by SC Reporter Reese Holiday
Tim Drobnyk doesn’t normally see himself in the spotlight, but when the decision came to run for Sanibel city council, he knew which choice to make.
“It was a big decision,” Drobnyk said. “It’s not my normal thing to be kind of in the public eye let’s say, but at the same token I thought it was the right thing to do and I had confidence in myself to do it.
Drobnyk has been a full-time resident of Sanibel for 21 years. Before he settled down on the island with his wife, who grew up on Sanibel, Drobnyk earned his undergraduate degrees in accounting and finance from Elon University.
Since arriving on the island, Drobnyk has gotten involved with the community, organizing the island’s youth sports league. He said he wanted to continue his involvement in the community, especially after people recommended his city council candidacy.
“I had some different people talking to me about it for the better part of the last year,” Drobnyk said. “They just kind of got in my ear saying they think I’ll do a good job doing it. Whatever their reasons were, I think it kind of boiled down to the fact that it takes a lot to get me flustered, I don’t have any agenda and I’m kind of just pulling for Sanibel.”
One of the more prominent issues that Drobnyk would like to address on city council is the COVID-19 pandemic. He said everyone is dealing with the pandemic and encourages the use of masks and social distancing to keep island goers and businesses safe.
“We need to have people down here, we need to be what we are which is a tourist destination, we need our businesses open, we need them to flourish,” Drobnyk said. “I think the businesses did a good job about staying afloat and not closing, but I also know that some of these smaller ones are suffering a bit. I feel that it’s necessary to keep our businesses open, but I equally think that we need to take the measures to try to protect our citizens.”
Drobnyk said following the pandemic, water quality is the most important issue to the island. He added that he wants to keep fighting for the island’s clean water, but it’s going to take more than just Sanibel.
“It’s easy to say I want to keep fighting for water quality, which of course we do, but that’s a huge issue that involves more than just Sanibel,” Drobnyk said. “I think that just needs to be continued to push forward and to advocate.”
Drobnyk said he wants to connect with the community that he has called home for 21 years. He said it’s a two-way street when it comes to the citizens making their concerns known and the concerns being heard by the city.
With that, Drobnyk said he doesn’t want to get too far away from the foundations that made Sanibel what it is. Instead, Drobnyk wants to keep the island’s principles close while they adapt with the everchanging times.
“I don’t want to get away from our principles,” Drobnyk said. “It is making sure that we adapt when necessary as we kind of change with times, as long as we can stick to our principles and not go too far outside of the box.”
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