COMMENTARY
It is time for the Vero Beach Council to reconsider following the lead of the Indian River County Commission, the Indian River Shores Town Council and the Sebastian City Council and schedule general public comment later in its agenda, after the public’s business has been conducted.
MARK SCHUMANN
Every community has at least a few characters — like Brian Heady and Charlie Wilson — who crave attention. Much like vampires who must extract someone else’s blood to survive, these guys seem to have an insatiable appetite for the attention they seek as they drain valuable time and energy from public meetings.
Among governing bodies in Indian River County, only the Vero Beach City Council schedules general public comment in advance of its business agenda. Predictably, then, Heady, Wilson and the likes regularly appear before the cameras to get for themselves another fix of attention.
As puzzling as it is why the Council allows a few needy souls to continue to set a negative tone for each and every meeting, it is even more puzzling why the Council does not at least follow its own published rules for general public comment. (See below) After all, these meetings are held at the public’s expense and expressly for the purpose of conducting the public’s business.
At yesterday’s Council meeting, Heady extracted, not the allotted three minutes, but more than 14 minutes. Heady took to the podium at 9:40 and was still there at 9:54:33 haranguing the Council with his bizarre idea to end the legal dispute between Vero Beach and Indian River Shores by allowing Shores residents to vote in Vero Beach’s municipal elections.
Heady was back at the podium 20 minutes later wanting more time. Mayor Richard Winger wisely chose to remind Heady he had already been given far more time than allowed for by the rules.
It is time for the Vero Beach Council to reconsider following the lead of the Indian River County Commission, the Indian River Shores Town Council and the Sebastian City Council and schedule general public comment later in its agenda, after the public’s business has been conducted.
Indian River Guardian 
Maybe Mr. Heady is on to something! So to resolve matters between Vero Beach and Indian River Shores, Vero Beach gets to vote in Indian River Shores’ elections and…..oh wait! The ‘cure’ was to let Indian River Shores vote in Vero’s elections – not the other way around. That would be rather one-sided and no doubt we Veroites would hate ourselves in the morning. Continued existence depends on doing what is right for us. Having outsiders make decisions for us does not fit that category. And more importantly, it isn’t all that difficult to get ones point across in a few words. I’d rather be remembered for brevity than long-winded discourses.
I really don’t know Charlie Wilson nor have ever had anything to do with him, but I do know Brian Heady and I will say some positive things about him. Eight years ago I gave him a job to drive a bus for the Veterans Council. As the transportation manager was no longer employed, we were short of help and needed someone that could pick up the bus from Sebastian and make the first stop at 5AM in Sebastian. We did have another driver, “Snooky”; both Snooky and Brian are still at the same job today. The Veterans of our County (over 18,000) of them have been served faithfully by these two men and believe me it is not the pay nor the benefits that keep them so devoted.
I can see the frustration that Brian has as a resident of the City, he has been an “activist” since he has lived there. If you measure his antics against the officials that got us into the “Electric” mess it certainly pales as to the outcomes of him taking up too many minutes against electric bills that are too high. I believe that Brian has earned a lot of respect from the council members and that is why he can speak so long. Hopefully a time will come when he will get another chance at the City Council, and hopefully he will take a few moments to figure out what to say in a lot fewer words. Remember, it is up to the Council to enforce the 3 minute limit, not Brian!
Larry, the Vero Beach City Council meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 9:30 a.m., and on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. Do come down from your place in the Shores some time and take in the show. The comedy act begins soon after the invocation.
Speaking of governing bodies getting their constituents into messes, as a result of its decision to take a neighboring municipality to court, the Shores Town Council is now looking at legal bills approaching $250,000 with no end in sight.
If you had been a member of the Vero Beach City Council in the early 1980s, after the first deal with FPL fell through, I wonder if you would have joined those who decided at the time that the city’s electric customers would be better off if Vero Electric partnered with other municipalities. Nothing smacks of self-righteousness quite like to wisdom of the Monday-morning quarterback.
Brian?
Seriously? The ONLY way Indian River Shores residents will EVER get to vote in Vero Beach is when Vero beach annexes the town.
A sensible man knows this.
Why do you not?
Oh yeah, you just like watching yourself blather English words together on the reruns.
Carry on.
Dear Mark, I have been to many City Council meetings, none are ever boring. Meanwhile last month was the lowest electric bill I have had in 5 years. Surprisingly enough I am starting to get happier because at least someone is doing something to help. I am only worried now that a special assessment on our new legal bills will offset my electric bill! Some how I can never win! Happy New Year to all as well as good health.
Larry, in part, your power bill is lower because the very City Council members Dr. Stephen Faherty continues to attack in his “Utility Update,” (Amelia Graves, Jay Kramer, Randy Old and Richard Winger) are actually working to reduce rates. To bolster support for the sale, Craig Fletcher, Tracy Carroll and Pilar Turner were more than happy to let rates rise. Faherty’s “newsletter” is little more than hate mail.
Copies of emails I received today in response to a public records request reveals the extent to which Faherty and Glenn Heran influenced Bill Grealis, the Shores’ representative of Vero Beach’s Utilities Commission. In one interesting email, Grealis informed Town Clerk Laura Aldrich that Faherty asked him to write a guest column to be submitted to the Press Journal. In another emails, Grealis describes lengthly telephone conversations he had with Heran and Faherty. He seemed to be buying their misinformation and faulty reasoning hook, line and sinker.
These two gentlemen, you will remember, first built support for the electric sale by assuring the public the City of Vero Beach would net $150 million on the sale. Heran and Faherty have been wrong, dead wrong, every step of the way. I think of them as Rasputin One and Rasputin Two.
Though the rate differential between Vero Electric and FPL is now down to 15 percent, Faherty continues to pump outrageously inflated numbers into his “Update.” Press Journal reporter, Larry Reisman, who seems determined to trust Faherty’s numbers, is still claiming the customers of Vero Electric are paying $20 million a year more than they would as customers of FPL. The rate differential is now closer to $15 million. Factor in the six percent franchise fee Vero Beach customers will pay, and the differential is now down to $12.5 million. That is still a significant number, but it is far from $20 million.
Mark, Have you received any information regarding any and all communications between the Indian River Shores mayor and council, or these people and others?
Yes, the Shores Town Clerk last week responded to our public records request. We are currently reviewing the documents, but suffice it to say a number of members of the Shores Town Council have been quite comfortable communicating with each other via email about Town business. These gentlemen are way too smart to be able to claim ignorance of the law. Besides, ignorance of the law is no excuse. What I find interesting is that the Press Journal and the island weekly have to date stayed away from this story.
Could there be some red faces not caused by the sun,but by the Sunshine Law?