ST. PETE BEACH \u2014 Incumbent Commissioner Betty Rzewnicki and political newcomer Al Causey clashed over how best to guide District 3’s recovery from recent hurricanes during a League of Women Voters of St. Petersburg forum that drew an overflow crowd to City Hall on Feb. 9.<\/p>\n
Causey, a retired mechanical engineer and former Southwest Airlines pilot, said his schedule gives him an advantage in tackling the city’s post-hurricane challenges.<\/p>\n
“I have eight hours a day to put into this job, and I feel like we need eight hours a day to get us back from this double hurricane disaster that we’ve had,” Causey said. “Being retired is going to allow me to serve you better.”<\/p>\n
He said his engineering background positions him to address infrastructure problems, including “failing sewer lines that need attention.”<\/p>\n
Causey also pledged to “vote 100% with the consensus opinion in District 3,” even when he personally disagrees.<\/p>\n
Rzewnicki, a microbiologist-turned-teacher, said the city needs “steady, experienced leadership.”<\/p>\n
“Through it all, I’ve stayed focused on three core priorities: resiliency, recovery and unity,” she said, adding that she spent “countless hours” helping residents navigate FEMA rules and city processes after the recent storms.<\/p>\n
Both candidates identified infrastructure as the city’s greatest challenge.<\/p>\n
Causey called the permitting process “tedious and time-consuming,” while Rzewnicki said the city must balance immediate recovery needs with long-term infrastructure improvements.<\/p>\n
On development, Rzewnicki said the commission evaluates projects against infrastructure capacity, stormwater resiliency, traffic impacts and neighborhood character, “asking tough questions” and “requiring clear public benefit.”<\/p>\n
Causey said he would spend time “in the neighborhoods on a weekly basis” to ensure residents understand proposed projects, adding that “projects that come to the city need to be agreeable to the majority of residents.”<\/p>\n
The candidates differed on traffic safety solutions for Gulf Boulevard. Causey proposed a 25 mph speed limit and traffic signals at neighborhood intersections. Rzewnicki noted Forward Pinellas has proposed a traffic safety plan and said the city must work with the state, which owns the corridor.<\/p>\n
When asked how they differ from typical politicians, Causey referenced the 2023 resignations of four commissioners who refused to fill out state financial disclosure forms.<\/p>\n
“At that point, I realized I think I’m going to have to start paying very close attention to what’s going on around here,” he said.<\/p>\n
Rzewnicki said she views herself as an advocate rather than a politician, citing her work lobbying the state Legislature for education funding and securing grants for the city.<\/p>\n
District 1 Commissioner Karen Marriott was reelected unopposed.<\/p>\n
The election for District 3 and mayor will be held March 10. Voters seeking mail-in ballots can contact the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETE BEACH \u2014 Incumbent Commissioner Betty Rzewnicki and political newcomer Al Causey clashed over how best to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[78058,78057,70384,596,202,2149,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-163216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-al-causey","9":"tag-betty-rzewnicki","10":"tag-league-of-women-voters","11":"tag-pinellas-county","12":"tag-st-pete","13":"tag-st-pete-beach","14":"tag-st-pete-headlines","15":"tag-st-pete-news","16":"tag-st-petersburg","17":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","18":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}