Newest commissioners graduate from first step of elected official training

Longboat Key’s newest town commissioners Gary Coffin and Debbie Murphy have a couple months of experience under their belt. Now, they have graduated from part one of a two-part training course for elected officials. 

The two attended Florida League of Cities’ Institute for Elected Municipal Officials on June 9 and 10. During this first part, Murphy said the course was focused on some technical aspects of being an elected official and how municipalities operate. 

One aspect was learning the importance of Home Rule Power, especially in a town like Longboat, Murphy said. In her words, home rule is the philosophy that “local people can make better local decisions than people at the state level.” 

A local example of this comes with Longboat’s 30-day rental minimum. Murphy said companies like Vrbo and Airbnb are trying to overcome the home rule of towns like Longboat in order to allow their customers to stay for shorter periods. The 30-day minimum is something ingrained in Longboat’s charter, Murphy said, so it’s important that residents bring issues like this to Tallahassee to show the importance of home rule. 

The commissioners also learned about different types of municipality legislatures, including the “weak mayor” structure of Longboat. In this structure, the mayor facilitates meetings, attends ribbon-cutting ceremonies and serves as the face of the town. The town manager oversees the functions of the local government, and commissioners are essentially the policymakers. 

Murphy said this was one aspect she struggled with at first. She wanted to be able to solve residents' smaller problems, but had to put it into perspective that that’s not her job. Murphy had to learn that her job was to listen to a person’s situation and connect them to the right person. 

In Longboat, Murphy said this is common. 

“There’s nothing that makes me feel better than to watch people be respected and appreciated,” Murphy said. “In this town, I will say, and especially under the leadership of Howard Tipton, that is very much alive and well.” 

This has been one of the things Coffin has found most interesting, in a positive way, about the job so far. He said, before taking the position, he was unaware of how much outreach the commissioners received from residents. 

“That’s why we’re here,” Coffin said. “And it’s been great to listen to people telling their stories about things and try to get things done.” 

They also learned technicalities involved in structuring commission meetings. There are certain parameters and best practices for meetings, like a proper notice, being held in an open location, availability of minutes and rules for making motions. Also important is the right for the public to be heard, which is limited to three minutes at Longboat town commission meetings. 

Something that Murphy really valued from the IEMO training was connecting with likeminded commissioners. In Florida, Sunshine Laws prohibit commissioners from having conversations in public that can be construed by anybody. In that regard, Murphy and Coffin can’t have a conversation in public because people could interpret that as them having a conversation about something the council will talk about in the future. The two even had to sit apart from each other during the training, Murphy said.

The attendees were given a spreadsheet of all the others from that training session, so they could connect with one another when something comes up. This created a sort of informal network, Murphy said. 

Coffin also liked the ability to meet other local officials and being able to learn with others at the same level. 

“What this organization does, which is absolutely fabulous, is it puts together most all of the localities on the same playing field so they’re able to communicate with one another and learn law and points of governing that some of us may not have had the exposure to,” Coffin said. 

About three months into the role, Murphy said she has been impressed with the caliber of people drawn to be elected officials of Longboat. 

“I think the most interesting part is being involved with a group of people that have the same dedication and interest of trying to make things better here in Longboat Key,” Murphy said. “I just like the fact that everyone has a genuine interest in looking together, and listening to one another.” 

According to Murphy, the two commissioners plan on attending the second step of IEMO’s training in October. The second round will include more in-depth discussions about comprehensive plans and sources of revenue, like millage rates.