Mark Schumann

One cannot serve two masters

COMMENTARY
Candidate Out-of-City Contributions
Charlie Wilson 75%
Harry Howle 54%
Pilar Turner 52%
Jack Shupe 17%
Jay Kramer 12%
Randy Old 10%

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to more accurately reflect the total contributions received by city council candidate Randy Old from out-of-city contributors. Given that 10 percent is nowhere near 52 -54 percent, much less 71 percent, the essential point remains the same. The campaigns of Charlie Wilson, Harry Howle and Pilar Turner are being fueled by outside money. Wilson’s percentage of out-of-city contributions was initially miscalculated at 76 percent.  It is 75 percent. Wilson, in a one-word comment now posted with this story, challenged these numbers. All of his contributions to date are listed below.

MARK SCHUMANN

Pilar Turner - Outside money: 52%
Pilar Turner – Outside money: 52%
Harry Howle III - Outside moneh: 54%
Harry Howle III – Outside money: 54%
Charlie Wilson - Outside money: 76%
Charlie Wilson – Outside money: 76%

Last year, Florida Power & Light poured some $40,000 into an electioneering communications organization set up by Glenn Heran to support Tracy Carroll in her bid for re-election. The big outside money being spent this year to influence the outcome of a Vero Beach election is coming largely from the north and south barrier island, where residents stand to gain the most from forcing Vero Beach to push forward with the sale of Vero Electric, despite the insurmountable odds and the increasingly unfavorable terms.

Nearly every candidate for the Vero Beach City Council can be expected to receive at least some in campaign contributions from non-residents of the city.  After all, despite the Indian River Shores Town Council’s failure to recognize the fact, southern Indian River County is largely one interconnected community.

But in a year when the County Commission and the Indian River Shores Town Council have mounted legal attacks on Vero Beach, one has to wonder about the flood of outside money being received by candidates Harry Howle, III, Pilar Turner and Charlie Wilson. All three of them have taken in more than half of their campaign contributions from residents and businesses outside the city.

How can Wilson, Turner and Howle be expected to govern in the best interests of the residents and taxpayers of Vero Beach, when they are so beholden to outside interest? After all, one cannot serve two masters.

Harry C Offutt III 3003 Cardinal Drive Vero Beach 200 September
Vivienne Heran 15 Starfish Drive Vero Beach 100 September
Glendale Trading Center 680 Old Dixie Vero Beach 500 September 500*
Linda Hudson 1611 Surfside Vero Beach 250 September 250*
Smyth Builders 1611 Surfside Fort Pierce 200 October 200*
Hans Van Vanzonneveild 281 Sable Palm Vero Beach 250 October
Ryan Dennis 145 McKee Lane Vero Beach 250 August
Rick Baker Realty 1830 62nd Drive Vero Beach 500 August 500*
Rosemarie B Wilson 1490 5th Avenue Vero Beach 100 August 100*
George & Helen Todd 560 10th Place Vero Beach 100 August 100*
Treasure Coast Builders 6560 S. Fed. Hwy. Port St. Lucie 100 August 200*
Toddy Offutt 552 10th Place Vero Beach 50 August 50*
Gerry Weick Indian River Shores 100 July 100*
Leah Facto Sebastian 100 July 100*
Total: $2800 Out-of-city: $2100
Charlie Wilson 100 July
Charlie Wilson 1000 September

8 comments

  1. Out of the jurisdiction campaign aldonations has not been restricted to the City Council. Corry Westbrook in her brief tenure as a candidate seeking the Democrat nomination to challenge our Tea Party incumbent.

  2. Out of the jurisdiction campaign donations have not been restricted to the City Council. Corry Westbrook in her brief tenure as a candidate seeking the Demorcrat nomination to challenge our Tea Party incumbent received the bulk of her contributions from outside of Florida. Also, since the May 2nd decision of the Division of Elections that she was “not qualified” to be on the Florida ballot, she has, to the best of my knowledge, made no effort to compensate the small portion of the local voters who donated to her campaign.

  4. Brad, I get your point about how money can and does buy influence in politics. In the current Vero Beach City Council election, though, I think the tide has turned. I am reminded of the expression: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

    Some, if not many, of the people who care about preserving the quality of life in Vero Beach may have been asleep at the wheel in 2009, when Charlie Wilson was elected, and in 2010, when Pilar Turner ascended to the throne. The Tide has turned, though. Last year, Vero Beach voters elected Amelia Graves, who trounced Tracy Carroll, a Turner sidekick.

    I my be wrong, by my hunch is Jay Kramer and Randy Old will lead the field of seven candidates, with Jack Shupe and Pilar Turner coming in very close for third and fourth. Whether Turner is consigned to suffering through the next two years as a one-person minority, or wether Jack Shupe, a qualified candidate, is given an opportunity to work with Amelia Graves, Jay Kramer, Randy Old and Richar Winger in moving the city forward, only time will tell

  5. Mark you are right. Big money from FPL did not help re-elect Tracy Carroll last year. Pilar Turner has become a Tracy Carroll in the respect that she is all for her self recognition and hell-bent determined to sell the power plant down the proverbial river. The voters of Vero Beach have come to see the “big” money that has been tacked on to our utility bills to satisfy attorneys who have done nothing for this city but ask for more money. Once again…this would not have happened if these long term contract agreements would have been taken on ( looked at ) before the sales agreement signed…that is all we have been saying…but now we are all paying. The sales agreement signed by Tracy Carroll (gone) Pilar Turner (near gone) and Craig Fletcher (not running)…remember voters… TOT…Turn Off Turner when voting in November.

  6. Yeah! Get the City of Vero Beach dis incorporated and then their buddies can build their 10-15 story buildings on the water front on Ocean Drive so we can look like North Hutchison Island, shade on the beach at 2:00 in the afternoon.

  8. Harry C Offutt III 3003 Cardinal Drive Vero Beach 200 September
    Vivienne Heran 15 Starfish Drive Vero Beach 100 September
    Glendale Trading Center 680 Old Dixie Vero Beach 500 September 500*
    Linda Hudson 1611 Surfside Vero Beach 250 September 250*
    Smyth Builders 1611 Surfside Fort Pierce 200 October 200*
    Hans Van Vanzonneveild 281 Sable Palm Vero Beach 250 October
    Ryan Dennis 145 McKee Lane Vero Beach 250 August
    Rick Baker Realty 1830 62nd Drive Vero Beach 500 August 500*
    Rosemarie B Wilson 1490 5th Avenue Vero Beach 100 August 100*
    George & Helen Todd 560 10th Place Vero Beach 100 August 100*
    Treasure Coast Builders 6560 S. Fed. Hwy. Port St. Lucie 100 August 100*
    Toddy Offutt 552 10th Place Vero Beach 50 August 50*
    Gerry Weick IR Shores 100 July 100*
    Lean Facto Sebastian 100 July 100*

    Total contributions: $2800
    *Total out-of-city: $2000 (75 percent)

    Charlie Wilson 100 July
    Charlie Wilson 1000 September

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