COMMENTARY
“Kramer made it crystal clear last week that, win or lose in the County Commission race, he’s standing up for the people who elected him. He’s standing up for Vero Beach.”
MARK SCHUMANN
Supported by Vice Mayor Randy Old and Councilman Richard Winger, Mayor Jay Kramer took the lead last week in standing up for the people of Vero Beach and the customers of Vero Electric.
Kramer, Old and Winger turned back yet another attempt by Council members Pilar Turner and Harry Howle to force a sale of Vero Electric’s Indian River Shores customers at a price that would leave remaining rate payers stuck with higher rates for some 20 years.
Howle and Turner have their supporters outside the city to please, so they do what they do; but their constant demonizing of the city they claim to serve does not make a lot of sense. Reading from a prepared statement, Turner asserted last week that negotiators for Vero Beach have been “stonewalling,” and have staked out a “take-it-or-leave-it” attitude in their discussion with Shores officials.
Kramer countered, “The confrontations we have had have been the Shores beating up on Vero Beach.”
Later, Kramer added, “”Quite frankly, my position is that I am not going to negotiate with someone who is currently suing us. If they (Shores officials) want to come to the table, they can come to the table without trying to twist our arms.”
Through March, the Shores has spent more than $850,000 on lawyers and consultants pursing a lawsuit and a petition to the Florida Public Service Commission. Turner claims the rate payers of Vero Electric have spent more than $500,000 defending against the Shore’s challenges. The actual number is $294,000.
Kramer has long contended a sale to FPL of all 20,000 of Vero Electric customers outside the city limits could work for everyone. Turner, along with FPL officials, dismissed a partial sale. For her part, Turner insisted the numbers would not work, and that a smaller system could not survive. Now she is pushing for a sale of Vero Electric’s Shores customers.
Kramer has also made it clear he would support a so-called partial sale of Vero Electric’s Shores customers, so long as the price paid covers the costs Vero Electric would have to continue to bare for long-term commitments made to serve the Shores.
Serving the interests of all Vero Electric customers, it was Kramer, over the objections of the then Council majority of Tracy Carroll, Craig Fletcher and Pilar Turner, who consistently pushed for lower rates. Work with Old and Winger, Kramer has continued to look for ways to lower rates, including decommissioning the power plant and renegotiation the City’s power purchase agreement with the Orlando Utilities Commission.
Kramer, who is running for a seat on the Indian River County Commission, could probably win votes and attract generous campaign contributions from Shores residents, if he would compromise the interests his own constituents to court favor with the Shores. Kramer made it crystal clear last week that, win or lose in the County Commission race, he’s standing up for the people who elected him. He’s standing up for Vero Beach.
Indian River Guardian 
Mr. Howle and Mrs. Turner may have supporters in the county who add to their coffers, but those outsiders did not vote for either of them. I trust Mr. Kramer to do as he’s said – serve those who elected him…..City of Vero Beach residents.
It will take a whole bunch of Vero Beach residents to work diligently to help Jay Kramer get elected to the County Commission. And, I might add…it would be to their advantage to do so. Can you imagine four more years of the Salami – oops- I mean Solari. The Salami is poison to the City of Vero Beach and the last time I counted, their are a lot more voters in the City than what there is in Indian River Shores…..That is, if you can motivate them to vote.
Pilar Turner likes to have it both ways depending on who she is speaking to and what time of the year it is(election Time). She has said a partial sale cannot work and now claims it can and should be done. You would think that a person sworn to work for the people of the city of Vero Beach would work on their behalf. but she doesn’t . It looks like “me too Harry” falls into the same category. Quite a team
I agree that Kramer could garner votes and financial support, outside city limits, if he changed or lightened his stance on the electric sale. He’s showing his true colors by not taking the easy way out. Those “colors” appear to be Character, Honesty and Resolve. It’s refreshing to see it in today’s political environment. As a non-vero county resident, and a proponent of the sale, I will still be voting for Kramer. He has shown himself to be a leader who is not afraid to stand by his core beliefs and principles. It takes guts and he appears to have them!
Hi Mark. Been a while, and I’m glad to see you’re still at it.
I watched the meeting the other evening, and like always, I’m glad to see Jay and the others holding the line and protecting the citizens of Vero.
My one take away is the same one I often have. Why to we need two out-of-town lawyers representing our interests, at a combined rate of hundreds of dollars an hour. Despite common perception, I suppose, lawyers are not magic, and one is about as good as the other. These utility issues are not complicated relative to most any other issues most lawyers handle daily. And it would take a local lawyer of average ability not long at all to get up to speed on the utility issues at hand. To me, the most reasonable move for Vero would be to hire a contract lawyer for the duration of the utility case, pay them $100,000 a year plus benefits, give them a desk and a phone at city hall, and let them handle the matter. Or, God forbid, our City lawyers could handle it.
Nick, I hope your comment does give Turner and Howle another idea about how do disadvantage the City, its residents and taxpayers. There is nothing they would like more than to see the City of Vero Beach poorly represented in these utility issues. Regarding utility regulation and utility law, I suspect there are many otherwise competent lawyers who don’t even know what they don’t know.