer

Second most votes: Randy Old

Third most votes:  Too close to call between Ken Daige and Pilar Turner

Fifth: Charlie Wilson (close with Craig Fletcher, if he runs)

Sixth: Brian Heady

Wilson has already started his own chamber of commerce.  After he looses his bid for a seat on the city council, it will be interesting to see if he ties to form his own city council.