The sun won’t be shining on St. Pete City Hall on Saturday for the Mayor’s State of the City address.
St. Pete Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin recently praised her boss, Mayor Rick Kriseman, for waiting until the last minute the day of his inauguration to decide whether or not to move his event inside. Ultimately the sun came out for Kriseman, whose city slogan involves lots of sunny rays and includes modern versions of songs all things sunshine.
Well, he’s not waiting until the last minute this time. Kriseman is scheduled to deliver his State of the City address this Saturday at 10 a.m. As always, Kriseman was expected to lay out the city’s progress for onlookers on the steps of City Hall. Under ideal conditions, that would include all the sunshine Kriseman could order.
Instead, Kriseman will deliver his remarks from the Palladium on Fifth Avenue North in order to hide from the frigid cold, (for us Floridians anyway) piercing wind gusts and possible rain showers. The weather forecast calls for temperatures somewhere between the upper 40s to low 50s with 25-mile-per-hour wind gusts, cloudy skies and occasional showers.
The cliche songs about sunshine will probably still be a go.
A Facebook page created for the event shows more than 200 people are planning to attend.
Last year’s big news from Kriseman’s State of the City address was his proposal to City Council to fund a new police headquarters. It’s not clear whether Kriseman will have a big announcement this year.
He is likely to tout a number of 2015 accomplishments including creation of the Southside Community Redevelopment Area, selection of a new Pier design, demolition of the old Pier to make way for the new, completion of the downtown waterfront master plan, a truckload of new business openings as well as business-friendly initiatives, and his water ferry proposal that seems all but certain to get the green light.
Though it didn’t happen in 2015, Kriseman is also likely to heavily praise the deal approved by City Council last week to allow the Tampa Bay Rays to explore stadium sites outside of St. Pete. The deal opens the 85-acre Tropicana Field site to millions of dollars in potential development opportunities.
