In the Public Eye: Vice Mayor David Brenner

Hometown: Philadelphia
Education: Wharton School, Economics
Occupation: Longboat Vice Mayor, District 3 town commissioner
Bio:
Longboat Key Vice Mayor David Brenner retained his District 3 seat on the town commission in March by a narrow, 90-vote margin. But the decision was unanimous among commissioners to keep Brenner in the vice mayor’s chair for another year.

Brenner, 76, is a Philadelphia native and Islander Club resident who earned a Degree in economics from the Wharton School and CPA license from the state of Pennsylvania. He retired in 1983 at age 47 but left retirement behind three years later when the mayor of Philadelphia asked him to become his director of commerce. Brenner served on the staff for three years that brought a $500 million convention center to the city, secured a lease for a developer on land that revitalized the city’s waterfront and helped relocate several failing businesses from the east side of town to secure their stability.

Brenner returned in 1991 when he was asked to return as the city’s finance director at a time when the city’s revenues were shrinking drastically.

Brenner got his introduction to Longboat Key in 1967, when he and his family visited at the old Colony Beach & Tennis Resort. He bought a unit at the newly renovated resort in 1974. He and his wife, Maggie, bought their Islander Club unit in 1999 and became full-time Key residents in 2001.

Brenner first got involved with town politics when he and other Islander Club residents began attending Town Commission meetings, urging the town to install two groins to control erosion at the property. Brenner went on to serve a three-year term on the Longboat Key Planning & Zoning Board beginning in 2006 before winning the District 3 seat in the 2010 election.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].