Clair's appointment fills Town Commission seat

Former commissioner is the only applicant to replace Linde.

By John McGuire
| 6:00 a.m. April 5, 2017

Town Clerk Trish Granger swears in Randy Clair on Monday to fill the District 1 seat.

Longboat Key
News

All seven seats of Longboat Key’s Town Commission are once again occupied.

On Monday evening, the Town Commission unanimously approved Randy Clair to fill the District 1 seat, which was left vacant when Commissioner Armando Linde resigned on March 21. Linde and his wife, Felicity, plan to move closer to family in South Carolina.

The vacancy was advertised after Linde’s resignation, and Clair, who served as an at-large commissioner between 2005 and 2009, was the only applicant for the job.

George Spoll formally nominated Clair, and moved to appoint him by unanimous acclamation.

“We are very fortunate to have a very capable gentleman volunteer to become part of our deliberations,” Spoll said.

Jim Brown seconded Spoll’s motion.

He fondly recalled working with Clair when Brown was elected to the Town Commission in 2009.

“I thought he was the best commissioner that we had at the time,” Brown said. “I would welcome back his input, his knowledge and his experience.”

Clair is a member of the non-governmental Revitalization Task Force.

Tom Freiwald, the group’s chairman, attended Monday’s meeting to voice the organization’s support for Clair.

Freiwald said Clair is “uniquely qualified” for the role regarding issues the commission is considering, including planned-unit developments and zoning.

The chairman also noted the difficulty the Key has had in attracting qualified candidates to serve on the commission.

“Someone who is qualified has raised his hand,” Freiwald said.

All six commissioners approved Clair’s appointment.

In an interview after the meeting, Clair mentioned the importance of resolving the Key’s zoning code and emphasized the need for open-space requirements.

In March, Clair was appointed to the Charter Review Committee. He has now resigned from that duty because of his approval to the Town Commission.

Like the Planning and Zoning Board, an elected official cannot serve on the Charter Review Committee.

Clair is the second member of the Charter Review Committee to resign, following Dave Brenner’s resignation last week. At Monday’s meeting, the Town Commission decided to leave the Charter Review Committee at its current membership of five people instead of seeking two replacements.

All seven people who applied to the charter-review group were approved to serve.

Though he represents District 1 in title, Clair understands his responsibility does not end there.

“I represent all the people on Longboat Key,” Clair said. “And I’m going to do my best to make decisions for the community as a whole.”

The Longboat Key Town Commission is made up of five districts and two at-large seats:

Randy Clair

District 1

Term expires: March 2018

Email: [email protected]

George Spoll

District 2

Term expires: March 2019

Email: [email protected]