The St. Petersburg City Council will consider lowering the threshold that the administration can spend without Council approval. The Council's budget committee approved a proposal Thursday from Council Chair Ed Montanari to lower the threshold from $100,000 to $75,000. The measure now advances to the full City Council, which will be asked to approve a change to the city's procurement code. Montanari proposed the lower spending threshold after Mayor Rick Kriseman signed a $99,000 contract with a consultant for Tropicana Field site redevelopment. The contract initially was for $180,000 but the Council delayed approval and the scope of services required dropped during that time, administration officials said. Originally, Montanari wanted to lower the spending limit to $50,000 but he changed that to $75,000 to reduce the work the city's staff would have to do in preparation for council approval. Council member Gina Driscoll said the lower threshold would create additional cost, but said it was the price paid for "broken trust" and a move to circumvent the Council. Council member Darden Rice suggested the lower spending limit be reviewed after six months, and the rest of the budget committee agreed to that. Kriseman will leave office in early 2022 because of term limits. Both Rice and Council member Robert Blackmon, who also sits on the budget committee, are mayoral candidates.
First Citrus Bancorporation ranked No. 83 and BayFirst Financial Corp. (formerly First Home Bancorp) ranked No. 164 on American Banker's new list of top-performing community banks. The list of 200 community banks nationwide was ranked based on three-year return on average equity (ROAA). First Citrus (OTC: FCIT), based in Tampa and with $528.7 million in total assets on Dec. 31, posted an 11.82 percent three-year ROAA. BayFirst (OTCQX: FHBI), based in St. Petersburg and with $1.5 billion in total assets at year-end, had a 10.31 percent ROAA. "The nation’s top-performing community banks managed to boost profits and minimize loan losses despite fallout from the coronavirus pandemic," American Banker wrote, citing help from the federal government, including leniency with loan deferrals and fees from the Paycheck Protection Program. Top performers were also able to increase revenue at nearly twice the rate of expenses, American Banker said. First Citrus was the top-ranked Florida community bank. It plans to open a St. Petersburg office in June.
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office detectives have obtained an arrest warrant for Blas Jose-Hernandez, who has been charged with 15 counts of sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation involving a victim under 12. According to a news release, Jose-Hernandez, 39, was last known to be driving a white GMC Yukon but might have obtained a different vehicle. Detectives have reason to believe he’s in the Wimauma area but planning to flee the state to avoid arrest. Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to the whereabouts and apprehension of Jose-Hernandez. Tips can be submitted via phone at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477) or online at the Crime Stoppers website.
Darius Edwards of Tampa has been sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison for manufacturing counterfeit U.S. currency and violating his federal supervised release. Edwards, 42, was convicted of the same counterfeiting charge in 2015 and had been on federal supervised release after serving 33 months in prison. He pled guilty to the new charges, which stemmed from an October 2019 arrest in Pinellas Park, in January. The case was investigated by the Pinellas Park Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service Jacksonville Field Office.
Frontier Airlines has opened a crew base at Tampa International Airport. About 250 flight attendants and 140 pilots will be based at the airport in 2021 with that number expected to increase in the future, Frontier said in a news release. Frontier (Nasdaq: ULCC) offers 21 nonstop routes from TIA and the airport has become an increasingly important part of the airline's route network, Jake Filene, senior vice president, customers, said in the news release. The new crew base is a win for Frontier's pilots, flight attendants, the airport and the Tampa Bay region, said Joe Lopana, TIA CEO
City Council member Robert Blackmon has filed paperwork to enter the St. Petersburg mayor's race. The document, filed Monday, names Eric Robinson as campaign treasurer. Blackmon, who is founder and partner of Blackmon Properties, owns and manages a portfolio of commercial and multifamily real estate units in St. Pete. He represents District 1 in west St. Petersburg. He was elected to the City Council in November 2019 for a four-year term, but submitted his letter of resignation over the weekend, effective Jan 5, 2022. Blackmon joins seven other declared mayoral candidates in the race to succeed Mayor Rick Kriseman, who is term-limited and will leave office in January 2022 after eight years.
The Tampa Bay Rays have issued a response to a lawsuit against the Rays principal owner, Stu Sternberg. The response, issued Tuesday afternoon, says: “We are disappointed that a handful of our limited partners have filed suit. The suit is deceptive and inflammatory and is fraught with error and falsehood. We have abided by the partnership agreement and the Tropicana Field use agreement.” The lawsuit was filed over the weekend by five limited partners in Tampa Bay Rays Baseball and alleged Sternberg schemed to transfer the entire baseball club and franchise to a separate entity, called Rays Baseball Club.
Climate First Bank, a St. Petersburg-based community bank that’s currently in organization, has welcomed Chris Van Buskirk and Marcio deOliveira to its executive leadership team. Van Buskirk will serve as senior vice president and senior corporate advisor while deOliveira has been named chief technology officer and chief digital banking officer. According to a news release, Van Buskirk has worked closely for many years with Climate First Bank founder and CEO Ken LaRoe, having served as vice president of LaRoe’s previous de novo banks, Florida Choice Bank and First GREEN Bank. DeOliveira, the release states, previously worked for St. Petersburg-based C1 Bank at chief technology officer and executive vice president. After C1 Bank was acquired by Bank OZK, deOliveira stayed on and was named president of innovation.
Raymond James Financial has agreed to acquire Cebile Capital, a private fund placement agent and secondary market advisor to private equity firms. Cebile, which has offices in London and in New York City, will operate as a new business unit within Raymond James' investment banking business and will be led by Sunaina Sinha Haldea, who founded Cebile, a news release said. The deal will deepen relationships with the private equity community and expand service offerings to this rapidly expanding market, the news release said. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Allegiant is adding two new routes at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport. A flight between the local airport, known as PIE, and Bentonville, Arkansas will begin July 2, while a flight between PIE and Provo, Utah starts on Oct. 7. The airline is offering one-way fares on the new route to Bentonville for as low as $38, while there is a one-way fare for as low as $99 to Provo. Allegiant (Nasdaq: ALGT) also has begun serving Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport for the first time, and will launch routes from Provo and Stockton, California to Phoenix Sky Harbor. Travelers are looking forward to "long-overdue vacations," Drew Wells, Allegiant's senior vice president of revenue and planning, said in a news release, which has more details about the new routes and fares.
The Tampa Bay Rays have traded shortstop Willy Adames and right-handed pitcher Trevor Richards to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for right-handed relief pitchers J.P. Feyereisen and Drew Rasmussen. Adames, 25, came to the Rays in 2014 in a trade with the Detroit Tigers. A prospect at the time, he made his major league debut with the Rays in May 2018 and became a key contributor as the team posted 90 wins that year and then won the American League Wild Card in 2019. He started all 20 of the Rays’ 2020 postseason games at shortstop. Richards, 28, was acquired from the Miami Marlins in July 2019 and went 3-0 with a 4.28 ERA in 22 appearances, including seven starts, over parts of three seasons with the Rays. Feyereisen, 28, is 0-2 with a 3.26 ERA in 21 appearances, all in relief, for the Brewers this season. Rasmussen, 25, made the Brewers Opening Day roster and is 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA in 15 relief appearances. He will report to Triple-A Durham.
Several hospitals and healthcare facilities in Pinellas County owned and operated by HCA Healthcare will unveil new names, signage and websites in September. The facilities include St. Petersburg General Hospital, Northside Hospital, Palms of Pasadena Hospital, and Largo Medical Center's three campuses. They will adopt the HCA Florida Healthcare brand, a news release said. The move is designed to unite 49 hospital campuses, 350 care sites, physicians and other employees across Florida. “A strong, statewide brand will help create a cohesive experience for our patients, physicians and communities," Chuck Hall, national group president at HCA Healthcare, said in the news release. The local facilities, along with others in the organization's East and West Florida divisions and in Tallahassee, will rebrand in September. HCA Healthcare facilities in the Panhandle, Jacksonville, Orlando and North Central Florida will be updated in 2022.
