Charter review presents opportunity for change for Longboat Key

The town is due for its once-a-decade review of its charter, which means a chance to look at bigger policy and governance matters on the Key.

By S.T. Cardinal
| 5:00 a.m. May 5, 2026

The original 1957 Longboat Key Town Charter is printed on rice paper and stored at Town Hall, along with copies of the original document printed in 1959.

Longboat Key
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A local government’s charter is a big deal.

“It is your municipal constitution,” Longboat Key Town Attorney Maggie Mooney said. “It’s going to describe where your boundaries are. It’s going to talk about elected official’s seats, terms and qualifications. It’s going to talk about what your fiduciary responsibilities are. You’re going to have a description of your legislative body.”

The town of Longboat Key operates under the council-manager form of government. At the town’s strategic planning retreat in April, Mooney explained to the Town Commission the ins and outs of the town’s charter and how the island split by a county line operates compared to other municipalities.

“We are right there on the bubble of two different counties who operate very differently. All of the cities in Sarasota County have council-manager forms of government, and we lean into that, meaning we have a professional manager who is tasked with leading us and helping us administer those day-to-day items,” Mooney said. “I say we’re on the bubble because we look to the north and in Manatee County they all have strong mayor form of governments, which are different than the way we operate… We are unlike the other cities of Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach, city of Bradenton and Palmetto.”

The town charter is not permanent, though. It’s been amended several times, and the possibility to do so again is possible next year when the town’s Charter Review Committee will be reformed and reconvene.

“Charter Review Committee will be coming to you probably in the next year,” Mooney told commissioners at the strategic planning retreat. “We're going to be up for a charter review in 2027, so just start thinking about these things.”

Consequential charter changes

The last time Longboat Key’s charter was amended was in 2018 after voters approved changes recommended by the Charter Review Committee and then greenlit by the Town Commission.

Voters approved the recommended changes in a referendum with 55% of the vote in support of the 30 recommended changes. Most of those changes were described at the time as minor and “administrative,” changing verbiage to align the town with state law. But a few of the changes were notable.

One such change was to extend term lengths for commissioners from two to three years. The charter amendments also allowed the town to hire an assistant town manager. Another change paved the way for the town to pursue bonds up to $5 million without first gaining voter approval.

Decades earlier, there was an even more consequential charter amendment, commonly referred to by town leaders as the most pivotal moment in Longboat Key government history.

In 1985, voters approved an amendment that all but halted the rapid growth the barrier island had begun to see. In a special election, voters approved adding the following section to the Town Charter:

“The present density limitations provided in the existing comprehensive plan as adopted March 12, 1984, shall not be increased without the referendum approval of the electors of Longboat Key.”

Those 29 words have done more to “Keep Longboat Longboat” than any other town law in the books, for they require any additional requested density on the island to go before voters.

The Charter Review Committee last convened in 2017 and, according to the charter itself, must reconvene every decade.

Traditionally, the committee is made up of residents who are appointed by Town Commission. The group is dissolved after it meets and makes its recommendations.

“It is considered an ad hoc committee, tasked with reviewing and making recommendations for any charter amendments,” said Town Clerk Trish Shinkle. “The committee sunsets once it submits its final report to the Town Commission.”

At the town’s strategic planning retreat, newly elected Commissioner Nick Gladding requested the topic of forming a charter review committee be discussed at an upcoming Town Commission workshop meeting.

“I had suggested to (Town Manager Howard) Tip(ton) and (Assistant Town Manager) Isaac (Brownman) that we have a timing issue because it has to be done under state law by the end of May or June of 2027,” Gladding said. “One of the advantages of trying to deal with it this year as opposed to next year is we will have two new commissioners next year and they won’t be elected until March. That would give very little time for them to deal with the charter. My idea was let’s at least throw it out there that we can do it this year.”

Charter review discussion will appear on the agenda of the May 18 workshop meeting, Shinkle said.

author

S.T. Cardinal

S.T. "Tommy" Cardinal is the Longboat Key news reporter. The Sarasota native earned a degree from the University of Central Florida in Orlando with a minor in environmental studies. In Central Florida, Cardinal worked for a monthly newspaper covering downtown Orlando and College Park. He then worked for a weekly newspaper in coastal South Carolina where he earned South Carolina Press Association awards for his local government news coverage and photography.