The St. Petersburg City Council met on February 5, 2026, to discuss a range of topics including a resolution to pause developer selection for the historic gas plant site in favor of a planning-first approach, an update from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) on major infrastructure projects, and public comments calling for an end to the city's 287(g) agreement with ICE. The meeting also included a recess for a Black History Month flag raising ceremony. The council voted 6-2 to approve the gas plant resolution.
Welcome to the City of St. Petersburg City Council meeting. Your elected officials are Mayor Ken Welch. District 1, Copley Gurtis. District 2, Brandy Gabbard. District 3, Mike Harding. District 4. And Council Chair Leseth Panowitz. District 5, Deborah Fig Sanders. District 6, Gina Driscoll. District 7, Corey Givens Jr. And District 8 and Council Vice Chair, Richie Floyd. Morning, everyone. Welcome to the February 5th, 2026, St. Petersburg City Council meeting. Clerk, you please have a roll call. Dabbert Harding, Eric Hanowitz. Here's the givens. Here. Lloyd. Here, Garness. Here. Please stand today for our invocation, which is going to be given by the Reverend Tracy Ashley of the Clearview United Methodist Church. Followed by a moment of silence. And then please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Good morning. Good morning. Let's pray together. Holy and living God, source of justice, mercy, and hope. We pause in this chamber of public trust, remembering that leadership is a sacred calling, a calling that mirrors your command to love our neighbors. This morning I give you thanks for the gift of neighbors, not neighbors who look like us or vote like us, believe like us, but all neighbors. Teach us again what it means to be good neighbors, to not only care for our own backyards, but for the whole shared yard of this beautiful community. Where flourishing is one, flourishing of one is bound to the flourishing of all. Lord, we give thanks for wise and practical ways of living into this calling, including the yes in God's backyard law. A reminder that faith is not only something we profess but something we practice by making room. Room for shelter, compassion, room for solutions rooted in love of neighbor, so that dignity has an address and hope has a front door. Bless the faith leaders who step forward into this service of common good. Bless the neighbors they serve. God bless the council members who choose to lean into these laws for the good of neighbors and neighborhood alike. Bless those willing to lead with courage, compassion, and foresight, who see not just policies on paper, but people in real places with real needs. Grant them the resolve to lead the way, not only for this city, but as an example for communities all across Florida, showing what is possible when leadership is guided by the common good and love of neighbor, which remains at the center of every decision. May our decisions reflect not what is convenient but what is compassionate, not what protects privilege, but what protects people. Let this city be known as a place where neighbors do not turn away from one another, but where goodness is measured by how the most vulnerable are treated, and where love takes shape in policies, partnerships, and daily acts of care. Remind us that policy can be pastoral and that budgets reveal our deepest values, guide us, ground us, move us, strengthen us, soften us, and unite us so that together we live into a vision of community rooted in dignity, belonging, and the common good for all. Amen. Now a moment of silence for Officer David S. Crawford, February 21st, 2011. End of watch. Thank you. I pledge allegiance to the fly of the water for original distance.