VERO BEACH — All four candidates vying for seats on the Vero Beach City Council participated in a lively taped forum Thursday evening at the Bethel Creek House on A1A.
The hour-long program moderated by talk show host Marcia Littlejohn will air at 8 p.m. each weeknight until the Nov. 8 election on local station WWCI TV10 or live streamed on the internet at the station’s website.
Only a handful of people showed up to watch the event, which was open to the public but not promoted by the television station until Wednesday evening.
The hot topics, not surprisingly, were Vero Beach government finances and utility matters. Candidates emphasized the need to carve out efficiencies at every level of city government, from the police department to the upper levels of management.
“What would I cut from the city government? I’d cut the nonsense,” Councilman Brian Heady said.
Discussion over the candidates’ positions on the sale of the electric utility and on the Nov. 8 power plant land lease ballot question raised interesting discussion.
Challenger Dick Winger said Vero should “privatize the power facility if at all possible” and that “the City Council, this City Council, any city council has no business running a utility.”
In regard to the referendum facing City of Vero Beach voters, Incumbents Tracy Carroll and Brian Heady stood firm in their advocacy of a “yes” vote. Winger and former Councilman Ken Daige, who earlier this month touted a staunch “no” vote hedged somewhat on the issue Thursday. Winger stated he was “convolunted” on the referendum and Daige said he wouldn’t “tell people how to vote.” Neither would commit to a decision to vote “yes” or “no” during the television forum.
Carroll called Winger and Daige out on the seeming contradiction.
“I’m shocked, I’m very surprised,” she said. “Both Mr. Winger and Mr. Daige have both emphatically urged people to vote no on the referendum,” Carroll said.
Daige, who has been a skeptic about the sale of the electric utility to Florida Power and Light, again insisted upon getting al the facts “on the table.” A somewhat new twist in Daige’s position was support for an idea floated by Mayor Jay Kramer, the possibility of “breaking away some of the customers with a partial sale.”
When asked to give a one-word description of themselves as potential City Council members, the candidates responded:
“Financial acumen,” Winger said.
“Tenacious,” Heady said.
“Pure dedication,” Daige said.
“Efficiency,” Carroll said.
The one thing all four candidates agreed upon was that Vero Beach is a beautiful, unique place cherished by residents for abundant natural resources and amenities which offer an exceptional quality of life. Candidates said they want to maintain those qualities while working to streamline government and make sure it’s managed as effectively as possible.
The next meeting for the candidates will be Friday at a gathering of pro-life Republican women for a luncheon and opportunity to state their positions and ask for votes.
