The legacy of Jim Brown

Whew. What a wild ride.

When Longboat Key Mayor Jim Brown steps down from the Town Commission dais Monday, March 16, he will have completed six of the more eventful, tumultuous years — four of them as mayor — in the history of town commissioners.

And let’s be clear: From his time prior to the commission as a member of a Community Center Advisory Committee and the Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Board, Brown handled his tenure professionally, competently and with just the right amount of humor and authority. 

Let’s add one more: understated vision. Even if he held the gavel and title of mayor, Brown served as one of seven equals on the commission. The town charter prevents a despotic, authoritarian mayor. But it nonetheless takes some skill for the mayor — elected by his fellow commissioners for one-year terms — to guide the group toward a greater, albeit unspoken, vision. Brown did that.

The vision: a Longboat Key that remains what it is — a premier resort-residential community of neighbors, but one that is also sufficiently vibrant and moving in a forward direction.

To be sure, if you look back on Jim Brown’s six years on the Town Commission, it would be difficult to think of any other Longboat mayor whose terms coincided with as many substantive and difficult issues as did Brown’s four terms. We made a list.

Here’s the kicker to this list: Brown addressed all of these issues, except the initial approval of the Key Club plan, while he was mayor. And he addressed them all for nothing.

For no monetary compensation. Not for accolades. Nor for self-aggrandizement. Brown volunteered to serve and run for election because of his character. Pragmatic, not one to be the center of attention, Brown is a firm believer in the approach that if you don’t like something, don’t just complain. If you want something to change, then do something about it. Get involved. Make a positive contribution. Make a difference. Professionally, competently.

After Jim Brown leaves Town Hall Monday night, Longboat Key will continue to survive and thrive. But we hope his successors will always keep him and his characteristics, in mind: a elected official who kept taxpayers first; who maintained his composure and patience; who became tough and curt when necessary; who had ample humor and humility; and who had a skill for bringing differing views and personalities to consensus.

Mr. Mayor, thank you for your service and sacrifice. Outstanding service at that.

Can’t afford a Cadillac

Congratulations to Longboat Key Town Manager Dave Bullock for halting a Town Commission vote on a $3.9 million redevelopment plan for Bayfront Park.

Whoa. That’s a lot of taxpayer money. And that was only the town’s share of what the plan’s architect called “the Cadillac of what Bayfront Park can be.”

Most everyone, of course, would like to drive a Cadillac, or a similar luxury car. That is, if you can afford one.

And while there probably are many Longboat taxpayers who think the town can afford $4 million for a new park and that it would be wonderful to have a beautiful, fully amenitized new park, at least Bullock has the good sense to say, “Uh, that’s too much.”

For at least 15 years, successive Town Commissions, advisory committees and citizens’ groups have been trying to figure out how to turn that almost priceless, yet sorely underutilized expanse of bayfront real estate into what it could be. But every plan has stumbled on one obstacle: the cost.

The decision to spend that kind of money might be easy, or at least easier, if there weren’t so many other higher town priorities — maintaining beaches, paying off pension debts, rebuilding wastewater pipelines, installing a roundabout at the Key Club’s Islandside entrance and, although also debatable, placing utility lines underground.

We have always wondered about the efficacy of that park as a town asset. Should it be sold? Or think about this: The architect’s renderings call for keeping tennis courts. Why? Bocce ball? Pickleball? Basketball courts? All of that requires upkeep, a cost that never goes away. And for how much use? Is it justifiable? Not if you look at history.

The most utilized portion of the park is the recreation center building. And if anything, that’s what needs updating the most.

Sure, many have made the argument that part of Longboat Key’s ability to remain an attractive resort-residential community is to have those amenities in the park’s Cadillac plan. But everything comes down to making choices.

We agree with Bullock. Bring the cost down. But also consider what Congress used to say (but never did) with federal budgeting: Pay as you go. Do a little at a time. That park has sat underutilized for decades. The urgency for an all-at-once redevelopment just isn’t there.