COMMENTARY

“Turner, Moss, and Howle, would form a new troika committed to furthering the war on Vero Beach.”

MARK SCHUMANN

It is hardly an exaggeration to say that FPL and its local allies, including Pilar Turner, city council candidate Laura Moss, and Harry Howle, along with moneyed Indian River Shores interests, are waging war on Vero Beach and on the customers of Vero Electric.

Whether the political elite in the Shores are using Florida Power & Light, or whether the utility giant is manipulating them, it appears wealthy north barrier island political donors will again team up with FPL this fall in an attempt to “buy” two more seats on the Vero Beach City Council.

The odds on likely candidates are Laura Moss, who has already declared her candidacy, and Harry Howle, who ran strong last full but lost to Randy Old, Jay Kramer and Turner. Another rambling, disjointed presentation by Howle at the city council podium during public comment time, however, could jeopardize his standing with FPL and its island power brokers.

Waiting in the wings for a chance to dance with anyone who will ask is the perennial candidate, Brian Heady. The challenge for Heady, a declared candidate, is that he is strident, bellicose and as inconsistent in his public statements as Donald Trump. Still, if Howle unravels, FPL and its local operatives may turn to Heady as the lesser of two evils.

For all practical purposes, FPL and Shores leaders already own, or at least rent, the chair Pilar Turner warms on the Vero Beach City Council dais. During her last election, Turner received the majority of her campaign funds from contributors outside Vero Beach. Turner was also backed by an electioneering committee heavily funded by FPL.

Turner has proven loyal to her supporters. At every opportunity, she furthers the interests of her wealthy and powerful out-of-city patrons. No wonder Turner often finds herself in a one-person minority. It is as if she is serving on the Vero Beach City Council as a sixth member of the Indian River Shores Town Council – the enemy within.

Because lower rates for the customers of Vero Electric will do nothing to strengthen FPL’s case for taking over Vero Electric, Turner recently voted against changes to the city’s contract with the Orlando Utilities Commission that will cut wholesale power costs by some $750,000 a month.

When Turner was a member of a three-person majority that included Tracy Carroll and Craig Fletcher, she actually worked to increase rates, all for the benefit of FPL.

Together, Turner, Carroll and Fletcher presided over drastic cuts in city services. At the time, they claimed the cuts in staffing and services were needed to prepare for the sale of Vero Electric to FPL.

Never mind that they, along with their FPL allies, first built support for the sale, not by calling for cuts in municipal services, but by assuring voters savings in electric bills for Vero Beach residents and property owners would more than offset any tax increases.

Together, Turner, Carroll, Fletcher spent more than $2 million negotiating a fatally flawed purchase and sale agreement that will never be executed. Thanks to obstinate FPL executives, that contract, which Turner proudly signed, will hang over the city like a dark cloud until Dec. 31, 2016.

Together, Turner, Carroll, Fletcher and their FPL allies, including utility activists Charlie Wilson, Glen Heran and Steven Faherty, ushered in an era of combativeness, mean spiritedness and dismissiveness of the public that had not been seen in local politics in modern times.

With Fletcher enjoying his retreat in the Carolinas, and Carroll busy managing short-term rentals, or who knows what else, Turner has been left to carry the FPL torch along. With the burden growing heavier with each passing day, the council’s one outlier is hoping Howle and Moss will soon join her in the battle against the city she claims to love.

Turner’s attitude about Vero Beach, not to mention that of her alley, the publisher of “John’s Island/Indian River Shores 32963,” reminds me of the title of a play presented locally several years ago. “I love you. You perfect. Now change.” (What Turner most dislikes about her new chosen city is seeing the water treatment plant and the power plant from her riverfront mansion. The publisher of the island weekly sold his oceanfront home in Vero Beach and moved to Indian River Shores.)

Turner has consistently and vocally supported the Shores in its legal action against Vero Beach, just as she has allied herself with the Indian River County Commission it is effort to persuade the Florida Public Service Commission to force Vero Beach to abandon some 60 percent of its service territory. She has also supported the County in its efforts to take over the city’s Indian River Shores and south barrier island water and sewer customers.

Turner is so confident of the strength of her backing from out-of-city patrons that, amazingly, she makes no effort to hide her support for the Shores and the County in their legal actions against the city she claims to serve.

Turner also supports a partial sale of Vero Electric’s Shores service territory, though the move would result in higher rates for the remaining customers. Clearly, fairness is not a priority for Turner and her patrons. Anyone who believes Turner and her supporters seek to further the interests of the people of Vero Beach and the customers of Vero Electric is sorely mistaken.

City council candidates Laura Moss and Harry Howle are now lining up with Turner and her powerful corporate and out-of-city allies. Turner, Moss, and Howle would form a new troika committed to furthering the war on Vero Beach.

As he did in last fall’s election, Howle will almost surely turn to FPL and Shores interests to fund his campaign; and he will just as surely be working off talking points given to him by FPL, Turner and their Shores allies.

Because Moss has already pledged to stand with Turner, she too will be beholden to outside interests, none of whom seem the least bit concerned with protecting and improving the quality of life for the people of Vero Beach.

The people of Vero Beach need to understand that their city, and their leaders who are working to preserve and improve quality of life and to secure the city’s financial future, are under attack from powerful outside interests, including the state’s largest investor owned utility.

In no uncertain terms, a war is being waged against the City of Vero Beach and the customers of Vero Electric.