City Council chair wants to limit mayor’s spending power
April 16, 2021 - St. Petersburg City Council Chair Ed Montanari plans to introduce a measure intended to limit the dollar value of contracts the mayor could sign without council approval. Montanari said Thursday night that he wants to limit mayoral authority to signing contracts of $50,000 or less. That's half of the current $100,000 threshold that requires Council approval. Montanari said he would propose the lower spending threshold after the Council called for a pause on the selection process for a Tropicana Field redeveloper. On Wednesday, Mayor Rick Kriseman signed a $99,000 contract with HR&A Advisors to provide owner's representative services for the Trop project. The contract originally was for $180,000 when it was proposed in January. After the council declined to act on it Kriseman withdrew it and brought back a revised agreement for $140,000 on April 8 that was deferred by the Council until April 15. After that deferment, city staff reviewed the agreement and determined some services no longer were needed, reducing the fee to $99,000, just under the $100,000 threshold.