Under the studio lights at Spectrum Bay News 9 on Tuesday night, the two men vying to lead St. Petersburg stood a few feet apart and offered voters two very different answers to the question hanging over the city. How do you make it affordable to live there?

Mayor Ken Welch made the case for public investment in housing. Former Gov. Charlie Crist argued for cutting property taxes. From there, the debate ranged over surveillance cameras, free speech, flooding, hurricanes, the Tampa Bay Rays and a cancer center that never came.

The stakes are clear. Crist finished nearly 15 percentage points ahead of Welch in the August primary, and voters return to the polls for the general election on Nov. 3.

Affordability set the tone early. Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia has accused the city of $49 million in wasteful spending, and a state DOGE report flagged $1.1 million in salary increases in the mayor’s office since fiscal year 2019-20.

Welch defended the city’s housing subsidies, which he said typically run between $60,000 and $78,000 per unit. He pointed to about 3,500 affordable units completed, under construction or planned during his tenure, including Fairview Apartments and SkyTown, as well as partnerships with Habitat for Humanity.

Crist proposed lowering the property tax rate by 0.4 mills, a move he estimates would return $15 million a year to property owners. He took aim at city-backed housing costing nearly $800,000 per unit, a reference to the Deuces Rising project.

“I don’t know about you, but that’s not affordable to me and probably not affordable to most people watching this evening,” Crist said.

Welch called that figure an “outlier,” driven by unusual infrastructure costs and soil contamination, and said some new affordable units rent for as little as $350 a month.

Both candidates oppose Amendment 3, which would expand Florida’s homestead property tax exemption. The city estimates it would lose about $33 million in property tax revenue in fiscal year 2028 and $54 million the year after. Crist called the measure a “sledgehammer” for local governments.

Welch saw a contradiction. “What he is proposing is $15 million. It’s just as impactful. It’ll be just as harmful to the city, and still, we should know, what will you cut?” he said.

Crist said the cut wouldn’t touch police or fire services. He pointed to 262 positions added under Welch and questioned how many City Hall employees earn high salaries.

“That sounds like a bloated government. That sounds like overspending,” he said.

Welch replied that many of those positions are paid for with utility revenue, not property taxes. Crist said he would appoint a panel to look for savings.

Cameras, Murals and the Courts

The candidates split sharply over the city’s license plate readers, run by Flock Safety, which have drawn scrutiny over privacy and misuse of their data. The network started with 25 cameras in 2022 and grew to about 50 under a five-year contract approved without public discussion in January 2024.

Crist cited a Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputy accused of using license plate data to improperly track a woman. He said he would suspend the cameras and consult Police Chief Anthony Holloway on privacy protections.

“At the minimum I would stop them if I win to make sure that doesn’t occur again,” Crist said.

Welch said the cameras read plates, not faces, and had helped police track a murder suspect. He welcomed City Council Vice Chair Richie Floyd’s call for a committee review but said he was confident in the existing safeguards.

“We’re looking forward to that to get the facts on the table, understand if there are gaps in privacy or other things, which I don’t believe there are,” he said.

The conversation turned to Florida’s restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion, including the removal of street murals celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride, after a question about SB 1134. The law takes effect Jan. 1 and restricts and penalizes local government actions related to DEI.

Crist faulted Welch for not fighting the mural removals in court. “You can go to court to fight those kind of things and sue on behalf of the right of free speech of our citizens in Saint Petersburg. That’s what I would have done,” he said.

Welch said the city had explored its options. “We, in fact, did work with FDOT way before they painted those over, trying to get an exemption. We talked to our attorneys, and we’ve got good attorneys, who tell us we didn’t have the authority to override the Governor,” he said.

Crist said that answer showed the city needed new leadership. “I think we need a more proactive Mayor that will fight for your rights, that will stand up in court if necessary to get that done,” he said.

Welch criticized SB 1134 too, warning that local officials could face lawsuits or removal from office under it. He noted that Rep. Michele Rayner had read his letter opposing the bill on the House floor.

After the Storms

Flooding brought out another divide. Crist opposes the $600 million general obligation bond on the ballot, which would pay for stormwater, wastewater and drinking water improvements.

“This kind of flood that’s occurred. It’s a problem. We need to fix it,” Crist said. “But as it relates to a $600 million bond, everybody’s squeezed in Florida financially. Nothing is affordable. … The last thing I want to do is burden you with a bond that has more debt on the City on St. Petersburg.”

Welch said Hurricanes Helene and Milton exposed decades of underinvestment. “We need to fix it now. There were 18 years without any adjustment in a stormwater fee to allow us to bond and have a more gradual improvement of our stormwater system. That did not happen,” he said.

Crist argued that better planning, such as advance debris removal contracts and a hotline against post-storm price gouging, would speed recovery. Welch said the city already had debris contractors under agreement before the storms. On roughly $340 million in federal recovery funds, Crist credited U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor and Anna Paulina Luna, while Welch pointed to the city’s own lobbying.

The two also disagreed on the Historic Gas Plant District. Crist wants to revisit Welch’s selection of The Burg Bid and consider more parks and green space, while Welch stood by the plan for its housing and jobs and rejected further review. Crist said the city should keep courting the Rays until construction starts on their planned Tampa stadium, which Welch called unrealistic given the city’s past efforts.

Residents of Childs Park have long complained of foul odors near an oil recycling facility, and Crist asked why the problem persists nearly five years into Welch’s term. Welch said investigations had not identified the source or grounds to shut a business down.

“We really need to engage everyone from the state to the county again, and see if we can nail down the specific cause of that,” he said. “We have not been able to do that.”

In his closing, Crist blamed Welch for the Rays’ expected departure and for turning down a proposed Moffitt Cancer Center development downtown. He spoke of his older sister, Margaret, who died of brain cancer.

“This is personal to me. … It’s touched probably every family that’s probably watching tonight, cancer,” Crist said. “So I think it’s incredibly important, and one of the first things I would do is renew the conversations with Moffitt Cancer Center, try to get them back to St. Petersburg because you shouldn’t have to drive over the Howard Franklin bridge to north Tampa to get cancer treatment to save your life.”

Welch closed on his record. “I’ve done that work through our toughest five years, and I’ve got a plan to move forward,” he said.