Name: Jay KramerAge: 41How long living in Vero Beach: Seven YearsPlace of Birth: Waterloo, IowaOccupation: Business OwnerMarital/Family Status: Married with two children
Please list Civic and Volunteer Leadership Experience including title & position and Organization including dates and locations.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistant for the IRS and performed services for the United Way of Vero Beach and Harvest House of Fort Pierce.
What issues motivated you to run for this office and what do you hope to accomplish during your term?
My motivation originally came from the electrical issue. After reading the OUC contract several times over and listening to council meetings, it became apparent that there was more suspicion to how the process was done then satisfaction of a job well done. My hope is to bring the decision processes of the city out into the open and bring credibility to the actions of city council. I hope to be a part of a strong city council team and make some bold decisions to bring the rates of our utilities down and strengthen the voice of our citizens.
What is your position on the potential sale of the Vero Beach electric utility? If the price and conditions were right, would you support selling? What would keep you from supporting a possible sale?
I feel that the sale of the Vero Beach electric utility will happen. I am putting my confidence in the voters that the economic benefits of the sale far exceed the reasons for keeping it local. The price needs to be reasonable. It would be difficult to just give away the system although there are some models that suggest even that would still yield benefits. If the city were able to reduce their rates below FP&L, I would consider not selling, however I would need to see that it would be a sustainable rate and not temporary.
Do you support considering the possibility of merging the city’s water and sewer system with that of the county’s? What factors would you consider in making a determination whether or not such a merger should happen?
Merging the city’s water and sewer system would give our citizens a better pricing structure than what we currently have and in talking with people about this, it is difficult to ignore the financial numbers that support working with the county on this issue. There are a number of factors that
need to be taken care of before we can do any consolidation actions, mainly we need to be able to retire the debt associated with the current system and clean up our contractual issues with the county that we currently have.
The city is currently looking for a new City Manager to replace out-going Jim Gabbard. What qualities would you look for in a viable candidate?
The main quality that I will be looking for in a new manager is one who will partner with as well as take direction from the city council. The city council needs to be able to have confidence that its decisions will be a priority for the city manager.
How do you plan to work with Councilman Heady if elected to the dais?
In talking with Brian on a number of city issues these past years I do not see any problems with working with Brian on the council. In fact, I look forward to having council members who will discuss issues openly and in the public’s view.
