St. Petersburg mayoral forum asks how candidates will preserve and support city’s special qualities

St. Petersburg, Fla. (Aug. 17, 2017) — The two leading candidates in St. Petersburg’s 2017 mayoral race, incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman and former mayor Rick Baker, answered questions on historic preservation, the arts, the local independent business community and the city’s traditional neighborhoods at a forum hosted by St. Petersburg Preservation on Aug. 9.

The four discussion topics are what St. Petersburg Preservation considers the four “cornerstones” that make up the city’s unique character and sense of place.

The audience at the forum, held at the Museum of Fine Arts, consisted of approximately 200 St. Petersburg Preservation members and guests from partner organizations that represent the four cornerstones. Dr. Gary Mormino, professor emeritus at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and co-founder of the institution’s Florida Studies program, moderated the discussion.

Both candidates took on a notably more amicable tone than in previous forums, perhaps prompted by Mormino’s request for them to avoid “wading in to sewage plants.”

From their answers, it seems the two Ricks agree on many things: they both think St. Pete’s “First Block” in downtown is an important area that should be given historic status (although the City Council failed to approve the designation last year); they believe in funding the arts scene and the locally based artists who have created it; they want to support Midtown while thoughtfully preserving that area’s historically significant structures such as the Manhattan Casino; they want to keep St. Pete from becoming overdeveloped without thwarting growth that benefits its economy and quality of life; and of course, they both really, really love St. Pete.

While the candidates shared similar sentiments on many issues, their specific goals and plans for achieving them, differed in several areas.

For example, when asked about the City’s role in historic landmark designation, Baker said it must be a community effort to identify important structures to preserve. Kriseman placed more responsibility on City leadership, saying that if historic property owners fail to recognize a building’s historic significance, it’s up to the City to educate them on how landmark designation can enhance property value.

Both candidates professed their love of St. Pete’s art scene: Kriseman raved about the SHINE Mural Festival that began under his leadership, while Baker noted his role in bringing the Dalí and Chihuly museums to the city. On supporting artists, Baker said it’s the mayor’s job to act as a “bully pulpit” for the local artist community and help secure sources of funding, while Kriseman said he has been trying to increase City funding for artists since he was elected. He said he urged City Council to designate part of the City’s settlement from the BP Deep Water Horizon oil spill for an arts endowment.

When rising commercial rents in downtown came up, Kriseman said he has proposed the idea of reserving certain corridors for local businesses so the city doesn’t become oversaturated with chains like Atlanta or Boston has. He said he’s looking for the “sweet spot” between being business-friendly and maintaining the city’s culture. He’s not sure yet whether this means incentivizing local independent businesses or making it tougher for chains to locate in certain areas, but he welcomes public input.

Baker called Kriseman’s approach divisive. He said the best thing the City can do is help the businesses that are already here succeed, and he would do so by bringing together landlords and business owners to find solutions.

On procedures for gaining historic district status in neighborhoods, Kriseman said he supports allowing small areas of the city, including single residential blocks, to apply. Baker was less enthusiastic about that idea, but said he would not rule it out.

Kriseman also said he’d want to review the procedure for obtaining historic district status. Currently, non-responding property owners count as “no” votes, and Kriseman acknowledged this makes it unnecessarily difficult for a district to obtain historic status. Baker noted there’s a lack of clarity among property owners on the impact of historic status, and said would he look closely at that issue.

Before the forum began, St. Petersburg Preservation showed a video of local residents sharing what makes St. Pete special to them, and what features they wanted their community leaders to protect and support. View the video online.

About St. Petersburg Preservation:

Since 1977, St. Petersburg Preservation (SPP) has been working to secure the preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, maintenance, and/or acquisition of important natural, scenic, historic, and architectural sites and structures. SPP accomplishes this by working with the City, County, businesses, and individuals to identify historic districts and sites, landmark significant structures, and foster appreciation of St. Petersburg’s historic environment. And no matter what projects SPP undertakes, the overarching goal is to instill in St. Pete’s citizens an appreciation of our shared heritage and culture and how this contributes to our quality of life and economic success. Learn more at www.stpetepreservation.org.