Rick Baker won’t protect St. Pete from Tallahassee attack on home rule, Florida Democrats say

A top priority of Rick Scott and Richard Corcoran will be heard by the House this week.

It’s no secret that the Florida Legislature has been pushing policies in recent years that would take away local control from municipal governments.

While most of the criticism has come from big-city Democratic mayors like Bob Buckhorn and Rick Kriseman, Republicans like Kathleen Peters have also bashed Tallahassee’s so-called “assault” on home rule when announcing she would step down from the Legislature for a County Commission run in 2018.

Citing the $350,000 he’s received from Republicans in Tallahassee to his Seamless Florida political action committee, the Florida Democratic Party is questioning whether Rick Baker would push back against such pre-emption if he were elected mayor next week in St. Petersburg.

“Rick Baker has been so desperate for campaign cash he’s willing to sell out St. Pete to Tallahassee Republicans,” said Florida Democratic Party Deputy Communications Director Amir Avin. “Baker is going to owe big favors for the big checks he’s gotten from Republicans like Rick Scott, Richard Corcoran, and Adam Putnam. Tallahassee’s most extreme Republicans are supporting Rick Baker for a reason.”

“Voters aren’t naive enough to believe Rick Baker would be receiving these contributions if his policies didn’t align with Tallahassee’s far-right agenda.”

That includes $25,000 from Rick Scott’s Let’s Get to Work PAC, $25,000 from Florida Grown (Adam Putnam‘s PAC) and $10,000 from Corcoran and Johnston (headed by Michael Corcoran, brother of House Speaker Richard Corcoran).

On the campaign trail, Baker repeatedly said he’ll fight for St. Pete when it comes to intrusions from Tallahassee or Washington.

“Generally, I believe government closest to the people is best suited to respond to their needs, and I support home rule,” he said Thursday.

At a candidates forum in Disston Heights last month, Baker was asked about the Trump administration cutting programs to U.S. cities.

“Anything that we can do to help the urban center of our city is important, and I think the federal government has a role in it,” he said.

Baker added he would venture to Washington, Tallahassee or anywhere else to protect the city’s interests.

However, one area where the former mayor is OK with Tallahassee pre-emption is on gun control legislation.

It made sense for the state to set the laws, Baker said, so that Pinellas Park, Largo and St. Petersburg other communities across Pinellas County didn’t have different sets of gun laws.