Incumbents Daly and Spoll want another term

Incumbents Jack Daly and George Spoll say they plan to seek re-election to the Longboat Key Town Commission, joining Commissioner Jim Brown who filed his re-election paperwork in August, months before the Nov. 13 deadline.

No challengers to the sitting commissioners have yet filed to run. 

Daly, 82, a Norwich, Conn. native, said he is running again in the March election because there are a number of issues in the town he is involved with that he wants to see come to fruition, including changes in the zoning code, the $48 million project to bury and upgrade the town's utility connections and creation of a Town Center that would include the Longboat Key Arts, Culture and Education Center, a joint project with the Ringling College of Art and Design.

“I add value to the commission,” said Daly, a Club Longboat resident, who has served on the town Planning & Zoning Board before being elected commissioner.

Daly, a former chief executive officer of Columbia Gas’ distribution companies who also has a law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law, also supports adding more public pickleball courts. He tried the sport, which uses a smaller version of a tennis court, last year and called it contagious.

In Longboat, a commissioner is elected to a two-year term and cannot hold office for three consecutive terms, or six years. Both Spoll and Brown do not face term limits. If Daly is re-elected, however, he will not be able to run for office for two years.

To run for office in Longboat, a candidate needs to designate a campaign treasurer and campaign account information, according to the Town Clerk. Plus, he needs to sign a Statement of the Candidate, which verifies he has been provided with a copy of the Florida election law and understands it. The last two requirements are a statement of financial interest and a signed candidate oath.

Also, the candidate needs to file a petition with the signatures of 10 registered voters with the Supervisor of Elections in either Sarasota County or Manatee County, depending where his residence is located.

There is no filing fee because Town Commission members are not paid.

Spoll, 84, the current Longboat mayor, has picked up his documents to run for office again, according to the Town Clerk. Spoll also served as Longboat  from 2009 to 2011.

Spoll, originally from West Harford, Conn., is a retired MIT trained architectural engineer and home builder, according to his biography in Preserving Our Coastal Waters, a Longboat nonprofit whose mission is to improve coastal waters.