Our View: He was good for Longboat

“He is a good man,” said Longboat Key resident Michael Lendrihas as he exited Longboat Key Town Hall Monday afternoon.

Twenty minutes earlier, the Town Commission accepted the resignation of Town Manager Bruce St. Denis, a role St. Denis filled for a record 14 years.

“He’s a heck of a nice guy,” said longtime Longboater Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber of St. Denis Monday afternoon. “No question.”

And minutes before St. Denis resigned at a special Town Commission meeting, Longboater Phyllis Black winced as she waited for the proceedings to begin. “This is one of those classic cases of their not knowing what they have until they don’t have it,” she said.

Bruce St. Denis was good for Longboat Key. His head and heart were in the right place. He did what he believed to be in the best interests of the town and its residents.

He did an admirable job. And the record shows it.

We observed over the years a young man in his early 40s grow into his job. When St. Denis, then an assistant city manager, won the confidence of the Town Commission in September 1997 and was named town manager, he had black hair and a youthful enthusiasm for the challenges that lay ahead.

By the time he stepped down from his customary chair on the Town Commission dais Monday, his all-gray hair symbolized how he had matured over the past 14 years. He was indeed much more accomplished and had a tremendous depth of knowledge and wisdom about the town and the intricate workings of all levels of government. You would be hard-pressed to find any city or town manager in Florida who knew as much as St. Denis did about beaches and beach renourishment.

A good sport
Deeply passionate about what he did for most of his tenure, St. Denis devoured the details of his job. He could make your eyes glaze over with his recall of data and dollars about beach engineering and pension formulae. He learned not to take personally the many criticisms we and others constantly lobbed at him. If we annoyed him, he would call to have breakfast to discuss the issues. And he always stayed in his adult mode — ever polite, respectful, good-humored and professional. You cannot not like Bruce St. Denis.

He was a respected ambassador for Longboat Key — on and off the island. He didn’t hesitate to meet with groups of residents as he sold special plans and educated voters. Town Attorney David Persson, who has seen his share of city managers, said St. Denis was superb in the way he interacted with residents. “No one is even a close second,” Persson said. “He made people feel he cared about their issue.”

He was a good sport. St. Denis took in good humor our ribbings and gags at his and the town’s expense in our annual April Fools’ editions. And he tried to accommodate town organizations as best the law would allow. It’s no small thing that the town’s public works staffers have always helped out at the Fourth of July Freedom Fest; always placed the flags on Gulf of Mexico Drive on the anniversary of 9/11; and are stalwarts on the setup and take-down of the annual St. Jude Gourmet Luncheon. St. Denis recognized his staff needed to be part of the community. And let’s not forget St. Denis’ own role in the town’s 50th anniversary celebration; it was noticed and never forgotten.

Tangible accomplishments
St. Denis can leave Longboat Key proud of many tangible accomplishments.

In spite of the controversy that always seemed to surround beach renourishment, on balance, he managed it well — a point that commission-hired consultants acknowledged last year, noting that Longboat’s beach practices were among the best in the state.

We now have two sources of water, thanks to St. Denis’ persistence. He rightly recognized many years ago that Longboat Key was vulnerable to having no water supply because of its single connection to Manatee County. Now the town has a backup with Sarasota County.

The town hasn’t been tested to the extreme, but St. Denis made sure the town and town staff were ready with a detailed, post-hurricane disaster plan — lessons he learned after seeing what Hurricane Charley did to Sanibel Island.

And give St. Denis credit for assembling a team of first-rate leaders — among those worth mentioning: Public Works Director Juan Florensa; Police Chief Al Hogle; former Fire Chief Julius Halas; current Fire Chief Paul Dezzi; Finance Director Tom Kelley; and IT Director Kathi Pletzke. Go down the list of other town employees, and you’ll find a government staff that is as customer-oriented as almost any private-sector organization. It wasn’t like that for a long time. But that kind of change starts at the top.

Still, in spite of all the good that St. Denis did for Longboat Key, he held a job, unfortunately, that inevitably leads where it did — to an intractable difference of opinions and approach between him and his seven bosses, the town commissioners. It’s the nature of the job. Times change, needs change. It’s remarkable he lasted as long as he did.

Stubbornness
For the most part, St. Denis maneuvered well around the minefield of the Town Commission’s changing cast of characters. But, like all of us, St. Denis had weaknesses, and often times, especially in the latter part of his tenure, they conflicted with the needs of the times and the commissioners. Town Hall observers often talked over the years of St. Denis’ stubbornness. He became famous for making up his mind and sticking with his way. This was especially so when St. Denis relentlessly pursued an expensive scheme to bring reclaimed water to the Key. It almost did him in.

Most recently, you could see the tensions rising and distance growing between St. Denis and the new crop of commissioners over the town’s annual budget process and never-ending pension problems. In spring 2010, Vice Mayor David Brenner, with his colleagues’ support, urged St. Denis to be as bold as possible addressing the town’s projected deficit. What they received was an obvious letdown. They wanted leadership from the CEO. St. Denis appeared to want the commissioners to make the tough decisions. The town’s pension problems and fire-union contract talks took on similar tenors, exacerbating the disconnect between the manager and commissioners.

Longboat Key Mayor Jim Brown sensed the growing deterioration in relations. And when a poll of commissioners by Persson revealed that St. Denis would receive low grades in a full-scale performance review, he concluded — appropriately — that it was time and best for all involved to make a change.

Clearly, times and circumstances had changed. This was not an instance of petulant, impetuous commissioners itching to fire St. Denis. As we’ve been told, a few of the commissioners counseled and coached St. Denis with the hope of shifting his thinking and approach. But two Sundays ago, Mayor Brown concluded such efforts were not going to be productive.

Credit Mayor Brown
To the mayor’s credit, he has handled the matter well. As have the other commissioners and St. Denis. They all have recognized the importance of remaining professional. This was best exemplified when, after commissioners voted to accept St. Denis’ resignation, they, the town attorney and audience gave St. Denis a standing ovation as he departed the Town Commission Chambers.

When St. Denis officially ends his tenure Oct. 15, he can walk away proud of his contributions to Longboat Key. He will be forever a crucial character in the rich history of the Key. Longboaters extend their gratitude. Godspeed.