Editors note: All seven candidates for the Vero Beach City Council were invited to submit guest columns to InsideVero.  Candidates Brian Heady, Jay Kramer, Randy Old and Jack Shupe accepted our invitation.  Their columns, which appear below, will also be published in the print edition of InsideVero to be out Oct. 30.

Brian Heady

Vero Beach residents know the city election will result in three seats on the Vero Beach City Council being filled for a two year term. I ask them to make me, Brian Heady, one of their choices. Early voting runs from October 21 thru November 1.

We have witnessed past elections where out of state residents, special interest groups, and large corporate entities have become very involved and have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to post signs and purchase ads in various media outlets. However, rarely do you see signs with my name cluttering our roadways. As is my custom I have rejected such donations. To my way of thinking all of this influx of contributions does not come without cost. Most donors to campaigns expect a return on their investment when their candidates win. Too often we witness elected officials ignore campaign promises, responding only to special interest donors not to the majority of citizens they are elected to represent.

I consistently run a low cost campaign by asking supporters to spread the word. Those who offer money are encouraged to donate to their favorite charity instead. The hundreds of thousands spent on littering our roadways with campaign signs would be better spent finding cures for cancer, heart disease or some other worthy cause.

In 2009 I was elected to a two year term without accepting or spending any money from anyone. My first official action was to tell all city residents I would work for them not special interest groups.   You can see and hear my comments at:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-6L2h0MQd4 I lived up to my promise then and when elected my job will be to represent all city residents not special interest groups.

I work with sick and disabled veterans every day. One of the things veterans tell me is they appreciate my honesty. They know I say what I believe to be true, not what is politically advantageous. “You keep it real Brian” one vet says often. “You answer questions directly Brian,” other veterans say repeatedly. For those who doubt my willingness or ability keep it real or answer questions I suggest they watch a debate video which was recorded during this campaign. It can be found in two parts.

Part one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPgPAUmTwb8

Part two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXTQHnHirtw

Those who attended a Taxpayers’ debate know I was helping about 15 veterans on that day and I was not able to attend the entire debate. But I did stop in briefly and answer all taxpayer questions. My answers can be found 18 minutes into the video clip located at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFqNfmNuM18

Anyone in the public eye must have thick skin. You can rest assured when you put yourself out for consideration by voters, opponents or those favoring a different candidate will attack. Reader comments following a recent article about candidates said I had “baggage.” I sent an email to the writer and asked what he meant by “baggage.” His response was “Baggage as used in a colloquial expression, all of us have baggage, all it means is that no one is perfect! Example, you ran for office many times, you won once, all the losses are considered baggage!” I would maintain he is half right. He is correct I have run for office many times. And he is correct in the sense I did not often garner the highest number of votes. But those efforts were not losses because in those runs I promoted ideas which found their way into public policy benefiting city residents. If my ideas succeed and the public benefits, that’s a win.

This November city residents have a clear choice with Brian Heady. Voters can pick their favorite as their number 1 selection and then pick Brian Heady as their 2^nd choice. Number 2 on the ballot, Brian Heady is an independent thinker not tied to any special interest group. And Brian Heady has demonstrated by his actions he will keep city residents interest as his Number 1 priority.

 

Jay Kramer

As a business person I travel frequently around the country and I am continuously reminded during my travels of what we do not see in Vero Beach. Just recently I had to make a trip to Washington DC, which is a wonderful place to visit as long as you are not driving. I had been there for a number of years, but I cannot remember the traffic being as bad as it was recently. Sitting at traffic lights and trying to figure a way through the one way street maze I am reminded of the home where we can get to our stores within 10 minutes or so. As I sit in rush hour traffic I wonder what would I be doing right now at home, perhaps going to the dog park and talking to friends, maybe spending some time on the Lagoon fishing or simply going to an evening event or planning on eating out at one of our great restaurants. Life in Vero Beach may seem slow to some, but when one really thinks about it, having a slower lifestyle also means getting more out of life. One of the best things about experiencing some of the issues of the larger urban areas is that coming home makes you appreciate living in Vero Beach.

We want to keep Vero Vero. This is my main desire. A lot had been accomplished in the last few years: we were able to keep the Royal Palm Fountains working thanks to the group of dedicated people that I felt privileged to be a part of. We saved the Crestlawn Cemetery and hopefully with the passing of the Charter Amendment on November 4 we will have the ability to preserve many parks and green spaces. Don’t take me wrong: I am not against development, but I am in favor of responsible development. We are moving forward with the Business Improvement District in our downtown area that will promote growth of businesses and give residents and visitors plenty of options for recreation and dining.

Thanks to the recent City council vote, the dog park has finally been approved and is already a popular destination for dog lovers throughout the city.

Another big issue is saving our Lagoon. We are going forward with a plan to begin moving the septic tanks off the lagoon.

And of course, there is the electric issue. Due to the fact the current contract with FPL can not be executed until 2016, if at all, we want to make sure we do everything possible to lower the rates. In the past few months rates went down by $5 million. Recently our attorney came forward with the news that OUC will allow us to re-negotiate our current contract. That will allow for additional saving of $7 mil. This is not going to be a new contract but simply a change of terms on the existing one. Lowering the rates for all of us was my priority in the past 4 years and I promise to continue working on it.

We need strong community minded leaders on the right side of the issues to continue keeping the community we love a hometown we all can be proud of. Together, we can make it better!

 

Randy Old

We have a wonderful city, our people love it, it has many irreplaceable assets — and it is up to the City Council to preserve it. We now face issues that are new, old, short-term, long-term, and continuing — some that all cities have and some that only a few have. It will take a cohesive and wise City Council to deal appropriately with these issues. If mishandled, any one of them could harm our city, so being a single-issue Council is not an option.

The fast train, with 32 trains disrupting Vero every day, a slow or inadequate response to our imperiled and priceless lagoon, and an unwise resolution of our utility crisis could significantly affect the city’s finances, our tax rate and our very future. We need a deliberate, thoughtful, and practical approach to each of these issues, not a shallow, emotional, or political response. This is a time to choose thoughtful people for the City Council – people who don’t approach the issues with a set-in-stone ideology but who let the facts determine their decision. These next few years could be crucial for Vero.

I believe I’m a strong candidate for the City Council. I have 35 years of business experience, starting at Chase Bank’s branches in New York, Singapore, Tokyo and Jordan; establishing a Middle East-African Division in London for a Mid-Western bank, and lately closing a troubled international bank in Washington D.C. for theFederal Reserve Bank and the Central Bank of Jordan. My whole career has been focused on solving problems, and I make it a point to take the time and effort to talk to all parties and read all the relevant materials beforemaking decisions.

I’ve used the same approach in my candidacy for the Vero Beach City Council. I’ve met with all the city’s departments, with all the parties involved in the utility issue, the fast-train management, and experts on the lagoon. Using this method gives me a pretty good grasp of the main issues and the approaches that could lead to solutions, while remaining open to all reasonable options. And I do have some areas of special concern — planning and communications.

To preserve our way of life, we need to establish a 20-year plan in line with our Vision Statement that sets out how we are going to meet our objectives. I also think the Council needs an enhanced communications program. The Sunshine law serves a purpose to prevent secret dealings, but the Council needs to meet quarterly to inform the public about current developments, debate the issues and get indispensible feedback. This approach has worked very well for our budget discussions, and should also work well more generally. The City Council also should explore more contemporary methods of informing the public.

My wife Jody and I have enjoyed living in Vero Beach for many years and I feel I can best give back to this special community by serving on the City Council. I pledge to bring a fact-based, fiscally-responsible, collegial, long-term approach to the issues, and respectfully ask you to vote for me, Randy Old, in the November 4^th election for the Vero Beach City Council.

 

Jack Shupe

By now many of you know that I am a candidate for one of the three open seats on the City Council of Vero Beach. I want to offer a brief background on how I originally found this lovely city. In July of 2007, my wife and I purchased a home here in Vero Beach, moving from Washington, D.C. Vero was chosen since my wife Maureen has three sisters living here. In Washington, I had a rewarding 33-year career with the National Geographic Society’s Cartographic Division, eventually becoming Chief Cartographer. I am widely traveled, managed a large staff and budget, and was instrumental in converting the mapping process from conventional hand-drawn maps to a computerized automated system and database.

I’ve had an interest in city government since arriving. I had an unsuccessful run for City Council in 2009, but have served on the Planning and Zoning Commission and presently I am a member of the Utilities Commission. I subscribe to the often-repeated theme “keep Vero, Vero”. This simple phrase is like a motto for our city’s future. If elected, I will do all that I can to uphold this powerful statement.

My primary focus, if elected to office, is to serve the needs of Vero Beach residents, and keeping the city’s services viable and intact. I do not come with a personal agenda; I come to deal with issues that bubble up from our residents. We have witnessed far too many council meetings that reflect personal agendas. Councilmembers are elected to represent the residents of Vero Beach, not themselves. Many people are not aware of the published organization chart of the City of Vero Beach. Looking at the chart, the very first box at the top of the chart is “Citizens of Vero Beach”, the line from that box goes down to “City Council”, then the remainder of the chart below that shows the Charter Officers and the City Staff. When I campaign door-to-door showing this chart, people are surprised to see who is on top: the Citizens, not the City Council.

When I ran for City Council in 2009, the candidates that won that year campaigned on getting Vero Beach out of the Electric Utility business. Now, 5-years later, there are some of these same candidates running with the same message. My position on the Electric sale is to proceed with caution. The City is a willing seller and only has one willing buyer, Florida Power and Light. The City Council entered into a sales agreement with FPL in 2013, and the agreement is valid until December of 2016. The contracts we have with our power providers have complicated reaching a final sale at the moment. With FPL having until December of 2016 to purchase Vero Electric, I do not suggest any legal action that could complicate this time line or sales agreement. Some suggest action against FMPA. I feel this would, at the very least, extend the FPL deadline until such legal action was satisfied, or precipitate legal action from FPL against the City for tampering with a valid sales agreement. The time and legal costs can only harm the City of Vero Beach.

I do support efforts to bring the Lagoon back to life. This resource is critical for not only our quality of life, but for tourism to our area. Its present condition harms many businesses that depend on a healthy Lagoon, homeowners with waterfront property, and thousands of boat owners. It has taken a decade to mess it up; it will take a decade to repair. Vero Beach is providing leadership in the cleanup effort with the fertilizer restrictions, and testing of the hybrid septic system. All Aboard Florida, if built-out as planned will have a devastating affect on our city. Both of these issues require partnerships with our neighboring cities to the north and south. They are regional problems, and will not be solved by one city alone.

I do not support the transfer of our utilities to the County for administration. We built them, we own them, and we have maintained them for decades. Customer Service would change dramatically with another layer of bureaucracy. I also support the Vero Charter Land Amendment. I will do all I can to lower electric rates.

I am grateful to the Indian River Neighborhood Association for their endorsement of Jay Kramer, Randy Old, and me, sensing that we will “conduct the city’s business in a rational, professional manner unhampered by personal agendas.”