Our View: A big birthday and agenda

This is a big birthday year. The town of Longboat Key turns 60.

And what a propitious time for the town to achieve major accomplishments.

Indeed, there is a lot on Longboat Key’s agenda this year — rewriting the town’s zoning code; securing a definitive pathway and developer(s) for a town center; approving a referendum to allow the Longboat Key Club and Resort to renovate and expand; electing or re-electing commissioners; voting to finance underground utility lines; redeveloping Bayfront Park; not to mention maintaining the beach and continuing to pay down pension debt.

So while we’re at it, let’s continue to think big and add to the list.

Bob Gault — Longboat Key resident, retired CEO of Universal Studios-Orlando and motivator of re-creating the St. Jude Gourmet Luncheon in the temple parking lot as the Longboat Key Gourmet Luncheon under the big tent at the Longboat Key Club — always thinks like a visionary. His latest idea is another good one.

He forwarded photos of 25 creative sculptures from around the world (two of them at right) the other day with the following suggestion:

“It would be nice to have some stunning signature sculptures at both entrances to our beautiful island. How about an art contest to find the best, then co-fund the winner between town and businesses? It would be a great project for real estate and lodging companies to generate publicity for Longboat.”

Great idea. Any takers out there to spearhead this?

We can imagine this idea taking hold as the capstone to all of the projects listed above. You see a town celebration, say, in five years, in 2020, on the town’s 65th birthday, commemorating the completion of the town center; an expanded Resort at the Longboat Key Club; a lush, attractive Bayfront Park; and the unveiling of two world-class signature sculptures at the entrances of Longboat Key — all without utility wires obstructing views.

And let’s be really visionary: Longboaters also will be celebrating the opening of the successor to the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort — a first-class resort that puts to rest all of the pain and suffering that has occurred there heretofore.

It’s a new year. A big birthday year. A year to stay focused and move forward on a grand vision for Longboat Key’s future.

To paraphrase a governor, let’s get to work.

+ Why do we need crosswalks?
Crosswalks with flashing lights on Gulf of Mexico Drive? Really?

A roundabout at Gulf of Mexico Drive and Broadway? Really?

Before the distractions and enjoyment of the holiday season, the Longboat Key Town Commission and town staff took initial steps toward these additions to the town’s famous 45-mph, one-and-only thoroughfare, Gulf of Mexico Drive.

It appears four crosswalks, complete with lighted signs and flashing signals, are already a Florida Department of Transportation fait-accompli. They’re slated for:

• Companion Way at mid-Key;

• The Banyan Bay Club at mid-Key;

• Near the Diplomat Hotel, south mid-Key;

• And at the Country Club Shores-Beachplace condominium entrance on the south.

At the same time, town staff is compiling information on the cost of installing a roundabout at Gulf of Mexico Drive and Broadway — even though the FDOT says it doesn’t have the money to pay for it.
We get it. These additions are all about creating pedestrian safety.

But why now? What has changed?

In the 60 years of Longboat Key’s existence as a town and the 100-plus years Gulf of Mexico Drive has been the one-and-only main thoroughfare to get from one end of the island to the other, what has changed so drastically to compel the construction of crosswalks and a roundabout now?

Think about it: There are fewer full-time residents and far fewer hotel rooms and tourists than at any time in the past 50 years. What’s more, in that past half-century, pedestrians have been crossing Gulf of Mexico Drive in between 45-mph motorists with a remarkable record of safety. In 20 years, there have been only two pedestrian fatalities on Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Now compare that to how many millions of cars have driven up and down Gulf of Mexico Drive at 45 mph without killing a pedestrian.

Don’t misinterpret. We’re not anti-safety or anti-pedestrian. But really: What has changed so dramatically that now, all of a sudden, in 2015, the state and town are compelled to install crosswalks and a roundabout?

Pedestrians and motorists instinctively know they must watch out for each other. And they instinctively have done it for more than a century without flashing crosswalks and roundabouts.

Here’s a prediction: Once the flashing, lighted crosswalks are installed, there will be an increase in rear-end collisions and injuries from motorists going 45 mph and unexpectedly having to slam on their brakes at a crosswalk. We can live without crosswalks. History has proven it.

+ Focused on a goal
Stirring the masses with moving speeches is not Gov. Rick Scott’s forte. Staying focused on a goal and achieving it are. Here are some of our favorite excerpts from his inauguration speech Tuesday:

• “If I can make Florida the worldwide location where families who have struggled to make ends meet can get a job, then I have fulfilled my goal as governor, because a job is the No. 1 way to change a life. A job helps families put food on the table, pay the rent and buy a car. A job gives families hope for the future … Jobs and opportunities are good for all of us.”

• “In the next four years, we will build on our legacy of cutting taxes more than 40 times. We will cut another $1 billion in taxes in the next two years and continue to roll back the business tax while permanently eliminating the tax on manufacturing equipment.”

• “I have a message today to the people of New York, Illinois, California, Pennsylvania and others: Move to Florida! We want you to keep more of the money you make because we understand it’s your money. We want your businesses to grow and succeed. We want to compete globally and win. Over the next four years, I will be traveling to your states personally to recruit you here. In Florida, we are in the business of growing opportunity for families, not growing government.”

• “Today, Texas is our No. 1 competitor for jobs — but we will unseat Texas within the next four years for this top spot, and we will compete globally for business investment.”

In closing, I will admit to you that our new goal of unseating Texas and becoming the global leader in job creation is equally ambitious.

But, if we accomplish our priorities — invest in education, cut taxes, lower the cost of higher education and improve workforce development — we will continue to be the No. 1 destination for people looking to escape big government all across the country … and the world.