NEWS ANALYSIS

MARK SCHUMANN

Political newcomer, Harry Howle, III, who entered the Vero Beach City Council race on the final day of the qualifying period, appears to be teaming up with incumbent, Pilar Turner.  Turner, who is seeking her third term on the Council, is to join Howle for a fundraiser Oct. 2 to be hosted by Toby Hill, a leader in the local Tea Party.

In an email invitation addressed to “Fellow Conservatives,” Hill described Howle and Turner as “candidates who will continue to push for the sale of the power plant to FPL…”

Hill added that Turner has, “worked tirelessly and has been an outstanding advocate for the sale and all around good governance.”  Hill described Howle as “new to politics,” but a “principled conservative.”

Howle and Turner have both made clear their desire to privatize as many city services as possible, including selling or leasing Crestlawn Cemetery and selling the City’s profitable water and sewer utility to the County. Before moderating her position, Turner also supported turning of the dog park to a local rowing club.

The list of co-chairs for the fundraiser Hill is hosting for Howle and Turner include many who supported former candidate Brian Curley. Curley dropped out of the race days after he was described by Press Journal columnist Russ Lemmon as a member of the pro-sale camp, meaning the sale-at-any-price-come-hell-or-high-water camp. In response to Lemmon’s column, Curely said he was “not in anyone’s camp,” and stressed he would run his own campaign.

What appears to have really put Curely at odds with his Tea Party supporters was his assessment that the County Commission’s and the Indian River Shores Town Council’s legal efforts to force Vero Beach to abandon its utility infrastructure and out-of-city customer base without compensation are unfair.  “I don’t think that’s right. I don’t think that’s fair,” Curely said.

Soon after his comments were reported in the press, Curely withdrew from the race.

Noticeably absent from Hill’s list of “fine candidates” is Charlie Wilson.  Even more so than Turner, Wilson has tirelessly argued the sale cannot be concluded without a city council willing to fight the Florida Municipal Power Agency in court.

Though Hill’s political fundraising efforts appear focused on helping Howle and Turner, that doesn’t mean Wilson is on the outs with Turner.  At the drawing of names to determine the order of the ballot, after Wilson’s name was drawn after Turner’s he was heard to say to her, “That’s the same order as the signs.”

If Howle/Turner campaign signs begin appearing around town next to Turner/Wilson signs, the consolidated government crowd will surely realize it would have been more efficient to simply print Howle/Turner/Wilson signs.

Unlike Turner and Wilson, and now apparently Howle, who insists there is “and angle for everything,” others who are less inclined to think they can get what they want just because they want it badly, including many who strongly supported the sale, now believe the city’s contractual obligations to the FMPA and its bondholders are insurmountable.

Beyond the electric sale, the city faces other pressing issues, including addressing the Lagoon crisis, funding and maintaining city services, and, perhaps most importantly, working to lower electric rates and to form a regional electric utility that will give all customers an equal voice in how the system is run.