St. Petersburg City Council member Richie Floyd cares about what matters to make life better.
Richie Floyd, along with Council members Lisset Hanewicz, and John Muhammad voted no on the Rays/Hines deal to build a new baseball stadium in St. Pete. This project will absorb $1.6 billion of St. Petersburg’s resources – $6,000 for every man, woman, and child.
We applaud Floyd’s vote – a vote against a project that does not focus on what matters to make lives better.
The City of St. Petersburg has so many more important needs that matter – housing, flooding problems, helping children reach their full potential. And Floyd understands these issues, having taught in public school.
What does not matter is a new baseball stadium. The team has among the worst attendance in baseball. And as Floyd points out, studies show that stadiums do not drive growth. What is driving the growth of St. Petersburg is tourism – the beaches, the museums, the restaurants, and the piers – not baseball, along with other key economic drivers – the financial and tech industries.
Richie Floy hit a homerun is voting no on the Rays/Hines deal. Unfortunately he got no team support from his Council Member teammates – Figg-Sanders, Montanari, Driscoll, Gabbard, and Gerdes. They all struck out – voting more a deal that does not matter to make lives better.
