Succession planning

Succession is an issue in every business enterprise.

And most of you know one of the cardinal rules of management: Every manager should be scouting for and training his or her successor.

Perhaps a version of that should be one of the expectations of everyone who serves on a board or commission for the town of Longboat Key: Recruiting, or at least identifying, the next generation of town government volunteers and Town Commission candidates.

This comes to mind in the wake of Longboat reaching another period when the Town Commission and other boards have struggled to attract volunteers and candidates.

Take, for instance, the fact former Town Commissioner Randy Clair was the only person to express interest filling the District 1 commission seat that became available with the resignation of Commissioner Armando Linde.

Likewise, on the Planning and Zoning Board. Board Chair BJ Bishop recently noted how that board has no one from the north end of the Key.

True, where one resides on the Key should not be a determinant of who serves on what board. Nonetheless, the fact there is no North Longboat Key resident on the planning board clearly shows the pool of candidates is thin to nonexistent.

To remedy these conditions, you can imagine a variety of steps: 

• Formal or informal public receptions at which current and former commissioners and board members discuss what it takes to be a commissioner.
• Asking commissioners to identify residents who might be potential commission candidates or board volunteers and recruiting them one-on-one. 

There’s an old saying in business: Nothing happens until you make a sale. A modified version of that could be: No one will run or volunteer for town boards unless someone is making an effort to recruit.