Remember, remember the eighth of November.
Tuesday, Nov. 8 is when St. Petersburg residents can head to the polls and vote in the St. Petersburg City Council elections. Big issues face the little city—budget cuts, homelessness, the new pier design, creating jobs, red light cameras and the future home of major league baseball.
On Oct. 21, three incumbents and four newcomers debated at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, an event organized by the Suncoast Tiger Bay club.
Herb Polson, council member in District 1, decided not to run for re-election, leaving the seat open. Bob Kersteen, a businessman and longtime St. Petersburg resident, is running for the spot. Kersteen had one audience member call him out for withdrawing support for a past mayoral election. Kersteen did receive an endorsement from Mayor Bill Foster. His opponent, Charlie Gerdes, nabbed the St. Petersburg Times endorsement for the election.
Tampa-based attorney Tom Dunn asked the candidates to give some clarity on the financing concerning Tropicana Field, the Tampa Bay Rays stadium.
“The debt service on the stadium is $13.3 million a year, with $2 million coming from tourist tax,” Gerdes said. “The lease is $100,000 and whatever revenue is leftover after the bills are paid goes to the city’s general fund.”
Brent Hatley is running against incumbent Bill Dudley in District 3.
“Coach Dudley taught me history and how to drive when I was in high school,” Hatley said. “I only know how to do one of those well still—history.”
Dudley responded to the possibility of a new stadium with his own solution.
“We should turn [Tropicana Field] into a convention center since St. Petersburg no longer has one,” Dudley said. “There are ideas out there.”
District 5 council member Steve Kornell is running for re-election. His opponent had to drop out for health reasons, but Kornell said he still needs voters to turn out so they don’t have to re-do the election.
“We have to decide, how much is baseball worth?” Kornell said. “The public should be involved and they should have a voice and we should have a referendum.”
Candidates were asked if they would support a public referendum on The Pier and its new design competition. The majority of candidates stated they would want a referendum on The Pier.
“If public funds are involved, then the public should have a voice,” Gerdes said.
District 7 newcomer Gershom Faulkner spent much of the debate attacking opponent and incumbent Wengay Newton.
“My opponent hasn’t done enough,” Faulkner said. “He isn’t working towards solutions.”
“You don’t get a lot of answers with my opponent, just a lot of rhetoric,” Newton said.
Newton commented on the issue of a referendum on The Pier.
“I am not against development or designers,” Newton said. “But we never had a vote in the chamber that gave the public a voice and that is wrong.”
In his closing statement, Hatley brought up red light cameras, which were recently installed throughout St. Petersburg.
“I want to put an end to red light cameras,” Hatley said. “They are unconstitutional.”
Dudley responded in his closing statement. “Hatley is wrong,” he said. “The cameras are constitutional.”
“I voted no on the red light cameras and would vote that way again,” Kornell said. He spoke about a recent incident he witnessed on 22nd Avenue N. and Fourth Street where there are red light cameras.
“It was a situation that if a cop had been there, he wouldn’t have given him a ticket,” Kornell said.
Allison Nall, a senior at USFSP, works with Charlie Justice, assistant director of Leadership. She said she plans on voting in the city’s local election on Nov. 8. She is concerned about the new red light cameras.
“It’s like a big brother thing,” Nall said “It’s a little weird.”
In May 2011, Gov. Rick Scott signed an election reform bill that opponents said will make voting more difficult. The Institute for Southern Studies found that the 58 pages of new guidelines could make voting much more difficult for as many as 5 million voters. Among the new guidelines passed is legislation that shortens Florida’s early voting period from 14 days to eight. In 2008, 4.3 million Floridians used early voting.
The Pew Research Center reported that 66 percent of voters under 30 voted for Obama in 2008. Traditionally voters don’t turnout as much in local elections. In St. Petersburg, 627 people voted out of over 20,000 eligible voters.
“Young people are left out because they don’t vote,” Kornell said. “It does make a difference—stand up and make a statement.”
If you haven’t registered as a voter in the state of Florida, you can’t vote in this election. Voter registration can be applied for at any time, but there are cut-off dates for each election.
If you are registered as a voter in the state of Florida but haven’t registered as a St. Petersburg resident, registration can be done over the phone with an address change.
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The Candidates
Bob Kersteen, candidate for District 1.
Charlie Gerdes, candidate for District 1.
Gershom Faulkner, candidate for District 7.
Wengay Newton, city councilman running for re-election in District 7.
Brent Hatley, candidate for District 3.
Bill Dudley, city councilman running for re-election in District 3.
Steve Kornell, city councilman running for re-election in District 5.
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Photo by Daniel Mutter
