COMMENTARY

MARK SCHUMANN

If the members of the Indian River County Commission and the Indian River Shores Town Council were eligible voters and the only eligible voters in Vero Beach’s Nov. 4 municipal election, Harry Howle, III, Pilar Turner and Charlie Wilson would almost surely receive 10 votes each – Jay Kramer, Randy Old and Jack Shupe none.

That the leaders of two local governments pursuing legal action against Vero Beach would prefer to see a Council majority pledged to pursue policies sure to weaken if not bankrupt the City says something about where the voters of Vero Beach, and others who care about Vero Beach, should stand in this election.

Until Jack Shupe joined the race, supporters of Jay Kramer and Randy Old, and all proponents of finding a positive way to move beyond the failed power sale, wondered if their third vote would come down to the proverbial choice between the lesser of three evils – or the evil of three lessers, as it were.

For some, the prospect of a third term for Pilar Turner would mean enduring another two years of her patrician attitude and her persistent efforts to dismantle the City.

Equally disquieting is the prospect of Charlie Wilson’s return to the dais, where he once held a seat for all of a month before being removed from office by Judge Paul Kanarek. If Council watchers find Wilson’s regular circus-like performances during public comment time a distraction from the people’s business, just imagine the havoc Wilson could wreak as a member of Council.

Then there is Brian Heady. Though his heart may be in the right place, the fact is Heady’s fingerprints are all over the failed power sale. Along with Wilson, Heady was elected to the Council in 2009, when high electric rates led frustrated voters to throw prudence and good judgment to the wind — that, plus the fact the public believed Wilson’s promise that the sale would net the City some $90 million. Now it is clear the sale would cost the City and its electric customers tens of millions of dollars.

After two years of Heady’s agonizing contentiousness, voters in 2011 gave him the boot. Following his loss, Heady has appeared so frequently before the Council during public comment time it seems has if he is convinced voter unelected him so he could serve as the Council’s antagonist-in-chief.

Local insurance agent, Harry Howle, filed as the seventh candidate in the field.  Howle currently serves on the Code Enforcement Board and has been a member of the Planning & Zoning Board. Howle is clearly in the pocket of FPL, the local Tea Party and a host of special interests outside Vero Beach.  Howle promises to further cut spending – every year.  His claim hat in any and every budget cycle there will always be room to cut spending is a frightening notion. 

After wisely casting one’s first two votes for Vice Mayor Jay Kramer and Randy Old, the third choice, at least until Thursday, was looking bleak. Heady? Howle? Turner? Wilson? Pick your poison.

Fortunately for everyone concerned about the future of Vero Beach, Jack Shupe stepped forward. A former member of the Planning & Zoning Board and a current member of the Utilities Commission, Shupe, who retired in 1999 after a long career with The National Geographic, has a clear sense of what it will take to preserve the special character and uniqueness of Vero Beach. Just as important, Shupe seems to appreciate that the time has come to stand up to the limited-government extremists who are determined to drive Vero Beach into disincorporation.

To imagine a City Council of Amelia Graves, Jay Kramer, Randy Old, Richard Winger and fifth rational adult is almost too good to be true. Here is an opportunity to return to civility and sanity.