Rays, race chief topics of discussion at Tiger Bay forum

The Suncoast Tiger Bay Club’s Nov. 25 meeting and forum was entitled “What Just Happened?” The title was originally supposed to refer to the 2024 election, a sweeping Republican triumph in Florida and nationwide – but the participants, like just about everyone else in Pinellas County, were consumed by baseball, both inside and out.

Moderated by Tiger Bay Executive Director Rev. JC Pritchett II, the panel was headlined by newly-elected County Commissioner – and vocal opponent of the pending deal between the City, the County and the Tampa Bay Rays – Vince Nowicki (R–St. Petersburg), with St. Petersburg NAACP President Esther Eugene and reporter Mark Parker of the St. Pete Catalyst rounding out the group. The Rays, and the deal’s impact (or lack thereof) on the community came up again and again during the often-fractious hour.

In some of his first public comments since the vote to further delay the Pinellas County bond issuance for the stadium, which prompted an emotional St. Petersburg City Council to stop work on Tropicana Field restoration, Nowicki defended himself and the Commission. “My first day on the job, if you will, the Rays sent a letter – two hours before our meeting – saying that because of the first delay they felt they could no longer move forward.

“They can’t bear, quote, ‘the cost of the stadium alone,’ end-quote.”

Eugene, a deal advocate, expressed sadness at the deal’s collapse, saying it would be more crucial than ever after the devastation of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. “When I say I’m standing up for equitable opportunities for everyone, it’s bigger than equitable opportunities for Blacks. It’s bigger than equitable opportunities for women … now we have some folks on the beaches who have lost their jobs and don’t see a path forward. They need the equitable opportunities as well.”

“So when I look at the global project, I’m disappointed, because it’s delayed, but I promise you that the people who need the jobs still have bills to pay.”

A long back-and-forth about who is to blame – and who originally owned the land the stadium is built upon – followed. Pritchett, an ally of Mayor Ken Welch, commented that the original Gas Plant district was not an area of “manicured lawns and playgrounds and beautiful mortgages,” which is why it was chosen for redevelopment in the 1980s. “Who’s going to be looking at equity or fairness or sharing of this land in the next chapter?”

“If you’re taking land for eminent domain that’s no longer being used for that intended purpose, shouldn’t it just go back to the people? Let’s just do that, and call it a day,” countered Nowicki.

“When people say ‘give it back to the people,’ there were no people,” Pritchett answered. “There were not 900 people who had mortgages in 1970 in St. Petersburg that the white man came and took their mortgage and their house. That’s not what happened. There were out of town landlords …”

“Well, I don’t think it was ‘the white man.’ I disagree with that,” Nowicki cut in, noting that Councilmember David Welch, current mayor Welch’s father, had been the swing vote in favor of the original Gas Plant project in the ‘80s.

When Pritchett reiterated that the original land had had largely out of town landlords rather than owner-occupiers, Nowicki suggested the land instead be offered for sale to former Gas Plant residents.

Eugene was unmoved.

“All the times when we talk about who’s to blame, who’s not to blame – I mean we’re all to blame. This is our city.

“For me, it’s not about the past. It’s how we move forward.”

Later in the session, Eugene remarked upon the re-election of Chair Deborah Figgs-Sanders, a prominent deal supporter, as evidence that the community continued to support the Gas Plant deal. Nowicki countered that he had himself voted for Figgs-Sanders, and only a referendum could express the people’s will.

“[I think] the City should have put the Rays stadium and Gas Plant development deal up for a referendum,” he said. “If my colleagues want to move forward with the Rays bond issue, I look forward to bringing up a special election to leave it up to the voters countywide. If they want to issue the bonds, leave it up to the people’s hands.”

(In a follow-up with the Catalyst, Nowicki clarified he was not making his position on the bonds conditional upon a referendum, but that it was one of “multiple ways of getting to a yes on this deal.”)

“It’s my understanding that the Rays have control over the land,” noted Parker. “Obviously, it’s super complex. I don’t think the City fully has their heads wrapped around what that entails – and how they’re going to get out of it.”

On that, if little else, all agreed.

Other highlights of the forum:

2024 election: To Eugene, Donald Trump’s victory was the result of discomfort at the prospect of a Black woman as President. She noted that her brother had been a police officer responding to the Capitol riot, and had been unable to continue work after Jan. 6, 2021. She said that Trump’s re-election despite that was due to racial discomfort.

“We need to call a spade a spade,” she said. “It’s not about the price of eggs and the price of milk. It is a Black woman, and the fear that she would be able to lead the country.”

Nowicki disagreed. “What I find disheartening is that we’re putting people into groups and separating folks,” he explained. “It’s really just racist to say that just because white women and white men and Hispanics voted for somebody, they’re not the President. It’s because a majority of Americans voted for somebody that they’re President.”

“Race does matter,” replied Eugene. “To think that we can show up and only show up as ‘American’ without any of those other things coming to the plate is living with very rose-tinted glasses. When I show up, I show up as a Black female, very tall, and depending on how I speak, very loud in my voice and in my space. I cannot get away with that simply because I’m an American. I show up, and typically they see the Black before they see the American.”

Money saved on the Gas Plant District: Nowicki suggested spending funds on beach renourishment or a potential convention center downtown.

“Even if the city does somehow regain control of [the land], the plan had a big convention enter,” commented Parker.

Nowicki replied it was 90,000 square feet, and Tampa’s (convention center) “is 600,000 square feet, Orlando’s a million square feet, Miami’s a million square feet.

“You can’t have 60,000 orthodontists of America come in [to that space] … You’re not getting any real economic impact with 90,000 square feet.”

Nowicki further noted that Tampa’s convention center was booked out through 2031.

Resiliency and hurricane response: Nowicki repeatedly contrasted the County’s hurricane performance with that of the City of St. Petersburg, noting that debris pickup had proceeded efficiently in unincorporated Pinellas and that Pinellas Water, unlike the City of St. Petersburg, had the ability to remotely shut down assets threatened with water intrusion. He proposed stipulating that St. Petersburg’s infrastructure be upgraded with tourism development tax funding from the County.

“This is one thing I’ve talked about with the County Attorney,” Nowicki said, “when the County does fund projects in the City of St. Pete … can we put on stipulations that say ‘hey, City of St. Pete, if we’re going to give you $30 million for the arts, let’s make sure we’re investing in our water and sewer first.”