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Long takes her turn in the limelight
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN SEMINOLE -- For Janet Long, her time has finally come. After years of working behind the scenes for politicians, she is now one herself after winning a seat Tuesday on the Seminole City Council. The win was no fluke. She says her hard work was rewarded by receiving more votes than any of the other four candidates. "I developed a strategy," she said. "I developed a budget. I developed a time line." Long said she treated her first political race the same as if she were running for the Florida Legislature. She said people kept telling her to relax. "This is Seminole," she said they told her. "You don't have to do all that stuff. You're not running for governor." But relax doesn't appear to be something Long does that often. She admits to having a strong personality. "I do intend to be proactive (on the council), but if that offends or bothers other people, I'll just have to deal with that if it happens," Long, 57, said Thursday. "I like to think that is one of the reasons people elected me. "I'm not shy. I'm fairly well-known in the community. I don't think I'm perceived as a loose cannon, so this should be a good thing for everybody." Long has loved politics all her adult life. But it wasn't until she moved from New York to Florida in the early 1970s that she got her first taste of political power. After working as a secretary for local attorney Dennis DeLoach, she was hired as an aide to Roger Wilson, a state representative. She was hooked. "I developed a huge interest in government and its process," she said. But when Wilson decided not to run again, Long was out of a job. The divorced mother of one applied for an administrative position for Seminole. She remembers the interview with council members during a regular meeting in the late '70s. She says they asked her some embarrassing questions. As a woman, how was she going to supervise the men in the city's public works department? As a single mother, what kind of arrangements had she made for her child? Any current plans to remarry? Today, Long just giggles at the memory. She marvels at how the working world has changed. "Women have come a long way," she said. "If you asked these questions today, you'd be hit with the biggest lawsuit going." While Long was working for the city, she remarried. Her husband, Richard Long, is now retired from Seminole Fire Rescue. She left her job when her oldest son was born. After her youngest son was born, two years later, she was hired by state Rep. Mary Grizzle to manage the local office of the Pinellas County Legislative Delegation. "I was thrilled with that because I really missed the public service element," said Long, who worked for the office from 1980 until 1986. She worked as an aide for state Rep. Ron Glickman before she was hired to oversee the regional office for the Florida Department of Insurance. She stayed there 11 years before starting her own consulting business. Why always on the sidelines of political races until now? "Like everything else in life, it's all about timing and where you want to put your energy," Long answered. "It has always been a passion of mine to run for public office," but raising children and caring for parents came first, she said. "I am very intense and passionate about the things I do. I never do things just a little bit." Until she could devote all her energy to an elected position, she wouldn't run for office, she said. Today, her three children -- Anissa, 33, Paul, 23, and Logan, 21 -- are grown and her father, whom she helped care for, has died. She has the time. Long said she didn't just wake up one morning and decide to run for office. Until her Quail Ridge neighborhood was annexed into Seminole in 2000, she wasn't able to run for a seat on the council. Once she decided to seek office, she had homework to do. She attended City Council meetings for a year and a half. "I personally would have a very hard time being effective if I didn't know what I was doing," she said. "I wanted to know what the issues were." She ran a hard campaign, spending nearly $8,000. She put up more signs than the other candidates, Bob Matthews, Carol Hajek, Ed Dobyns and John Counts. She sent mailings. She talked with business groups and neighborhood associations. And now she has a policy agenda. Promote smart annexation. "'I think that it's really important to identify what our values are and what we want our identity to be." Work on traffic problems. She's concerned about what will happen to 102nd Avenue when the Bryan Dairy extension to Interstate 275 is done. "It's already bumper-to-bumper traffic on this end." Economic redevelopment. She plans to use her political and business connections. "I think there are opportunities to bring some attention to our area of the world." Mayor Dottie Reeder says she welcomes Long's enthusiasm. "I know she's going to get involved not just in our local community, but also throughout the state," she said. Does Reeder fear Long's aggressiveness will change the dynamics of the mostly agreeable council? "I don't think it's going to change a whole lot," she said. "It's difficult to do that with one person." But Long hopes to provoke some meaningful discussion. "I want to make something happen in a positive way," she said. "Not everyone is always going to agree with me."
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