Reporters aren’t allowed to ask questions during Tiger Bay Club forums, but members of the nonpartisan political club provided some punch on Friday afternoon when Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman took the stage at the “A Tale of Two Boomtowns” discussion at the Cuban Club in Ybor City.
The session was billed as an update on “the state of Tampa Bay’s two biggest cities,” and came at a time when local media is obsessed with just a few topics.
On the Rays, Kriseman offered a pretty good quip and referred to a previous Tiger Bay forum where he, Castor and Clearwater George Cretekos came together in Pinellas.
“We decided we were going to give Clearwater the Tampa Bay Rays,” Kriseman joked. “There’s an organization there that has ample money for a stadium—they may ask [Rays owner] Stu Sternberg to change his religion.”
Castor was more straightforward in her initial response.
“We all agree that we need to do everything we can to keep the Rays. We’re too big of an area to lose a Major League franchise,” Castor said. Another member at the lunch asked about the Rays again, and both mayors gave more explicit answers.
“If [a move to Tampa is what happens], Ybor City is the no. 1 pick to have a smaller stadium that doesn’t have a roof on it and utilized year-round,” Castor said.
Kriseman mentioned his frustration with the situation as a whole and that his administration was the first one to allow the Rays to explore a future outside of St. Petersburg. He cited other franchises who’ve had similar attendance issues as the Rays (Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates) and how the value of the team has increased since it landed in St. Petersburg in 1998.
“Would we like to see more people at the game? Absolutely, but you can’t just look at attendance,” Kriseman said, adding that, “If you like the team, then go to the games and support the players—forget about everything else.”
A question from the floor suggested trading the Rays for the Orlando Magic. To that joke, Kriseman said. “I know Mayor [Buddy] Dyer. I don’t think he would do that.”
When asked about how her city’s rapid development affects affordable housing options in Tampa, Mayor Castor was straightforward her response, which alluded to the city’s new Housing Affordability Recommendations.
“Only 5% of permits in 2019 were for affordable housing,” Castor told the room. “It’s an issue that affects not only low income middle class families being priced out of homes. There are issues, and they are not insurmountable.”
Not one Tiger Bay Club member used their time to ask Castor about whether or not she’s pressed James Nozar—CEO of Strategic Property Partners, the company directing the development of downtown Tampa’s Water Street development—about how the development, which accepted a giant Trump tax break meant for the city’s poorest residents, plans to incorporate affordable housing.
Mayor Kriseman for his part touted his city’s commitment to opportunity and equity while also mentioning a new “Deuces Rising” project that devotes $7.5 million to begin a major economic redevelopment project for the business district in South St. Petersburg’s 22nd Street S. corridor.
Later on in the session, Kriseman mentioned that his hope for his time as mayor has always been to change the trajectory of the south side.
“When I leave office my hope is that we’ve reduced poverty and crime, and increased the quality of life for everyone that lives south of Central,” he said
Switching things back to the 813, one Tiger Bay member asked about what’s being done about East Tampa’s embattled Fair Oaks Center—located at 5019 N. 34th St.—which needs an overhaul that could cost up to $200,000 according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Castor was again straightforward about challenges surrounding money for infrastructure and said that the city was “working on a solution for Fair Oaks.”
“You know me, my heart is in the neighborhoods,” she added. “I’m a product of organized activity, it kept me out of trouble, allowed me to go to college and go on to become the chief of the police department.”
In what was initially a stranger line if questioning, a Tiger Bay member mentioned human trafficking and whether or not Castor could shut down the city’s strip clubs ahead of the Super Bowl, which arrives in Tampa in February 2021.
Another member closed the session by pointing out that Castor, then a lieutenant with the Tampa Police Department according to the Tiger Bay member, was charged with helping enforce then-Mayor Dick Greco’s six-foot lapdance ordinance.
Castor touted the work already done regionally before the 2009 Super Bowl and mentioned that police are always in strip clubs to enforce the legality of what happens in them. She reiterated the department’s presence in massage parlors. Adult entertainment by zoning, Castor added, is allowed in parts of the City of Tampa.
"We can ensure what [strip clubs] do is legal,” Castor said. but to close legal businesses is not going to be possible in the city of Tampa.”
And yes, someone asked both Kriseman and Castor—both Democrats—about their preference in the race to become the party’s candidate against Donald Trump in November. Both mayors have had coffee, to discuss climate change among other things, with recently-roasted billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who’s interested in bringing his wealth and ideas to the race.
Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn has already expressed his love for Bloomberg, but both Castor and Kriseman were had the same, one-word, answer regarding whether or not they would comment on their preferred candidate.
“No.”
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This article appears in Feb 27 – Mar 5, 2020.