Future commissioners weigh in on bed tax

It's not known whether the county bed tax will play a role in a future Rays stadium deal. But at a recent NAACP candidate forum, contenders for two open County Commission seats were asked whether they would have voted to approve an extension of the tax for the now on-hold waterfront park proposal in St. Petersburg.

The candidates didn't offer yes or no responses, but County Commission District 3 candidates Darden Rice and Nancy Bostock both said they were not comfortable using the tax for a ball park. The other District 3 contender, Rene Flowers, said she's interested in exploring a new park as part of the Tropicana Field redevelopment.

In the District 1 race, Neil Brickfield said there was "no way in the world" he would support using the tax for a ball park. His primary opponent, Jane Gallucci, said she needed more information to make a decision.

Will Van Sant, Times staff writer

Announcement on Jeff Lyash's coalition

Jeff Lyash, chairman of a new community baseball coalition, will host a press conference Monday morning to discuss the group's mission and nomination process.

Lyash was named chairman of the coalition last month after the Tampa Bay Rays announced the team would delay its waterfront stadium proposal. Since that announcement, Lyash, CEO of Progress Energy Florida, has declined to discuss the group publicly, but his staff has said the public will be able to nominate individuals to serve on the coalition.

The press conference will be at EpiCenter at St. Petersburg College, 13805 58th St. N., Largo, Room 1-451 on 9 a.m. Monday.

Chamber's bullish report comes a day late for Rays

The day after the Tampa Bay Rays pulled the plug on plans for a waterfront stadium, the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce offered a largely bullish report on the Rays’ now-defunct proposal.

Chamber officials, who had been reviewing the Rays’ proposal for months, did not come as far as endorsing the idea of a waterfront stadium on Thursday. The Rays’ change of plans meant the business community didn’t have to take a formal position.

But chamber officials and members of the group’s task force on baseball mostly supported the prospects of a downtown waterfront stadium.

A ballpark at Al Lang Field would cost less and potentially offer more, said Steve Raymund, the Tech Data chairman and head of the chamber’s baseball task force.

“One thing you can say about the waterfront, like it or hate it, you were going to leverage a lot of in place infrastructure,” Raymund said.

What they're saying

“I was excited about it and I think everybody was so it’s a little disappointing. We were looking forward to it. . . . It was something to get excited about. But we can deal with the turf. We’ve been playing on it for so long at the Trop, we’ve done good in the Trop. We just have to keep playing in the Trop and see what happens after that. Hopefully something will come up.” - Carl Crawford, longest tenured member of the Rays

County Commissioner Duncan chimes in

This email just came in:

Statement from Pinellas County Commissioner Ronnie E. Duncan

Re: Tampa Bay Rays

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I apologize that I am not able to attend the press conference today. Unfortunately I have travel and speaking commitments in South Florida. But I did want to speak to your statements today and to my thoughts on the Rays franchise in Pinellas County.

A baseball franchise is more than simply a team on a field, playing almost daily to maintain their standing and move the club forward in the national standings. While winning is important to maintain the fan base - and you all have invested in players, in the structure and in the community to achieve this level of play - being a part of the community and region in which the team plays is paramount.

The club draws interest and attention to the community and the region. To the rest of the world, the team ensures that St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and Tampa Bay are mentioned daily if not more often. That recognition results in economic development and job creation. It is a known fact that corporate relocation specialists seek out sport franchise operations as one of several criteria for their clients.

The team and its opponents do draw tourists to our region. As a young ball club, the team following is growing in depth. But many come to our area to see their opposition - the ball club that they grew up with in their home communities in other parts of the country. That adds jobs and creates revenues to businesses - as well as once again exposing the beaches and the golden nuggets of tourism to many many more.

And to those baseball fans in our region, the Rays adds to the quality of life that we value so highly. While an intangible factor, people know it when they feel and see it - and the Rays is just that!

I applaud the Rays' management and ownership for their decision to seek other opportunities in our region and will work, as a County Commissioner, to insure that their objectives are met in a manner that mitigate and address the objections of our community and environment. The franchise has worked closely with the community and I know that they will continue to involve the public in this renewed initiative. Their decision to work with this Pinellas County community speaks volumes for their credibility and their commitment to the quality of life that we hold so dear.

-Cristina Silva, Times Staff Writer

Clearwater City Council wants to get in on the Rays' debate

Rays officials were asked to attend Thursday's City Council meeting. Will they attend? Check our new Times' blog, Bay Buzz, to find out.

Gotta love our elected officials

Remember how we said last week that the city was moving back its second of three referendum related City Council votes back a week so that the County Commission could take up its piece of the pie first on July 22.

Well, my colleague Will Van Sant just informed me that the county will now push its decision on the bed tax back to Aug. 5, letting the city of St. Petersburg take the first step on July 24.

Is it pretty clear no one wants to be the first to vote up or down on this project?

Bed tax talk

The county Tourist Development Council has just started its monthly meeting. The Rays are the second item on the agenda. The first is a presentation from a member of the Hillsborough TDC... He's not exactly setting the tone the Rays would probably like.

He just said: "You need to be really judicious with the dollars your spending today. Your bed tax dollars are not going to go in an upward direction."

Of course, the Rays are asking the county to tie up about 20 percent of its tourist hotel tax revenues from 2015 to at least 2040.

UPDATE: Rays president Matt Silverman is at the podium, taking TDC members through a general overview of the stadium and redevelopment project.

UPDATE: The meeting is just wrapping up.  The TDC is expected to make a recommendation at its July 9 meeting. 

Bed tax primer

After six months of debate in St. Petersburg, the Tampa Bay Rays’ $450-million stadium proposal shifts to the desks of county government on Wednesday, as Rays’ officials make an introductory pitch for $100-million from the extension of a county tourism tax.

The Pinellas Tourist Development Council, meeting at 9 a.m., is expected to make a recommendation to the Pinellas County Commission next month. (You can watch the TDC meeting live on Bright House channel 618; Knology channel 18).

At issue is how a 1 percent tax on all hotel stays is spent.

What's going to happen on Thursday?

Reminder!!!

So we're less than 48 hours from a City Council vote on the Rays' plans. Knowing what you do, how do you think the council will vote? I think I should be able to get some Times swag for the winner. Here's what you need to do:

List in the comments below how you think each council member will vote (Polson, Kennedy, Curran, Dudley, Bennett, Nurse, Newtown, Danner). A yes vote moves the referendum process to a second vote (scheduled July 17). A no vote stops things where we are, and ends the stadium discussion at least for this year. As a TIEBRAKER, please also list how many minutes you think the council discussion will last.

You MUST list your name and e-mail if you want to win. If you don't want to give away your identities, you can also provide all the information, including your prediction, in an email to me at asharockman@sptimes.com

Deadline is Wednesday at 4 p.m., at which time I'll post my guesses.

Good luck!

Meet the Rays' newest political consultant

[Dirk Shadd | Times]

We here at Ballpark Frankness hear that the Tampa Bay Rays have hired high profile Clearwater land use attorney Ed Armstrong to help make the Rays' case before the Tourist Development Commission and Pinellas County Commission.

Those of you who know Pinellas politics, likely know Armstrong. But if you don't, let's just say he's pretty effective at his job. He's also not cheap.

County Commissioner to City Council: Speak Up

Stadium opponents have been dishing all week about how they wish the City Council would take a page from the County Commission's playbook and throw some real curve balls at the Rays.

When asked about the buzz, County Commissioner Ken Welch had this to say this afternoon: "The county commission is not going to be rushed into making any decisions without the proper protocol."

His advice for his fellow politicos in St. Pete: "Be as direct as possible. If we have questions, we just ask them."

-Cristina Silva, Times Staff Writer

Council chairman meeting with Rays right now

This tidbit from colleague Cristina Silva: City Council chairman Jamie Bennett is right now meeting with Rays senior vice president Michael Kalt. Presumably, the two are talking about a potential financing package for the $450-million ballpark.

Bennett (pictured) has been an interesting character in all of this. When news of the stadium first spread, Bennett sounded like a supporter. Here he is quoted in a November story about the project.

• "They've done their homework," Bennett said. "And from first blush, it seems like it could work."
• And on the stadium design: "If you look at it from the side, you can see through it," said Bennett. "It's not an obtrusive, big object."

Now, his tone is much different. Though the details of the proposal haven't changed much, Bennett now seems quite skeptical of the plan. The prospective 2009 mayoral candidate last month had this to say:

• "We need to ask, 'Is this in the best interest of the city?' " Bennett said. "We need to start asking these questions today. Right now, I am not so sure. This is a horrible time to be talking about selling real estate. It is a rough time to be talking about taxes."

What will he say today? Hopefully, we'll find out soon.

Chamber group hearing of possible delays

Just got off the phone a little while ago with Steve Raymund (pictured), chairman of the board of Tech Data Corp. and co-chair of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce's baseball task force.

Raymund is leading a group of 35 business, neighborhood and civic leaders who are examining the Rays' proposal. The group is hoping to release some of its finding sometime in May.

Though he wouldn't say much, Raymund offered a couple of interesting morsels of new information. Among them:

* On the parking and traffic analysis, which Raymund admits the chamber is furthest along on: "I can tell you we found some faults in the Rays study."

* On the possible June 5 vote to begin the process of scheduling a referendum: "There’s still so much more information that needs to come out and not a lot of time to thoroughly vet it. June 5th may be not be the final date. It could extend beyond that."

What does that mean? Raymund said he's heard some talk about possibly delaying the vote, or at least pushing back a decision on a referendum.

That could be interpreted different ways. It could simply mean that the Rays will argue the actual decision day for a referendum isn't until Aug. 7 (when the council votes to actually authorize a November ballot item). Or it could mean something bigger is happening here.

We're hoping to hear more from the chamber in a week or so.