St. Pete employee bonuses may have violated Florida law

When St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch announced he was rescinding $250,000 in bonuses to city employees who worked on the Rays-Hines deal, he said it was because of “the unintended response the payments have garnered,” apparently meaning a negative response from City Council members and the public.

But there may have been another reason.

According to Florida Statutes and a long-standing opinion from the state Attorney General’s Office, the bonuses may have been illegal to begin with.

At least two City Council members who have looked into the law said they don’t see how the bonuses could pass legal muster and others have questions.

Under Florida law, a municipality can’t pay bonuses to employees unless it has a standing bonus policy that applies to all employees and sets out the standards for eligibility.

St. Petersburg does not, according to several city officials.

An exception, the statute states, is “a bonus or severance pay that is paid wholly from nontax revenues and nonstate-appropriated funds.”

Welch said last week he had awarded the bonuses in July, ranging from $10,000 to $25,000, to 17 employees including City Administrator Rob Gerdes and City Attorney Jackie Kovilaritch, “to recognize the extraordinary work and dedication” and extensive excess working hours they put in on the deal.

The City Council approved the deal, known as the Historic Gas Plant Redevelopment, on July 18. It includes a new $1.3 billion stadium and the redevelopment of 65 acres around the existing Tropicana Field, with the city, the Tampa Bay Rays, and Hines Development contributing to the cost.

Council members also expressed shock and disappointment this week that they weren’t informed of the bonuses until they were reported by the news media. They questioned what the source of the money was and whether the bonus deal violated a city ordinance that expenditures of $100,000 or more must be approved by the council.

After looking at the pertinent Florida statutes and a 2000 opinion from the state Attorney General’s Office, “I’m wondering how this could have been interpreted as legal,” said Council member Gina Driscoll.

She said “blowback on social media and constituent calls were just overwhelming” against the bonuses.

Council member Lisette Hanewicz said she had checked on whether the city has a bonus policy and couldn’t find one. The Council has not adopted such a policy, said Administrative Officer Cindy Sheppard.

Council member Ed Montanari, who’s also a candidate for state House, said he had spent “a good deal of time” looking into the statute and attorney general’s opinion and, “It appeared to me that it was illegal … but there’s always gray area in the law.”

The bonuses went to some of the city’s highest-paid officials, several of whom earn six-figure salaries. Gerdes, for example, makes $238,658.

Asked via email about the legality of the bonuses and what city department or budgetary fund they came from, city administration spokesperson Alizza Punzalan-Randle, who was one recipient, responded by sending a copy of Welch’s statement rescinding the bonuses.

The Attorney General’s opinion, issued in 2000, said paying bonuses “to existing employees for services they have already performed and have been compensated for” violates Florida law “unless there is a preexisting employment contract making such bonuses a part of their salary or the city council has adopted a lump-sum bonus payment program to reward outstanding employees whose performance exceeds standards.”

The purpose of the law, the opinion states, is to uphold the principle that “public funds may be used only for a public purpose” and, therefore, not for “forms of compensation not provided for by law or contract.”

A subsequent attorney general’s opinion, issued in 2014, refers to the same statute and to the 2000 opinion, restating the same principle. However, the 2014 opinion is “informal,” intended simply for advice and not a binding interpretation of law.

Baker rescinds Montanari endorsement

Former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, a longtime friend and political ally of City Council member Montanari, has rescinded his endorsement of Republican Montanari in the Pinellas County District 60 state House race.

The move apparently stems from a disagreement over the city’s Historic Gas Plant Redevelopment and the Rays-Hines deal for the project, although Baker declined in an interview to state his reasons.

Montanari voted in favor of the deal, which proponents won by a narrow, 5-3 majority of the Council. Baker strongly opposed it.

Baker endorsed Montanari in October but said he’s now “not backing anyone” in the District 60 race, where Montanari is challenging first-term Democratic Rep. Lindsay Cross.

Montanari said Baker filled out the legally required endorsing form to be listed as one of his backers but then was taken off his website’s list of endorsers after an informal conversation between the two.

“Rick Baker and I have been friends for over 20 years – he’s been more than a friend, he’s been a mentor,” Montanari said. “Rick and I agree on most things, but we disagreed on the Rays-Hines deal. At the end of the day, we just concluded we don’t see eye-to-eye on this.”

As Mayor in 2008, Baker led part of the city’s decades-long effort to reach a deal to retain the Tampa Bay Rays. This year, he said the current Rays-Hines deal wasn’t worth the cost to the city unless the team cemented its identification with the city by changing its name to the St. Petersburg Rays.

In the Tampa Bay area’s tightly gerrymandered legislative district map, District 60, covering Pinellas Park, the Gateway area and parts of northeastern St. Petersburg, is one of the few potential swing districts, though Democratic-leaning. It’s 37-33% Democratic to Republican by voter registration, with the rest minor- or no-party affiliates.

Cross won the district 54-46% in the 2022 “red wave” election.

But Cross’s 2022 opponent, Audrey Henson, was a comparative newcomer. Republicans hope Montanari’s well-known name and service in a City Council district that significantly overlaps the House district will boost his chances.

Republicans consider the district one of their few pickup opportunities statewide.