ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In a surprise move, the St. Petersburg City Council will meet Thursday for a potentially sooner-than-expected vote on the bonds required to fund the stadium deal at the center of the Historic Gas Plant District Redevelopment project.
The change was added to the city council agenda Wednesday.
It gives Chris Steinocher, the president and CEO of the St. Pete Chamber of Commerce, more than a glimmer of hope that the Tampa Bay Rays will ultimately stay in St. Pete.
“I’m a lot more hopeful than I was two weeks ago,” he said. “The change in schedule for us signifies a determination from our city to lead this effort and ensure that Tampa Bay has Major League Baseball for years to come.”
The future of the Tampa Bay Rays has been in doubt for weeks.
First, the Pinellas County Commission voted twice to delay a vote on the county’s portion of the funding for the stadium deal.
Then, the Rays announced that the deal was dead. Given the upheaval and the Rays’ announcement, the St. Pete City Council delayed its vote on the bonds during a Nov. 21 meeting.
In a letter earlier this week, the Rays sent local leaders a somewhat different message. Rays Co-President Matt Silverman wrote the deal is still “in effect,” and the team is now waiting on the city and county to act.
“I would definitely say the deal is still alive,” Steinocher said Wednesday. “For sure.”
Steinocher believes there is a path forward with both the city and Pinellas County.
Ron Diner, however, hopes that isn’t the case.
Diner, a frequent critic of the stadium deal, believes the city should have given more notice to the public before adding the stadium bonds resolution to Thursday’s agenda.
“You lose public trust, in my opinion, when you do things like this,” he said. “This is the most consequential transaction the city’s going to ever enter into.”
He also doesn’t want council members to approve the funding after multiple conflicting statements from the Rays.
“How can the city be even thinking about moving forward until this is squared away?” he said.
The Thursday meeting is set for 1:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to discuss and potentially vote on its portion of the funding on Dec. 17.
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