Oh Lawdy it's almost time! Y'all didn't forget did ya? Veronews.com countdown! ....

http://www.veronews.com

THINKING OF Y'ALL AND WE'LL BE...

The secret squirrel sent us a message that our friend, Mr. Ken Daige, needed some help. Since Miss Vero will always oblige our friends, we are posting a letter that the PJ could not (due to their deadlines or some such thing). Mr. Daige is always vigilant about the goings on in the city and this is the least we can do to help him. We appreciate his dedication to help folks in Vero.
So here it is:


Another Vero Beach City Council Special Call Meeting is being held Monday, June 22 at City Hall at 9:30 A.M. Even if it is posted in the newspaper, it is usually so small and uninformative that it does not attract the attention of the taxpayer. The City Website does not indicate what the meeting is about.

Previous newspaper notices from Sebastian and Fellsmere have larger more informative notices for the public.

Vero Beach City Council has held a series of meetings where public input has been severely restricted or not allowed.

Numerous resolutions have come across the Council dais that will financially strain the taxpayer.

More often than not the taxpayer does not know how much money is spent or specifically for what purpose. ‘One has to know the correct question.’

The taxpayer needs to ask why is 7 million dollars needed for the electric plant and 7 million for the water and sewer system.

And why is it needed now?

What immediate expenses does the City of Vero Beach expect to incur that necessitates advanced internal funds?

What revenue streams will be used to reimburse these funds?

What will cause the Mayor, City Manager, Finance Director, City Clerk
AND THEIR DESIGNEES to take action without conferring with Council
at the dais?

The Vero Beach City Charter affords equal duty and responsibility to all Council members.

With these two resolutions the City Council will relinquish its financial responsibility and without referendum the Vero Beach City Charter will be changed to a Strong Mayor, City Manager form of government.

The taxpayer has no time afforded to them to contact City Council before this meeting.

Ken Daige
Vero Beach



This is the first time Miss Vero has had access to the internet in a while, so we'll have to be brief. We should be able to catch up with y'all by the end of the week.

Try to stay cool,

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

GREETINGS FROM FARAWAY PLACES!

We see y'all have have more than enough bitter Lemmon around town -
if Miss Vero could take it all away, we would!

When one travels to faraway places and occasionally checks in on the local news and we see the same story over and over and well, beat so far into the ground that it starts pokin China, isn't that enough? Just tell us when it's over OK?

We did happen to be in town momentarily to repack, readjust and regroup before takin off to our next locale and that was last Tuesday. We also happened to watch the County Commission meeting that day, where poor ole Wesley Davis wiped his worried brow and prayed to jumpin jee-ha-zus, that the folks who turned up to asked about Mr. Joe Baird's sitch-e-ation, would not turn into a pack of wild dogs fightin over a scrap of meat. Praise the Lawd, ole Wes kept the room cooler than the other side of your pillow on a humid, breezless Florida night!

If the folks who comment on TCPalm regarding this matter would have taken the time to listen to the meeting, UNDERSTAND IT and read the pretty darn accurate articles written by Mr. Henry Stephens and Mr. Elliott Jones, perhaps the issue would become clear for them. But someone named gubmintcheese already pointed that out in the Lemmon circus :

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jun/15/one-year-drivers-license-suspension-for-indian/

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jun/09/county-will-wait-until-court-rules-making-any-deci/


Maybe because everyone was so ready to play a Vero version of "The Lottery", they missed, what we feel was a more important event that day - the renaming of State Road 60. Only one Commissioner - Mr. Gary Wheeler had the ball... uh, courage to pipe up and ask "Why should we memorialize someone for doing their job?". We say yeah! Mr. Wheeler, because we will not be giving anyone directions by saying - "Oh, y'all just go west on the Stan Mayfield Memorial Highway about four miles, till y'all get to the dirt road... No! we are not doin that!

Another thing that we picked up Tuesday, was our mail and periodicals, one of which is The Hometown News. We like the Hometown News, it has a habit of not wasting our time. Oh yeah, and it's free.

Maybe y'all missed this interesting editorial from the publisher, Mr. Steve Erlanger, we are printin the whole dang thing just in case the link doesn't work and Miss Vero wants y'all to read it anyway:

http://www.myhometownnews.net/index.php?id=58503

By Steve Erlanger

Hello, friends. Imagine that you're working at the local corporate-owned, Cincinnati-headquartered daily. You have "stressed to the max" managers hammering you every day to do more. Sales are down, morale is even lower and the competition is driving you nuts. The bean-counters in Cincinnati are trying to tell you what to do from 1,200 miles away, your circulation is dropping every week, you have shipped a lot of your graphics jobs out to India, you've had layoffs, buyouts and cutbacks and freezes. What do you do?

Well, it appears that some genius over at the daily came up with the brainstorm of an idea to start spreading the rumor around Vero that their nemesis, the competition, Hometown News, is shutting down. What a great plan. They could go out and tell the businesspeople and anyone else who would listen that Hometown News is going to be closing in July. That would take the heat off of their own precarious situation. Maybe all of the readers of HTN would go back to the daily. Maybe the hundreds of readers, who are deciding weekly to save the money that they have been wasting on a subscription to the daily and get a free subscription to HTN instead, would come back to them.

That maybe the hundreds of local business owners, who have been pleased with, and doing business with Hometown News for years, would now go back to them.

Sorry, guys. The gig is up.

First of all, let me assure all of you that Hometown News is alive and well. We have actually been on a growth streak for all of 2009. We have no intention of closing, in July or anytime. The rumors that our "friends" over at the daily are spreading are just that: rumors.

Even after 28 years in this business, it never ceases to amaze me to what low levels our "friends" will sink. Now, this is not meant to disparage everyone over at the daily. There are some great folks who work there. Some I would even consider as my friends. I don't know if they would, but I do. But there is an element over there unlike any I have ever come across in my travels around the country during my career.

It started from the very first month, when they made copies of our sales pieces, along with a copy of an employment ad we had run with them, and they went around to the businesses and told them we were lying about our circulation, and that if (Hometown News) was so good, why did we have to run an employment ad with them?

(We never have since.)

It continued a couple of years ago, when they found out that a major appliance dealer on the Treasure Coast was going to run some ads with us and one of their head guys went over and told the owner that if they ran with us, then the daily might "have to revisit their rate structure," essentially telling appliance dealer that his rates would go up if he did business with us.

It continued with their attempts to strong-arm the area's nonprofit groups into giving them "exclusive rights" to the groups' events and fundraisers, thereby hurting the groups' efforts to raise much-needed funds. (Fortunately, most of the nonprofit groups have told them to go take a flying leap.)

And now this. Have they no shame? Have they no ethics?

Friends, there is no denying that the past year and a half has been the toughest I have ever experienced, as it has been for everyone. I am not fortune-teller and I can't predict the future. But I can tell you this. Hometown News will continue to give you the most and best local news coverage. We will continue to fight through this trying time, with your help and support. We will come out of this stronger, smarter and better then we went into it. And, heaven forbid, but if anything bad was going to happen to our Hometown News family, I promise you, you will hear it from us first.

Steve Erlanger is publisher and chief operating officer of Hometown News. He can be reached at erlanger@hometownnewsol.com.



Well, that certainly was interesting.

It really makes a person sit down and wonder, just why this daily local newspaper of ours is so darn hateful and just why we continue to allow it.

Could it be that we are a harbor of hate? Our friend Jose Lambiet of the Palm Beach Post sent us this:

http://www.page2live.com/2009/06/11/the-cnn-express-takes-wrong-turnpike-exit/



Miss Vero just wanted to check in and let y'all know that we are still alive and kicking. We will be in and around town, off and on, if that isn't too vague.

We are absolutely looking forward to the launch of VeroNews.com!

And...we have many surprises for y'all this fall.

Did any of y'all happen to catch Miss Vero on The Rhett Palmer Show for an entire hour and a half on a Monday morning (June 1st)? Ole Rhett was off in Europe and Miss Vero sat in with Mr. Charlie Wilson. It was the most grueling experience ev-ahh! As y'all know, we are not a morning person and Charlie lured us in with promises of bloody marys and fun. We don't know what we were thinking.


Well, take care hunnies! We'll be seein y'all real soon...and a big thank y'all and shout out to our many blog followers, fans and friends on myspace and facebook!

The funniest comment on our myspace page? -"What a fun profile, for Vero! Is that really allowed there?"

MWAH!

missvero@live.com