Janelle Irwin Taylor
As diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the private and public sectors crumble across the nation amid a new presidential administration intent on dismantling them, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said he’s not backing down.
Speaking Tuesday morning during his annual State of the City address, this one from the iconic Palladium Theater, Welch defended his administration’s dedication to equity, and doubled down.
“As long as I’m your Mayor we will not abandon or retreat from that principle,” Welch said, noting that his administration’s equity initiatives are not about harm or ridicule, but about using facts, data and honest history to educate residents to ensure travesties of the past are not repeated. He referenced the displacement of residents in the Historic Gas Plant neighborhood who were displaced when what is now Tropicana Field was first conceived of and constructed in the late 80s and early 90s, and the St. Petersburg Police Department’s “Courageous 12,” a group of police officers who defied city segregation that required them to work only in predominantly Black neighborhoods by filing a civil rights lawsuit.
“Being informed of that history doesn’t demonize us today, or separate us, or harm us, or cause airplane crashes,” Welch said to applause.
He was making a not-so-subtle reference to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance who have both at various times baselessly blamed DEI initiatives under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden for the plane crash in Washington D.C. that claimed the lives of 67 people. The crash occurred when an American Airlines passenger jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk.
Historic Gas Plant
Welch also updated attendees, and those watching remotely on a Facebook live stream, on plans to redevelop the Historic Gas Plant District, including a new Major League Baseball stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Welch reached an agreement with the team and developer, Hines, in 2023. The deal provided for a new stadium and sweeping redevelopment, including affordable housing, hotels, retail, entertainment, green space, a new African American history museum, and more.
But the deal appeared in peril in late 2024, after Hurricane Milton ripped Tropicana Field’s roof from the iconic domed stadium, leaving it uninhabitable for the Rays in its 2025 season. That caused the team to have to look elsewhere for a temporary home, and anger when the team ultimately landed on playing in Tampa, at Steinbrenner Field.
Since then, both St. Petersburg City Council and the Pinellas County Commission have approved the bonds needed to finalize the deal from their respective sides, putting the burden on the Rays to either stick with the agreement, or walk away. Because the city and county both held up their end of the bargain, if the Rays left they would forfeit development rights included in the existing agreement.
Welch, in his address, leaned into that to reassure residents frustrated by the uncertainty in recent months.
“If we still have a willing partner in the Rays and we continue to have conversations with them … then we will move forward,” Welch said, adding a caveat.
“As your Mayor, please know that we are prepared … to adapt, adjust and move forward if the Rays walk away from this partnership.”
While Welch made clear he hopes the Rays stick with the agreement, he said the city would have three or four years to reevaluate redevelopment plans in the absence of baseball. The Rays are contractually obligated to play at Tropicana Field through the 2027 season.
“We will not pursue a deal at any cost,” he added, echoing a previous pledge to City Council that any renegotiation with the Rays would not result in additional cost obligations for the city.
Hurricanes
While the Rays stadium saga has dominated interest in St. Pete and Pinellas County over the past year — and for more than a decade for those who have been around a while — 2024, particularly the last few months of it, was a tough year.
Even though it looked like Hurricane Helene was going to be yet another near miss for St. Pete and the Tampa Bay area, with the path taking the storm far offshore to make landfall in the Big Bend, storm surge from outer bands that battered the area caused intense flooding in low-lying neighborhoods and coastal areas.
Welch’s State of the City paid homage to the challenges brought by not just the Helene flooding, but the wind battering the city suffered just a couple of weeks later from Hurricane Milton, which made landfall just south of the city. Prior to his address, leaders from a variety of different faiths shared uplifting messages to a tired community, praising in the storms’ wake the unity that followed adversity. A musical ensemble from Shore Acres played “Fight Song,” an anthem for perseverance. The city’s poet laureate read in both english and spanish a poem written about overcoming the season’s bad weather.
And Welch continued the theme, celebrating “our ability to adapt, collaborate and innovate” and praising “neighbor helping neighbor.” He called the unity that came on the heels of personal tragedy, “uplifting,” and promised to move forward “with that mindset,” encouraging others to do the same.
“2024 was no ordinary year,” Welch began in his address.
When it was all said and done, the city — through its own sanitation department and through private partnerships to help clear debris — collected more than five times what was collected after Hurricanes Idalia, Ian and Irma combined.
“And our team did it in 90 days,” Welch boasted, not mentioning the criticism the city had faced as residents and businesses grew frustrated with uncollected debris that would ultimately be nicknamed “Welch piles” by the Mayor’s detractors.
Welch acknowledged the work yet to be done, and pledged expedited work on resiliency efforts, including long-overdue infrastructure upgrades that have plagued Welch’s administration and that of his predecessor, former Mayor Rick Kriseman.
But still he encouraged hope, pointing to just how much had been overcome. The back-to-back hurricanes caused damage to a staggering 15,000 structures, Welch reminded, noting the “volume of permits means the process will take longer.” But, he said, the city has increased its permitting staff to absorb the load, implemented remote permitting staff and held two public forums with representatives from key agencies helping with recovery. As of his address, Welch said more than 7,000 permits have been processed.
Welch took office in early 2022 and would have been up for reelection this year for a second four-year term. But city voters approved a ballot measure moving municipal elections to even-numbered years, giving Welch an extra year on his first term. Now, he’ll face voters again — should he seek reelection, as he’s expected to do — in 2026.
That means Welch will have at least one more State of the City to deliver, and given the tone of this year’s address, it’s a safe bet he’ll be hoping he doesn’t have to swat down fears about baseball or storm damage.
