In their first televised debate, former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker put incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman on the defensive over his handling of the city’s sewage crisis and construction of a new Pier. Kriseman returned fire, attacking Baker’s conservative ideology and previous interactions with the LGBTQ community.
Candidates for the St. Petersburg District 6 City Council seat gathered for a meet-and-greet opportunity Monday night at the Coquina Key Clubhouse in Coquina Key, the island in the southeastern part of the district. It was a relatively low-key affair, with candidates given a minute before and after the event to interact with members of the community; many confessed beforehand they knew very little about the eight candidates in the race. In her introduction, Gina Driscoll opted not to refer to her…
A contested mayoral election offers an opportunity for citizens and interest groups to pose questions and emphasize concerns — and actually get a politician to listen.
St. Petersburg Preservation (SPP) is hosting a discussion next month about “Keeping St. Petersburg Special,” featuring the city’s two leading mayoral candidates. The forum — with former two-term Mayor Rick Baker and incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman — is Wednesday, Aug. 9 at the Museum of Fine Arts Marly Room, 255 Beach Dr., NE in downtown St. Petersburg. Reception begins 5:30 p.m.; forum is from 6 — 8 p.m.
What distinguished the fourth forum for candidates in the race for St. Petersburg Mayor was the first appearance of Paul Congemi. In that one-hour City Hall debate, hosted Tuesday evening by the League of Women Voters, the perennial gadfly managed to insult nearly every other candidate on the ballot, as well as their supporters. The room itself was the smallest venue to date for what has, in the course of the past month, become the most entertaining drama in town. Nevertheless,…
The decision to change the format of an upcoming mayoral debate has led to the departure of one of the original sponsors of the event.
Rick Baker has received a key endorsement in his mayoral bid. The International Association of Fire Fighters Local 747 announced Friday it was throwing its support behind Baker in the St. Petersburg mayoral election. In a statement announcing the endorsement, Rick Pauley, the president of the St. Petersburg Association of Fire Fighters, said the former two-term mayor has “demonstrated his support for public safety” by supporting issues important to fire fighters in the past.