That’s the situation I found myself in when Christopher
O’Donnell reported St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman met with Rays President
Matt Silverman last week (sans Stu Sternberg). So, better late than never:
“I think we made good progress today,” Kriseman said. “We’re having very open and honest dialogue with each other.”
The hourlong unannounced meeting, the second Kriseman has had with the team since taking office in January, was at the Trop ahead of the Rays’ game against the Texas Rangers.
Kriseman said both sides have agreed to keep talks confidential. Talks in 2013 between the Rays and former Mayor Bill Foster stalled after city leaders claimed that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig had instructed the Rays not to offer the city any compensation if it broke its contract.
“Both sides have agreed we are going to keep our conversations in confidence and private so we can continue to have a solid element of trust in each other, so we can make progress,” Kriseman said.
A day earlier, Kriseman was slated to meet with one of his
closest allies and stadium advisors, St. Pete businessman Craig Sher. And a day before that, the Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board fired a shot across the bow in many ways {link to Times' site}, warning that sooner or later, it expects the mayor to solve the Stadium Saga (among other issues):
Vision statements, pillars and values are good. The bigger questions for residents remain what concrete steps the new mayor will take to replace the Pier, resolve the baseball stadium stalemate, build a police headquarters, hire a new police chief, bring jobs to downtown …
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