Longboat Key has begun the charter review process

Members of Longboat Key's Charter Review Committee wasted no time in getting to work.

The committee — which includes former commissioners Pat Zunz and Phill Younger, as well as Bill Cook, Alan Pryor and Ted Salisbury — met at Town Hall on Tuesday. Salisbury, a Canadian resident, participated by phone.

The committee is responsible for refining portions of the town’s charter, which serves as a basic document under which the municipality operates, much like a state constitution. Those changes can be small, like tweaking language or deleting sections already covered by state statutes, or large, such as altering election day or Town Commission term limits or districts.

It’s a process that takes place every 10 years. The Town Commission will consider the committee’s proposed changes and decide which recommendations will go before Key voters.

Before beginning their collective examination of the charter, members chose Zunz  as chair. Cook was named vice chair.

Members also had an opportunity to opine on sections of the charter they believe require attention.

Zunz raised the subject of Town Commission term limits. Currently, commissioners may serve three two-year terms. Zunz wondered if two three-year terms would be better.

She also suggested allowing for flexibility of start times for Town Commission meetings. The charter now requires they start at 7 p.m.

Younger suggested retooling the Town Commission election districting process by reducing the number of district seats and increasing the number of at-large seats.

Currently, there are five district seats and two at-large.  

“We often have uncontested races because we have very narrow districts,” Younger said, adding that each commissioner represents the entire island regardless of district.

More generally, Younger hopes to explore ways to remove aspects of the charter that could be covered in ordinances, like permanent advisory boards.

Cook suggested the committee consider changes to the charter that would bolster community involvement in town government.

During the three-and-a-half hour meeting, the committee addressed portions of the charter that Younger described as “the low-hanging fruit.”

Along with tweaks to language, like changing the term “by letter” to “by written notice” in one section, the committee moved for a number of staff-recommended changes, including:

• If no candidate in a Town Commission election receives more than 50% of the vote, the town will hold a runoff election between the two candidates with the highest number of votes.
• Removing all references to setting Town Commission meetings at 7 p.m.  
• Removing the topic of permanent advisory boards — like the Planning and Zoning Board, Code Enforcement Board and Zoning Board of Adjustments — from the charter and including them in the town’s code of ordinances instead.

Town Manager Dave Bullock said it would be ideal if the committee can finish its work by October for inclusion on the March 2018 ballot, though there is no set time limit for the committee to finish its deliberations.

The next Charter Review Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 10 at 9:30 a.m.