{"id":3060,"date":"2026-06-10T04:34:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060"},"modified":"2026-06-10T04:34:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:34:23","slug":"st-pete-mayoral-debate-candidates-clash-over-affordability-hurricane-prep-future-of-gas-plant-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060","title":{"rendered":"St. Pete mayoral debate: Candidates clash over affordability, hurricane prep, future of Gas Plant District"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.<\/strong> – <\/span>St. Petersburg mayoral candidates went head-to-head on Tuesday night, clashing over some of the city\u2019s biggest challenges during a debate hosted by the St. Pete NAACP at the Obama Main Library.<\/p>

Read more St. Pete Beach considering ordinance requiring permits for beach activities and events<\/a><\/p>

St. Petersburg mayoral debate\u00a0<\/h2>

The backstory:<\/p>

<\/div>

The debate focused on several issues facing the city, including the future of the Gas Plant District, hurricane preparedness, affordability and utility costs.<\/p>

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist criticized the leadership of incumbent Mayor Ken Welch throughout the night.<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>

“I\u2019m just disappointed in his leadership and I think we need a change,” Crist said. “So do the other people at this table with me, or they wouldn\u2019t be running either.”<\/p>

Debating the failed Rays stadium<\/h2>

The other side:<\/p>

Mayor Welch defended his decision not to commit additional public dollars to the failed Rays stadium deal following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>

“After the hurricanes, they came back and said we need more money to stay here, and I said not another dime,” Welch said. “We were a traumatized community.”<\/p>

Focus on city hurricane preparedness<\/h2>

What they’re saying:<\/p>

Former Shore Acres Neighborhood Association President Kevin Batdorf says the city must improve its storm readiness efforts immediately.<\/p>

“We need a much more robust team in place to prepare for hurricanes,” Batdorf said. “We need to have crews on standby.”<\/p>

Read more Google-backed project wants to release millions of \u2018good mosquitoes\u2019 in Florida to fight dangerous diseases<\/a><\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>

Future of utilities<\/h2>

Why you should care:<\/p>

Former NAACP St. Pete President Maria Scruggs raised concerns about rising utility costs and the city\u2019s relationship with Duke Energy.<\/p>

“We have people that have excessive utility bills,” Scruggs said. “We do not have a solution as to why individuals are receiving $10,000 water bills.”<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>

Upcoming dates for voters<\/h2>

What’s next:<\/p>

Former St. Pete Fire Chief James Large, a sixth candidate in the race, did not attend the debate.<\/p>

As the debate came to a close, City Council member Brandi Gabbard focused on what she called a pivotal moment for the city\u2019s future.<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>

“The choices we make over the next year will define our future for the next generation,” Gabbard said. “We must lead in a proactive way with a bold vision for our future.”<\/p>

A second mayoral debate is scheduled for July 28 at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art. Not long after that, voters will head to the polls for the primary election on August 18.<\/p>

Read more Bradenton breaks ground on $30M City Park project aiming to revitalize community<\/a><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St. Petersburg mayoral candidates went head-to-head on Tuesday night, clashing over some of the city\u2019s biggest challenges during a debate hosted by the St. Pete NAACP at the Obama Main Library.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,33,144],"tags":[29,34,145],"class_list":["post-3060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-politics","category-st-petersburg","tag-economy","tag-politics","tag-st-petersburg"],"yoast_head":"\nSt. Pete mayoral debate: Candidates clash over affordability, hurricane prep, future of Gas Plant District - Tampa moving journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"St. Pete mayoral debate: Candidates clash over affordability, hurricane prep, future of Gas Plant District - Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"St. Petersburg mayoral candidates went head-to-head on Tuesday night, clashing over some of the city\u2019s biggest challenges during a debate hosted by the St. Pete NAACP at the Obama Main Library.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-10T04:34:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/508a2eebc85320ff28ba220c02c81a59.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"932\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"524\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"headline\":\"St. Pete mayoral debate: Candidates clash over affordability, hurricane prep, future of Gas Plant District\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T04:34:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060\"},\"wordCount\":448,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b09d125086e0f50dc41300627f93166e.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Economy\",\"Politics\",\"St. Petersburg\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Economy\",\"Politics\",\"St. Petersburg\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060\",\"name\":\"St. Pete mayoral debate: Candidates clash over affordability, hurricane prep, future of Gas Plant District - Tampa moving journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b09d125086e0f50dc41300627f93166e.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T04:34:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b09d125086e0f50dc41300627f93166e.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b09d125086e0f50dc41300627f93166e.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3060#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"St. Pete mayoral debate: Candidates clash over affordability, hurricane prep, future of Gas Plant District\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tampa moving journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"St. Pete mayoral debate: Candidates clash over affordability, hurricane prep, future of Gas Plant District - Tampa moving journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"St. Pete mayoral debate: Candidates clash over affordability, hurricane prep, future of Gas Plant District - Tampa moving journal","og_description":"St. Petersburg mayoral candidates went head-to-head on Tuesday night, clashing over some of the city\u2019s biggest challenges during a debate hosted by the St. Pete NAACP at the Obama Main Library.","og_url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060","og_site_name":"Tampa moving journal","article_published_time":"2026-06-10T04:34:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":932,"height":524,"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/508a2eebc85320ff28ba220c02c81a59.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"headline":"St. Pete mayoral debate: Candidates clash over affordability, hurricane prep, future of Gas Plant District","datePublished":"2026-06-10T04:34:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060"},"wordCount":448,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b09d125086e0f50dc41300627f93166e.webp","keywords":["Economy","Politics","St. Petersburg"],"articleSection":["Economy","Politics","St. Petersburg"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060","name":"St. Pete mayoral debate: Candidates clash over affordability, hurricane prep, future of Gas Plant District - Tampa moving journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b09d125086e0f50dc41300627f93166e.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-10T04:34:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b09d125086e0f50dc41300627f93166e.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b09d125086e0f50dc41300627f93166e.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3060#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"St. Pete mayoral debate: Candidates clash over affordability, hurricane prep, future of Gas Plant District"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/","name":"Tampa moving journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}