Langley drops out of Longboat Commission race

Longboat Key voters will still go to the polls in March, but they won't have a Town Commission race to decide. 

Randy Langley, a 52-year-old developer and contractor running against Mike Haycock for an at-large seat on the seven-member board, told town officials on Monday morning he was removing himself from the race.

As the only candidate remaining in what had once been a three-man race, Haycock, a 69-year-old retired executive, will be considered "commissioner-elect," and no substitute or write-in candidate will be allowed to replace Langley. Town code holds that if "less than 60 days remain before the date of the general town election, the remaining candidate shall be declared unopposed and no election for that office shall be required.”

Haycock said Langley called him Friday to tell him he is dropping out of the race.

"I am thrilled to be joining the board," said Haycock, who is vice chairman of the Planning & Zoning Board. He will join the commission in March. 

B.J. Bishop, chairman of P&Z, said the search for Haycock's replacement begins in March.

Town officials will begin working with supervisor of elections office staffers in both Manatee and Sarasota counties to remove the race from the ballot. 

Langley said his decision came down to parallel positions with Haycock on numerous issues. 

"Mike Haycock and I agreed on a lot of things," said Langley, who met Haycock recently at a Longboat Republican Club meeting. "We both want to get rid of the entrenched regime. The commission should set policy, and town staff should run the town."

Langley, who lives on the north end of the island, ran against Ed Zunz last year for the District 5 seat, but was defeated. He said he will run again when that seat comes up in 2020. 

"Why waste a bunch of gunpowder running against someone who thinks like you," Langley said.

Incumbent Jim Brown, who had qualified to run for re-election, told town officials in early December he was stepping down from the race. He told the Longboat Observer he recently bought a 72-foot Hatteras cruiser and has decided to live on the boat at the Longboat Key Club’s marina. Its name: “Something Fun.” Brown added: “Something Fun, for a change.”

Feb. 11 is the last day Longboat Key residents can register to vote in the March 12 election. Early voting opens March 4. Two referendums are set for voter consideration in March: 

• A measure extending commission terms to three years, beginning in 2020;
• A measure seeking permission to add residential density to a property at 5630 Gulf of Mexico Drive for the purpose of developing single-family housing.