- June 29, 2026
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George Landry has signed on the dotted line to become the next town manager of Longboat Key, following in the footsteps of his former boss — again.
Howard Tipton and Landry worked together at St. Lucie County for years before Tipton left for the Gulf Coast to take the Longboat Key job. Landry took over as county administrator for Tipton in his stead, and the two have kept in touch.
“I’d never been to Longboat Key except to visit Howard during his time here. I’d come over and visit him colleague to colleague long before this opportunity was even a discussion,” Landry said. “There was no agenda, no long-term plan, nothing. Even when Tip was leaving St. Lucie County, I was not looking at the county administrator position. I was encouraged by a few folks at the time to just go through the process with the understanding I’m going to be in a talented pool of individuals, but it would be a great experience, not actually thinking I would be the No. 1 pick on the other side of that.”
When Tipton told commissioners in April that he would retire as Longboat Key town manager, he was instructed by Town Commission to make a recommendation for his replacement. The man who replaced him for St. Lucie County’s top job was one of the top choices to replace him again, and Landry was interested. And now, he is set to replace Tipton in the top staff role of a local government once again.
“Big hill to climb,” Landry said. “It is something that I’ll always be striving to achieve that level of greatness, but don’t know if I’ll ever make it.”
Landry grew up in Michigan, enlisting in the Army after graduating high school. He served for years before returning home, but the 9/11 terrorist attacks motivated him to put back on the uniform.
Like many Midwest transplants, his path to Florida was via vacation. After returning from a tour in Iraq in 2010, Landry and his family took a vacation before he was deployed to Afghanistan.
“The wife fell in love with Florida and jokingly told me she was going to move to Florida while I was overseas because she got tired of doing Michigan winters by herself while I was gone,” Landry remembers. “When I left for Afghanistan, she packed up six kids and found a place in Florida in St. Lucie County and moved there.”
When he retired from the military, he got a job with St. Lucie County, where he has worked since 2013. Habits from his time in the military have remained.
“I like physical fitness. I like to work out. I like to run. I’m still kind of in the military mindset when it comes to fitness,” Landry said. “I still get up at 4:45 every morning seven days a week no matter what.”
Landry also plays pickleball a few times a week.
Most of his free time, though, is spent with family. He has six children and nine grandchildren.
“We’re very family focused,” Landry said. “We like to get together and enjoy the family time. That’s our most joy is being with the kids and the grandkids.”
Landry’s wife, Judy, is a registered nurse but recently got into teaching. When the two move to the Gulf Coast, she will likely return to nursing, George said.
Landry will receive a housing allowance as town manager. He said he wants to find a place on Longboat Key eventually, but with a house in St. Lucie County where two of his kids will remain for the time being, renting on the mainland will probably be the short-term solution.
“We want to make our way to Longboat Key and live on the island because I believe it’s important to live in the community that you’re serving, but probably for the first year or so we will probably have an apartment in Sarasota right across the bridge there,” Landry said. “I’ll need probably about a year or two to figure out what we’re going to do with our home in St. Lucie County.”
