Linde vies for District 1 seat

Country Club Shores resident Armando Linde announced Sept. 25 he intends to run for the District 1 Longboat Key commission seat that’s open in March.

District 1 Commissioner Lynn Larson, who also lives in Country Club Shores, is departing in March after serving three consecutive two-year terms. Term limit requirements prevent Larson from running for the term.

It’s the second time Linde will attempt to obtain a Town Commission seat. Linde lost his bid for an at-large commission seat against challenger Irwin Pastor in March 2014.

In the last two years, Linde has spent his time attending commission meetings and workshops to keep up with town issues. He’s also a member of the town’s Investment Advisory Committee and president of the Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key.

“I’m very excited about the idea of running again,” Linde said. “I’m better known now with my community work, and I have a strong voter base to build on from last year’s election.”

Staying involved with town politics, Linde said, has been important to him.

“I’m very much in tune with what people are thinking,” Linde said.

Linde said the most pressing issues for Longboat Key are finishing the revision of the town’s land use development codes and Comprehensive Plan — and doing it more efficiently than the town has over the last three and a half years.

“I realize it’s a complicated process that will serve the island for decades, but I think it’s time to accelerate the process by holding consultants to agreed deadlines,” Linde said.

Trying to partner with neighboring communities to keep the cost of sand projects lower is also critical, Linde said. 

Linde also believes the town should support the Gulf of Mexico Drive utility undergrounding project and then work to create a fair funding formula to bury remaining neighborhood lines.

A retired economist from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Linde also will run on a fiscally conservative platform.

Linde supports the decision to use almost $1 million in BP oil spill settlement money the town received last month to pay down the $23 million in unfunded pension liabilities.

“Costly mistakes were made by previous commissions for which taxpayers will bear the expense for years to come, particularly overly generous underfunded pensions and other personnel policies such as automatic pay adjustments,” Linde said. “It is essential to keep spending under tight control.”