Pat Zunz: Advocate for north end, education

In 2011, when Bob Siekmann resigned from his commission seat to move out West, then-Mayor Jim Brown asked Lands End resident Pat Zunz to consider seeking appointment to the District 5 seat. 

She was reluctant at first.

“(The commission seat) was not something I looked for, and Jim Brown really had to twist my arm,” Zunz said.

A retired landscape architect who’s originally from New York City, she discovered Longboat Key in 1977 during a family vacation. 

Zunz’s interest in land use spurred her to become active in town politics. 

She served first as chairwoman of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, then on the Planning and Zoning Board before a majority of commissioners voted to appoint her to the vacant seat. 

Previously, she had served on similar boards in New Jersey for a decade and was also active in the League of Women Voters.

She completed the remaining year of Siekmann’s term before running unopposed for two consecutive terms.

“I found the commission work very interesting,” she said, “and so I stayed on. It’s much more varied (than PZB and ZBA work), and you’re dealing with … (issues like) pensions, beach renourishment and canal dredging…”

She decided last fall not to return to the commission for a final term in part to spend more time with her family. 

Her husband, Ed, filed for the seat, which was not contested, and will take his oath of office after his wife leaves the dais March 21, after 13 years of service to the town.

During her nearly five years on the commission, Zunz has been an advocate for accountability from both the Sarasota and Manatee county school districts.

“My mother had two degrees from NYU, and my father was a college graduate as well,” she said. “My family put a high premium on education.”

She also has two school-age grandchildren, one of whom is in the Manatee County School system.

She was initially concerned because some schools in Manatee County weren’t performing up to standards. There were too many children falling behind, she said, partially due to poverty or language barriers. 

Generating interest in education issues can be difficult in a retirement community like Longboat Key, according to Zunz, where people drop in for part of the year and leave, creating an insular atmosphere with few schoolchildren. 

That’s despite the fact that residents paid approximately $33 million to the two school districts in the last fiscal year.

“People can be very resistant to taxes… but we’re supporting the whole idea of public education,” she said.

When superintendents from  both counties came before the commission to give updates on goals and successes, she had questions for them.

“We wanted to know what improvements have been in reading levels of children and keeping kids in high schools so they graduate,” Zunz said. “I think they understand now that every year they’re going to come before us and see if they’re meeting certain goals they’ve set for themselves.”

Zunz has also been a supporter of north-end revitalization.

At her final regular commission meeting March 7, she saw her work come closer to fruition, as Floridays Development Co. made its case for a referendum that could ultimately allow it to build 120 hotel rooms on a group of properties that are either vacant or contain empty structures.

“She’s very fair,” said ZBA member Ann Roth. “She cares about Longboat itself, but also the north end — she sees it’s an asset to the whole Key.”

Zunz also encouraged north-end residents to work together.

After meeting with residents of Whitney Beach who wanted to become more involved on the Key, she advised them to reach out to other homeowners associations because the north end lacked a unified voice. 

As a result, 13 associations came together, representing approximately 700 residents, to form the North End Property Owners Coalition.

During Zunz’s last meeting, Vice Mayor Terry Gans gave Zunz credit for helping improve local schools, saying that Manatee County Schools are better for her interest in them.

Zunz said she’s proud to have been part of a commission that revising zoning codes to allow for redevelopment and is embracing long-range planning.

As commissioners said goodbye to both Zunz and Commissioner Lynn Larson, Commissioner Jack Daly said both leave behind “big shoes to fill.”

But Mayor Jack Duncan reminded them of the other Zunz who would be joining them.

“I think when one of those commissioners gets home at night, his shoes might get stepped on a little bit if things don’t go the way somebody thinks they might,” he joked.