St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Charlie Crist hasn’t ruled out keeping the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Pete, and he’s committing to cutting taxes for St. Pete residents in one way or another.
That’s according to an extended interview he conducted with Ryan Gorman on NewsRadio WFLA.
The city of Tampa and Hillsborough County have approved a deal to build a new ballpark and affiliated development at the site of Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry campus, including a $796 million commitment from the county. Tampa City Council approved another $80 million. The team is planning to open an experience center in the Westshore area of Tampa next year to showcase its future Tampa stadium.
Asked whether the “ship has sailed” on his desire to keep the team in St. Pete, Crist said it probably has, but wouldn’t rule out the possibility the team might spend more time on the west side of Tampa Bay.
“I don’t know if it’s a fait accompli yet, but you know, hope always is constant,” the former Governor said. “It’s heartbreaking to see that they may go to the other side of the Bay, but we’ll see what happens. We’ll see what happens. Hopefully, just at least keep the spirit of baseball here.”
Even if the ship has sailed, Crist, who once served as General Counsel to Minor League Baseball, pointed to an aggressive timeline for a Tampa stadium. The Rays are calling for a new ballpark in time for the 2029 season. He said he’d be willing to extend the team’s contract to continue playing ball at Tropicana Field should there be delays to the Tampa project.
“You know, we probably would have to work out an extension, and I think that would be a good process, and it’d be great for St. Pete for that to continue,” Crist said.
With the Rays’ move across the Bay likely, Crist also addressed the redevelopment opportunity at Tropicana Field, an 86-acre site near downtown he said represents an excellent opportunity to deliver for the residents of St. Pete.
“To have that much land right next to downtown St. Pete available, or any city in the United States, is pretty unusual. It’s a wonderful opportunity to do some really good things for the people,” Crist said.
He wouldn’t rule out scrapping the plan incumbent Mayor Ken Welch has already selected for the redevelopment project, though Crist was generous in his explanation.
“I think some very good plans have been presented,” Crist said, adding that in addition to Welch’s selection of the Burg Bid, led by Blake Investment Partners, “there’s some other groups that have put forward very serious proposals that are worthy of looking at as well.”
Welch has already set precedent for scrapping a predecessor’s selection on Trop site redevelopment. In his first year in office, Welch restarted a selection process, punting a selection made by former Mayor Rick Kriseman.
Asked about his priorities in a redevelopment project, Crist agreed that affordable housing should be a part of the plan, but emphasized that it needed to actually be affordable, not just called that.
“You know, some other plans that the current administration has done in that arena, some of their affordable housing is $800,000 a unit. I would call that unaffordable housing, regrettably,” Crist said.
Welch has faced criticism over the Deuces Rising townhome project on 22nd Street South, which included a city subsidy of about $500,000 for each townhome, bringing the total per-unit construction cost to about $800,000. The city’s $500,000 per-unit subsidy is more than the median home sale price in St. Pete, which is $450,000.
Crist, during his interview with Gorman, also addressed taxes, saying that as Mayor he’d cut them, though modestly, and with some caveats.
Crist has proposed cutting nearly $15 million in taxes for residents. He again pointed to his plan to establish a Blue Ribbon Panel of experts to establish the details and ensure cuts are targeting the right areas while still preserving city services. He laid out at least one specific area where cutting costs is likely under his watch.
“I think we’re going to have less employees under my administration if I win,” he said.
Asked how he planned to vote on Amendment 3, which would increase the state’s homestead exemption from non-school taxes on Floridians’ primary residences from the current $50,000 to $150,000 next year and $250,000 in 2028, with increases after that automatically adjusted to pace inflation, Crist said he was “probably” voting “no.”
He pointed to concerns raised by police and Sheriff’s departments across the state, as well as fire departments, that the loss in revenue would inevitably lead to cuts to service. If Amendment 3 were to pass though, Crist said his tax cut proposal would likely become moot.
“I wouldn’t want to stack ours on top of it and do it even more and make us even more of a shortfall, you know, for the necessities that we have to provide for our people,” he said.
The interview comes less than one month before Election Day, and as voting has already begun through mail ballots. Crist, despite facing an incumbent, is the front-runner in the race. He finished first in the August Primary, with more than 35% of the vote to Welch’s 21%.
And Crist has been the dominant fundraiser throughout the campaign. The most recent campaign finance reports show Crist with more than $417,000 available between his campaign and political committee accounts, while Welch’s combined cash-on-hand total is just under $35,000.
Overall, Crist has raised more than $2.3 million, while Welch has banked about $560,000.
And then there are the endorsements. Crist has support from two of the four mayoral challengers defeated in the Primary. None have backed Welch. Crist also has support from three sitting City Council members. Welch has support from two. All four of the city’s living past Mayors have backed Crist. And last month, Crist secured support from both members of the Tampa Bay Times editorial board making recommendations in the race.
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Ed. note: Michelle Todd Schorsch is the Chair of St. Pete Shines, a political committee backing Crist for St. Petersburg Mayor. Todd Schorsch is married to Peter Schorsch, the publisher of Florida Politics.