Mike Selby Wants To Be Your Mayor. Let's Meet Him...

Mike Selby

Your neighbor Mike Selby is one accomplished guy. From humble beginnings, through war-time military service and then nurturing a successful business from scratch to significant size and success, he’s a consummate “been there, done that” guy. And now he wants to be your next mayor and to lead Anna Maria out of its recent ugliness and back to where each of you fell in love with it in the first place. He answered a few questions about who he is and why he is running:



Hello Mike. Thanks for opening up and letting us know a little bit about you. It’s rumored you’re pretty tough and sort of a Horatio Alger type guy…

Oh no, tough is your word. I was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and grew up in a small town nearby called Littlestown. I don’t consider myself tough, but I do remember toting water from a spring, frogs and all, to the house. But we were kids. We were independent and made do. And we were happy. In the mid-fifties, that was not what I’d call privileged. We didn’t even have pickle ball back then!

More on that pickle ball thing later. So how’d you break away from that kind of upbringing?

When I graduated from Littlestown High School, I joined the Navy. See the world, you know? After spending time out in the fleet, a senior officer took me under his wing and recommended me for the Naval Academy and a senator was gracious enough to give me an appointment so I went to the Naval Academy Preparatory School. I didn’t bust out, but I just wasn’t that comfortable, so I opted out of the program.

So what did the Navy say about that?

I’m not sure what they said about it but I found myself in Vietnam a few weeks later, so that may be a clue. Flew hovercraft, ferrying Marines and 82nd and 101st Army Airborne divisions around parts of the world I hadn’t intended traveling to! But I did what was expected of me as best I could and got my honorable discharge in 1969.

So you were a Navy pilot. How’d you become a railroad man?

After my discharge from the Navy, I worked for the Santa Fe Railway Company in their real estate department in Los Angeles, California. Didn’t get to see much of the world, but it was great training for the next phase of my life.

And that was?

Well, nobody in my family graduated from college, so during the time I worked at Santa Fe I went to night school and received a BS degree in Finance with a minor in Real Estate from Cal State Los Angeles. And that was the springboard for my forming the Selby Company. Maybe something to do with my “tough” youth, that independence thing.

So, what did this Selby Company specialize in?

The railroad experience steered me toward our specialty: Industrial and commercial real estate sales, leasing and development.

And what is this we hear about a pro football hall of famer you partnered with?

In 1988 I partnered with Lance Alworth in a joint venture partnership with the Southern Pacific Railroad. We built in excess of 1,250,000 square feet of self-storage in over 20 facilities in California. I was in charge of permitting all of the projects, working with cities from inception to occupancy, working with our construction company to build the projects and with our management company to put the management in place.

So we can assume you have a bit of experience with the give and take between local government and commercial development, yes?

A bit, yes. Like 22 years’ worth, 10 of that in the trenches.

Good thing you didn’t burn any bridges with the railroad, huh?

Amen to that. And in 1998 we bought out the Southern Pacific Railroad’s storage facilities and continue to own and operate those facilities today. I retired from “active duty” in the company in 1998.

So what the heck is pickle ball?

It’s funny how some people are just as interested in my pickle ball prowess as my position on millage rates or setbacks or beach renourishment. We picked it up 10 years ago when we were traveling around the states in our RV and just love the game and the camaraderie with other players from all over the country. It’s a little like tennis with a hip-high net but with paddles instead of racquets and smaller court. Lot’s of action but easier on the legs. Believe me, it’s a great workout and it keeps me fit. We have a regular pickle ball program we helped start here at the AMI Community Center. I can already see I will have to make it a part of my campaign platform. Pickle Ball For All!

Tell us about your number one pickle ball partner.

Well, we’ve played pickle ball together for ten years, but my wife Mary and I have been a team for 28 years! We have 3 grown children and 3 grandbabies.

And there are some other reasons we see you and Mary about town often aren’t there?

Mary and I like being involved. We are members of Roser Church, Key Royale Golf Club and Bradenton Country Club. Mary is on the board of the Historical Museum. In 2009, I was President of Key Royale Club and Chairman of the Stewardship and Finance Committee at Roser where I continue to serve on that committee.

Didn’t we hear the Key Royale Club was having its share of the same problems as other golf clubs around the country, what with the recession and all?

Ah, another understatement! I owe it all to the team we put together on the board there, but you might say we were having a tough time getting out of the rough, so to speak. Not only did we turn it around, but the club is now running in the black and membership is up considerably since then. Identified the problem, eliminated unnecessary distractions and worked together until a solution was found. Just needed a little leadership. Our team provided that and the results speak for themselves.

In your announcement of your candidacy, you said you were at a crossroad: To move or run for Mayor. What brought you to that point?

We love our city and chose to make it our home in 2003. We roamed the country in our RV, leaving southern California looking for a “better place” to live. Anna Maria was the first place we returned to a second time and to say we found our little piece of Paradise is an understatement. It’s a very special place, like “old Florida,” quiet, laid back, friendly, and unpretentious. We have never looked back.

We hear you love North Carolina, too.

Well, you know, there’s that old saying “what’s not to love?” It’s a magical place and yes, we do enjoy spending time there but the house has been for sale for a good while now. Believe me, when obligations keep us here, we are here. When we were building our house, we spent maybe 3 three weeks up there the entire time. When I was president at Key Royale I never missed a board meeting. If the voters of Anna Maria honor me by electing me mayor, they can be sure I will honor that honor, so to speak, and make the office and the city my priority. Besides, like I said, the house is for sale and with a little luck we’ll find a buyer soon.

Tell us about your decision to run for Mayor.

The magic of our adventure here is we know many, many people that feel the same way we do about the city. Someone once told me, about Anna Maria, that you either get it or you don’t, and those who don’t move on. Hey, I get it! And I think being Mayor is a way for me to give back, and help keep the city from going the way of the rest of Florida. We continue to support the city, local businesses, the Playhouse, the Community Center and our church. We do whatever we can to try to make Anna Maria a better place to live.

Thanks for your time Mike. This has been fun but we hope you will let us sit down with you again before the election and talk about some of the real issues facing Anna Maria.

Yes, it’s a little embarrassing talking about me. I’m not used to it but I hope it helps readers get to know me. But I also hope people realize that ultimately this election isn’t about me or about anyone else for that matter. It is about where this city is right now, where the citizens want it to go and what we, all of us, are going to do to get it there. I believe I can use my life and professional experiences to help lead my fellow citizens to a better Anna Maria, an Anna Maria that reflects the virtues of why we all came here, and stayed here, in the first place. Mary and I look forward to making many new friends in the next few months.