Big Surprises from Thursday's Council Non-Vote

St. Pete's council unsurprisingly voted to postpone the decision on the Rays for a week, but there was one big surprise reveal today - city attorneys were kept largely out of the negotiation process until the end. That might explain this:

I asked #StPete city attorney John Wolfe if he liked the city's final #Rays deal - he paused, then repeated mayor's line that it was "fair."
— Noah Pransky - WTSP (@noahpransky) December 9, 2014

St. Pete's attorneys are in a bit of a sticky spot, representing both council and the mayor's office...and Wolfe is known around town as "Dr. No."  He's a conservative attorney who did such a good job drawing up the original contract in the 90's, the Rays are still locked into it.  So I'd love to be a fly on the wall and hear what he's saying behind closed doors.

2013: "Wolfe cautioned council about history of municipalities getting out-flanked by pro teams." http://t.co/ee6YYVSHSj #Rays #StadiumSaga
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) December 11, 2014

But the other big surprise today was that councilmembers were told they could not request any "tweaks" to deal negotiated with Rays...the team would reject them.  It's a really really really hardball approach from the Rays, who at one point said they were a $122 million-dollar engine to the city/county...but are only offering around $2 million/year for the right to move.

Mayor Kriseman basically indicated this is as good as its going to get however, so we all now look ahead to next Thursday's council meeting to see how the important vote unfolds.