COMMENTARY

MARK SCHUMANN

In a recent opinion column, Press Journal pundit Larry Reisman wrote, “City voters have asked council twice to sell the electric utility because of electric rates at least 20 percent more than those charged by Florida Power & Light Co. FPL has offered to buy the city’s electric operation.”

On several levels, Reisman’s statement is misleading, disingenuous and is a disservice to the newspaper’s readers and to the larger community.

Joining Pilar Turner is twisting the truth, Reisman claims there have been two referendum on selling the electric system. When the first referendum was held in the fall of 2011, FPL advertising and Press Journal editorials (essentially one and the same) assured the public that a “YES” vote was not a vote to sell the electric system, but was simply an expression of support for having a conversation.

In approving the fall 2011 referendum, voters gave the city council permission to lease the power plant site to FPL, if, and only if, a deal could be reached to sell the electric system.

In the spring of 2013, voters were asked to approve a purchase and purchase and sale agreement between FPL and the city. Negotiated at a cost of more than $1.5 million in legal fees, the contract placed before voters in the spring of 2013 left unresolved several key issues. Never the less, with more than  $100,000 is political contributions from FPL and editorial support from the Press Journal, an electioneering communication led by utility activist Glen Heran successfully persuaded voters to approve the contract, blanks and all.

Now the deal has fallen apart, partly because the one prospective buyer for Vero Beach’s interest in three Florida Municipal Power Agency power project support contracts and power supply agreements, the Orlando Utilities Commission, backed out of the deal, and partly because the sales contract put before voters miscalculated by $52 million what it would cost the city to settle its contractual obligations to the FMPA.

Even by FPL’s admission, the purchase and sale agreement approved by voters in the spring of 2013 cannot be executed. In several recent reports to the city council, special utility attorney Schef Wright reported that FPL has not offered any new ideas and has not put forth any new proposals for moving the sale forward. This fact does not keep Reisman from writing, “FPL has offered to buy the city’s electric operation.”

Reisman seems to think that labeling his writing as “opinion” gives him a license to leave his powers of reasoning at home. If he keeps serving up dribble to fill his columns, readers are going to crave Lemmon Drops.

In service to Tea-Party-style, limited government candidates he must hope will emerge to challenge Richard Winger and Amelia Graves, Reisman is likely to continue perpetuating the urban legend that it is within the power of the current city council to simply hand Vero Electric over to FPL. Nothing could be farther from the truth, and Reisman knows it.