Brenner lays cards on the table at forum

A 2012-13 fiscal year millage increase? Not likely.

Casinos on Longboat Key? No way.

And could the Longboat Key Town Commission vote to discontinue The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort’s tourism continuance? It’s a possibility.

These were a few of the issues Longboat Key Vice Mayor David Brenner discussed Monday, Feb. 20, at a District 3 Candidate Forum co-hosted by the Longboat Key Public Interest Committee and the Longboat Observer. Both Brenner and challenger Ray Rajewski were invited to the forum, however, Rajewski declined, telling the Longboat Observer that, “If it was just the newspaper, I probably would accept” and said that he has “a problem with PIC’s agenda.”

The forum came exactly one month before Brenner and Rajewski will face off in the March 20 election and included the following questions from PIC, the Longboat Observer and the audience:

How do you propose making a decision on cellular and wireless coverage for Longboat Key?
That decision will be based on the findings of the consulting firm (TE Connectivity Networks Inc., which is currently conducting a Key-wide wireless communication study). What we’ve learned over the past three years is that town staff didn’t have the expertise available to fully study the issue. The technology is changing all the time. TE Connectivity is going to come back with some recommendations, and we’re going to give the findings a lot of credence.

What’s your position on placing a 150-foot cellular tower on the Longboat Island Chapel property?
If that’s the only way we’re going to do to improve coverage, then I think we’ve got to give it some serious consideration. But I don’t think we’re going to find that that’s the only way. I’m a layman on this, but about two years ago Verizon laid down some fiber-optic cables. Secondly, on Bradenton Beach, they’re exploring the idea of a tower on the new marine station … my guess is, once you start to fill in some of these patches, it will help.

The Longboat Key municipal pension plans, although strategic, seem to have slipped through some crevices and are now facing a crisis. What will you be looking at and planning to come to terms with this crisis?
I’m not sure it’s a crisis. It will be a crisis if we don’t do anything. We have undertaken a series of executive sessions to understand what the problem is. Of the three municipal plans, two — police and firefighters — will be subject to collective bargaining. It is my hope that by the end of the year we will have at least met with the firefighters for an agreement or understanding of where we want to go. But we need to recognize that whatever the solution is, it will cost us all some money.

Would you support a $26 million or $27 million bond issue to eliminate the town’s unfunded pension liabilities and convert from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan for town employees?
I think one of the things that will influence us is what’s going on in the markets. With interest rates being so low, some people would say a bond issuance would be the way to go.

What is your response to your opponent’s recent comment that you want “to pave the way for more expansive development, more tourists and — casinos?”
He seems to think I live someplace else. For those of you who don’t know, I live on Longboat Key. The casinos comment came because I was on the board of Claridge Atlantic City and at one point was its chairman. A casino made sense in Atlantic City … A casino on this Key anywhere doesn’t make sense. It would change our way of life.

What is your vision of beach renourishment and maintaining our beaches?
Beach management has been a sore spot with me for quite a while. I first got involved with town affairs because at The Islander Club, where I live, there was enormous erosion. To keep dumping sand there was futile; it needed a permanent fix. Now we have two groins there. The real resistance came from the beach-engineering firm. You need multiple opinions. No two scientists will agree on what’s making the sand shift. I think the direction we’re going of three firms (that will have contracts with the town) is good because you’ll have three firms that know that they don’t have a blank check.

What is your position on issuing bonds for a new community center?
I think a referendum is probable. But there should be a second source of funding and that should be a substantial contribution base. I don’t think the community center should be run by the town. As commerce director in Philadelphia, I invited a private firm to take over the management of a civic center. Within a year, they turned a loss into a profit and attracted all sorts of entertainment (including Frank Sinatra, who gave a concert there.)

The owners and operators of the Longboat Key Center for the Arts and the Longboat Key Education Center are concerned about the effects of a new community center on their facilities. How do you reconcile their existence juxtaposed against a new community center facility?
I think this is an opportunity so that they can get the best of what they have to offer and the best that a community center has to offer. Make it a collaboration, not a competition.

What do you see as the best ways the Planning and Zoning Board can facilitate the Town Commission’s decisions. Do you see any revising of the process?
P&Z is the starting point for many of the things that come through to the Town Commission. They make a recommendation, and then we have a first reading and second reading. There is an element of repetition, but they get into a lot of the nuts and bolts that we don’t usually get into. It’s a protective device. It’s not a perfect device, but I’m not sure there’s any other better way.

Knowing what you know about our interim town manager, where do you stand today on whether to continue searching for a permanent town manager or offering the position to the interim town manager?
Based on his first 100 days, I would take what you’re saying and put it off to the side. He can’t walk on water, but he’s about as well organized as you can be. I would use the whole year and make the whole assessment on him.

We have heard a few residents suggest the town use eminent domain to condemn and acquire the property where the old service station sits at the corner of Broadway and Gulf of Mexico Drive. What’s your position on that specifically?
I am reluctant to use eminent domain unless we’re really desperate. Once we use eminent domain it’s ours. We’ve heard from developers that one of the biggest expenses is removing the pumps. I would only use eminent domain as a last, last resort.

Some people said that the Town Commission changed the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate the Longboat Key Club and Resort’s expansion-and-redevelopment plan. What is your response?
I don’t view it as a change in the game, but better defining what the rules are. Non-residential uses are really very unclear. Using Whitney Beach Plaza as an example, the last thing a developer needs is to not understand what the rules are.

Property values may drop one more time. This would require more budget cuts — against the backdrop of town employees continuing to go without raises in recent years. What would be your expectations for how the town manager deals with that?
We didn’t increase the millage last year, and I think it’s safe to say we won’t increase the millage for the budget coming up. Slowly but surely we’re becoming more efficient. I don’t think $1,000 bonuses (given last December to full-time town employees as a one-time payment that did not increase base salaries) are going to happen again. You’ve got to be nimble and see what’s going on and how things are changing. But I don’t think it’s going to be coming out of town employees’ hydes.

The commission voted last year to extend a continuance of the town’s tourism abandonment requirement. If the parties don’t show progress, are there steps the commission should take?
I hope all of them will find out that there’s a better solution than giving all of their money to their lawyers. I am prepared to pull the plug in December. Have any of you looked at the Colony property lately? This is the Longboat Key executive in me talking, but it’s a disaster for Longboat Key.

Would you be willing to relax the sign code in any way?
I think the sign code works pretty well. I’d leave it alone.

 What do you think of Vice Mayor David Brenner's responses?