It's been a while. More "Tasty Tidbits" >>>>>>>>>>>>

Update from Glenn Heran - Vero Beach Electric Utility Customer - From Today's Vero City Council Meeting

Below is a link to today’s City of Vero Council meeting.  This was a very important meeting that I believe is a watershed moment in battle to sell Vero Electric.

The first 2 links are discussions by the attorneys for FPL and the City Transactional Attorneys.  Those first 2 sections are pretty long and very technical.  But if you are interested, it involves the FMPA which Lake Worth is also a founding member of.  In my opinion, both attorneys are being very lawyerly and polite about the FMPA negotiations.  But make no mistake, we are encountering resistance in those negotiations.  Clearly, they have met FMPA opposition on Plan A and are working on a Plan B.

3^rd link (short and concise), our State House Representative, Debbie Mayfield, gets up and shares her views on the FMPA and her experience with them in Tallahassee.  Her comments are very direct.

The last (4^th) link are comments by me where I discuss political options to dealing with our (and your) FMPA entitlement assets.

There is also some interesting comments by Charlie Wilson (2009 city councilman) reinforcing the need for political action.

Links 3 and 4 are short and probably more digestible to the public.

Each link has commercial for the first few seconds, then you can skip the ad and see the meeting.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/35921143

Comments by Patrick Bryan FPL attorney Time 9:45 am

Comments by John Igoe(Part 1)  City of Vero Transactional Attorney Time 9:51 am

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/35921873

Comments by John Igoe (Part 2) City of Vero Transactional Attorney

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/35923631

Comments by Rep Debbie Mayfield Time 10:59 am

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/vero-beach-city-council#/recorded/35927245

Comments by Glenn Heran         Time 1:19 pm and 6 seconds

Comments by Charlie Wilson      Time 1:42 pm and 36 seconds

The answer to our "Guessing Game"

Lovingly referred to, now for the most part, as the "Habitrail" parking garage, this was the City of East Lansing, Michigan's answer to a downtown parking crisis in the 1980s. But it wasn't to be any parking garage, it had to be a piece of "art" as the city began promoting itself as City of the Arts way back then and continues to this day. As we know, the 80s were the decade of the "big" and this certainly was a big statement.

I worked in the city's planning department at the time and did a lot of analyses about parking demand in the downtown area which is immediately adjacent to Michigan State University. Then, students would use parking in downtown East Lansing as it was more accessible than the highly restricted campus parking. The city also restricted parking in its zoning code based upon twice annual surveys of parking utilization which would meter out redevelopment at a slow pace. Too slow for the city's collective vision for its downtown and the financial future of its parking system. The city maintained a monopoly on parking and no private providers were allowed.

It was also at a time when a new hotel, office and retail complex was in the last stages of completion immediately northwest of this property. There was a lot of concern that parking was inadequate in that project and additional parking would be need to accommodate overflow from that project, existing demand in the downtown and catalyze future redevelopment in the downtown area. Below is a picture of the mixed use project kitty-corner to this parking garage.

I was standing on the sidewalk along side the parking structure looking toward "University Place" as it was known then when I took this picture. Notice the Dutch Colonial two story house that is immediately across the street from the gigantic 6 story, 550 space+ garage. Here is how the rest of that block looks:

These are likely student rentals but they are co-existing for 24 years after construction of what some thought was a gargantuan mistake. If you check out the link above in the first paragraph, you can see the change in perception over time, at least by the editorial board of the State News, the official University student-run paper. It has become a landmark and the community has grown to like this colorful addition to the downtown. It has held up pretty well. The material is a corrugated metal with a baked-on finish that has already stood a political test of re-painting it green and white, the Spartan's team colors. Here is a detail of the columns of the structure.

The first floor is dedicated to commercial space and has been relatively successful through the years. Yes, some people still don't like it, but there are others that do - and it has become a landmark. Search for "habitrail parking East Lansing" - especially images. You will find a large collection of photos and comments about the structure. In the next block to the east, you have a bed and breakfast operating in a historic structure.

So, before some people get all twisted about how by showing this, it somehow says I think it is a good example for what can be done in Lake Worth in terms of height and compatibility, you are wrong. These are two very different communities with very different needs, pasts and futures. I just know that every election in East Lansing you don't hear "Remember the Habitrail!" That is all that I am saying...life continues.

And, tomorrow, my Dad and I will be going through this new art museum built on the campus of MSU - right across the street from downtown East Lansing. It's been referred to as a "monstrosity", but perhaps we live in monstrous times? We'll see. I will have more pictures tomorrow of this building. But, here are two now. One has the parking garage in the background.

More excerpts from Cara Jennings' Deposition - 8/19/11 - Greater Bay Lawsuit

These are on their way to being put in an easier to read format and will appear under the "Tasty Bits" portion of the blog, found in the upper right-hand column of the blog. Meanwhile, these are some of the most juicy - but there are more!

If you are using Google Chrome, I highly recommend the Hover Zoom plug-in. That will automatically make the image bigger when you mouse over it, without the need to click on the image. 

Q = Attorney; A = Cara Jennings. Ms. Jennings did not run for a third term in 2010 and Dr. McVoy has been the District #2 Commissioner since.

One more clue and then the big reveal!

Cara's Concept: Paid Citizen Watchdogs

From her August 19, 2011 deposition re Greater Bay lawsuit:

Where would I send my invoice? By the way that "terrible" Beach and Casino zoning district is part of the land development regulations, unaltered from that time and was needed for the project the citizens enjoy today.

From a renovated railroad depot in Lansing...

Now a restaurant named "Clara's"

More from Glenn Heran, Vero Beach utility customer...

Dear member of the Taxpayers’ Association, 

I have been asked by Glenn Heran, President of the Association, to seek your urgent support to help the City of Vero Beach continue with its intended, and voter supported, sale of the electricity utility to FPL and for it not to be diverted in its course of action by the agenda item shown below. 

There is a critical meeting of the City Council next Tuesday, July 16^th at 9:30 am and, if you can make it, your presence and support will be important.

Please click on the this link to see the Council Agenda     COVB Council Meeting Agenda July 16th 2013

Item 9.A.1 is shown below:-

9. CITY COUNCIL MATTERS

A. Old Business

1. A vote to bring in a law firm to determine whether the sale of the electric plant to FPL can be restructured to meet the requirements of the FMPA contracts; or if

not, what are the least costly exit strategies available to the City under its sales contract. Should a restructuring not be possible, the City needs to know if FMPA

is acting arbitrarily, outside the provisions of the FMPA contracts, or rather that the City has been badly advised.

– Requested by Councilmember Richard Winger

We are seeing living proof of Ronald Reagan’s speech “A Time for Choosing” 10/27/1964

“No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. So governments' programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth.”  Ronald Reagan

Another hint in our guessing game...

A view of a different part of the same thing.

One of our fifty state capitol buildings...

This one in Lansing, Michigan

When first out of college, I worked for the Michigan Department of Commerce and would eat a picnic lunch on the grounds during my lunch break.

A got a whiff of some puffery coming from Lake Osborne Drive.

1. There is no such thing as "secret legislation." If you want an example of government in the secret look at the depositions from Mulvehill and Jennings.
2. According to the Director of the Department of Sustainability, the Comprehensive Plan change necessitated, by some, due to the referendum in March, would have been denied by the Department of Economic Opportunity (formerly the Department of Community Affairs) because it was not based on data and analysis - it was essentially based upon a show of hands. That is not how you do Comprehensive Planning. See definition for "puffery."
3. Given the retroactive nature of the the state legislation outlawing referenda on Comprehensive Plan changes, it wouldn't have mattered when the city sent this in unless you had a machine like this:  

Can you guess what this is?

Clues: I was not in Lake Worth When I took this picture.

Here is another view:

It is in an urban setting.

New Feature >>>>>>>>>

Think of this velvet pillow as an invitation to check out the new page of this blog devoted to the Greater Bay documents, now public information. Over the summer, we will be transcribing them for your enjoyment, amazement, shock and awe. The first installment is there under "Tasty Tidbits" - in the upper right corner of the blog. Just click the links underneath that title. When you are through reading, just click the title to the blog in the header above and it will bring you back to the main blog. Enjoy!

A snippet from the end of the first entry: (Q=Attorney, A=Mulvehill)

Q. Who did most of the talking?
A. She did.
Q. What did she tell you?
A. I don't want to make any assumptions.
Q. I understand. I am trying to say I am not trying to give you a hard time. I am trying to help you remember. I understand you have a masters degree. You present as a very intelligent and clear thinking person. And so this meeting was only three or four weeks ago. So I am trying to help you remember some of the things that were discussed. You are sitting City Commissioner in a lawsuit where you are being sued for $29 million, and you are meeting with your attorneys and you are telling me that you can't remember anything more than two questions and answers?
A. Not the specifics. You are asking me a specific question and answer, I can't give you that. I don't have that. If she had something to say, it was about this case.

FEMA’s demand for $4 million throws Lake Worth for loop | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Good article by our new beat reporter. We do seem to be part of a widespread FEMA - phenomena and you can't get blood from a turnip and from a staff that already is knee deep in alligators. From the article, click title for link.

Carr said the work has taken hundreds of hours of staff time in the last two years.
Lake Worth had the option to appeal, and did. But with the exception of the return receipt that Carr’s staff got from the postal service when they mailed the appeal to FEMA in February 2012, they have never had any formal recognition from FEMA that the appeal even exists.
FEMA has, however, sent Lake Worth the equivalent of second and third notices of payment due on the $4 million. Each time, Carr sent polite letters saying that until the appeal is processed, Lake Worth is not paying up.
Since the FEMA demands came in two batches, Carr sent an appeal on the second batch this week, also with a return receipt requested.
Lake Worth has had hundreds of hours of visits from auditors from the state emergency management department, FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA’s bureaucratic parent. The state audit took over a year, and FEMA auditors were at City Hall “a full solid month,” Carr said.
Carr, who was the finance director in Alachua County before arriving in Lake Worth, said he has never encountered this kind of federal micromanaging of disaster money.
“It was more of a spot-check kind of thing, more than each and every time,” he said.
One problem caused by the extraordinary lapse of time between the hurricanes and the audits occurred when FEMA auditors requested to see the repairs done at Lake Worth beach and casino.
When they arrived, Lake Worth was in the midst of a $6.5 million revamp of the casino and beach area that began in 2010, so there were no casino repairs to show because the original casino was gone.

And, tragically funny that the "missing" Casino building is part of the issue here.

Parking lot owned by Lucerne Holdings, LLC

The city's lease on this parking lot was not renewed by the owner. Thus, the parking meter kiosk was taken away and moved to Old Bridge Park. For now, it is free parking but may become a lot used by residents and guest of the Lucerne. Those people that are not currently parking in the building are parking on the street, taking away on-street parking spaces for other downtown visitors and customers. It is my understanding that this was a unilateral act by the owner.