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Pinellas Commission Expresses Frustration With Rays

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By CARLOS MONCADA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 21, 2008

CLEARWATER - The Tampa Bay Rays made their financial pitch for $100 million from Pinellas County on Tuesday, but it was clear that county commissioners had the home field advantage.

After spending months watching on the sidelines, commissioners released pent-up frustration about not being consulted earlier on the Rays' proposed $450 million ballpark on St. Petersburg's downtown waterfront.

"This has been a very awkward process, especially for the county commission," Commissioner Ken Welch told Rays Senior Vice President Michael Kalt. "We've kind of been on the outside looking in."

Commissioners made it clear that the county would not change its timeline to accommodate the Rays or the St. Petersburg City Council, which is set to take an initial vote June 5 on whether to schedule a November referendum on a new downtown stadium.

Commissioners want to get a recommendation from the Pinellas Tourist Development Council before deciding whether to support the Rays' proposal. The next TDC meeting, though, isn't until June 11.

Some commissioners suggested the city council may need to put off a final decision on the referendum until mid-August. The St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, which has a task force studying the Rays' stadium proposal, urged city leaders Tuesday to defer a referendum decision until Aug. 7 to allow the panel more time to complete its work.

The deadline for the city to provide ballot language to county elections officials is Aug. 15.

"I don't think anything the city of St. Petersburg is going to say or do can alter our time frame," said commission Chairman Bob Stewart, who did not foresee the county making a final decision before mid-July. "They need to be aware of it and we all need to live with it."

The Rays want the county to extend a 1-cent bed tax on hotel stays to help finance the new ballpark, which would open in 2012. Continuing the penny tax from 2017 to as far out as 2047 would generate $100 million, according to the Rays' figures.

St. Petersburg's contribution would amount to $75 million, or 17 percent. Some commissioners questioned why the county's share, at 22 percent, should be larger than the city's.

The city council, which heard a similar presentation from the Rays on Thursday, will discuss the financing plan at a 1:30 p.m. workshop Thursday. At 6 p.m., the council will hold the last of three public hearings at City Hall.

The rest of the $450 million would come from private sources, including $150 million from the Rays, $70 million from the sale of the team's current home at Tropicana Field and $55 million in parking revenue, the Rays have proposed.

Some commissioners were worried the Rays' plan to redevelop the 86-acre Tropicana site into a community of shops and residences would compete with a county plan to build a similar town center-type project on the old Toytown landfill, nine miles north.

"The concern is if we're competing for the same type of retail," Commissioner Susan Latvala told Kalt. "And I certainly don't want to get caught in a competition with the city. Neither of us will be successful."

Kalt said the Rays' studies show Pinellas is "extremely under-retailed," and suggested both projects could co-exist.

Latvala also was critical of St. Petersburg. She said it appeared city leaders were trying to get a decision from the county on whether to extend the bed tax before they make a commitment.

"I'm not comfortable with that," said Latvala, who suggested a joint meeting between the two governing bodies. "This is their ballgame."

"There is no ballgame without the county's participation," Stewart said. "I think everybody knows that, or at least they know that now."

Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.

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