During the second annual Urban Affairs update at Fairmount Park Elementary School in Childs Park, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin, Police Chief Anthony Holloway and Urban Affairs Director Nikki Gaskin-Capehart fielded questions from a packed room looking for answers.
For many who sat in the audience, the March closing of the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Tangerine Plaza was a major concern. Kriseman agreed, and criticized the retail giant for abandoning the community.
“We are not happy about the Walmart closing. I don’t like that it closed, I don’t like the way they told us and I don't like that they’re not taking care of their employees. But the City of St. Petersburg is moving forward with the purchase of Tangerine Plaza and one of our top priorities is to get this thing right once and for all,” Kriseman said.
Last year, the south side saw the closure of a Walgreens and the eviction of Sylvia's, a local installment of the popular Harlem soul food restaurant, which had opened with much fanfare inside the historic Manhattan Casino. The Walmart replaced a Sweetbay Supermarket that closed in 2014. When the Walmart took its place shortly thereafter announced it would be hiring, area residents lined up for blocks to apply for jobs there.
“Our south St Pete community has been failed too many times by corporate America,” Kriseman said.
Members of the audience said the city should do more to encourage businesses, like Lowe’s or Home Depot, to set up shop south of Central Avenue, which Kriseman said he was working on.
“We are out pitching it every single day, trying to bring those types of businesses here to the community,” Kriseman responded promising changes along the 22nd Street South, 16th Street South, MLK Street and 4th Street South.
Of course, city officials also had to confront the fact that south St. Pete has a disproportionately high crime rate than other cities.
The mayor acknowledged a couple of recent shootings that happened in the area.
“I can sit here and give you statistics which show that crime is down in St. Pete, but I recognize that being safe and feeling safe are two very different things. I want everyone in this city to feel safe,” he said.
Regarding the Tropicana Field and the pending departure of the Tampa Bay Rays from the site, Kriseman said that the city wants to reconnect the stadium site, which was built in an area where there once were hundreds of African-American owned homes and businesses, with nearby Midtown residents.
Tomalin the biggest challenge that the city has at the moment is a clock that advances and limited resources. But Gaskin-Capehart, the urban affairs director, said reducing poverty must be at the top of the city's list.
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 2, 2017.