Depending how you view the Stadium Saga, Wengay Newton has been the top Rays obstructionist or St. Pete protectionist in his eight years on council, refusing to consider any of the deals that would have allowed the team to look at stadium sites in Tampa.
His brother, Will, has more or less echoed Wengay's stance, saying the city at least needs better compensation before it considers amending its deal with the Rays, which locks the team into Tropicana Field until 2027.
But Wheeler-Brown won the endorsements of both papers, in part to her early support for Mayor Kriseman's negotiated deal that would let the Rays leave the Trop early for payments to the city likely totaling less than $2 million per year.
ALSO READ: In Trying to Advance Interests, Newspapers May Do Opposite on Rays Stadium
The Wheeler-Brown/Newton showdown gets more interesting now, however, as the whole city will be able to vote in the run-off...not just South St. Pete, which decided the D7 primary.
Less than two months until we see where the rest of St. Petersburg stands on the issue(s)...and whether the Rays will continue to stick to their promise of not getting involved!
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So if we extrapolate a little bit, 37% are behind the mayor with the MOU and 63% voted against the mayor and the MOU (in D7).
ReplyDeleteI understand this is a preliminary election but to some extend, it's not a a head to head vote on this specific topic (even if Rays topic is not necessarly why people didn't vote for Lisa Wheeler-Brown).
Does that make sense?
No. Because all of the candidates had supported the Rays deal EXCEPT Newton. So you are extrapolating backwards.
DeleteI don't think you really can extrapolate much though to be honest.
"What Tonight's St. Pete Election Results Mean to the Rays", it means nothing in reality, it just means the naive media & it's followers are closer to learning the reality of years of progress...
ReplyDeleteYears of progress? What progress?
DeleteExactly, "what progress"! The progress that isn't in the news. Why, because it's for them to know, and St. Pete & the rest of us to eventually find out...
DeleteNewsflash! A lot more goes on in the world then just whats reported on the news...
I do agree with you that lots of work behind the scene have been done over the years and are also probably being done still today.
DeleteSternberg will not sit down and wait. He must do everything to find a way to at least, find a "Pitch Perfect" site and funding (private and public).
In the meantime, discussions with Montreal Baseball Project are going on because Sternberg need a plan B (and probably a plan C with another city).
Even if the UA prevent the Rays to officially discuss with other cities, talking to other investors around the world is a good thing. Especially for someone like Sternberg that is coming for the investment/financial industry.
Now, it's a matter of WHEN the legal constraints of talking to other parties will be lift so the general public will have more details on those discussions.
Interestingly enough, Montreal won't be getting a team. You can take that to the bank!
ReplyDeleteOur "Take to the bank" Anon is back again.
DeleteSorry, the last time you made such bold announcement, you had an expiration date on your prediction and you failed.