Long-lasting legacies

On that March evening when new Longboat Key town commissioners take the oath of office in the Town Commission Chambers, they have no idea what issues, what controversies or what opportunities will come out of nowhere and land on the dais. Nor do they have any idea on what side of history they will end up when their terms expire.

Inevitably, though, they will face a test … or two … or three. And it’s when those moments occur that you see their character and convictions and whether they can pass the tests.

In the cases of outgoing commissioners Lynn Larson and Pat Zunz — Larson in office for six years, Zunz for nearly five — you can say they passed their unexpected tests. They were almost complete opposites in their styles and position on issues. But they were steadfast and consistent in their character and convictions.

The record book will mark the terms of Larson and Zunz as the first time two women served simultaneously on the Town Commission. But that will be little more than a historical footnote compared to the legacies they are leaving. History will show they each contributed to positive, dramatic changes in the look and character of Longboat Key.

Lynn Larson

If you followed the tenure of Commissioner Lynn Larson over the past six years, you know she has been one of those rare elected officials who stayed true to her core: She was first and foremost an advocate and representative for taxpayers, not the town government. 

She was known as the fiscal watchdog on the commission, sniffing for waste, protecting taxpayers. Actually, she was more of a fiscal bulldog, growling, tugging and questioning expenses and other issues until she wore down her fellow commissioners, until they would give her the bone. “Most tenacious person I’ve ever come across,” said Mayor Jack Duncan. Pain in the neck — albeit for the right reasons, said Vice Mayor Terry Gans. 

Other former commissioners likely would be less generous. Early on, they mentally rolled their eyes at the way and how often she was unafraid to voice her opinions. But she often caused them to think, rethink and sometimes change their votes.

Larson’s biggest legacy will be invisible. Despite strong resistance early on from fellow commissioners — with one telling her she looked like a fool for pursuing the issue — Larson used her dogged persistence to persuade commissioners to support converting the town’s overhead utility lines to underground. It took more than a year and two major battles. 

Battle One: the referendum last November for a $25 million bond issue and property assessments to convert Gulf of Mexico Drive’s overhead lines. That was the easier one. 

Battle Two: Persuading property owners to approve a second bond issue and assessment, this one for $23 million, to fund the conversion of the town’s neighborhoods. Not since the Key Club’s proposed expansion last decade did an issue bring an overflow crowd to a Town Commission meeting. With fervent opposition bearing down, Larson delivered a speech that convinced her fellow commissioners the issue should go on the ballot.

Both referenda received 60% voter approval. Come 2022, if not sooner, Longboat’s tangle and mish-mash of overhead utility lines will disappear. The conversion will become a line of demarcation in Longboat’s history. It will stand as a point when Longboat residents made a landmark reinvestment in their town, ensuring that it remains among Florida’s premier waterfront communities.

Larson, likely, never expected utility lines to be her defining issue, that unexpected test, when she took her first oath. Nor will anyone ever see her lasting contribution; it will be buried. But it will be her legacy. 

Persistence pays off.  

Pat Zunz

As vocal as Larson was, Commissioner Zunz was as quiet and reserved. That made her an effective commissioner. She was the Dean Witter of the commission: When she spoke, her colleagues listened.

Never a grandstander, Zunz rarely rose on Longboat’s public radar. But that’s not to say she was not involved or making a difference. 

Few residents, even longtime followers of town government, probably remember that even before her five years on the Town Commission, Zunz served as chairwoman of the Longboat Key Zoning Board of Adjustment from 2006 to 2008 and served two years after that on the Planning and Zoning Board. Altogether, she volunteered a decade of her life as a Longboat Key public servant.

In her most visible position as a member of the Town Commission, Zunz, a longtime Lands End resident, naturally became the voice for the north end of the island. As much as Larson advocated for underground utility lines, Zunz fought equally hard against the funding methods that ultimately were adopted. She argued they unfairly burdened north Longboat residents.

But all the while she served on the commission, Zunz also worked persistently for two improvements to the north end of the Key: a traffic light at Broadway and Gulf of Mexico Drive; and the redevelopment of the area extending from Whitney Beach Plaza to the abandoned service station and bank building at Broadway and Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Zunz’s efforts to secure a traffic light ultimately influenced the Florida Department of Transportation to put that intersection on the list for a future roundabout. At the same time, her lobbying with the owners of that struggling, two-block area on the north end appears to have triggered movement. Floridays Development Co. has proposed developing a 120-room luxury hotel there.

It likely will be years before either the roundabout or a new luxury hotel will be visible. When they do come to fruition, history should note: 

For almost two decades, commissioners and north-end residents talked and talked and talked about how something needed to happen on that seemingly abandoned stretch of Gulf of Mexico Drive, a gateway to the Key. But one commissioner’s persistence made a difference.

When Zunz took the oath five years ago to become a commissioner, you can be sure she had no inkling what her legacy would be: the catalyst to improve and revitalize the north gateway to Longboat Key.

Credit Larson and Zunz for accomplishing what all commissioners strive to do: Leave the town better than when they first sat on the commission dais.

Commission continuity

Back in the day, selecting Longboat Key’s mayor used to be a gentlemanly affair among the town commissioners. Everyone gradually moved up and took a one-year turn. 

But in the late 1990s, the process turned into drama and discord.

Now it has taken another turn. Monday night, commissioners voted to give Mayor Jack Duncan and Vice Mayor Terry Gans second terms. 

It makes sense. It creates continuity and predictability. Good move.

Think about post-garage

Eventually, it seems, most challenges have a way of working out.  To wit: The long-discussed St. Armands Circle parking garage is on the verge of reality. The Sarasota City Commission gave its blessing Monday night.

Not only that, all but one of the five commissioners (Shelli Freeland Eddie) endorsed instituting paid parking on the Circle to help pay for the four-story garage, underground utility lines and an upgraded median from Coon Key to the Circle. Estimated cost: $15 million to $17 million.

As this project moves forward, it would behoove commissioners, city planners and state transportation officials to do some serious planning on how to accommodate what surely will be more as many as 500 more cars on the Circle at the height of season.