- December 13, 2025
-
-
Loading
Loading
At its best, democracy fosters debate, policy discussion and packed town halls.
Not so in the March election for Longboat Key Town Commission. Don’t blame the candidates, though.
With three open commission seats and only three candidates filing before the noon, Nov. 17 deadline, incumbents Gary Coffin and Sarah Karon will be reelected, and Nick Gladding is all-but-confirmed to be sworn in to serve on the Town Commission. Commission terms are for three years.
Coffin will retain his District 1 seat, which represents the southernmost portion of the island.
Karon's appointment was to serve a 14-month term from January 2024 to March 2025, and then elected by residents to serve the remainder of Debbie Murphy’s term from March 2025 to March 2026. Karon’s seat became available after the resignation of Murphy, because she did not want to abide by a newly passed state law requiring commissioners to disclose financial information, which would show their net worth.
Coffin has lived on the Gulf Coast since the early 90s when he moved to work in advertising at the now-defunct WBSV television station. He then switched career paths to merchant services and eventually found CCAD, LLC which he still runs, though he hasn’t added new accounts since 2014.
With more time on his hands, he got into volunteering with Longboat Key, first as homeowners association president of Country Club Shores I and II and then serving on the planning and zoning board.
“Planning and Zoning Board is a good learning ground for people interested in moving into local government, which I wasn’t at all,” Coffin said. “I joined Planning and Zoning as something to do because I was running out of things to do with the house and the boat. But what that did was allow me to meet a lot of employees with the town. Department heads and all the other employees that make this town run, they are exceptional. This election coming up, I’ve had time to get to know them better, and (Town Manager Howard) Tipton has come on and he is a wealth of knowledge. That convinced me to go ahead and give it another run.”
Gladding is president of the Republican Club of Longboat Key and is a former environmental and land use lawyer. He will replace Longboat Key Mayor Ken Schneier as representative for District 3 in the middle of the island. Gladding said Schneier encouraged him to run for the District 3 seat to replace him, thinking his experience in environmental law and advocacy would be valuable to the town.
“A lot of people say they want to keep Longboat Key Longboat Key. My own theory is we need to keep Longboat Key forever,” Gladding said. “In order to keep it forever you’ve got to be able to deal with all the environmental issues and deal with the canals and deal with the money its gonna take for mitigation and hardening in regard to sea level rise, and I believe I can be helpful with all that.”
Gladding filling Schneier’s seat does not make him mayor. The commission takes a vote on who they wish to represent the town as mayor shortly after an election.
The election will be March 10, 2026. The new commission will meet for the first time March 23 where they will choose a mayor and then hold a workshop.
