Candidate: Bob Auwaerter

Bob was born and raised in a row house in Philadelphia.  He worked a newspaper delivery route to buy his first car and paid his tuition at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania by cashiering part-time at the A&P supermarket while living at home.  After graduation, he went to Northwestern University for a graduate degree in business.  He and his wife of 41 years, Nancy, graduated from the MBA program one day and married the next day.  After working a few years in Chicago, Bob headed to the Philadelphia area to work at the Vanguard Group.  By the end of his career, Bob managed a team of 120 professionals around the globe responsible for the investment of over $750 billion in bond and money market assets.  In his career, he analyzed and invested in every type of state and local government bond, developing a strong understanding of municipal finance.

Bob looked along both Florida coasts before buying in Indian River County in 2011.  In 2014, he retired, sold his home up north and became a full-time resident here.  He had seen the news about Vero Beach Electric, and as he had extensive experience at work analyzing utilities, got involved in the push for the sale.  He often consulted with Indian River Shores’ legal team and was named the Town’s representative to the Vero Beach Utilities Commission, ultimately becoming the Chairman.  He testified in favor of the sale at the Florida Public Service Commission in Tallahassee in June and October of 2018.

In 2016, Bob was elected to the Town of Indian River Shores Council, and is currently the Vice Mayor.  There he proposed the sale of some surplus Town property and persuaded the Town Council to use the proceeds to fully fund the Public Safety employee pension fund and retiree health care benefits.  This action gave the Town the ability to reduce future contributions in these areas and allowed property tax millage rates to be cut by over 15%.  He also guided the cell tower project to completion which improved spotty cell phone reception in the area.

Bob has been actively fighting high-speed rail through our County.  He testified twice in Orlando to oppose the issuance of Florida state sanctioned private activity bonds being used to fund the expansion of the train tracks in Indian River County.  He took photographs of intersections where the Florida East Coast Railroad tracks are dangerously close to commercial areas where pedestrians often walk.  Congressman Posey used these in Congressional Transportation Sub-Committee hearings in Washington DC to show the danger of high speed trains barreling through our communities.  Bob has provided financial analysis of the train’s proposed bond issuance plans to the County and has helped others in opposition to the train.  Recently he made FDOT Secretary Thibault aware of train safety and transparency concerns that multiple Treasure Coast counties share.

Bob has been an advocate for the County in other ways, too.  He served as the Chairman of the School Board Audit Committee, the Vice-Chairman of the Property Appraiser’s Citizen Advisory Committee, and currently is the Chairman of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (the agency responsible for highway and transit planning in the County).  Every position that he has had held in local government has been without pay.

Indian River Taxpayers Association awarded him the “Fiscal Conservative of the Year” Award in 2018 “in recognition of your efforts to save taxpayer dollars for all citizens of Indian River County”.

In his spare time, Bob enjoys reading history, bicycling, photography and attending classic car and air shows.

Paid by Bob Auwaerter, Republican, for Indian River County-County Commissioner, District 5