Liars, Cheats, & Thieves: A Story of a Florida Municipal Electric Provider, and Electrifying Choices

By Kris O'Brian

True story about small town politics in Florida. The election of two new council members exposes dark secrets inside city hall.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483541976

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Copyright © 20012 by REBS65LLC, Kris O’Brian

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.

ISBN 9781483541976

Printed in USA

The mind of man can imagine nothing which has not really existed. —Edgar Allan Poe

This book is a fictionalized account of true events. No assurances are offered, either implicitly or explicitly, that every event, projection, trend, or forecast will, or did actually occur. The only assurance is that this book is an interpretation by the author.

With respect the names, places, and events contained, the author acknowledges extensive research, and believes statements are true to the best of the recollection of those interviewed. However, this book should not be construed as an historical record of events as they happened, but rather as a reconstruction of those events as understood by the author. Conversations are from public records, recollections of those interviewed, or in some instances, from fictional conversations. Efforts were made to ensure fictional conversations were consistent with the historical record of actual events.

People and events in this book have representations in history and as such this text might be considered creative nonfiction. But this work is the author's creation and is presented as a work of fiction. Inevitably, there will be errors, as in any product. Eventually things will be outdated. When considering anything contained herein, please be responsible and check everything written against your own experience or knowledge. Independently verify. There is ample public record and other resources that can help confirm or discount anything written herein. The author acknowledges he cannot know what is happening in every city. It was hard enough to uncover events in Vero Beach.

I believe things don't just happen in life. If you want something to happen, generally you need to take action. I have made it my job to suggest actions the reader might take. Your job is to do a reality check on those actions, choose actions that make the most sense to you, and then proceed purposefully.

The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. — Albert Einstein

1

Liars, cheats, and thieves should not be in charge of governing agencies, Brian Heady snarled.

Officer, remove Mr. Heady, Mayor Sabe Abell ordered, obviously annoyed.

The police officer had been standing behind Brian Heady waiting for the usual order. He escorted the speaker out of City Hall.

Brian had been to the public podium on numerous occasions. He routinely started his remarks with the same words. The Vero Beach City Council was accustomed to having him taken into custody and removed from meetings during the public comment portion of the agenda. The beginning of every meeting provided an opportunity for the public to express concerns or suggest recommendations to their elected representatives. The City Council had little tolerance for Brian Heady or any citizen who made any references to the obvious corruption existing within City Hall. Brian was not alone; there were several citizens in the community who were well known for raising public awareness on a multitude of issues.

Bibble Irvin repeatedly advised that pumping sand on the beach could more accurately be called dollar dumping. Millions of tax dollars were funneled into projects hauling sand from inland mines or pumping sand from the ocean’s bottom to replace what sand storms had washed away. After the completion of a replenishment project, a tropical storm or a nor’easter would erase any evidence of newly added sand. Rarely would any elected official listen to anything Bibble said. The public knew Bibble would inevitably be accurate; what man added in sand, nature would take away!

Frank Zorc spoke out against the sand replacement, as well as on other issues. He routinely issued written results of his investigations into a selected project or to one of the city’s departments. Making a comparison to telegrams, they were referred to as Zorc-grams. Frank also found himself the target of attacks by city officials, and once caught them in an out-of-sunshine meeting. Florida’s Sunshine Laws required meetings of city councils discussing city business to be public and held in a location that allowed the public to attend. Frank was good at holding public officials accountable.

Joe Guffanti was one of the more colorful figures. A transplant from the greater New York City metropolitan area, Joe’s tolerance level for small-town politics was very limited.

This is not personal, I want you to understand. You people mean nothing to me personally. You mean no more to me than the man or the woman in the moon as the case may be, Joe would say. And then he would blast the elected officials for spending tax dollars in inappropriate endeavors. He often saw through a smokescreen designed to hide shenanigans from public view.

Joe was also opposed sand pumping, but his most vitriolic attacks came when governing authorities spent tax dollars on private enterprise, usually owned by a friend of an elected official. He championed issues the Tea Party now claimed as core to their beliefs. But Joe did it before it was popular. He seemed to be ahead of the curve.

Guy Barber was a heavyweight both in stature and effectiveness in reaching out to the viewing audience. Public meetings broadcast across a government access channel brought his message into the community’s living rooms. Guy was a familiar face. He would occasionally speak to city officials, but he was better known for questioning the Indian River County School Board about the multi-millions poured into public education.

Guy once presented a plan that could have saved over one hundred million dollars in needless capital outlay expenditures on school construction. Elected officials ignored his advice and continued to build. Ten years later, officials closed schools Guy warned would not be needed. Guy was correct. Elected officials were wrong. Taxpayers paid!

Bob Walsh spoke at school, city, and county meetings. He was the senior statesman for citizen rights and constitutional values. In addition to questioning capital expenditures on building more schools, Bob regularly gave history lessons on the underpinning principles of our government for the people and by the people.

Impressed with their own self-importance, elected officials paid little attention to Bob’s admonishments. But seniors, who sat at home, watched and listened. Governing officials treated Bob with kid gloves. He was one of those senior citizens watching. Bob spoke in generalities, and no official wanted to take offence, thus being considered the target of his remarks. A well-dressed, gray-haired senior citizen must be treated with respect or someone would pay a political penalty.

If there was an award for tenacity, it would go to Brian Heady. He was certainly one of the most tenacious to address elected officials in the community. For many years, Brian had made an application and qualified to run for an elected position.

Typically, Brian’s efforts were aimed at a seat on the Vero Beach City Council. He’d lost the first election he entered. And the next. And the next. Over and over. But Brian never gave up. Following defeat at the polls, Brian had once again qualified to run for elective office the following year.

When questioned as to why he would keep trying, questioned as to why he wasn’t concerned about losing again, a grin would immediately emerge.

I’ve never lost an election, he would say emphatically. I enter a race to raise public awareness of issues. I have always been successful in raising public awareness. If I get more votes than the other candidates on Election Day, I’ll be happy. If I don’t, I’ll sleep well, knowing I did my part to participate in our government by the people. Either way I win.

His expression and the confident sincerity in his voice showed that he meant every word.

All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. —Edmund Burke

2

During the summer of 2009, Brian once again qualified to be a candidate on the Vero Beach City Council. The incumbents, Bill Fish and Debra Fromang, surely thought they had nothing to fear by his candidacy. He had been a candidate so many times the press had lost count.

Also joining the race was a former council member, Ken Daige. Ken ran a campaign on a populist platform. He was the man of the people; at least from his perspective. On the campaign trail, he would walk neighborhoods in jeans and suspenders, or in denim coveralls. The average working-class resident was his support unit, he told the media. He talked to the folks about the issues.

Ken and Brian were not the threats to the reelection of incumbents, but Charlie Wilson was. Charlie was well known in political circles. A seasoned student of the local issues, Charlie’s middle-aged, white male perspective was appreciated by a community made up of many wealthy retirees. Charlie had successfully managed campaigns of several elected officials; he had friends in high places. Combine political skills with his one campaign issue, and he was political dynamite. Charlie knew electors were in revolt over the municipal electric issue. Vero Beach electric rates had been more than fifty percent higher than Florida Power & Light, an investor-owned electric provider that surrounded the city. When one customer’s electric bill climbed over three hundred dollars, and the neighbors was two hundred, a volatile issue of inequality existed. Inequality was tough to fight. At least one incumbent was in trouble, and the chance of reelection was not guaranteed.

From early September to the middle of October, it was repeated over and over: If you can’t be competitive in the electric business, you should be out of the electric business. Charlie’s mantra took on a life of its own, and his name became synonymous with relief from ever-surging electric bills. Lower electric bills meant more