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St. Pete's Baker Named Mayor Of Year By Magazine

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Rick Baker, 52, was selected from than 20,000 mayors across the country for the annual award.

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By STEVEN GIRARDI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 9, 2008

Mayor Rick Baker, who has led the city since 2001, has been chosen America's Mayor of the Year by Governing magazine.

Baker, 52, was selected from than 20,000 mayors across the country for the annual award, which the magazine began in 1994, the city announced this morning.

Baker said in a news release he is honored by the award and credited city employees, council members, and business and community leaders for contributing to the city.

"I have the privilege of seeing, and enjoying, the results of our city's great work every day when I drive to City Hall, talk to my neighbors at the grocery store, play my guitar at the Saturday Morning Market or cheer on our home team at a Rays game," Baker said in the news release.

Previous mayors honored by the magazine include Bill White of Houston, Richard Daley of Chicago, Shirley Franklin of Atlanta, John Hickenlooper of Denver, Bill Purcell of Nashville and Thomas Menino of Boston.

Governing magazine is published monthly by a subsidary of Times Publishing, which publishes the St. Petersburg Times, and has 85,000 subscribers. Its annual Public Officials of the Year awards honor state and local government officials who are nominated for outstanding accomplishments.

Baker, who practiced corporate law for 20 years and was chairman of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, is serving his second term as mayor.

He has been noted for his support of public education, raising more than $11 million in donations for schools, college scholarships for needy children and mentors.

He also has been involved in improvements in the downtown business area and Midtown business district, and a program to build more neighborhood parks.

In September, the city won a $70,000 grant for a new playground from the America's Promise Alliance National Forum on Youth in Washington, D.C.

The alliance, founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, included St. Petersburg in its 100 Best Communities for Young People for the third year in a row and named it one of 67 Playful City USA communities.

Reporter Steven Girardi may be reached at (727) 451-2333.

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