COMMENTARY
“Even the island weekly, which has invested literally tons of paper and ink pushing for the sale of Vero Electric, declined to endorse Howle. Admittedly, the newspaper’s “editorial board” may currently be paralyzed by cynicism, but the fact remains their refusal to endorse Howle, Laura Moss or Brian Heady is a back-handed endorsement of Graves and Winger.”
MARK SCHUMANN
Fact-checking Vero Beach City Council candidate Harry Howle’s numerous campaign mailers is something like playing whack-a-mole. Slick post cards bearing the second-time candidate’s false claims and empty promises are popping up all over town.
In his latest mailer, Howle assures voters he has five-point plan for concluding the sale of Vero Electric. The steps Howle believes he can take to execute the sale are nothing more than his latest five delusions.
If Howle is elected, at the end of his 2-year term, there will be no sale of Vero Electric. Should Howle be re-elected, at the close of his second two-year term, there will still be no sale. Even if Howle should be re-elected for a third term, six years from now Vero Electric will remain the property of the taxpayers of Vero Beach. Because of Vero Beach’s contractual obligations, in the foreseeable future there will be no sale. Howle’s claims that he can conclude the deal, which is now deader than a doornail, are empty promises.
For starters, at least based on the Press Journal editorial board’s assessment of Howle, if elected, he is not likely to work well with others. In that respect, Howle is much like Indian River County Commissioner Bob Solari and State Rep. Debbie Mayfield. They lack the ability to create consensus, making them perfect Tea Party candidates.
Even the island weekly, which has invested literally tons of paper and ink pushing for the sale of Vero Electric, declined to endorse Howle. Admittedly, the newspaper’s “editorial board” may currently be paralyzed by cynicism, but the fact remains their refusal to endorse Howle, Laura Moss or Brian Heady is a back-handed endorsement of Graves and Winger, and a repudiation of Howle.
At the center of Howle’s latest bright idea is a misguided notion that he can persuade the Orlando Utilities Commission to take on Vero Beach’s commitments to the Florida Municipal Power Agency. OUC officials have already made it clear they are no longer interested. Because the OUC’s bond covenants conflict with the FMPA’s bond covenants, the OUC simply cannot, or will not agree to be a part of the deal.
Isn’t it interesting that even with the collective skill, intelligence and savvy of the FPL team, they say they have no ideas for moving the sale forward. At least, they have no ideas other than FPL CEO Eric Silagy’s recent suggestion that Vero Beach should consider declaring bankruptcy as a way of getting out of its contractual obligations.
Below is the post card Howle sent out today. Abraham Lincoln once you can fool some of the people some of the time. It will be interesting to see how many voters Howle is able to fool by flooding the city with post cards bearing empty promises.
Indian River Guardian 
Maybe Mr. Howle believes that Vero Beach should simply take bankruptcy as FPL’s CEO suggested at a recent Vero meeting. I would like to hear from individuals or companies who’ve gone through the bankruptcy process. I’ve heard it can be a demoralizing situation followed by certain limitations lasting a number of years. Mr. Howle’s recorded phone call of late this afternoon has convinced me of one thing – he has some experienced campaign people in his corner. The phone #772-577-5350 appeared on caller ID….Ft. Pierce, FL area, I believe. One itty-bitty city – Vero Beach – two of five City Council seats up for grabs. No other reason to leave the comfort of ones chair. There has to be enough material for one or two Florida stories. No hanging chads but maybe a few cads.
772-577-5350 : Bulah Novitski,Sandridge Rd, Fort Pierce, Florida
Source: Google’s snapshot of the page as it appeared on Oct 18, 2015 07:49:46 GMT
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pehOOwflXPQJ:772-577.calleridentificationapp.com/+&cd=15&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Mark, I have known your grandfather, your father and you for more years than I care to remember. I have found all of you to be fair minded and open minded on all issues. If you have not offered both the local Tea Party, 32963, and all the candidates for Vero Beach City Council the opportunity to respond or comment on your commentaries on several subjects I would suggest you give them that chance. In my opinion one of the responsibilities of a free press is to report all sides of all issues and let the public decide for themselves. Just a thought!
We invited all five candidates to respond to 12 questions and to submit guest commentary for inclusion in our recent print edition as well as here online. Candidates Laura Moss and Harry Howle chose not to participate.
http://insidevero.com/election-coverage-2/
All candidates are free to comment on our stories, so long as they are willing to use their first and last names. Certainly, members of the Indian River Tea Party are also welcome to comment on our stories, and if they choose, to disavow any connection between their group and the Tampa-based PAC’s post cards attacking Richard Winger and Amelia Graves. Any members of the local press are also welcome to post on our site.
I agree with you that one of the responsibilities of a free press, perhaps the primary responsibility, is to report, as you say, “all sides on all issues.” Since the island weekly and the Press Journal have consistently reported one side of the power sale story, we have been practicing “advocacy journalism” in seeking to ensure those who want the other side of the story can find it here.
Beyond the power story, there have certainly been other stories on which the island weekly has presented only one side, and about which the Press Journal has had nothing to say. In stories not labeled “opinion,” “analysis,” or “commentary,” the island weekly regularly offers its negative view about the City of Vero Beach and its many fine, dedicated employees. For example, in is editorial this week, the island weekly repeated its assertion that the revised OUC agreement is a “bad deal.” They don’t explain, though, how they arrived at that conclusion. How can lower rates and a shorter contract term be anything but a better deal for the customers of Vero Electric?
Having said all of that, I get your point. Especially coming from you, I will take your comments to heart.