District 1 candidates surface

Country Club Shores residents Lynn Larson and Lee Pokoik both picked up paperwork for the District 1 commission seat held by Mayor Lee Rothenberg this week at Town Hall.

Larson is a Florida Supreme Court certified mediator who has extensive knowledge of Florida laws and state statutes. She has worked with Legislative committees to offer analysis of existing and proposed state laws.

Larson, who attempted to join one of the town’s three pension retirement boards for the last two years and is now a trustee on the police pension board, is also a registered nurse in Georgia. She also holds a Florida Insurance Adjuster’s License and worked for the Florida Department of Insurance as bureau chief and later as the state’s division director.

Larson has lived in Country Club Shores with her husband, Jim, since 2000. Larson is also the president of Country Club Shores Unit IV.

Country Club Shores resident Lee Pokoik has been a licensed real estate broker for the state of New York for more than 40 years and has owned and managed residential properties in New York, Florida and South Carolina.

Pokoik, who has lived in Country Club Shores since 2004 with his wife, Kathie, is a former Water Club resident and  has owned a plumbing company, a hotel, a restaurant, a drugstore, a shopping center and a car dealership.

The President of Country Club Shores Unit V was Commissioner Gene Jaleski’s campaign manager last year and has been vocal against Town Manager Bruce St. Denis and how the town is operated.

The only other potential candidate to take out papers in consideration of the District 1 commission seat is Islandside Property Owners Coalition Chairman Bob White.

None of the three potential candidates has been certified yet with the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Office.

The District 1 seat becomes available this March because Rothenberg will reach his term limit unless a resolution the commission considers next month is approved that would allow Rothenberg to finish the remainder of a partial term he accepted years ago.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].