St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman yesterday clinched City Council support "to break a five-year stalemate" with the Rays, according to a front-page piece by Frago, Moore & Marrero of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. Kriseman "picked up the critical council vote in the District 7 race, where Lisa Wheeler-Brown beat Will Newton." Wheeler-Brown "has supported a deal by Kriseman that would allow the Rays to look for stadium sites outside of St. Petersburg, but within the region." Newton "had opposed the deal." The City Council "rejected the deal in May by a 4-4 vote." Rays officials "declined to comment." Many voters yesterday "shrugged when asked about their role in deciding the team's fate in the region." Others said that the Rays "motivated them to vote" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 11/4). In Tampa, WTSP-CBS' Noah Pransky noted Wheeler-Brown by supporting Kriseman's deal "would allow the Rays to explore possible new stadium sites in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, but require the team to pay the city" approximately $2M "for every year the Rays leave St. Petersburg" ahead of '27, when their current agreement at Tropicana Field expires. Kriseman has "maintained his belief that a regional search will ultimately convince the Rays that they should build a new stadium in Pinellas County, most likely next to where Tropicana Field currently sits" (WTSP.com, 11/3). A TAMPA BAY TIMES editorial states voters yesterday "sent a clear message." They "want the stadium stalemate ... resolved." Wheeler-Brown's victory "should help break the deadlock." That "would be good for the future" of MLB in Tampa Bay "and for the future of the city, which could be reshaped by developing the Tropicana Field site." When Wheeler-Brown takes office in January, the council "should be poised to move forward with Kriseman on a deal to let the Rays look for potential stadium sites in both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 11/4).
