Thrive
Does St. Pete need a cleaner, safer downtown?
Calls for police assistance in downtown St. Petersburg have soared alongside the area’s growth and popularity. Some city and business leaders believe a new initiative can mitigate those and other issues.
The Clean & Safe Program would include sidewalk scrubbing, graffiti abatement, beautification projects and ambassadors who provide safety services, walking residents or visitors to their cars or homes, and social outreach efforts to address homelessness. The entire city council attended an exploratory committee discussion on the initiative Thursday morning.
Equitably funding the program and helping, rather than just moving, the downtown homeless population was among the chief concerns. Many stakeholders bemoaned the number of unhoused individuals in the area at a June 5 council meeting.
“I know we’re saying it’s not a focus on homelessness, but I’ve heard ‘homeless’ 100 times,” Councilmember Deborah Figgs-Sanders said Thursday. “The speakers who spoke at an open forum made it very clear that their support was because of the homeless. They didn’t use graffiti, they didn’t use any of that … it was the homeless.”
Over 1,000 municipalities nationwide have adopted some form of a Clean & Safe program, often operated by nonprofits that manage local government contracts. Business improvement districts typically fund the initiatives through a special assessment on local property owners.
The Tampa Downtown Partnership manages the longest operating improvement district in Florida. It currently has a $6.6 million budget generated through an annual assessment levied on residents and businesses.
The St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership has long advocated for a similar program. CEO Jason Mathis said he would not apply to oversee the initiative, and $1 million could launch its first phase.
He began the discussion by emphasizing that the program is “absolutely not” an “anti-homeless initiative.” Mathis said it would help everyone enjoy a clean and safe downtown that has added over 20,000 new residents in a decade.
“You and I can walk into our house, lock the door with all our belongings, and be totally safe,” he said. “If you’re carrying around everything you have in a backpack, security is really important.”
Mathis highlighted statistics that show the St. Petersburg Police Department is on pace to handle 20,635 downtown calls in 2025. That far surpasses the 5,598 recorded in 2023 and 12,011 in 2024.
However, Mathis noted the program would primarily focus on maintenance. The first phase would offer enhanced cleaning services, including more frequent garbage collection, weed removal and power washing.
The second phase would provide safety ambassadors to identify code violations, support small businesses and assist the homeless. “We’re not trying to be security officers,” Mathis said. “Sort of a level between a regular citizen trying to manage a situation and a social worker managing the situation, before going all the way to a police officer managing the situation.”
The downtown partnership proposed a pilot program encompassing high-traffic areas around Central Avenue, Williams Park and Beach Drive. Mathis said it could later expand to other neighborhoods.
He said the area has most of the city’s parking meters, which could fund the program. Many residents have balked at paying additional taxes to clean up the mess left by visitors.
A map of the proposed area. Image: Screengrab, city documents.
The city, with Pinellas County’s approval, could also use the Intown Community Redevelopment Area’s (CRA) tax revenues to pay for services. Officials would eventually solicit proposals from organizations to operate the program.
“Anything we do will be hand-in-glove with the police department and social service providers to make sure we’re adding to the effort – being a part of the solution and not creating a negative experience for anybody, regardless of their housing circumstances,” Mathis said.
City Administrator Rob Gerdes said Mayor Ken Welch believes the program can provide a benefit but prefers downtown residents to fund it internally. He said officials could potentially expand parking meters to the EDGE District to help fund the pilot temporarily.
Council Chair Copley Gerdes and Councilmember Mike Harting appreciated the cleanliness aspects but expressed concern about establishing the second phase. All agreed that the program, particularly its funding mechanism, warranted additional discussion.
Councilmember Brandi Gabbard noted the meeting left more questions than answers regarding the “actual creation and enforcement” of a business improvement district (BID). She wondered if dedicating a percentage of the area’s sales taxes to the program is feasible.
“From all the research I have done about BIDs, the number one criticism is that they don’t sufficiently address the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness,” Gabbard said. “And so, to have this in phase two, I think, misses the mark.
“Homeless services have to be at the forefront of this, or cleaning up your garbage and your graffiti and your weed abatement downtown – who cares? If we’re not actually helping individuals … then I don’t even want to continue the conversation.”
Councilmember Gina Driscoll, who represents downtown and introduced the initiative, credited her colleagues for their feedback. She wants to explore using CRA funding already generated by area residents and businesses.
The council agreed to continue discussing the program at a Committee of the Whole meeting. However, the first open date is not until October, after the budgetary process, and Driscoll said there is “a real need right now.”
Gerdes will attempt to find an earlier date. “But right now, I don’t want to make that promise,” he said.
S. Rose Smith-Hayes
June 14, 2025at4:36 pm
CRA funds for a downtown problem, No please. Businesses and Condos downtown need to contribute to cleaning up downtown. The homeless issue should be addressed. I agree, find out what other cities are doing that is successful. Our leaders do not seem to have a clue. You cannot put them all in jail. There is a serious Mental Health Issue and a Drug use issue that is plaguing the Homeless.
Willi Rudowsky
June 13, 2025at4:15 pm
Several issues have been lumped together and that may delay improvements. Pressure washing sidewalks and more public trash cans would take care of dirt. One of the issues of homelessness is that shelters require people to not use drugs or alcohol. Frankly, if that is the self medication needed to deal with chronic homelessness, I can understand why people do it. Mental health issues are rampant and often overlooked and/or underfunded. Safer streets need to be approached from multiple fronts by people with expertise in each area.
Will Lemmon
June 13, 2025at3:17 pm
I fully support any effort to make downtown cleaner, safer, and more law abiding. If that means some homeless have to be moved to places that welcome them, then so be it.
Also, St. Pete may now have civil liability for tolerating certain behaviors under FL HB 1365. It’d be tragic if that’s where scarce funds have to be spent because St. Pete couldn’t follow the law.
Ryan Todd
June 13, 2025at3:03 pm
Businesses on Central should utilize utilize a Buisness Improvement District to fund whatever improvements they desire, but no public money should be spent to improve Central Ave.
Hugh Hazeltine
June 13, 2025at7:54 am
May I recommend a book: “Happy City” by Charles Montgomery
Memphis has such a program. Not sure if it was a private firm or staffed with volunteers. But they are cleaning and providing security on the streets. They will escort you if you desire. I thought it was sad that they needed to be there as I walked the ten blocks from the Sheraton Hotel to Beale Street.
As for St. Petersburg, we could benefit from more police presence. Just walking around can set a tone for good behavior.
In that vein, I would request we stop issuing liquor licenses to establishments that only serve liquor. While I like Key West, I don’t want us to emulate it.
Finally, Homelessness, we cannot choose to do nothing. It is upsetting to see our fellow humans in such an undesirable state. The current system of (PATH) 727-551-3783 Police Assisting the Homeless is ineffective. I have called the number and left a message and never got a call back. I have been told they are a small team who do not work on weekends. Pinellas county has a 66 page guide for services available to the Homeless at https://pinellas.gov/resource-guide-for-the-homeless/. No one need sleep on the streets if they will accept the help that is offered.
Matthew Grote
June 13, 2025at7:52 am
This program is an absolutely ridiculous proposition. Crime and bad behavior has gotten out of control in Saint Petersburg. This is a situation that requires greater funding and public support for the Saint Petersburg Police Department not power washing the sidewalks. Zero-tolerance works and Rudy Giuliani cleaned up New York City in the 90s with it and now NYC is going back to it.
Carol Donlon
June 13, 2025at6:13 am
As usual, the root of the problem is never discussed. The homeless problem in this country is a mental illness and drug addiction issue. Politicians never want to fix it, I can’t understand why not.
Fred Sherman
June 13, 2025at3:32 am
Maintenance & repair of the sidewalks, power washing after the weekend, street cleaning ,better signage for the tourists ,beautification, & last but not least get rid of all of the red & other markings that have been on the sidewalks for years.
Chantel E
June 12, 2025at8:02 pm
Thank you, Councilmember Brandi Gabbard!!
Also CRA funds to support that initiative?! No! I could think of 100000 other initiatives the city could be using the funds for instead of some enhanced cleaning services for downtown only, please.
JAMES GILLESPIE
June 12, 2025at3:58 pm
Empathy and sympathy can’t serve as the whole answer because some of the homeless seem destined to ignore reform or helping efforts. It is also not clear that the areas are secure from potential criminal activity. Probably a mixture of civil and police efforts and alternative sites and programs for offenders is best. With all the new condos downtown, it is odd this suddenly pops up as a problem. The city has had some kind of a homeless problem since I moved here years ago, and that condition is now a national problem. Study what other large cities have done and think it will be a sustained mixture of remedies.