The St. Petersburg City Council met on December 5, 2024, starting at approximately 1:30 p.m. and adjourning after 4:20 p.m. The meeting included a controversial vote to authorize bonds for the Tampa Bay Rays stadium and related development, as well as updates on resilience planning, affordable housing programs, and routine approvals. The agenda was amended to add items F6 (stadium bonds) and CRA4, prompting objections from some council members and members of the public due to short notice. The meeting was marked by passionate public testimony and council debate.
Open forum included 11 speakers on various topics, with the majority addressing the stadium bond issue:
Resilient St. Pete Plan Update (Report F3) Councilmember Gabbard introduced a recap of resilience planning post-Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Public Works Administrator Claude Tankersley presented on:
Stadium Bond Series (Item F6) Council considered two resolutions authorizing bonds for the city's portion of the Rays/Hines development. Mayor Welch stated negotiations continue but agreements remain valid. Public testimony included emotional pleas from a fired Rays concessions employee (support) and several opponents citing lack of Rays commitment and infrastructure needs. Council debate:
Welcome to the City of St. Petersburg City Council meeting. Your elected officials are Mayor Ken Welch. District One and Council Vice Chair Hopley Gurtis. District 2, Brandy Gabbard. District 4, Lissette Hanowitz. District 5 and Council Chair, Deborah Fake Sanders. District 6, Gina Driscoll. District 7, John Mohammed. And District 8, Richie Floyd. Good afternoon, everyone. We'll now call the order our December 5th, 2024 City Council meeting, beginning with the roll call, please. Hannawitz, here. Six Anders. Driscoll? Here. Mohammed. Here. Lloyd. Curtis. Gabbard. Here. Thank you. We will have our invocation given today by Imam Askiah Muhammad Akiel. And we will also be followed with a moment of silence to honor our fallen first responders. And please remain standing when we were followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Will everyone please join me in standing. Good morning. With the name of the gracious, the compassionate, the merciful benefactor, merciful redeemer, to the honorable chair, other officers, and members of our city council, to our honorable mayor, his team members, and all city employees, and to everyone under the sound of my voice. Shalom Alekham, Pax Vobiscum, Namaste, Asalam Alaikum. Now, please unite your hearts with mine, attune your ear to my voice, and receive the intent of my words as I invoke the presence of God, our creator on this occasion, without offending anyone's sensitivities or beliefs. O creator of all and everything, called upon by many names and worshipped in many ways, you who endowed us all with certain inalienable rights. We call on you now to send down your divine presence to watch over the deliberations of this august body as they sober-mindedly address the issues that confront them. Give them, O Lord, the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job, and the compassion of Christ Jesus. We believe in you, rely and depend upon you, trust and have faith in you, you who created the sun that warms us all, the air that surrounds and sustains us all, the water that refreshes and purifies us all, the food that nourishes us all. For all this and more, we are eternally grateful and can never give you enough thanks. We ask this morning that you will give the members of this governing body individually and collectively the strength to always recognize your presence amongst them and your ever flowing graces into their lives. Give them the strength to acknowledge truth wherever it is manifested before them. Give them the strength to pursue truth, liberty, justice, equity, fairness, and common good, always respecting the rights and dignity of others. Our Lord, help them to lower the wing of humility, to not be seduced by power, nor corrupted by greed, nor puffed up with pride and arrogance. Help them to be better listeners than talkers, to argue in the best and most respectful manner. Our Lord help them and us to restrain anger and to be quick to forgive. Help us to be excellent human beings and even better citizens, residents, and neighbors. Help each and every one of us to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith wherewith we are called with all lowliness, lowliness, and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, and endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, especially when we disagree. Our Lord help us to remember that our journey, our constant challenge, is to be and become one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Remind us, O creator of us all, of our shared responsibility within these borders to always strive toward forming a more perfect union, toward establishing justice and promoting the general welfare and securing the blessings of liberty, not just for ourselves, but for our posterity for our future generations. And now, during these times of challenges brought on by tragic deaths, unforected destruction, suffering, economic and social disruption, and hyperpartisan rivalry. Show us the path forward to the brighter days of hope ahead. Our Lord, we ask. Make St.