Brown has contributed far more than his share

“I’m tired,” Commissioner Jim Brown told us.

He recently bought a 72-foot Hatteras and has decided to live on the boat at the Longboat Key Club’s marina. Its name: “Something Fun.” Brown added: “Something Fun for a change.”

In truth, we are not all that surprised that Brown, 73, withdrew Monday from next spring’s at-large Town Commission election.

While he says the new boat and “a lot of changes in my life” influenced his decision, you can understand his being tired. Brown has been on the front lines of town government for 16 years.

It started in 2002 when commissioners persuaded Brown, an architect, to serve as chairman of an advisory committee that was looking into the feasibility of developing a new community center. That two-month commitment turned into three years. And then in 2004, Brown was appointed to the town’s planning board. Four years there, and then in 2009 he was elected to the Town Commission.

From then until 2015, Brown served three terms as mayor and presided over some of the most tumultuous times at Town Hall in modern history.    

Among the key highlights while mayor: the commission’s loss of confidence in and resignation of longtime Town Manager Bruce St. Denis; the tragic death of police Chief Al Hogle; resignation of longtime Town Attorney David Persson.   

Brown was on the commission through the Longboat Key Club’s unsuccessful efforts to invest $400 million in a major expansion and through the Colony’s shutdown and legal travails. He served on the planning board and commission during its laborious and badly needed efforts to rewrite the town’s zoning codes.

All of those times and occasions are far more than what most commissioners experience. To be sure, Brown has accumulated his share of scars in the often thankless jobs of on the Town Commission and  planning board.

Commissioner Brown, you have contributed far more than your share to the betterment and welfare of Longboat Key. Indeed, Longboaters would be hard pressed to find a Longboat Key citizen who has devoted as much volunteer time as Brown has.

“Overall, I enjoyed it,” he told us. “I tried my best.” 

He deserves to try Something Fun.