Vero Beach City Council should focus on Vero issues
On Sept.17, three Vero Beach City Council members signed a proclamation in favor of supporting the National Rifle Association, with the sole purpose of stirring the pot. They were Mayor Val Zudans, Henry Howle and Robert Brackett. Laura Moss and Vice Mayor Tony Young both expressed dissent and refused to sign the controversial proclamation.
The proclamation was said to have been drafted to counter a recent resolution passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. However, as other council members have argued, the focus of the Vero Beach City Council should be focused on Vero Beach. This letter is clearly an attempt by Mayor Val Zudans to appease the powerful organization into further promoting his political career. Furthermore, a 2018 resolution passed by the previous Vero Beach City Council decided that proclamations divisive in nature are not acceptable.
As a concerned citizen and young leader among the high school body of the Young Democrats of Indian River, I am absolutely disgusted in this City Council for abandoning its own principles by allowing this resolution to get any signatures. Even Councilwoman Laura Moss did not sign it, and she is running for county commission. Zudans has taken it upon himself to state that our entire city supports the NRA as an organization, when there was no vote, no public hearing and no clear widespread support.
I call on Brackett and Howle to rescind their support for this proclamation and keep the Vero Beach City Council chamber from becoming the battleground for a drawn-out war between political factions, all because the mayor is trying to get political brownie points.
Colby Shock, Vero Beach
