![\"St.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775097508_875_Ken-Welch-October-26-2023.jpg\")
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch on Oct. 26, 2023. Credit: cityofstpete \/ Flickr<\/p>\nSt. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch on Oct. 26, 2023. Credit: cityofstpete \/ Flickr<\/p>\n
Ken Welch is St. Pete\u2019s first African American mayor and was the first Pinellas County commissioner to represent District 7 in the city.\u00a0 The 61-year-old is running for re-election, too.<\/p>\n
Welch\u2019s PAC, the St. Pete Pelican PAC, will generate its last contribution report this quarter. The PAC had a rough start after former committee treasurer Yolanda Brown embezzled $207,500<\/a> from it last fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n For his campaign, Welch told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay he plans to kickstart major investments in storm resilience. He has faced five hurricanes in his first four years, and he said hurricanes Helene and Milton brought unprecedented damages to the city in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n After the storms, Welch\u2019s administration also faced a high volume of permit requests for repairs.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no disputing that we\u2019ve never had the number of permits, obviously, or the number of resources that we\u2019ve applied to it,\u201d Welch said. \u201cSo, it\u2019s just a matter of time, resources, and scope.\u201d<\/p>\n Welch said that even while the city prioritized permits, residents\u2019 needs were far greater than what St. Pete was equipped to handle.<\/p>\n \u201cThe state even helped us with additional staff, plan reviewers and inspectors, but we just did not have enough\u2014and no city did\u2014to meet the need without having an extended period for those permits,\u201d Welch told CL.<\/p>\n Welch believes his administration did well in the 90-day period the city took to recover, but he wants to improve the city\u2019s infrastructure to ensure it won\u2019t be a problem again.<\/p>\n To speed up repairs for the city\u2019s stormwater infrastructure, Welch said he\u2019ll present his St. Pete Agile Resilience\u2014or SPAR\u2014referendum, which proposes a $600 million bond to speed up repairs for the city\u2019s stormwater infrastructure.<\/p>\n Moving forward, Welch said he\u2019ll also continue his five-pillar plan for the city, known as\u00a0 \u201cPillars for Progress,\u201d with goals ranging from education and business opportunities to neighborhood safety and housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n On that note, Welch doesn\u2019t just want to streamline infrastructure\u2014redevelopment is next on his list.<\/p>\n As a third-generation resident from the Gas Plant district\u2014which was razed to make way for Tropicana field in the \u201880s\u2014Welch said he wants to honor decades-long promises made to his displaced community.\u00a0<\/p>\n After the Rays backed out of a redevelopment deal for the stadium and the district, Welch is open to new proposals, as development rights now belong to the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n But St. Petersburg City Council approved a resolution in February to put Welch\u2019s redevelopment plans on hold. The resolution was mainly endorsed by District 2 Councilwoman Brandi Gabbard, who\u2019s running against him this year.<\/p>\n Welch said that while he wants to respect the council\u2019s decisions, he believes the delay is unnecessary\u2014and deliberate.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHow can we, at this point, not have enough planning when we had it two years ago?\u201d Welch said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Welch told CL that he\u2019s still looking to make selections and finalize term sheets by the end of the year for his plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Welch, those plans include affordable housing and a location for the Woodson African American Museum of Florida. He claims he identified two parcels of land in the termination agreement with the Rays where those can be developed.<\/p>\n Welch believes that opponents to his plans\u2014like Ron Diner\u2019s No Home Run Group, which Welch claimed wants to bring million-dollar condos to the site\u2014delayed him further for the excuse of additional planning.\u00a0<\/p>\n Welch claimed those members didn\u2019t present any further plans in later workshops.<\/p>\n \u201cThe promise wasn\u2019t, \u2018We\u2019re going to build high-cost condos on this property,\u2019\u201d Welch said. \u201cThe promise was, if the community\u2019s dislocated, if you give up your homes, your churches, your businesses, there will be economic opportunity for everyone and opportunities for y\u2019all to come back and be a part of that economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n While Welch supports redevelopment and a revamped infrastructure for St. Petersburg, he said he also vouches for protecting the city\u2019s renowned art scene the entire way.<\/p>\n In his past as commissioner, Welch said he supported arts organizations like Creative Pinellas and proposed allocating a portion of the county\u2019s bed tax to fund the arts.<\/p>\n That\u2019s where he believes funding is the \u201cmost stable source.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt certainly, I think, can be justified in terms of tourism, but also the economic impact of having local artists who are funded,\u201d Welch told CL. \u201cThe mindset of the county needs to be supportive of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Welch said that it\u2019s not sustainable for the city to constantly relieve all funding cuts. He recalled how when SNAP benefits and arts funds were slashed, his administration stepped in\u2014but all the while, the state was trying to \u201cdecimate\u201d the city\u2019s property tax revenues, which go toward law enforcement and fire rescue.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLong-term, I think we need to look at things like a portion of the bed tax with the city, also being a partner in that as well to support the arts community,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n Welch doesn\u2019t just support upholding the city\u2019s art scene. He made his support for diversity, equity and inclusion clear after the Florida Senate passed bills in February preventing municipalities from participating in or endorsing DEI events.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can\u2019t do it at the ballot box, and they could never get a council or mayor elected on those,\u201d Welch said. \u201cBut they\u2019re going to do it via legislation from Tallahassee, 200 miles away. That\u2019s not American. That\u2019s not Democratic.They know it.\u201d<\/p>\n Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in Mar. 26 \u2013 Apr. 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t