Jack Daly to seek District 4 seat

Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Board Vice Chairman Jack Daly will seek the District 4 seat on the Longboat Key Town Commission.

Town Clerk Trish Granger notified Daly in an email Friday that he qualified to run for the seat in the town’s March 10, 2015 general municipal election.

At press time, Daly was the only candidate who has qualified for the District 4 seat.

Mayor Jim Brown, who has held the District 4 seat for more than five-and-a-half years and will term-limit out of office in 2015, told the Longboat Observer in September that he hoped Daly would consider a run.

“I think he’d be a good commissioner, and he’s taken an interest in the town,” Brown said at the time.

Daly, 78, said he spoke to several individuals before deciding to run.

“Jim Brown was influential, I’ll tell you that, as were several other commissioners,” he said.

Originally from Norwich, Conn., Daly graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Worcester, Mass., and began his career as a civil engineer with Columbia Gas. He went on to graduate from Seton Hall University School of Law and serve in a number of roles in Columbia Gas, eventually becoming president of its distribution companies.

The commission appointed Daly to the planning board in 2011 and re-appointed him for a second three-year term in May.

Daly said he enjoys his work on the planning board but believes he can do a better job as a commissioner.

“I guess the biggest issue is to focus on planning aspects and strategic planning,” he said. “We’re in the beginning stages of reviewing and revising the Comp Plan and codes to bring them up to their current needs. In my past corporate experience, among other things, strategic planning was always my pet topic.”

Daly bought his unit at Club Longboat in 1988 and retired in 1993. He currently serves as president of Club Longboat’s condo association and is also an avid tennis player.

At press time, there were no confirmed races for the upcoming election.

Vice Mayor Jack Duncan has qualified to seek a final term in his District 2 seat, and Commissioner Phill Younger has qualified to run for a final term in his at-large seat. Duncan and Younger are the only candidates who have qualified for their seats.

Gene Jaleski picked up a candidate packet but has not yet submitted materials to run, according to Granger.

Jaleski refused to comment about whether he plans to run.

Commissioner Pat Zunz holds the seat in District 5, where Jaleski lives, and has more than one year remaining in her term; Jaleski would have to challenge Younger for his at-large seat if he opts to run in 2015.

The deadline for candidates to qualify is Nov. 17.

Jack Daly
Age: 78
Hometown: Norwich, Conn.
Career: Civil engineer and attorney; retired as president of Columbia Gas System
Family: Widowed with four grown children and six grandchildren