COMMENTARY
“Flescher also proposed Realtor Angela Waldrup. Waldrup specializes in rental properties. Waldrup and her clients, as much as Davis’s appointment, Glenn Powell, will benefit from limiting regulation of transient boarding houses.”
MARK SCHUMANN
Now that the stacking of the Indian River County Commission’s sure-to-do-nothing Short Term Vacation Rental Advisory Committee is complete, it should be obvious to south barrier island residents that they cannot count on Bob Solari and his fellow county commissioners to regulate short term rentals in any meaningful way.
In fact, if there every was a case of the fox guarding the henhouse, this is it. By some counts, no less than five members of the advisory committee stand to benefit personally and professionally from the county’s continued relaxed regulation of short term rentals.
Commissioner Bob Solari, Mr. Short Term Rental himself, appointed to the committee self-described Libertarian and local utility activist, Glenn Heran. Heran’s family has for years been involved in local rental properties. Heran listed as his current employer “Real Estate,” though there is no such business entity registered in Indian River County. Perhaps Heran did not want to be specific about any interests he may have in rental properties.
Joel Molinari, who disclosed during the August 18 commission meeting that he runs a number of rentals, was appointed by Commissioner Tim Zorc.
Commissioner Wesley Davis appointed Glenn Powell. According to Powell’s application, he is a self employed landlord with four vacation homes and 14 annual unfurnished rental homes. If anyone stands to gain from relaxed regulations of short term rentals it would be Davis’ appointment, Mr. Powell.
Real estate developer Joe Paladin was appointed by Commissioner Joe Flescher. Flescher has stood firm with Solari on every vote to relax regulations on short term rentals. In a March 22 editorial, the Press Journal editorial board referred to Paladin as, “an ex-convict who often speaks before the County Commission.”
Flescher also proposed Realtor Angela Waldrup. Waldrup specializes in rental properties, and, as much as Davis’s appointment, Glenn Powell, will benefit from limiting regulation of transient boarding houses.
Commissioner Peter O’Bryan appointed G. Alan Curtis, a retired entomologist who worked for the Mosquito Control District.
Another Realtor, Bob DeWaters, was appointed as one of two members at large. DeWaters has reportedly been involved in two attempts by dissident members of the South Beach Property Owners Association to dismiss association president George Lamborn for his outspoken opposition to Solari over short term rentals. (As a response to a public records request, this reported received from the County Attorney’s office some 170 emails to and from Commissioner Solari and dissidents within the SBPOA. Those emails should make for interesting reading and reporting.)
Given that the short term rental advisory committee was formed simply to provide Solari with political cover through the 2016 election, south beach residents who care about preserving domestic tranquillity in their neighborhoods would do well to consider seeking incorporation into the City of Vero Beach.
In exchange for slightly higher property taxes, south barrier island residents would benefit from far stricter regulation of short term rentals, more protection of their property values, faster emergency response times from law enforcement, and, collectively, lower water and sewer bills. The would also have a voice and a vote in deciding who iOS responsible for the management their utilities.
Indian River Guardian 
And I thought that Vero Electric was the problem! It is time both you and Milt run for County Commission, or maybe even a Donald Trump Clone!!!!
Larry, I hope you have been well.
I don’t get your point. What would a Donald Trump clone be able to do for Vero Beach and Indian River County? And, Vero Electric isn’t the problem. The fine folks at FPL, who have so masterfully fomented and fostered discontent in the community, all for the sale of greater profits, they are the problem.
FPL, of course, did not cause Vero Electric’s high rates in 2009, and FPL did not force Vero Beach to assess its out-of-city customers a surcharge fee, and FPL was not behind the insensitivity of some previous councils to the concerns of the city’s county and Shores customers.
Just the same, despite the progress the city is making, FPL continues to stir trouble in Vero Beach. As long as Vero Electric is able to offer rates within the statewide average, and as long as city leaders continue to make every effort to lower rates, then I think they are doing all that can be expected of them.
It is simply unrealistic to expect Vero Beach officials to run a 34,000-customer system as efficiently as FPL operates is million-plus customers system. Equally unrealistic is the assertion that any municipal utility, or investor owned utility for that matter, that cannot match FPL’s rates should be forced to sell to FPL. That’s just not how the utility industry is structured.
Larry, despite the spin Shores officials may put on this past week’s court hearing, the underlying truth is that the lawsuit is not going well for the Shores. Lawyers for the Public Service Commission quite effectively argued that the Shores does not have more authority than the State of Florida. Don’t be surprised if the first three counts in the Shores’ complaint are dismissed.The court may hear the fourth complaint, but even on that point it seems likely the Shores will ultimately lose.
If the past is any indication of efficiently Vero Electric delivered quicker and better services than FPL did during and after our last tragic hurricanes . Smaller is better. I am willing to pay a little extra for this efficiently.
Right, John, there are different measures of efficiency.
So who in VB is working with whom in the South County to come up with a plan. 6% decrease in sewer, water and electric covers a big chunk of the COVB City taxes. … and most certainly, they will decrease when the base is increased!
What we are witnessing with the naming of the short term rental committee, with the exception of Peter O’Bryan,s choice, is nothing but raw ,naked arrogance shoved in the face of county residents. All but O’Bryan should be ashamed of themselves. I hope each commissioner will soon get a short term rental next to their homes, then and only then will they possibly reconsider this abuse of power. It’s easy for Bob Solari to sit back and not worry about short term rentals ;he lives in the city and knows there are laws to protect him from the chaos of short term rentals.
Mark, as always, has come up w/ some interesting reporting about the rather unseemly behavior of IRC’s County Commissioners. His analysis of the one-sided, pro short term rental (STR) group that the Commissioners just appointed— ie to a supposedly ‘objective’ Committee to advise the Commissioners on dealing w/ transient ‘guest houses’, grey market unlicensed daily and weely ‘vacation home rentals’, and boarding houses in residential areas, w/ all their noise, disturbance, trash collection, over-occupancy, fire and safety concerns, etc.,— is spot on. There goes the neighborhood! Somehow, I doubt this group will work to roll back the problem. So I think what Leicalarry was getting at, in suggesting that Mark and his co-editor Milt should run for County Commission, is that the rot is getting so deep at the Commission, and Mark and Milt need to go in there w/ a shovel to start clearing it up. Or we can just let the Commissioner-sheep follow Joe Paladino, the front man for deep pocketed developers working w/ some folks like Fla. Watermelon Assoc. Chairman Kelly Marinaro, and SunnyFresh Citrus (where Paladino worked), whose apparent aim is to bulldoze the agric. areas in IRC and turn them into huge track housing, as Paladino did in St. Lucie County in the 1988. Paladino has come a long way from being Pres. of Code Roofing, in Clewiston, FL back in 1995, and Continental Design and Cabinetry, in Pompano Beach, FL in 1981. Now he runs Atlantic Coast Building LLC; Paladin Place II Homeowners Assoc; Black Swan Consulting; White Swan Consulting (via his wife Michele); and Ventures LLC; all from his home/office in a residential neighborhood called Tropical Isles in Vero Beach. I wonder if he is protected from short term rentals, like Bob Solari, by being inside City of Vero Beach city limits? That would be ironic.
It is apparent that either you did not attend the meeting in which I clearly stated the fact that I own rental properties which are strictly long term rentals. My wife and I have been taxpayers and Indian county since 19. We have never agreed to rent a dwelling for less than one full year. In fact, our preference and every rental we own is to have a minimum of a two year contract. The lack of context in your article does a disservice to your readers and it calls into question your own interest. I am not difficult to reach, in case you actually care to know rather than assume. I appreciate your opinion, but reality matters.
I have no problem with how you conduct your rental business. Here is what I wrote: “Joel Molinari, Sr (appointed by Tim Zorc), is a pool and spa contractor. At the first Committee meeting he said, “I own rental homes, but not short term rentals. I am particularly interested in less government and more efficient government, and if there’s going to be ordinances I would like them to be very taxpayer friendly and very property owner friendly.” I merely reported on the meeting that I saw in its entirety. The issue is whether private property rights take precedence over the rights of everyone in a stable single family home neighborhood to enjoy a quiet quality of life they expected when they bought their homes. Its not about big government interfering with someone’s right to put an unlicensed and disruptive business in a residential neighborhood.
Dear Mr. Thomas:
You are spot on when it comes to Mr. Molinari. Mr. Molinari has a conflict of interest “serving” on this
committee, plain and simple and he is not the only one. Mr. Molinari’s conflict of interest is not measured by
the length of his rental businesses but his fitness to serve. He is unfit to serve because he is BIASED by his
background and his day job.
He is a construction sub-contractor and we all know what general and sub-contractors think about regulations, codes and permits – they hate them as it costs them time and money. Mr. Molinari is no exception and has admitted at every meeting he attends he is against government regulations.
With this bias how can he “serve’ on a committee whose task is to make and recommend regulations to control rentals ?
He can try and sugar coated his bias as much as he like with catchy phrases like “friendly this and friendly that” but the truth is he is BIASED against regulations – one of the foxes guarding the chickens is I believe how Mr. Schumann
describes it.
At the top of my message I said Mr. Molinari is not the only fox on this committee, Mr. Powel is a lot worse and this committee is going harm the community and the Council members who put them on this committee.
In next year’s election Mr. Zorc is going to have to explain why Mr. Molinari voted against regulations, Mr. Davis is going to have to explain how Mr. Powel made more rental money because Mr. Powel prevented any regulations that would cost his business more money and Mr. Solari is going to have to answer for Mr. Heran’s conduct and the rental profits made by Sorensen company through its employee on the committee Miss Waldrup the rental “specialist”.
Mr. Thomas this is very bad for us who have to work at two jobs to pay our house mortgage and obey the rules when these rich renters make all these profits by not obeying any rules because the County officials do not want any rules.