St. Pete City Council debate ushers in election season

The Historic Gas Plant District’s redevelopment, affordable housing and environmental resiliency dominated discourse Friday, June 21 as St. Petersburg City Council candidates participated in their first debate.

The Suncoast Tiger Bay Club hosted the event at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. Former city spokesperson Janelle Irwin Taylor moderated the discussion.

Nine of 14 qualified candidates, including Councilmember Copley Gerdes – running unopposed in District 1 – attended the event. He and Council Chair Deborah Figgs-Sanders offered brief remarks but did not participate in the debate. Torrie Jasuwan, who is vying for Figgs-Sanders’ District 5 seat, was absent.

“I want to thank the candidates who are here during a year when democracy has been challenged,” said Rev. J.C. Pritchett II, executive director of Tiger Bay. “I don’t take it lightly that you have decided to show up at the first debate of this cycle.”

A reimagined Gas Plant

The candidates will have no official say in ongoing plans to transform Tropicana Field and its sprawling parking lots into a thriving mixed-use district anchored by a new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark. The current city council will vote next month on development agreements for the proposed $6.5 billion redevelopment.

However, at least two challengers will sit on the dais during the 30-year project’s first phase. Four of five candidates vying to replace term-limited City Councilmember Ed Montanari in northeast St. Petersburg’s District 3 attended the event. Mike Harting, CEO of 3 Daughters Brewing, was absent.

Restaurateur Pete Boland and Barry Rubin, president of the Treasure Island and Madeira Beach Chamber of Commerce, said they supported the proposal when asked for “yes or no” answers. Juan Lopez, sales and marketing manager for Tampa Convention Center, said it “needs work, but yes.”

Nick Carey, a community organizer with Faith in Florida, offered a firm “no.” Three of the six candidates vying for the District 7 seat Councilmember John Muhammad will vacate were provided time to elaborate on their answers. Donald Bowens Jr., Corey Givens Jr. and Eritha “Akile” Brandis Cainion did not participate.

From left: Gas Plant descendant Treva Davis, restaurateur Dan Soronen and former city council member and state Rep. Wengay Newton are three of the six people vying to represent District 7. Photo: Facebook.

Taylor noted that many residents in the South St. Petersburg district were personally or descended from families displaced from the Gas Plant. The latter demographic includes candidate Treva Davis.

“I would support any decision,” Davis said of the project. “And I would work hard to make sure the residents benefit from whatever decision is made. Nothing is going to be perfect.”

Former council member and state Rep. Wengay Newton said he would prefer a revenue-sharing agreement and clarity with the project’s on-and off-site affordable housing component. “But right now, it’s the best they can get,” he added.

Restaurateur Dan Soronen opposes the redevelopment. He believes city officials should return the land to Gas Plant descendants and use subsidies to entice the Rays/Hines development team into providing homeownership opportunities.

Affordable housing

Boland said he supported upzoning initiatives to increase density in the “right places.” He would also like to see the city “make it a little easier” for people to build and open businesses, as “housing is more affordable when our economy is more dynamic.”

Rubin said the term “affordable” is relative to a person’s income. He would also like to foster high-paying jobs, loosen zoning restrictions and see soaring insurance costs decrease.

Lopez said he would work with organizations like Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties to provide homeownership opportunities. He wants to see more adaptive reuse housing developments, like the former Edward White Hospital project.

Carey advocated for city-created, mixed-income social housing. “We do not raise food prices to unattainable levels and call it ‘foodlessness,’” he said.

Nick Carey, a former chemist and current community activist, is among five people running in District 3.

Davis wants to expand current housing initiatives and explore providing move-in cost assistance. Newton also credited Habitat’s work and stressed the need to foster homeownership opportunities, potentially through rent-to-own programs. Soronen noted the number of homes the organization could build in the Gas Plant District with $600 million in city funding.

Environmental resilience

District 3 encompasses flood-prone Shore Acres. Rubin pledged to work proactively with state and federal officials to incentivize raising homes and other environmental sustainability measures.

In the short term, he wants to hire more city workers to clean stormwater drains. “Sea level rise is real,” Rubin said.

Boland wants to replace aging seawalls and increase the tree canopy. He also noted that vehicular traffic increases flood damage and proposed hiring engineers to explore reconfiguring area roads.

Carey said “low-cost measures” could include providing flood barriers. He also suggested offering residents technical assistance to raise their homes. However, he stressed the need to address climate change and transition to renewable energy.

The event concluded with a straw poll of 72 Tiger Bay members and guests. Rubin placed first in District 3, followed by Carey and Boland. Figgs-Sanders received the only District 5 votes.

Davis, Newton and Soronen ranked first, second and third, respectively, in District 7. The city council primaries are Aug. 20, followed by the Nov. 5 general election. The District 5 race will head directly to the November ballot, as Jasuwan is the only challenger.