COMMENTARY
“The City of Vero Beach, Solari said, ‘is dead and dying.’”
MARK SCHUMANN
On March 24, 2011, Glenn Heran, CPA and Dr. Stephen Faherty gave a water and sewer presentation to the Indian River Shores Town Council in which they urged the Shores to not renew its franchise agreement with Vero Beach.
As has proven true with their electric sale assumptions, Heran’s and Faherty’s 2011 water and sewer presentation was based on unrealistic assumptions. Heran’s and Faherty’s attempt to persuade the Shores Town Council to not renew its franchise agreement with Vero Beach appeared to be part of a larger effort – supported, if not orchestrated, by County Commissioner Bob Solari – to drive the City of Vero Beach into disincorporation.
Page 14 of Heran’s and Faherty’s March 24, 2011 presentation included a line item expense for the City of Vero Beach’s water and sewer utility titled “Reserve for Major Capital R&R 5% of Revenue.” Unlike the bonds on Indian River County’s water and sewer utility, Vero Beach’s bonds do not require such a reserve and replacement set aside.
By working the $984,676 number into his presentation, Heran made Vero Beach’s water and sewer utility look weak, which it is not. At the time, Heran hoped to persuade Indian River Shores Town Council that the City’s water and sewer system should be acquired by the County.
Indian River Shores did not go for Heran’s plan, but instead renegotiated a new agreement with Vero Beach. Soon after the “Heran-Faherty-Solari” strategy failed, the island weekly, Vero Beach 32963, lamented that the Shores Town Council had missed a golden opportunity to weaken the financial viability of Vero Beach’s water a sewer system.
That same year, in a presentation he gave at a Republican Men’s Club breakfast as Chairman of the County Commission, Bob Solari attacked the City of Vero Beach. Solari likened Vero Beach to the City of Detroit. The City of Vero Beach, Solari said, “is dead and dying.”
Solari and his wife Jackie were big financial supporters of Vero Beach City Councilwoman Pilar Turner, as was the Heran family. Together, the Solaris and Herans contributed some $800 to Turner’s 2010 campaign. Like Heran and Solari, Turner has also pushed for the City to hand its profitable water and sewer utility over to the County.
Some think the Solari-Turner-Heran plan to force Vero Beach out of its water and sewer utility is motivated solely on an assumption that customers would benefit from a larger, and presumably, more efficient system. In truth, the County’s system is overbuilt and would benefit from absorbing the City’s customers. There would be no such corresponding benefit for the City’s customers, or for the taxpayers of Vero Beach.
After failing to wrest from Vero Beach its Indian River Shores customers, Heran and Solari went after its customers in the unincorporated area of the south barrier island. Despite help from State Rep. Debbie Mayfield, Solari and Heran again failed to bring down Vero Beach’s water and sewer utility.
I do not accept the denials of Solari and Heran that they are solely interested in championing the cause of local utility customers. Rather, I continue to believe their larger objective is to force the City of Vero Beach into disincorporation. The apparent unraveling of Florida Power & Light’s effort to acquire Vero Electric is a huge blow to their plans.
Indian River Guardian 
What an awful thing to say! Why should we support a person who lives in the city and says such things? Those of us who grew up here and still live in the city and love it beg to differ with Mr. Solari!
Dead and dying? I can’t imagine having a Hampton Inn and Suites building in an area that is “dead and dying. I also can’t imagine a church purchasing a property on 6th Avenue in Vero to build their new place of worship. The downtown area is a place for dining, gallery-hopping–buying some really outstanding works of art……enjoying events. Royal Palm Pointe and Miracle Mile have blossomed–maybe a little too much in the 3 Avenues area if you’re looking for a parking spot. In the past we’ve always appreciated our dedicated group of City employees, and I still believe these workers are doing their best, despite being pounded verbally during the “Troika” era. We have an outstanding team of utility workers. They showed their meddle when we were hit by two hurricanes within two weeks of each other. Our police had to rescue some folks during that period when an area of Indian River Blvd was flooded. They also have been known to save lives with medical techniques/equipment….along with doing what police “normally” do. This is not a dead and dying community – no matter that a few wish it so.
I think Commissioner Solari meant, specifically, that the government of the City of Vero Beach is dead and dying.
As I have stated in the past any City of Vero Beach voter that votes for Solari is sap. Ditto for Turner. Do you really want the death of the city with high rises on the beach like North Hutchinson Island?
I had the displeasure of Bob Solari NOT supporting our neighborhood when the Go-Line buses had their main hub in it. I asked the question of Mr. Solari at a County Commission meeting “why should anyone in Original Town vote you back into office?”… there wasn’t a reply. Not to worry, this neighborhood will not vote for him.
Linda, he is not for your area because you can not see or walk to the ocean from your house. Elitist snob he is.
Bob Solari and Pilar Turner know that the three largest voting precincts in the City of Vero Beach are the three precincts on the beach. They will stay in office as long as they want to. Tracy Carroll was the exception because she was so caustic with her Humanist comments and her short term rentals that she just couldn’t make it but Turner and Solari know how to count votes.