Longboat Key's mayor signs off

Profile
Name: George Spoll
Age: 77
Raised: Mount Vernon, N.Y.
Former occupation: Retired builder of homes, condominiums and commercial rehabilitation projects
Family: Wife of 26 years, Madelyn; one daughter; one son; and one grandson
Served as: Fairway Bay Association Board member for 14 years and president for 12 years; Bay Isles Board member for 12 years; Longboat Key Federation of Condominium member for 10 years and president for seven years; P&Z Board member for two years; town commissioner for six years and mayor for one year

How did you get involved with town of Longboat Key politics?

My wife and I moved here in January 1993. We were unpacking, and I said I was heading to a Fairway Bay condo meeting. When they mentioned the community was undertaking a painting job, I inquired whether the association planned to fix other things that needed to be repaired before the buildings were painted. By September 1993, I was on the Fairway Bay I board and was its president for 12 years.

From there, I got involved with the Longboat Key Federation of Condominium and became its president within two years of joining. From there, I overheard there were issues arising with how the town’s Planning, Zoning and Building Department was perceived. We had an open community meeting, and it led to substantial changes in the building department.

That issue brought me clearly to the attention of the commission, and I was appointed to the Planning and Zoning Board for a year-and-a-half before being appointed to the Town Commission six years ago.

What’s your favorite or most memorable moment as a Planning and Zoning Board member?
During the time I was on the board, the Holiday Inn had closed, and we were entertaining another condominium application. I was the first person to suggest looking at the possibility of reconstruction and redevelopment. Failing that, I made the suggestion there was a need for additional density and suggested the town create a pot of 50 units for a trial basis to encourage people to rebuild, and it was widely supported. I believe it was the basis for the 250 tourism-unit pool that was approved a few years ago.

What’s your favorite or most memorable moment as a commissioner?
The most pleasant year has been this last year. I have thoroughly enjoyed the job as mayor. I think the commission has come together at the end of this year, and it’s a smoothly working function. I would like to feel I have had a hand in encouraging that.

What’s your wish for the Longboat Key Club Islandside project?
It’s extremely vital that project helps stimulate the restoration and prospering of our community. I hope the courts will allow the club to move forward with the development.

Is the commission headed in the right direction regarding its comprehensive beach plan? Should the beach be sporadically renourished or renourished island-wide every six to eight years?
I believe that we have come to a point of understanding how our beaches work, and we have made appropriate decisions to date that have stabilized the beach and knowing where we have to go. I think the years of major experimentation are over.

The creation of the Islander adjustable groins was a prime thing for the community. We must maintain our beaches like we maintain our roads. I think we should accept the fact that on a periodic basis we should renourish our beaches.

What would you like to see an Economic Revitalization Committee accomplish for the Key?
I want to point out Longboat Key is not a place where we are looking for development. We are looking for revitalization and something important for this community. We are looking to revitalize and re-establish the services and conveniences that led to the enjoyment of the Key. In that light, revitalization is totally appropriate.

Revitalization includes encouraging, physically, changes to the Avenue of the Flowers, Whitney Beach Plaza, the return of the Colony, etc. We need a multi-faceted approach that includes mixed-used for Whitney Beach Plaza. The north end could be one of the most attractive places on our Key, and right now it’s looking derelict. I see a small boutique hotel near the old bank building. The statement made that you can’t build a hotel across the street from a beach is ridiculous.

What do you envision for a new Bayfront Park, and how long do you think the process will take?
We could be starting on it very quickly because there are funds that can be used, and we should be moving ahead. Our citizenry needs a place to congregate, like a community center.

Will you serve the town in the future in any other capacity?
I would like to serve on the (economic) revitalization committee I have been pushing and would like to help bring Bayfront Park and a community center to the island. I understand the different conditions on the Key.

The public is clearly suggesting the town should be more proactive, which is why I suggest it’s perfectly appropriate to seek out professional input from outside the Key on things that would be appropriate and ways to stimulate and revitalize commercial centers.

What should the town do moving forward with its three pension plans and the unfunded liability that exists?
The pension plan is almost bigger than we are. We have to see what’s happening elsewhere first. The tone of the country and the Legislature will dictate the future of the plans. In the meantime, the plans are rebounding.

Would you change anything about the town and the services it offers?
We have to look at the organization of our town and some of its functions. We should reorganize the public-safety function of this Key and create a strong public-safety function that encompasses police, emergency medical technicians and life safety. That means there’s an enhanced role for the building department, because building inspectors enforce life safety in buildings. I don’t think that should be a job any longer for the fire department, and there’s no longer a need for the fire marshal position. Building inspectors can easily become fire inspectors. I believe building inspectors are under-utilized and should assume the role of enforcing life-safety issues.

The fire department operations could be performed by one of the counties. We could make our buildings and equipment available to a county. Emergency medical- services employees are the most important part of the fire department on this Key, and they should remain because of the town’s age base. We could have our own paramedics, and police are also trained as paramedics.

I would encourage discussions with counties to provide fire service on the Key. This makes more economic sense, because we have a union that a lot of people think is out of touch with reality.

Have you contemplated what it will feel like not being a part of the Town Commission after six years?
I will miss being involved in that decision-making process. I look forward to perhaps other roles I can assist the town in the future.

What’s changed the most on this Key since you first became a commissioner?
The pace of the Key getting tired has accelerated, which has a lot to do with the economy. It’s become far more critical we have a revitalization effort that includes Bayfront Park and the community center. This community needs something good to happen.

Did you enjoy being mayor? Is it more or less difficult than you imagined?
It was much easier than being just a commissioner. The power of the chair enables one to see who can speak first. I have tried to be part of the debate only when I deemed it necessary.

What decision that you helped make as a town commissioner stood out the most?
I think the work we did to encourage and enable the rebuilding of our buildings, not only after a disaster, but also for renovation purposes, so people could improve their houses and enjoy them. Not everyone on this Key has the ability to tear down homes and elevate them.

Looking back, how difficult was the Longboat Key Club and Resort Islandside renovation-and-expansion hearings and what stands out the most from that process?
It was an exciting time to sit on the commission. I was very impressed with the presenters on both sides of the aisle; the arguments made were extremely stimulating. I was the only commissioner to sit through all of the Planning and Zoning Board hearings, even though some didn’t feel it was appropriate. It helped me come to a better understanding. I believe we made the best decision possible given the opposing points of view. I know I had a large part in the final plan that was approved. It will be looked upon as an important time in our town’s history.

What do you love the most about Longboat Key?
It goes back to why we came here in the beginning. We traveled extensively in Florida and never dreamed we would retire here because the Florida most of us knew was the annual migration to South Florida. We didn’t want to live near a place off of a highway. We wanted a place where there was a sense of community, where people could be involved, and still be close to a cultural center. Longboat is the epitome of all of that.

How should Longboat Key look in the next 20 years?
The tired spots should be brought back to life. I think the original philosophy that everything on Longboat Key is just for Longboaters to enjoy needs to go away a little bit. The announcement of a high-tech medical venture coming to Sarasota County is very important for Longboat’s revitalization as well.
If the community prospers and new jobs take place and we attract more and more upscale people, they would naturally be attracted to the lifestyle of the Key. We should encourage being a bedroom for that, as well as those that treat this place as just a resort. I think Longboat has a marvelous future if things like that take place on the mainland. Longboat Key also has the potential to become Tennis Town USA.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected]