Newt
On the Issues

Public Safety

The City Of St. Petersburg must ensure Safety and Security for all citizens.

Our EMS (Emergency Medical Services) is being threatened with a $7,500,000 cut from the Pinellas County Commission. We must continue dialog to find cost-cutting measures within the EMS System by allowing for St. Petersburg's First Responders to do transport to hospitals. This would be a potential $10,000,000 saving to the EMS System.

Our Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Service workers need to know that we will provide the best pay, working conditions, training and equipment needed to do their job while protecting our citizens.
 

Affordable Housing

We must continue our NSP (Neighborhood Stabilization Programs) NSP 1, NSP 2 and now NSP 3 to update our housing stock through out our city. To date we have received over $15,000,0000 in federal funding to rehab and build hurricane-hardened, energy-efficient, affordable housing.

We must continue to create partnerships with financial institutions and developers to provide affordable housing and living wage jobs.
 

Homelessness

With the funding and opening of Pinellas Safe Harbor we where able to provide for Hot Showers, Food, a Safe, Clean Place To Sleep, and Case Management Services.

We must continue to have compassion and help those whom are less fortunate than others in these tough economic times. We need to provide a safety net and shelters to prevent people from having to sleep on our streets.
 

Economic Development and Jobs

In this tough economy we must continue to create partnerships that provide living wage jobs. We need to continue to incentivize businesses and companies to relocate to St. Petersburg. Partnerships that we have created thus far are:

• SRI

• PLASMA THERM

• IRX

• WAL-MART

• GTE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
   

The Rays

The owners of the Rays wanted to spend over $400 million to build a stadium on our waterfront. That tells me that Baseball is viable in St. Petersburg.

With that said, My Plan is that the Rays and St. Petersburg should do what the Mets and Yankees did. Both teams had a stadium sitting next to a huge parking lot. They just built a new stadium in the parking lot next to the old one and razed the old stadium when the new one was complete.

The city skin in the game is the Land and the infrastructure. We already have Interstate exits and there will be no need for new roads or utilities

Most stadiums that are built around the country are built by the teams and private investors. Currently, the Bed Tax revenue is up 23%, we could extend and reallocate this tax. NO NEW TAXES. No one in St. Petersburg or the County pays this tax unless you sleep in our hotels.

A lot of northern visitors and retirees love baseball, so it's a draw to have a Major League Team in St. Petersburg.

The Rays have an over $300 million dollar economic impact to St. Petersburg and we need to do all we can to keep them.
 

The Pier

Council voted 7 to 1 to demolish the Pier. I was the only No Vote to save the Pier. The Pier is a Beautiful Iconic Landmark that belongs to the Voters of St. Petersburg. Council never had a Public Hearing in Council Chambers so you could address your duly elected officials, to have your concerns and voices heard.

A citizen referendum was created so you could have a say as to the fate of the Pier. VoteOnThePier.com has raised 11,000 of the 16,000 signatures needed for a special election so you will get a chance to VOTE on the PIER.

City Charter states the upon reaching the 16,000 required signatures the "City Shall Pay For A Special Election".

The Pier Jury selected three designers who will present their views for a new pier soon.

The last consultant stated the we had $45 million dollars to build a new pier. However, demolition cost could range from $7 million to $15 million, which would only leave $30 million to $38 million for a new pier.

Let me be very clear, I am for new development.

The Suncoast Dome was built using 30 to 40% of tax-payer money, and the citizens of St. Petersburg never got to VOTE on $209 million dollar debt. I submit to you the same thing is happening here. If you have to be on the hook to pay the debt, than you should get to VOTE on the PIER.
 

Arts and Culture Development

St. Petersburg is the Number 2 Arts Destination in the country. With our Museum of Fine Arts, The Dali and The Chihuly, we are truly a city for the arts. We have our new Free Fall Theater, American Stage and Mahaffey Performing Arts venues. We just approved funding to hire an Arts Consultant to help us raise money for our Arts Foundation.

We also provide $175,000 for Arts Grants annually.
 

Environment and Transportation

We passed a Fertilizer Ordnance to prevent use during rainy season. This will help with TMDL and the algae plume that cause massive fish kills. We are in the final stages of the Clam Bayou Restoration project to naturally handle the breakdown of settlements in the storm water run-off.

Light Rail is needed to complete our transit system, however until funding is available we need to find alternate ways to move people, not cars. BRT (Bus Rapid Transport) is a great alternative to move people, not cars, and the routes can be changed to better manage demand.