St. Pete Voters To Choose 4 City Council Members Tuesday

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- With issues on the table ranging from repairs to the city's aging sewage system to the lack of affordable housing in the city, St. Petersburg voters will head to the polls Nov. 5 to choose new city council members.

District 1 councilman and current council chairman Charlie Gerdes will end his tenure on the council in January. Two candidates — Robert G. Blackmon and John Hornbeck — are angling to win his seat.

District 3 councilman Ed Montanari's is battling to retain his seat against Orlando A. Acosta.

With District 5 council member Steve Kornell's term in office expiring in January, contenders for his seat are Trenia L. Cox and Deborah Figgs-Sanders.

And Eritha "Akile" Cainion is looking to oust District 7 council member Lisa Wheeler-Bowman.

About the candidates

A St. Petersburg native, Robert G. Blackmon began his career in real estate, eventually narrowing his focus on renovating, restoring and managing properties in the city for which he received the St. Petersburg Preservation Award of Honor for his work.

Among his priorities is providing affordable housing in the city. Rather than focusing on building new structures to meet the city's growing need for housing, Blackmon believes it's more cost-effective to renovate existing structures.

"This provides adequate housing, reduces blight in our neighborhoods, and instills a sense of pride in our residents. Also, renovating vs. rebuilding can help preserve the architectural character of a neighborhood," said Blackmon.

In that same vein, Blackmon said the city needs to address its aging infrastructure.

"Over the past few years, the deficiencies in some of our key public works, such as the sewer system and the dated pipe lines underground, have come to the forefront in a disastrous way, resulting in sewage discharges into our waters," he said. "We should put as much money as possible toward improving our public works so that this never happens again, damaging our city's reputation, as well as our wildlife and ecosystem."

Like his opponent, John Hornbeck was born and raised in St. Petersburg. He operates his own law firm, John M. Hornbeck, P.A., and received the City of St. Petersburg Volunteer of the Year Award for his work with the youth of the community.

His top priorities including providing affordable youth programs.

"Let's take kids from being unsupervised on the streets to positive social and fitness-driven programs," said Hornbeck. He said such programs will reduce juvenile crime and meet the goals of the city's Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg.

Hornbeck is concerned about the city's aging sewage system as well.

"Sewage and wastewater infrastructure might not be the prettiest use of money, however, it is a vital investment," he said. "We need to understand that preserving our environment is not just the ethical thing to do, but it is also a positive financial decision."

A St. Petersburg resident since 2005, Orlando A. Acosta is a retired career U.S. Air Force officer with 13 years serving at 4-star command headquarters: U.S. Central Command in Tampa and the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, Afghanistan.

He said his top priority is protecting the environment.

"Climate change and associated sea level rise is easily my No. 1 concern for St. Petersburg," he said. "Many of our city's most vulnerable citizens are especially susceptible to flooding, waste-water discharges and hurricanes. It's our moral responsibility to target our efforts where private investment is least able to combat the effects of climate change."

Affordable housing is also on his political agenda.

"We're facing a housing crisis," he said. "It's going to take an all-of-the-above approach to make sure we grow in a sustainable way without pricing people out of their neighborhoods."

His proposed solutions include revising zoning policies to encourage multi-residential development near economic corridors and rehabbing existing homes to provide housing families can afford while raising the property values of the neighborhoods.

A graduate of Northeast High School, Ed Montanari is an Air Force veteran and a commercial airline pilot who was first elected to the city council in 2015 and is currently vice chairman of the council. He's vying for his second term on the council.

During his first term, Montanari voted in favor of financing improvements to the city's wastewater and sewage systems and building the new St. Pete Pier.

His priorities include addressing the impact of climate change on the city.

"The Integrated Sustainability Action Plan is a start, but more work needs to be done to find science-based solutions to environmental concerns," said Montanari. "Climate change is real, decisions need to be made, and coordination needs to be done with the state’s chief science officer and chief resiliency officer to address this threat to our city."

Trenia Cox spent more than 20 years at the Juvenile Welfare Board before retiring as senior special services coordinator in 2017.

She currently serves on the Pinellas Homeless Leadership Board, is a former manager of the City of St. Petersburg's Minority Business Development Program and a former adjunct professor of social and behavioral sciences with St. Petersburg College.

Updating the city's sewage and wastewater systems tops her list of priorities.

"In 2016, the City of St. Petersburg experienced a sewage crisis with over 200 million gallons of sewage being released in neighborhoods and local waterways posing a serious threat to the health and safety of its citizens," she noted.

She also believes the city owes it to its residents to provide accessible, affordable house.

"In St. Petersburg, 35 percent of households struggle to maintain stable housing ... More shocking is that in some 16 percent of the city’s households spend 50 percent on burdensome housing," she said.

She would like to see the city explore more incentives for builders and investors to provide affordable house.

Deborah Figgs-Sanders is a small business owner and civic activist. She is a member of the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area Citizen Advisory Committee, the 2020 Plan Task Force and is the former executive director of the Childs Park YMCA.

Like her opponent, affordable housing and addressing the city's stormwater and sewage systems are her top priorities.

"Our teachers, police officers and even some city employees cannot afford to purchase a home or rent in the city in which they live," she said.

As a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area, Figgs-Sanders proposed extending credits to contractors and developers who incorporate affordable housing into their projects.

She also stressed the need to build a stronger partnership with the new members of the St. Petersburg Housing Authority after three members and the CEO were removed this year amid accusations of corruption.

Lisa Wheeler-Bowman first entered the public eye in 2008 when her son was murdered, and she took to the streets to find his killer, leading to an arrest and conviction.

Elected in 2015, Wheeler-Bowman is running for a second term on the city council. She chaired the council last year and now serves on the board of directors for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority and the St. Petersburg Housing, Land Use and Transportation Committee.

In light of her son's death, crime continues to be a big issue on Wheeler-Bowman's radar. She's a major supporter of St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway's Not My Son program, which seeks to work with parents in the community to provide activities to keep youth off the street and away from criminal elements.

"While crime has been dropping in St. Petersburg, it’s important that we keep working to make our communities even safer," said Wheeler-Bowman. "We need to keep up the important work of improving relationships between the police and citizens if we want to see crime rates continue to drop."

Eritha "Akile" Cainion unsuccessfully ran for the District 6 seat in 2017 and is now seeking the District 7 slot.

Just 22 years old, she's an outspoken black activist and a member of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement. Her campaign slogan is "Make the Southside black again," in protest of the area's gentrification.

Among her priorities is providing reparations to the black community, which make up 23 percent of the city's population. This includes getting rid of Tropicana Field and placing the 85-acre property in a reparations land trust controlled by the black community to create affordable house and economic development opportunities.

"With a $716 million budget, the city of St. Petersburg has ample room to redirect resources to economically restore the historic damages inflicted upon the black community by government policies," said Canion. "Discretionary funds can easily be allocated from Penny for Pinellas, and the major corporations must pay a reparations tax."

St. Petersburg voters will also vote on two charter amendments and decide a referendum question.

Charter Amendment 1

This amendment would create an exception to the referendum requirement for accepting conservation and preservation grants. The city's charter currently provides three exceptions to the referendum requirement for the disposition of park property, utility easements and airports. The amendment would create a fourth exemption allow the city council to accept grant funds from a government agency for environmental conservation or preservation of park property when those grants restrict park uses.

Charter Amendment 2

Currently the terms for city council members and the mayor begin on the second day of January. The amendment would change it so the terms would start on the first or second Thursday of January to align with the regular meeting schedule of the city council.

Referendum Question

This question asks voters whether they approve of authorizing an agreement for the city to operate the St. Petersburg Sailing Center through Dec. 31, 2040. As part of the agreement, the St. Petersburg Yacht Club must fund $800,000 in construction, reconstruction or improvements to sailing center.

The polls will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Click here to find your polling place.

For information on what identification is needed to vote in the St. Petersburg election, click here.

Related stories:

St. Pete Council Candidates Head To Aug. 27 Primary