Your candidate: Phill Younger

Phill Younger estimates he spends anywhere from 36 to 40 hours per week on his duties as a Longboat Key town commissioner, a job that pays a salary of exactly $0 a year.

“Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night and work on things,” he said.

So why is he seeking more work —i.e., a final two-year term?

“There’s always work to be done,” he said. “I’d like to see some things finished before I leave.”

On Younger’s to-do list before leaving office are decisions about zoning code and the comprehensive plan, infrastructure projects, beach nourishment, undergrounding utilities and 911 changes.

Younger is no stranger to big decisions after five years on the commission. During his time at the dais, the commission changed town managers and town attorneys, approved plans for a new Publix and a $400 million Longboat Key Club project (that courts later overturned), overhauled its beach management program and employee pension plans and decided cellular towers should only be a last resort for the Key.

An engineer and attorney, Younger spent 32 years at Delta Airlines working mostly on the technical side, where he preferred to be.

Younger describes his decision to get involved in politics as a “natural progression.” He and his wife, Fanny, bought an investment property in Country Club Shores in 1987 that they still own, then moved to the Bayou full time in 2005. He got involved with the Bayou Association, Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, Longboat Key Turtle Watch and the Public Interest Committee. From there, the commission appointed him to the Code Enforcement Board, then the Planning and Zoning Board.

Younger ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Hal Lenobel in March 2010, but was appointed by commissioners two months later after Gene Jaleski, Younger’s current challenger, resigned.

On the commission, Younger is known for his extensive research that often involves slicing data with Excel spreadsheats.

During his first year on the commission, Younger presented color-coded beach monitoring data that prompted the commission to change the town’s beach-nourishment approach from islandwide renourishments to a focus on nourishing high-erosion “hot spots.”

“It had a net savings impact of about $30 million, and that was needed at the time,” Younger said.

But for the commission’s data cruncher, the most difficult decisions have been the ones with a human factor.

The first was in 2011, when longtime Town Manager Bruce St. Denis resigned under pressure from the commission after 14 years, which Younger calls “a painful and emotional decision.”

Just as emotional was the decision to freeze the town’s pension plans.

“If you think it’s easy, looking at and revising the pension program, that’s mistaken,” Younger said.

Although the pension decision was one of the most difficult, it ranks with beach policy changes as one Younger is most proud of.

“It festered for years and years and was one of the worst plans in the state of Florida,” he said.

Younger, however, is quick to point out that he doesn’t do anything by himself on the commission.

“It always takes at least four commissioners to do something,” Younger said. “I’m fortunate enough to be associated with fine people, even though we may disagree from time to time.”

Phill Younger
Age: 69

Occupation: Retired engineer and attorney for Delta Airlines

Family: Wife, Fanny; two daughters; one granddaughter

Residence: Bayou

Hometown: Atlanta

Hobbies: Reading two or three books a week, traveling

Interesting fact: Phill Younger added a new title to his resume during a 2013 Christmas trip to France: cancan dancer. He performed an impromptu dance during a cabaret performance at a restaurant.

Editor's note: This article was amended at 8:03 a.m. Feb. 20 to reflect the correct spelling of Fanny Younger’s name.