It's worth a try

Leave it to former Longboat Key Town Commissioner Phill Younger to challenge the status quo. 

As a member of the Longboat Key Charter Review Committee, Younger recently proposed a charter amendment that might entice more people to run for the Town Commission. 

Younger’s idea is to reduce the number of town voting districts from five to four and increase the number of at-large commission seats from two to three. 

As you would expect from Younger, he has data. They show more contested elections for the at-large seats than for the district seats since 2000.

Skeptics worry one tight-knit area of the town could elect as many as four commissioners and skew the commission’s decisions toward itself.

Highly unlikely. Longboat voters would smell the rat. 

But then, it also could turn out four of the best people for the commission could live in the same district. If they showed favoritism, it wouldn’t last long. Voters would throw the rats out.

Give it a try. Quit doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.