PIC welcomes Bullock at reception

After 17 years with Sarasota County, David Bullock thought he knew a thing or two about Longboat Key.

“I know the taxes you pay,” the interim town manager told a crowd that packed Bayfront Park Recreation Center. “There’s a huge pipeline that goes from Longboat Key to the county. Then, there’s a little straw that comes back.”

The remark drew laughter and applause from the approximately 100 people who attended the Longboat Key Public Interest Committee (PIC) membership reception Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Bullock said that he enjoyed his work at Sarasota County. He spent 14 of his 17 years there as deputy county administrator and knew hundreds of county employees and hundreds of citizens. But with a staff of approximately 2,000 and a countywide population of nearly 400,000, the county was large enough that Bullock was often three or four steps away from the work that got done. That was one reason why the idea of working for the town appealed to Bullock after town attorney David Persson approached him about taking on the role of interim town manager.

“The notion that you could work somewhere and know and see the things you touch … It kind of began to appeal to me,” Bullock said.

In the 16 days that passed from Nov. 1 — his first official day as town manager — to the reception, Bullock had packed in a lot of on-the-job training. In addition to the meetings with town staff, commissioners and other local officials, he has met with dozens of citizens since taking on the position. He read their names — 29 total — to the crowd from a sheet of notebook paper.

Bullock said that he has asked the same thing of each citizen with whom he has met, “What are the two best things about Longboat Key?”

The answers were varied. They included things such as the beaches and tennis. (Bullock can’t relate to the latter. He isn’t a tennis player, although a few audience members seemed determined to change that.)
But what he heard from everyone were stories about where they lived.

“They loved all sorts of things,” Bullock said. “But they just liked the community.”

Bullock admitted there were challenges ahead.

“We’ll have discussions about beaches and a lot of redevelopment work and discussions about pensions and employee benefits,” he said. “We’ll be talking about cellular towers and dogs on the beach … and tennis.”

PIC 2011-2012 membership
The Longboat Key Public Interest Committee (PIC) kicked off its season with the Nov. 16 membership reception, but that’s just the first of many events for 2011-12. The group aims to provide information about Key issues. Membership is available to any individual who lives on Longboat Key. Dues are $40 per household or $100 for sponsors and can be sent to: Longboat Key Public Interest Committee, P.O. Box 8221, Longboat Key, Fla., 34228. For information, contact Ann Roth at [email protected] or Gaele Barthold at [email protected].