ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A group says a newly conducted poll shows most St. Petersburg residents oppose the Tampa Bay Rays proposed stadium deal.
Ron Diner is head of the group he calls, “No Home Run”. He says it’s a small, privately funded group organized to oppose the stadium deal.
“We’re not being paid, and have no financial interests in the redevelopment sight,” said Diner.
The group did pay for a new poll by Mason-Dixon to find out what people think about the proposed new Rays Stadium plan.
Diner says 75% of people knew about the proposed deal, but 64% did not know about the financial details.
The group says the poll shows 54% of the people surveyed about the deal are opposed, with only 38% supporting it. 8% remain undecided.
“This deal, as it stands, is horrible and residents need to be informed,” said Diner.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch helped work out the details of the new stadium deal and he says other polls have shown a very different result.
“There is some credible polling out there that shows there is broad support and that reflects what I’m hearing in the community,” Welch claimed.
The Mayor says Diner’s group and others opposed to the stadium are greatly overvaluing the land where the new stadium will be built.
“A lot of those numbers are falsely inflated,” said Welch. “It’s using the highest and best use of the land and it totally ignores the promises that were made to the Gas Plant community.”
He says this deal fulfills promises to people living in the historic Gas Plant district before Tropicana field was built.
“The promise was, if you give up this community there will be opportunities for economic inclusion going forward,” said Welch, who believes the new deal will finally deliver on those promises, but he says the promise never was to get the highest value for the land.
“It was, ‘give us economic opportunity, rebuild the black business ecosystem that was destroyed when it was disrupted and make sure there are inclusive economic development in terms of job opportunities and participation,'” said Welch.
The St. Petersburg City Council still needs to approve the stadium deal.
The Rays have a lease to play at Tropicana Field until 2027.
Ron Diner says there is still time to make a better deal for taxpayers.
“This is a tenant, on our property, we could extend the lease for one more year, what difference does it make,” said Diner.
