For his 27 years of public, Lane Gilchrist was paid a total of $27. He was fair and had no hidden agendas. Lane didn’t worry about Sunshine Laws because he spoke freely at public meetings and encouraged the other council members to do so, too.
Lane ran a very open council meeting. If there were guests in the audience, he would find out what agenda items that interested them and rearrange the agenda so that the citizens didn’t have to sit through an entire meeting. He let everyone speak on the issues and often asked the audience for comments. He particularly liked it when Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts were in attendance. Lane made sure that they understood what was happening.
Lane and I didn’t always agree on issues, but the disagreements weren’t personal. We forgot about the vote as soon as it was over. We moved on to the next issue. He never tried to find a candidate to run against me or anyone else.
Lane will be missed and the City of Gulf Breeze will be forever in his debt.
