Vero Beach Mayor Laura Moss deserves a great deal of credit for shepherding the electric sale to a point where it looks like it’s actually going to happen – but so do many others.
Without a partner like Florida Power & Light that was willing to bend over backwards, to nearly double the initial purchase price and even to agree to buy $25 million worth of wholesale power from Orlando Utilities to end a dispute over a $50 million exit penalty, the deal would be, once again, dead in the water as we approach the end of 2017.
Without a very politically savvy new CEO of the Florida Municipal Power Agency in Jacob Williams, who realizes that helping Vero exit the FMPA is the only way to fend off more audits and attempts to regulate the co-op, the deal would be, once again, a non-starter.
Williams has put himself on the line to garner support from member cities, and his persuasiveness has been and will be a key factor in getting the FMPA board to ultimately agree to release Vero from its membership.
Without the efforts in Tallahassee of the lobbyists employed by Indian River County, and without nearly a decade of dedicated work by activists Stephen Faherty and Glenn Heran, the crusade for regulation of predatory practices would not have gained political and public momentum.
Without the pressure placed on Vero by the Indian River Shores effort to negotiate a partial sale, there would not have been as much impetus for the city to get moving on the full sale.
The Shores has battled in court, at the Florida Public Service Commission and at the negotiating table – always with the premise that the very best possible outcome for all of Indian River County would be to complete the full sale of Vero electric. Mayor Brian Barefoot and Councilman Bob Auwaerter have been there every step of the way.
Without a three-vote majority on the City Council that grew to a four-vote majority as Councilman Tony Young realized the value of the package laid before the city by FPL, the terms of the deal to sell Vero Electric to FPL would have never been approved.
It took considerable courage for Young to vote in the affirmative last month. Young’s base of support includes a good number of folks who are opposed to or seriously skeptical of selling the electric utility. Young showed leadership and foresight with his vote.
And last but certainly not least, without a dogged attorney highly motivated to carry out his marching orders to get Vero electric sold, there would have been no contract to approve on Oct. 24.
Under the watch of the city’s previous attorney, Robert Scheffel “Schef” Wright, the electric sale stagnated for three years and the city was mired in litigation and regulatory challenges.
Moss told the local daily last week that she wanted to continue for another year as mayor, and that Vero would appear shaky on its commitment to the electric sale should the council this coming Monday not elect her to another term.
This is a load of hogwash. Let Moss retain her role as point person on the electric sale, but Vero needs a new mayor.
Moss, who became mayor last year, has done a good job of moving the sale of Vero Electric forward, but in the time she’s been mayor, Council meetings have grown interminable and the level of decorum has diminished.
Treatment of the public rising to speak at the podium has been harsh and at times embarrassing. At nearly every meeting, members of the Council wind up sniping at someone – most often each other – and Moss can get downright nasty when she does not agree with someone else’s position. That is not leadership.
Moss has made the office of mayor all about her. At one point over the summer, she even started calling herself the Queen of Vero. It was all tongue in cheek, of course.
But politicians routinely need to be reminded that they are public servants, emphasis on servant, and that they play a small role in the long history of a city of less than 15,000 people.
Mayors move into that special City Hall office with the 1970s wood paneling and their name on the door, and the “power,” such as it is, goes straight to their heads.
Former Mayor Tom White traveled around the country to pricey national leadership and economic conferences, staying in luxury hotels on the taxpayer dime like he was the mayor of New York. Former Mayor Sabin Abell, when replaced by Kevin Sawnick, actually refused to move out of his office – for weeks. Vero Beach 32963 had to shame him out of the space.
Former Council member Dick Winger, after being elected mayor, changed his promise to not run again for the Council in 2013 and sought re-election not once, but twice. When the time came to give up the mayoral gavel, he literally begged the Council to remain.
The excuse is always that there is important work to finish. Mayors need to remain in the lead until it is completed. Again, hogwash.
When the City Council meets on Monday to swear-in Harry Howle and Val Zudans, and elect a mayor for the coming year, the Council needs to signal a major change to the public. And Moss needs to accept that change without a tantrum.
Appoint her to some important liaison position on the electric sale. Even give her a title. But please don’t allow her to preside over one more business meeting of the City of Vero Beach.
