Daly aims to retain Town Commission seat

Of three Longboat Key commissioners whose terms expire in March, only one is eligible to return.

And he will, voters permitting.

Commissioner Jack Daly, 80, picked up qualifying papers Sept. 27 at the Longboat Key Town Hall for re-election to the District 4 seat in the March election. 

Daly has not filed his papers officially with the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections but said he will soon.

 “Word gets around,” Daly said with a chuckle. “I just picked up the papers yesterday.”

Daly said he wants to run again because it naturally took awhile to become accustomed to a number of complex issues in his first two-year term.

“I’ve added some value, and think I can add a lot more with a couple years of experience behind me,” he said.

His health is not a concern this year, he said, after having had heart valve replacement surgery June 2. Four days later was back at work.

Daly was released from the hospital June 5 and participated in a June 6 commission meeting by teleconference.

“My doctor said everything could not have looked better,” Daly said. “He said the replacement valve will outlive you as long as you don’t live 120 years.”

Daly listed as key priorities a number of issues facing Longboat Key: neighborhood undergrounding assessment methodology, establishing a Town Center, reviewing the zoning code and dealing with the redevelopment of the Colony Resort and Beach Club.

Two other commissioners will not return.

Mayor Jack Duncan has said he will he will return to the private sector when his term limit expires in March. 

At-large Commissioner Phill Younger is also at the end of his term limit in March.

"I don't know I'll find something else to do," he said.

Former Longboat Key Mayor James Lawrence Brown filed Sept. 20 to run for Younger’s post in the 2017 election.

Two-year terms for commissioners Armando Linde in District 1, Vice Mayor Terry Gans in District 3, Ed Zunz in District 5 and Irwin Pastor as an at-large representative will conclude in March 2018.