Bea Gardner seeks Indian River County Commission District 3 seat

Posted by Bea-isms on Apr 19th, 2012 | 0 comments home title

Bea Gardner seeks Indian River County Commission District 3 seat
By Henry A Stephens
Posted April 17, 2012

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — County Commissioner Gary Wheeler’s pending retirement from politics has prompted one of his last opponents to try again for election to the district he has represented.
Bea Gardner, a local Republican leader, retired businesswoman and blogger, filed candidacy papers last week to run for the District 3 seat in the fall elections. Wheeler defeated her and fellow challenger Gary Parris in the 2008 race.
“It doesn’t matter if you win or lose,” she said Monday in a prepared statement. “It matters that you are willing to participate in the process in hopes of getting the best possible government there could be in Indian River County.”
Gardner is far from a stranger to local government and politics. She ran three times in the 1990s for Vero Beach City Council, each time unsuccessfully.
She also cited 16 years on the Vero Beach Parks and Recreation Commission, plus leadership in the county Taxpayers Association and the Republican Club of Indian River County. She’s also a precinct committeewoman in the county Republican Executive Committee.
For about two years, Gardner has run a local political blog, “Bea-isms,” atwww.beagardner.com, featuring her own observations and site visitors’ commentary. That activity led to a local radio show until Wednesday, she said, when she first announced her candidacy and Clear Channel Communications canceled the show.
“Clear Channel doesn’t allow candidates to have their own radio shows,” she said. “Rules are rules. That’s the way it is. I just wish I’d had the opportunity to announce that I would no longer be on the air.”
If elected, Gardner said, she would look for ways to lower taxes and create jobs by “getting government out of the way.”
She declined to address more specific issues, however, preferring to save that for farther down the campaign trail.
So far, Gardner is set to face builder Tim Zorc in the Aug. 24 primary.
District 3 covers much of the southern half of the county, south of State Road 60, including the western part of Vero Beach. While county commissioners live in districts, they are elected by voters countywide.
An Indian River County commissioner sets countywide policy and approves the county’s budget. The salary is $56,123 a year, as set by the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research.
Zorc and Gardner both predicted news of Wheeler’s retirement in November, at the end of his term, will prompt others to file for the race. Candidates have until June 8 to file and qualify for the race, by either supplying 909 petition signatures or paying a filing fee of $3,367.
BEA GARDNER
Office sought: Indian River County Commission District 3
Age: 71
Party: Republican
Residence: Vero Beach area since 1990
Occupation: Blogger at www.beagardner.com; retired interior designer; former recruiter for the online information technology company The Vortechs Group; former owner/operator of Vero Beach’s Encore Furniture
Education: Graduated Lehman High School, Canton, Ohio, 1958
Prior elected office: None
Prior appointed office: Vero Beach Parks and Recreation Commission, 1995-2011
Political, civic activity: Precinct committeewoman, county Republican Executive Committee; past president, Republican Club of Indian River County; former board member, county Taxpayers Association