- February 10, 2026
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Tina Adams is rarely in front of the camera or the center of attention, but she is behind many of the words, photos and videos that help inform the Longboat Key community.
While residents may see “A Minute with Mager,” in which Police Chief Russ Mager shares PSAs on the town’s social media, what they don't see is Adams is the one behind the camera. And the one posting it.
Or take a one-pager sharing the news of a community meeting. Adams wrote it.
Adams spreads the news without being the news, sharing updates on emergencies and police investigations with the media. You might see her name in the paper, but the story is never about her.
She has multiple titles: fire administration manager. Public information officer. On her shirt is another title: support services manager.
“It’s easier to fit,” she said.
As public information officer, she answers and responds (promptly) to requests from news media for information, runs the town’s various social media pages to share information directly with residents and visitors and composes email blasts on behalf of the town.
But her main role is as fire administration manager. In that realm, she compiles monthly, quarterly and annual statistics on Fire Rescue/EMS responses, organizes community events like CPR training and leads the administrative side of the department, overseeing the logistics officer and fire rescue liaison.
She also helps with communications duties for the police department (the department that hired her as a dispatcher back in 1999) and the town as a whole, which has a six-person communications team made up of employees who all have other full-time jobs, just like Adams. That team, which retired along with do-all Assistant Town Manager Susan Phillips in March, was organically re-formed when town staff were gathered at the Emergency Operations Center during the 2024 hurricanes.
“Myself, Tara (Peta) and Stephanie (Garcia) were in the EOC together and discussed what to put out to the public by what the town manager, fire chief and other department heads were saying,” Adams said.
That started a makeshift communications team that has taken on other duties as needed, like getting the word out about a recent photo contest, and then reviewing all 250 entries to determine a winner. Job not done, now Tina and company will spread the word to residents to vote for Longboat’s submission to become the cover of the Florida City and County Management Association Membership Directory.
Her police and fire career choice runs in the family. Her husband is a lieutenant with the Venice Police Department and her oldest son, now 22, is a firefighter/paramedic with North Port Fire Rescue. Sometimes she takes her work home, depending on the news of the day, but it doesn’t keep her from spending quality time with her family.
At home, her two youngest sons, 11 and 9, keep her just as busy as her career.
Before she came to Longboat Key, Adams worked with Sarasota County as a dispatcher and was also a volunteer firefighter. Her experiences across the first responder universe, from dispatch to police to fire, have prepared her for the many hats she wears today, and past relationships have led her to her current role. As a volunteer firefighter with Sarasota County Fire Department, she met now Longboat Fire Chief Paul Dezzi, who has had a big impact on Adams.
“Chief Dezzi is the biggest mentor I’ve ever had,” she said. “I knew him when I worked at Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office where I was a dispatcher and he was a firefighter. I was with the Police Department for the first 16 years. Dezzi reached out when Fire Rescue had a position open up. I didn’t hesitate.”
