Gans re-elected mayor of Longboat Key, Zunz named vice mayor

When Terry Gans was chosen in December to take over the mayor’s seat from Jack Duncan, who stepped down for health reasons, he knew his run as mayor might be short.

At the time, Gans told his wife, Diane, that if he only had four months as mayor, he was going to get a year’s worth of work done.

Key residents will now get to see how much Gans can accomplish in an actual year. Commissioners chose Gans to serve a full term as mayor at a Town Commission meeting on Monday evening. Commissioners chose Ed Zunz as vice mayor.

“It sounds cliche, but it is an honor,” Gans said after the meeting, which was attended by dozens of people.

Following last week’s elections, Monday’s meeting was held to formally seat Jim Brown, re-seat Jack Daly and George Spoll and choose a mayor and vice mayor.

Armando Linde was the single commissioner who did not voice his support for Gans for the mayorship, instead nominating and voting for Spoll. Spoll, along with the rest of the commissioners, cast their votes for Gans.

When it came time to select the vice mayor, the decision was less clear cut.

Again, Linde nominated Spoll. Spoll nominated Zunz. Daly nominated Brown. Gans nominated Irwin Pastor.

As four votes are required for the position, it took two rounds of voting before the vice mayorship was decided in Zunz’s favor.

Zunz said he was honored and surprised, despite lessons learned during his professional career. “As a lawyer, you always learn to consider every possibility,” Zunz said.

The Town Commission also bid farewell to outgoing Vice Mayor Phill Younger, who reached his term limit.

The commissioners shared kind words about Younger, portraying him as a hard-working commissioner whose productivity knew no bounds, who managed to be both flexible and steadfast in his decision-making. Pastor praised Younger for his attention to detail.

“It’s all a pack of lies,” Younger responded to his colleagues, jokingly. “But I appreciate them.”

Younger said it has been a privilege to serve the town.

“I don’t know where I’m going to go when I leave this mortal coil,” Younger said. “But at least I know I made it to heaven while I’m alive.”