- [Announcer] This is a production of WEDU PBS, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

Florida this week is made possible in part by support from the "Tampa Bay times".

- Coming up next, the big field of candidates who wanna be St Petersburg's next mayor hold their first debate, we'll have highlights and analysis.

And the US Senate votes to block debate about new Voting Rights Legislation, how will that impact the new voting limits approved by the State Legislature we'll ask the Florida League of Women Voters.

All these and more next on "Florida This Week".

(digital music) Welcome back on Thursday in Surfside, Florida, sections of a condominium collapsed suddenly in the middle of the night.

It's the kind of disaster that sometimes seen in other countries but rarely, if ever takes place in the US.

Now the investigation will delve into what caused it and whether similar collapses could happen elsewhere in Florida.

And this week, a resident of Englewood, Florida and a member of the far right group, the Oath Keepers pleaded guilty to felony charges related to the assault on the US Capitol.

Graydon Young was accused along with 15 other members and associates of the Oath Keepers of conspiring to block the Congressional certification of Joe Biden's presidential election victory.

Young agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

It was the first conviction in the conspiracy cases against the Oath Keepers.

Authority say Young wearing a helmet and tactical vest was part of that military style stack seen marching through the crowd before entering the Capitol building.

And on Tuesday, Governor Ron DeSantis signed controversial legislation that will require public universities and colleges to survey students, faculty and staff about their political beliefs and viewpoints.

The survey will try to determine the extent to which competing ideas and perspectives are presented in public universities and colleges and to find whether students, faculty and staff feel free to express beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the classroom, measure goes into effect this Wednesday.

The Governor has suggested that budget cuts could be made if those surveys determined colleges and universities are found to be indoctrinating students.

Well, eight candidates are in the August 27th primary race for St. Petersburg mayor.

They're running to replace Rick Kriseman, who is term limited.

They took part in an online debate this week sponsored by the "Tampa Bay Times" and Bay News 9.

The first question to them was about the future of the Rays baseball team and whether St.Petersburg can sustain the Rays and how would they work with the team ownership?

- My approach is gonna be putting St. Pete first, protecting the taxpayers.

I think we can build a first of the next generation stadium.

I think that we need to take a look at the Montreal plan as it stands and just really call their bluff, I think St. Pete can definitely sustain a baseball team.

- A split team between Montreal and here isn't beneficial for our city due to the amount of costs we need to invest in building them a stadium to only be used half the time.

If the Rays want to stay in St. Pete, they have to stay in St. Pete.

- I can support a new stadium, move it to close to the MLK.

They are in 2007, said they will put all of their baseball operations on 15 acres.

And then if they wanna do a split season, I'll support that as long as it's St. Pete Montreal-Rays.

If the St. Pete' tax payers have to pay for this, our name needs to be on that new stadium.

- I wanna work with the Rays, I do want them to stay.

I wanna do what it takes to see how that works.

But as mayor, I will put our city first and I don't wanna give away the store, but I do wanna listen to the Rays, I'm certainly gonna work collaboratively with them.

- The reality of Tropicana field and that this is a once in a generation opportunity and we ought to be intentional about making sure that redevelopment reflects our values, the Rays are a part of that, but they're not the entirety of that situation.

This is personal to me.

- Well, I'd like to see that stadium site re-imagined with the consolidation between the Rowdies and the Rays on one stadium so we could also have Al Lang be redeveloped, hopefully as parkland or possibly even a museum would benefit our entire community.

- The candidates were then asked specifically whether they would use taxpayer dollars or public land to help build a new stadium if the Rays split their season with Montreal.

- As a mayor, your first responsibility is to the people, the taxpayers, not to a major league baseball team which is trying to get one foot out the door.

- I want the taxpayers to be able to have their name on it I can support the St Pete Montreal team and when they're gone away I wanna make sure the city has fully use of that facility to do events and generate revenue that would benefit the taxpayers who paid for it.

- I would open it up to a citywide vote because it's not my money, it's the taxpayer's money so they're the ones who need to decide how they want to use their money.

I would be interested in looking in other uses of a stadium though if we're gonna spend money on it.

- With serious issues like affordable housing, keeping up with our infrastructure, there are serious issues that we need to keep up with that I think are a higher priority than a stadium.

But I welcome to working with the Rays to see what makes sense on paper.

- The rays have to bring substantial investment to the table as well.

We have more than $2.4 billion in infrastructure just for our water system, that has to be the priority.

- Yeah, I'll try to come around to the idea of Montreal, but we'd have to have some real concessions from the Rays I'd wanna make sure that we have spring training there all those spring training games should be in St. Pete as well, we're the birthplace of spring training baseball, and there would be no new taxes.

- We right now have a stadium on 86 acres, if we could build a new stadium on 30 acres with a 13 acre stadium and maybe 17 or 18 acres in lieu of payment, that would be the way to go but no general fund dollars and no giving away everything just to get a team like the debacle in Miami.

- Well, McKenna Schueler is an independent journalist for local and national publications.

She's been covering the St. Petersburg mayoral race for creative loafing.

And McKenna thanks for joining us on "Florida This Week".

- Yeah, thank you so much for inviting me on.

- Well, the Rays have been a big sticking point between Mayor Kriseman, you know, the Mayor's had a pretty bad relationship with the Rays in the last few months.

So tell me, were any of those candidates setting a different course or are they all kind of skeptical?

I mean, what was your sense of whether or not the relationship, the dynamic between the Rays and the mayor's office is gonna change under any one of these candidates?

- I think there was a lot of agreement between all of the candidates that seeking more community input was really important to most of the candidates as far as what they would like to do moving forward, either as incoming mayor or what they would like to see from the incoming mayor.

There's obviously been a lot of disagreement between the city council and the current mayor, Mayor Kriseman about what to do about the Rays and the Tropicana field site.

And as I said, I believe a lot of the candidates, there wasn't anything that was necessarily differentiating between the candidates, and it's such a crowded race, about what they would like to see as far as moving forward, I think that just seeking more community input and taking a hard look at what we've got right now and what would be most prudent moving forward in a way that honors and respects both the Rays and the St. Pete community.

- Well, that's what I was gonna ask you to touch on a moment ago.

Was there any breakout moment in that debate where a candidate really identified a brand new position, I mean, maybe it was the City Councilman Blackmon who says no taxpayer dollars, but was there any breakout moment in that debate where you heard somebody take a brand new position about the Rays?

- I mean, I think there were a couple of candidates that suggested just scrapping everything as far as what Kriseman has been working on but I think really there was not, I don't think there was a lot to differentiate the candidates on that issue.

- Let me play another set of sound bites.

This is on a question whether or not there is systematic racism in the St Pete police department, let's go to that tape.

- The police get blamed for a lot of stuff but a lot of that is not their fault.

It's not their fault and I look forward as mayor to be sure that I'm open to everything and every option.

- Every department has to be accountable, they have to have leadership from the top down about what would be accepted.

Every part of our community needs to be treated with respect.

Having said that we need to be in touch with the community.

You know, recently we had 18 murders in this city and the NAACP had community conversations in six different neighborhoods.

I attended every one of those meetings and talked to the neighbors to see what their experiencing and the police officers were there as well.

- The criminal justice system has a lot of systemic racism that is leftover.

I'm certainly not saying that anyone individually is a racist, but we have to be honest and recognize that there are certain things that we've inherited over the decades that are here because originally it benefited one group of people over another.

- I would like to see all of our police officers go through internal family systems therapy and have to work through their own childhood traumas.

- I do not believe that racism is an issue within our St Pete police department, I fully support our officers.

We have one of the most diverse police departments in the entire nation, and our diversity is what makes us so strong.

- I think systemic racism exists in America in a lot of institutions but I do not think it is a pervasive problem in St. Pete police.

I think we've come a long way under Chief Holloway.

- And McKenna, just listening back to those answers, it's clear that the Black Lives Matter movement has had an impact on that race, because I think even the conservative candidates in that race, Mr. Boland, and Mr. Blackmon being two of the most conservative kind of admitted that there is a problem, but, you know, I'm wondering who would you say, did anybody come out and say that we ought to defund the police during that debate?

- No.

So I think the impact of the demands that activists were calling for locally is I think you see that a little bit in the debate for sure, but you don't see some of the demands like defunding the police really coming out on any of the candidates' platforms.

I think Darden Rice gave an interesting answer as far as not necessarily pointing to the police department, but pointing to the systems that reinforce systemic racism, like healthcare, access to healthcare and housing and banking, I think those are very important topics to touch on when we are talking about systemic racism that go beyond policing, that go into promoting public safety beyond the police force.

- Well, so according to the polls, the leading candidates in the race are Rice and Welch and Blackmon and Newton.

So I'm wondering, you know, given that these are the leading candidates, how did they do in the debate?

What was your take about how well they did?

- I think the leading candidates in the race did fairly well as far as what I believe they're trying to convey to the residents of Tampa Bay and St. Pete especially specifically, I don't know if either candidate necessarily differentiated themselves necessarily in the way that they needed to as far as the front runners particularly Ken Welch and Darden Rice, I think they're both considered fairly progressive candidates, but I think at this point what candidates do need to do is to be able to differentiate themselves, not just rhetorically, but to be able to have actions and policies and a platform to back up what they plan to act on.

Because I think one of the reasons that a lot of people don't trust politicians or there's a lot of skepticism is because politicians can say anything, or even the candidates can say they're not politicians, they can say anything, but what matters most is what people do or their track record and I think that's when, for instance, with the candidates running that do have political experience, I think that matters if and only if they have a track record that demonstrates that they show up when people need it and not just to the developers or the wealthiest residents of St. Pete, but St. Pete's diverse communities as a whole, particularly those most socially and economically marginalized.

- So the question about the Rays and the question about police community relations, those tended to dominate this debate earlier in the week, but there's other big issues in St. Petersburg that didn't come up.

Let's talk about some of those.

If you were a panelist at the next debate, what would be the big question that you would ask?

- I think housing was an issue that was really missing from this initial debate.

And I think that's one of the biggest issues if you do go out and talk to community members not just at these campaign events but literally just knocking on doors or just talking to people in the community, affordable housing is a huge issue particularly coming out of a social economic and public health crisis and with rising living costs.

So I think that's an issue that needs to be addressed and it needs to be addressed in terms more than just saying that you're to address the issue of affordable housing.

I think that more details at this point, providing a plan would really give candidates a chance to shine on this.

- Because a lot of high end housing is being built in St. Petersburg, you look at on Central Avenue and the giant apartments and condos are going up but the question that I often wonder when I'm there is where's the workforce housing, where do the people that make 8, 9, 10, $11 an hour, where do they go?

Especially if they're being priced out of downtown, the same goes for small businesses, the small businesses on Central Avenue and on Martin Luther king, some of the other areas they're moving out because they're being priced out or they're being developed out.

So where do they go?

- Yeah, that's a good question.

And even you look at the people who are working on these construction sites, who are working to build these high-end housing, like where do they get to live?

Do they get to live in this housing, or do they have to commute like an hour away or half an hour away?

I think that when we talk about housing, we need to make sure that we include those people who are low income or people that just can't afford what is coming in at this point.

- And there's also that question of uneven development.

While parts of the city are being redeveloped at a very fast pace there's other parts of the city that are being left behind things as simple as grocery stores I mean, a lot of communities in St. Pete are far away from a grocery store.

- Yeah, food deserts are a huge issue for sure.

I mean, having lacking access to food impacts everything from your health to just your ability to live your everyday life.

- So McKenna, the big question is that there's gonna be the primary on August 27th and if somebody gets 50% or 50% plus one they'll win and there won't be a need for a general election in November what's your bet on whether or not one of those candidates will break through and get 50% plus one?

Do you think that's possible?

- I mean, I think it's possible, but I'm not confident that there's going to be over 50% for any of the candidates right now.

I think there are the front front runners, for sure there's kind of Welch and Darden Rice and Newton and Blackmon is now getting higher in public support too so it'll be interesting over the next few weeks, particularly as mail ballots are going out just to see whoever the heads as far as with the primary election, but I'm not confident that there's going to be just a winner from the primary.

- Well, McKenna Schueler, thanks a lot for being on "Florida This Week".

- Yeah, thank you so much for inviting me on.

(upbeat music) - And attempt to hold a debate on reforming US election and voting laws stalled this week in the US Senate blocked by Republican opposition.

This comes as new laws are going to effect here in Florida, that would limit voting.

The legislature and governor want to restrict Dropboxes where mail-in ballots can be dropped off after hours.

There are tougher ID requirements to obtain a mail in ballot.

There are new limits on those who provide water and food for those standing in long voting lines.

League of Women Voters of Florida is one of the groups that promotes fair elections.

Cecile Scoon is the new President of the group.

She's a Harvard and University of Virginia Law Graduate.

Her 36th year law career began in the US Air Force and she's the owner and Managing Principal of Peters and Scoon Attorneys in Panama City and Cecile, welcome to "Florida This Week".

Great to have you here.

- Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you.

- The US Attorney General Merrick Garland, on Friday, announced that he's gonna sue the state of Georgia over its voting laws.

It's laws that are in some ways similar to Florida's voting laws.

What do you make of the announcement by the US Attorney General?

- I'm very impressed with his ability to understand what's going on around the nation and to realize that it's very imperative that he get involved.

We are hopeful that he will look at Florida also.

We think there are a lot of similarities, as you are aware, we're in litigation we filed our lawsuit within minutes of the governor signing the law SP90 into effect which we think has a lot of voter suppression.

- So tell us, in your mind what are the worst aspects of this, the new Florida voting laws, who's gonna be hurt the most by the new law?

- There are so many bad parts, but I think the biggest thing that concerns me is the taking away the Dropboxes.

Many people work shift work, they have family obligations, and it was so convenient just to be able to fill out your form, send it and drop it off at any time.

It was safe, it was secure we were having no problems.

To remove that and essentially only have the Dropboxes open at the very same time that you could go in during regular voting hours defeats the whole purpose of a Dropbox and is very limiting to many, many people.

- I should say that you're at an airport right now in Washington, DC, returning to Florida so we're hearing a little bit of airplane noise overhead, but which groups do you think are getting most affected?

Merrick Garland, the Attorney General said that he was filing lawsuit because blacks and people of color will be mostly affected by the Georgia law, here in Florida, who's most effected by the Florida law?

- I think people of color, black and brown communities are heavily impacted and for several reasons, we tend to have more health issues, and so we're not able to stand in line as much.

We have pressure issues, we have, you know, I myself I'm a diabetic and many people are you know standing a long line without water, without food is not possible, you know.

And so it's gonna impact a lot of us.

And then financially, a lot of us do shift work.

You know, it's a difficult work.

It's the bread and butter of America, but it's not like sometimes when you can just get any time off to vote.

So it's definitely gonna impact those communities.

It's going to impact the disabled regardless of what race you are.

So I would say that people with disabilities and black and brown communities will primarily bear the impact of this.

- Now, the Governor and the State Legislature said the bill was passed and the Governor signed it because he's trying to head off problems in the future.

He says, and everybody agrees that the 2020 election worked really well here in the state of Florida, but he's saying that he wants to head off any future problems that we might see and he's anticipating what those problems might be by, for instance, cutting off food and water to people in voting lines.

So what do you say back to that?

- There has been no problem.

Really, he should address what's going on in the state of Florida and he should reward our supervisors of elections.

He should reward all of our volunteers, our coworkers.

He should reward our citizens with praising us and not altering the process that worked so well for us.

It feels like a punishment.

Wow, you did a great job, clap, clap, clap, clap now I'm gonna make it a lot harder for you, that doesn't make any sense.

There's no funding to support the supervisors of elections.

It's just a lot more work, a lot more expense, a lot more delays, increasing difficulty of voting for no benefit.

We did very well with the prior process.

- So the debate that was stopped this week in the US Senate was a debate to enact new voting laws.

Would you feel more comfortable, more secure instead of having to fight this issue in the courts to have the Congress of the US pass new voting protections for everybody across the country?

Would that be a better route, do you think in the end to make sure that everybody who's eligible to vote can vote?

- That's such a great question.

I think that there was gonna be a lot of expense, a lot of judicial effort, a lot of taking up a court time, a lot of testimony in all the different states where these voter suppression laws are in place and for the Federal Government to step forward and return the power of the Voting Rights Act would be wonderful.

It would address these issues and set basic standards that would be good.

- And just going back to where we started Merrick Garland, the Attorney General on Friday, announced this lawsuit against the State of Georgia would you encourage him to also look closely at the state of Florida and say, our law is very similar to what Georgia passed you should include Florida in your lawsuit?

- We would definitely be hopeful that the Department of Justice would look carefully at what's going on in Florida.

I think there are many analogies and we would ask for him to use their professional judgment on this but from my perspective, it looks like the problems are very similar the impact, the negative impact seems very similar so it would be logical to believe that if they've those kinds of concerns in Georgia, they would have similar concerns in Florida and we would be hopeful they would use a similar remedy.

- Well, Cecile Scoon thanks a lot for coming on "Florida This Week".

Congratulations on being the new President of the Florida League of Women Voters.

- Thank you so much for this opportunity.

Really appreciate it.

(upbeat music) - Thanks for joining us.

You can view this and past shows online at wedu.org or on the PBS app.

And "Florida This Week" is now available as a podcast you can find it on our website or wherever you download your podcasts.

Finally as Pride Month comes to a close and about half the state has been fully vaccinated we're returning to life that's close to normal, singer Alison Jiear is a popular cabaret artist from Australia now living in London, her song, "I Just Wanna Dance" is an Anthem to freedom and the urge to get out and have a good time.

Stay safe, take care of each other.

We'll see you next week.

♪ Wanna dance ♪ ♪ I just wanna dance today ♪ ♪ I just wanna dance today ♪ ♪ I just wanna dance today ♪ ♪ Dance dance dance dance ♪ ♪ I just wanna dance today ♪ ♪ I just wanna dance today ♪ ♪ I just wanna dance today ♪ ♪ Dance dance dance dance ♪ ♪ I just wanna dance today ♪ ♪ I just wanna dance today ♪ ♪ I just wanna dance today ♪ ♪ Dance dance dance dance ♪ ♪ I just wanna dance today ♪ ♪ I just wanna dance today ♪ ♪ I just wanna dance today ♪ ♪ Dance dance dance dance ♪ - [Announcer] "Florida This Week" is a production of WEDU who is solely responsible for it's content.

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