The mayors of the three largest cities in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties disagree with Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri about arming teachers. Tampa’s Bob Buckhorn, St. Petersburg’s Rick Kriseman and Clearwater’s George Cretikos responded Thursday to the question from Pinellas School Board member Joanne Lentino – they think classroom teachers should not carry guns.
The three spoke at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club at Feather Sound Country Club.
A Tiger Bay member asked the mayors whether there would still be a Major League Baseball team in the region in 2030. Clearwater Mayor Cretekos joked that the Philadelphia Phillies would still be playing Spring Training in Clearwater.
Buckhorn began his response with, “I’ll be damned if I know.” He continued, “I would hope so. I think the market could support it. I think Major League Baseball wants to be here. I think they certainly want to be in Florida and I think they want to be in the Tampa Bay region.”
Kriseman said, “I look forward to conversations with the Rays to find out what their intentions are. If their intentions are to do a new stadium, then let’s get to work on it. Let’s be partners and let’s figure out how to make it happen.”
The Tampa Bay Times is reporting on the release of a design for a soaring high-rise tower that developers want to build in downtown St. Petersburg. The design is shown in an advertisement in the New York Times and claims it will be one of the tallest buildings in West Florida and located on the 400 block of Central Avenue – the location of what used to be called the “cheese grater buildings.”
WMNF News asked Kriseman about it Thursday afternoon:
Watch the event (in two parts) here:
