St. Petersburg mayoral candidates Bill Foster and Rick Kriseman debated over business community support on Wednesday, Sept. 11 in the University Student Center. The event started with a one-hour meet and greet in the upper lobby of the USC.
Questions were posed by a panel of five individuals and audience members, comprised of USFSP Student Body President Mark Lombardi-Nelson, College of Business professor Bill Jackson, freelance journalist Linda Hersey, owner of Three Birds Tavern Jack King, and vice president of LocalShops1 Mo Venouzio.
Panelists asked questions and candidates had 60 seconds each to respond. Whoever spoke first would have the chance at a rebuttal. A lightning round followed where answers could only be yes or no, followed by questions submitted by the audience.
Candidates stayed away from any specific plans of action. Foster chose to stand by his record of the last four years, while Kriseman chose to attack it.
“I think the proof is in the pudding of how I did advocate, and spent a very long weekend advocating, for that $5 million for the school of business, something that the governor was going to veto,” Foster said. “It helps to have a friend in the governor’s mansion and I kind of crack up every time Mr. Kriseman talks about having to go to Tallahassee and lobby. He spent six years in Tallahassee and didn’t accomplish a thing.”
Kriseman returned fire with, “It would have been nice during my six years when I was in Tallahassee if Mr. Foster would have been up there, every session during his term in office, not only advocating for public education, but for all those other issues that impact citizens of the state.”
Other issues that came up included the future of the waterfront. Both candidates were supportive of having a pier.
“The current administration shut the pier down, even though there was a question on whether we would be going forward with the Lens or something in the alternative. We don’t have the luxury of time because it is the jewel of our waterfront,” Kriseman said.
Another concern is the future of the Rays.
“Tropicana field, as far as I’m concerned, we are going to have that field here until at least 2027,” Foster said.
The election date for the mayoral race is Nov. 5. There will be no early voting, but mail-in ballots will be accepted.
