A day after Tampa City Council members delivered two setbacks to the proposed Tampa Bay Rays stadium district, the team has begun the direct outreach that Council members have been pushing for.
City Council and Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency Board Member Bill Carlson said Rays CEO Ken Babby contacted him Thursday night and met with him Friday morning for “a productive conversation.”
“Representing the public means having tough conversations even when you disagree. Hats off to Ken Babby, Rays CEO, for reaching out last night. We had a productive conversation this morning,” Carlson wrote on social media.
“He said he plans to meet with all city council members to listen to the concerns of their constituents. The community is always better when we maintain a dialogue.”
The meeting offers a glimmer of hope for a project that went nowhere on Thursday as Council and CRA members objected to advancing major components absent more direct involvement in the negotiations.
Acting as the CRA Board, members voted 5-2 to remove discussion of the agency’s proposed $100 million contribution from their Aug. 20 agenda. Carlson himself requested the removal, arguing that the item should return once the Rays have negotiated directly with the CRA and presented a finished proposal for consideration.
The decision did not reject the contribution or remove the CRA from the proposed financing framework. But it left the agency without a scheduled date to consider its portion of the deal.
Board members have repeatedly argued that negotiations conducted among the Rays, Mayor Jane Castor’s administration, city staff and Hillsborough County do not substitute for direct negotiations with the CRA, which is a separate legal entity composed of the seven City Council members.
Hours later, the Council voted 4-3 against transmitting a comprehensive-plan amendment for Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry campus to reviewing state agencies.
Council Members Carlson, Lynn Hurtak, Guido Maniscalco and Charlie Miranda supported the motion not to transmit. Council Chair Alan Clendenin and Council Members Luis Viera and Naya Young opposed it.
The vote did not formally reject the stadium, its financing package or a binding redevelopment plan. However, it blocked an anticipated state review and eliminated the September adoption hearing envisioned by Hillsborough College.
Castor sharply criticized Thursday’s votes, arguing that some Council members were attempting to halt the proposal before negotiations were complete.
Friday’s conversation does not guarantee Carlson will support the final financing package, but it reflects the team’s immediate response and renewed efforts to engage with the Tampa City Council with $100 million of public funding hanging in the balance.
Clendenin previously told Florida Politics that negotiators were nearing completion of the definitive agreements and weighing ways to move the project forward if supporters could not secure a fourth Council vote.
Those options could include a home-rule tax increment financing district that could replace the Drew Park CRA after it expires, but that plan would still involve city money and require more City Council votes, not fewer, according to Council members.