Crazy times

Wilson: Eight Wheeler Doughnuts while I'm waiting for Bea Gardner to admit that she is really  Danny DeVito’s twin sister.

Crazy Time

This is the beginning of crazy time in politics. The last 20 days when everyone that pretended to abhor negative politics goes negative. It started with the Wheeler endorsement of Daryl Loar over Bill McMullen's flyer. Then it was Sandi Harpring's expose' about ballot issues. Followed by Larry Reisman's editorial about letting newspaper editors chose candidates instead of political parties. That set off more than 100 posts on TCPoop as Mark Mucher calls the TCPalm Blogs.

Tim Zorc's campaign has attempted to stay above the fray as has the Lowther/Jordan campaigns, at least so far. We'll see if it holds. I doubt it since Bea Gardner is involved. Remember she refers to highly qualified women in politics like Pilar Turner as "clucking hens", council members as "headless" and innocent citizens as "morons". More than negative, Gardner is the local political version of the "Queen of Mean".

State Committeeman

There is one little known campaign that is quietly fighting a blood and guts battle below the radar. Vinny Celano, the vice chairman of the Indian River County Republican Executive Committee, is being challenged by Jay Kramer, a relative new comer to Indian River Republican Politics but former Mayor of Vero Beach. They are running for Republican Committeeman. Reminds me of the Movie "Avatar". Kramer is being put up by Republican State Committeewoman and powerful supporter Elly Manov. Celano supported by other top Republican officials.

If it were an election decided by past performance in party politics Celano would be the odds on favorite but in the little known race, name recognition is everything. Kramer has had plenty of recognition as the leader of the "Don't Sell" Vero Electric movement along with his biggest ally, Bea Gardner. I have nothing personal against Jay Kramer but I like Vinny Celano in this race.

Don't cross the Lemmon

Has anyone noticed that Carole Jean Jordan's new campaign signs have deleted the words re-elect? Lesson number one in local politics...Don't cross the Lemmon.

Baird Strikes Again

The Bob Soos Show had a segment with Joe Baird this Thursday on the subject of Open Permits. (Unclosed building permits.) Baird said he has discovered the problem. Actually, he has been actively ensuring that the problem not be solved but now pretends to be on top of the issue. How long is the County Commission going to put up with Joe Baird?

Wheeler Residency

I saw Dian George the other day. I asked her if she has had a chance to break into Gary Wheelers house to take inventory and see if he turned his refrigerator off while he is on vacation in Tennessee. It's been done before...to me. No answer yet from George.

School Budget

Also on the Soos Morning Magazine. Board Chair Jeff Pegler was surprised few citizens showed up for budget discussions. Says they must not care. Answer. It's not that no one cares we know that no one listens. People have simply given up on elected officials. When an elected body takes all their direction from an entrenched staff that receive only token oversight by an elected body why bother to come to a public hearing?

Wilson on Soos

I have been invited to be a regular on the Bob Soos show at 8:35 on Tuesdays. I will start on July 31^st. With Wheeler, Baird and the Indian River Neighborhood Association on air weekly I will have my hands full. Thanks to Bob Soos. Boy hasn't he been a terrific addition to our community. Big thanks to Jim Davis and WTTB1490 for hiring him.

Tea Party Forum

Rose Wilson's letter to the editor denouncing Toby Hill has touched off a fire storm. Leaders of the Tea Party are clearly supporting former Democrat Tony Donadio in the general election and I can see why Ms. Wilson might be concerned but for the record I believe the Tea Party forum was well organized and fairly moderated.

Gotta go. Have a call from Danny DeVito and he sounds pissed.

Wheeler: Donuts are sweeter than Lemon drops! 

to Tim Zorc for staying above the fray & telling people who he is and what he stands for and not pointing out his opponent's SHORT-comings!

Also to Carol Jean Jordon for staying positive & consistent, efficient just the way she runs her office. Vinnie Celano for State Committeeman has also remained positive & consistent With his leadership as Vice Chairman with the Republican Executive Committee That's why Donna & I are voting for, Vinnie Celano, Carole Jean Jordan, Tim Zorc, Leslie Swan, Bon Solari all conservative Republicans!
Charlie, about your comments about Joe Baird, I need to quote President Reagan "there you go again"
P.S. FYI...my refrigerator is still on AND I've lived there longer than a year!

The Sherriff's Race

Wheeler: I am proud to have endorsed Daryl Loar for Sheriff.  Having always been guided by my core beliefs in truth, fair play and common sense, conservative values, and thus I could not have remained uninvolved in one of the most important political races in recent history.

After reading one of latest McMullen brochures, I was very disappointed, to say the least, in the negative tone of the mailer, not to mention the half-truths and mistakes it contained.  It is no secret that the McMullen camp and Union activists have been spreading vicious corruption rumors, and downright lies in effort to dirty the name of a good man, and I am appalled by their efforts.  I have strong opinions, and have learned sitting by and saying nothing, even though I have nothing to gain by taking a stand, is not in the best interest of the community we have served for the past 26 years.

Since Sheriff Loar took office from the Good ole Boys, he has lowered the budget and the Crime rate in Indian River County, tightened up the efficiency of the agency, utilized the community volunteer program, despite the undermining efforts of former members of the command staff and their union cronies.  After being elected, Sheriff Loar did not take the first year or so off, he continued to be involved in his community. I believe Sheriff Loar’s community involvement speaks volumes for his character and commitment to one-on-one involvement with local charity and service organizations.   I have personally seen the Sheriff, as he meets with community leaders to listen to what they feel are the problems facing Indian River County.  Taking the time to meet with other governmental agencies, Sheriff Loar has increased leadership communication by keeping the people briefed on current law enforcement issues and solutions.

In my experience of 8 years as Sheriff and 16 years as a County commissioner I have learned that the elected Sheriff must be strong enough to run his department as he thinks best,  and without that strength of character, the Union leadership and the good ole’ boys would run the department.  I am strongly supporting Daryl Loar as the right man for Sheriff.  I believe he is the one with the strength of character to stand up to Union special interests, keep taxes  low  and fight the criminal element in our communities.  I hope you too will vote to re-elect our Sheriff.   I agree with CW's first three paragraphs and have some strong disagreement  with some of the other.

 I don't have a "long standing feud" with former Sheriff Raymond.  In fact election night I went to his campaign headquarters and congratulated him after defeating me for that office.  Then on Oct 1, 2000 I invited him to have an office in the S.O. and added him to the pay role to do the transition to his administration.  Roy and I have had many conversation and we get along fine.  Roy and I do disagree on some things like the Sheriff's candidates. We agree on other things like good law enforcement and the health of the Sheriffs office.  We just disagree on how to best achieve it.

 Not being as prolific a writer as my counterpart  I will simple say that when it comes to his comments about Bob Keating, Joe Baird, Kay Clem, Leslie Swan, Jim Gabbard and Charlie Vitunac we not only disagree, but I see it as negative campaigning, smear, spin and innuendo that goes against everything he out lined in this blog defining negative campaigning. 

 The guest column that was in the PJ Thursday explains my reason for endorsing Sheriff Loar in that race.

Wilson: The only true test of whether something is dirty politics or not is "Is it True". Some people think information is negative campaigning if it isn't what they want to hear even if it is true in every respect.

A smear campaign that includes inaccurate information has no business in politics. More often you find smear campaigns rely on half truths, innuendo, and spin instead of outright lies. A campaign that provides accurate information that holds a candidates opponent accountable for his or her actions, however, is in my opinion a public service. Hiding true information is just as dishonest as promoting inaccurate information. People need to know why to vote for someone but they also need to know why not to vote for someone.

Last week the McMullen campaign sent out a mailing that resulted in strong reaction from the Loar camp. It also resulted in Gary Wheeler electing to endorse Loar over McMullen instead of remaining neutral as he says was his original plan.

The well designed mail piece quotes 32963 and questions the integrity of the sheriffs reporting of road patrol records. The only question is "Is it true?"

"Every word is true", says McMullen. If so, then what's the beef?

I suspect its more about the past than the present. It is no secret that Gary Wheeler has a long standing feud with former sheriff Roy Raymond. Raymond after all handed Wheeler one of only two election losses in Wheelers 26 year political career. Seeing Roy Raymond's picture in the mailer was all it took to tip the scales.

Bea Gardner for example is notorious for inaccurate information. In Gardners case inaccurate is fine as long as it supports her position on that day. Sometimes it is hard to tell her position since it changes with the political winds (she was against the electric sale and now she's for it). Gardner's trick is to never check. If she never checks to see if the information or charges or Bea fantasies are true then she never has to correct them.

By far the originators of smears are incumbents and staff. Bob Keating and Joe Baird often provide partial, inaccurate or downright false information but are never questioned.

Kay Clem was a master at half truth. Leslie Swan, Clem's understudy, is now being challenged by Sandi Harpring. Harprings disclosures in a press conference about absentee ballot irregularities are reminiscent of the Clem years where ballot mistakes, political manipulation and shameless self promotion were the norm. 

Remember Jim Gabbard and Charlie Vitunac? They used their positions of power to make charges that later turned out to be absolutely false. They even changed their testimony180 degrees different than their on camera statements to the then City Council and got away with it.

There seem to be rules for smearing. Here is what to watch for.

#1. A negative smear campaign must be true or contain some small amount of truth. Enough to cause confusion and doubt in the minds of voters. An innocent person cannot defend themselves against a smear that contains a half truth because you cannot prove a negative as in "I am not a crook because...". At least some people will already believe you are a crook and that is all it takes. Smear campaigns are out to fool enough of the people not all of the people.

#2. If true or partially true, you must smear early. Too often campaigns wait with their "surprise" attack. It takes a while for a smear to work. People have to think about it. And don't forget about absentee ballots and early voting. If you are a voter watch for negatives earlier before people cast early ballots.

#3. If untrue, smear late. It gives the poor unfortunate victim less chance to prove their innocence and incumbents have learned over the years that they are believed and at least with the local press they are never held accountable for charges that later prove to be unfounded. No one is ever "cleared" by the press later. Believe me I know!

#4. Smear often. Smears often don't take hold unless it gets "legs". That is a term used to describe stories that appear multiple times. The theory is if I see it once it may or may not be true. If I see it for weeks then it must be true because everyone says so.

#5. You need a willing carrier. A smear that no one knows about won't work. Negative campaigns require a willing carrier. Even one that blasts negative campaigns can be willing carriers. The Press Journal will print stores and editorials and proclaim how bad negative campaigning is all the time promoting the negative campaign.

So watch for the tell tale signs of a smear. Ask yourself one question. Is the McMullen information true? If it is then Mr. McMillin has ever right to print it. If not that should weigh heavily on your decision.

In short. There is nothing wrong with negative as long as it is the truth...the whole truth...and nothing but the truth.

Endorsements

Wilson: The first of the Press Journal political endorsements are out. The PJ, as expected, endorsed Leslie Swan as they have endorsed Kay Clem in every previous election. No one really knows how much weight a PJ endorsement carries. Last time I gave a friend of mine a sealed envelope containing the Press Journal selections. I was right every time.

Having been through the process many times I have come to get a sense of how the decisions are made. Here's basically how it goes.

1. Unless a compelling reason exists, endorse the incumbent who will likely win with or without PJ approval. They usually cite "experience" as the reason when they can't think of anything else. So what are the compelling reasons? First is growth. The P.J. is really a single issue publication and the issue is growth. The PJ has been the Indian River Neighborhood Associations best friend. They will support conservative Republicans and candidates who are pro business only when they are incumbents...see rule 1.

2. Don't rock the boat. PJ editors want people who do not make trouble. Conflict is a red flag and anyone who takes on powerful special interests need not apply for PJ endorsement. They call this "critical thinking".

3. But the biggest thing to watch for is all the rules and positions are just there to provide a reason not to endorse. All rules are flexible depending on the outcome wanted. In the case of Swan vs. Harpring for example they say Harpring is too politically involved but Clem and Carole Jean Jordan will be endorsed despite their political involvement.

They ask about their relationships with Joe Paladin but endorse those he influences most.

Another example is the rule not to allow interviews to people who do not answer their questions. Yet they still interview Bea Gardner despite her refusal to answer.

4. The PJ picks one race to provide surprise. Each year the PJ picks someone who runs against the grain. This makes it look like they are really looking at peoples positions.

In reality it is personality that drives the PJ endorsements not policy. If you want the Press Journals nod learn all the words to Kumbayah, tell them you worship anything green except profit, your favorite person in public life is Bob Keating since no one can kill business better than Bob Keating, tell them what a wonderful job staff is doing, and most of all do not say anything bad about your opponent even if he is Ira Hatch running for Tax Collector.

Just for fun I am going to give Gary Wheeler ( alias Newman ) an envelope with the PJ's future endorsements. We'll see how right I am. By the way. I was watching Will Smith in "I Am Legend" last night and started to laugh. The movie has Smith and a bunch of man eating zombies living in New York. I visualized the PJ endorsement if it were Wilson vs Zombie. It started "Why we endorse the Zombies".

Wheeler: Not being Clairvoyant, or rumor has it or ear to the ground or even a crystal ball I don't have much of a comment on Charlie's take on the PJ endorsement policies.  Although I might add that when Charlie disagrees with someone he tends to believe that there is a conspiracy in the works.

How ever I would agree with the endorsement of LESLIE SWAN by the PJ, I believe she as done and exceptional and an out standing job as Supervisor of Elections.

                       

Leslie Swans Accomplishments:

Current budget is 12.6% less than four years ago leading up to a Presidential election

Staff has been cut by 45% since last Presidential election (11-6 full-time employees)

Proposed budget for 2012 – 2013 includes 9.3% decrease

Current Budget

1.      Consolidated polling locations from 35 to 22 – saving $122,000

2.      Contracted with vendor to process absentee ballots – saving $3,800 temporary help

3.      Implemented rotating work shifts for early voting workers – saving $10,500 in overtime cost

4.      Reduced  printing costs for in-office voter information cards from $0.42 to $0.21 – saving $2,100

5.      Utilize seasonal employee for warehouse manager position – saving $27,317 and no benefits

6.      Reduced National Change of Address processing cost by 62%

7.      Eliminated Assistant Supervisor of Elections position, added new position – saving $27,000

8.      Partnered with Sheriff's Inmate Vocation print shop to print stationary & poll worker manuals – saving $1,000

9.      Utilize email for poll worker communication vs US Post Office – saving $1,400

10.  Candidate correspondence provided on disk vs paper copies – saving $200

11.  Voluntarily cut salary by 5% - saving$4,900

12.  Voluntarily declined health insurance benefit – saving $9,000

13.  Returned accumulated 122 hours of vacation & sick time to BCC – saving $4,500

14.  Eliminated car allowance & cell phone allowance – in the past amounted to $4,000

15.  Cancelled 5 Internet air cards – saving $500

16.  De-activated several polling location cell phones and negotiated lower rates – saving $240

17.  Reduced law enforcement costs for election activities  – saving $2,900

18.  Reduced court reporting fees for elections activities by utilizing recording device – saving $3,000

19.  Reduced cost of ADA surveys for polling sites – savings $2,000

20.  Successfully organized the decennial redistricting process and reduced the number of voting precincts from 54 to 37 – saving thousands of dollars by partnering with the county.   

Accomplishments 

1.      Modernized Website

2.      Added social media (facebook & twitter)

3.      Negotiated Municipal Elections Contracted

4.      Implemented an Election Day Communication Center

5.      Installed a Back-Up Storage Server in the Emergency Operations Center

6.      Deployed Results Runners resulting in results reporting in record time

7.      Implemented unprecedented voter outreach program with 90 voter registration drives in 11 months

8.      Introduced innovative “Ride and Register Program” registering voters on the GoLine public transportation

9.      Introduced Address Points ID System to precisely identify residential addresses.  First county in Florida to utilize this state of the art identification system

10.  Utilize QR tags on voter information materials

11.  Cross trained employees

12.  Implemented electronic filings system for felon removal from voter rolls

13.  Redistricting countywide mailing of voter cards utilized 2 voter cards per mailing (when possible) saving $12,000 in postage and $6,300 in printing     

 All of this in 16 months...........

I await the envelope from Charlie (Eddie Haskell) to find out how accurate his crystal ball is. 

I prefer “THE BEAVER” to Newman.

Gardner's Committees

Wheeler: Why would anyone want to institute a new utilities committee when: 1.      Dr. Stephen Faherty, the most knowledgeable member of the sunsetted county utility committee told the Commission that none was necessary because all committee members had such great access to all commissioners.
2.      Anyone who can say that committee members do not add to the cost of government is clueless as to how the government works. The “volunteer committees” do not take the minutes. They do not prepare the agendas. They do not draft or present the staff reports. They do not notice the meetings. They do not provide the rooms or equipment necessary for the meetings. The BC was able to reduce its number of personal committees from five to three because of the sunsetting of thirteen committees. The savings here was over $100,000 a year.
3.      The way to cut government is to cut bureaucracy, not to add to it.
  Perhaps Bea will not be a puppet for a special interest group. If she establishes a few boards as she wishes, she will be a puppet for a number of special interest groups. A final question: “Why would any Commissioner want a bunch of committees to do her thinking for her?”

Wilson: Gary Wheeler points out that Bea Gardner's plan to reinstall a utilities Committee will add more government and increase costs. So why does Bea want a commission? Remember Bea Gardner fought against the referendum to allow the sale of Vero Electric to go forward. She now says she is for a sale. Really? You know "I was for it before I was against it". She and others  used the Utilities Commission to try to undermine the efforts to move towards a sale. Remember the Washington "Golden Rule". If you want to kill something send it to a Committee. This is Bea's way of killing progress towards getting the thousands of Indian River County customers who pay more than 20% more for their electric bills out of Vero Electric and into FPL.For this reason and many more, Tim Zorc is leading in the Republican primary but some politicos are trying to convince Republicans to support Gardner because she will be much easier for the Democrat (now turned Republican) to defeat. Bad strategy.

Following the Sebastian parade, campaigns have hit high gear. Here are the other campaigns to watch.

Loar vs. McMullenThe Sheriffs race is the big fight. The next campaign reports due out next Friday will show just how big this race is. This race could collect and spend as much as $500,000 and that is just for the primary. Think of what it would be if there were a general election and all of the contributors to the losers had to make their “apology” donations.

Harpring vs. SwanHarpring is working hard. I would not be surprised to see her win but the race is still up in the air. I have no quarrel with Leslie Swan but some of her recent “public service” announcements that sound more like publicly paid campaign radio spots are directly from the Kay Clem play book. Kay Clem lip gloss anyone? They are on sale.

Jordan vs. LowtherAgain an interesting race shaping up. Mr. Wheeler and I will be discussing this race in detail in the weeks to come.

Solari vs. Thomas vs. HeadySolari is the odds on favorite. Bob has a core conservative value and is eloquent when supporting a position. Bob has a knack for being able to sum up a position in 5 minutes that takes me an hour.  There may be an issue that would challenge Bob’s reelection but neither of his opponents have seized on the matter to make the challenge. They haven’t asked and I’m not going to tell them what it is. If it is not the issue in this election, I guarantee you it will be in the next. It is unlikely that Peter O’Bryan will run for a third term but if he did this looming issue would be likely to unseat him.Don’t feel too sorry for Mr. Heady or Mr. Thomas. The rules are always written for politicians. You see they could lose in the August 14^th primary election and turn around and run for the Vero Beach City Council two weeks later. Filing for City Council is the first week in September. No other race except Commission 3 and 5 have this circumstance. I’m fairly sure both opponents are aware of this redo opportunity. Little trivia, the first person to do this was….wait for it… Bob Solari. He lost to Sandra Bowden, used his name ID and organization for a successful Council campaign, sat on the Council for two years and ran for the County Commission and won.

School Board vs. everybodyNo challengers for the School Board. Why? It doesn’t matter. Like other institutions  staff has taken over most if not all duties. School Board members have become largely ceremonial.  It’s not worth the cost to run for a position that cannot result in improvements.

Posey vs. GillmorTechnically this is not a primary. Posey is a heavy favorite but Mr. Gillmor was the best Mayor Sebastian ever had.



Next week: Should Joe Baird Be Fired? Let us know what you think.