VERO BEACH — The potential sale of the Vero Beach electric utility dominated the first debate Thursday of candidates running for City Council.
The city has three open seats with a field of seven candidates battling it out between now and Nov. 6.
Candidate Karen Kozdra did not attend the forum.
And if decibel level of applause amongst members of the Indian River County Republican Club is any indication on how most city voters feel about the matter, the pro-sale candidates clearly have the advantage.
Mayor Pilar Turner who campaigned for the sale when she first ran for the seat two years wasted no time driving home her pro-sale stance when the first words out of her mouth during her introduction was to tell the 50 people in attendance that she’s running “to finish a job she started two years ago.”
Dan Stump, an island attorney and resident who is the past president of the Indian River County Taxpayers Association said he is running too see to it that the sale of the power company goes through. The taxpayer group is solidly in favor of the sale.
Craig Flecther also stressed that the city was too dear to him to allow it to fall apart on his watch post sale when there will be about a $3.5 million shortfall in funds to the general fund.
“We are going to sell this power plant,” Fletcher said getting a heavy round of applause.
And then it was if the cheerleading squad cleared out when candidates Jay Kramer, Brian Heady and Nick Thomas voiced their feelings about the sale of the utility. All three said have concerns with how the sale process is working.
Kramer doesn’t believe the city acted in good faith by excluding other power companies from from the process years ago when the notion to sell the plant was first floated.
Thomas also questioned the process.
He said he has a nagging feeling that the city may end up with “short end of the stick” with no guarantee that Florida Power and Light will continue to be cheaper than what city of Vero Beach Electric are paying. He also thinks the decision should be left to voters, something Kramer also favors.
Heady who does favor a sale, but not the process thinks a majority of the current City Council members are being led blindly down a road to the sale with out carefully scrutinizing every aspect of the matter.
“The ship has sailed,” said Heady of the sale that is expected to go through by January 2014. Heady got no applause,
The candidates were then asked to weigh in on the idea of dismantling the city police department and having the county’s sheriff’s office take over its duties.
Sheriff Derly Loar told Vero Beach 32963 that if he was elected to a second term, he would consider exploring the idea.
If Loar is planning to do it after the November election, he’ll have trouble getting the newly seated city council to buy into it.
“No no no,” said Fletcher. “Bloody no way.”
In fact none of the candidate support the idea.
“Our police department is great,” said Kramer.
Likewise none of the candidates favor the idea of merging with the county to provide water and sewage services.
