St. Petersburg, Florida
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Contents |
Nicknamed "The Sunshine City" or "St. Pete," St. Petersburg was founded in 1888 by Peter Demens, a Russian immigrant; the city was formally incorporated in 1892. [2] [3]
Website evaluation
This website was reviewed on 2013-03-19.
The good
- Budget
- The most current budget is listed.
- Budgets are archived for 8 years.[4]
- Administrative Officials
- Department heads are listed for each department.[5]
- Contact information for administrative officials is provided including a mailing address, phone number, and personalized email.
- Elected Officials
- Elected officials are listed with a mailing address, phone number and personalized email.[6]
- Meetings
- Audits
- The most recent audit is posted.
- Audits dating back to 2005 are available.[10]
- Contracts
- Permits and zoning
- Zoning ordinances are posted online.
- Permit applications can be downloaded on the site, along with information on how to apply for the permits.[14]
The bad
- Lobbying
- No information is available on Taxpayer-funded lobbying.
- Public Records
- No information is available on how to make public records requests.
- Taxes
- Tax information is not available.
Lobbying
- Main articles: Florida government sector lobbying and Florida League of Cities.
St. Petersburg pays membership dues[15] to the Florida League of Cities, a government sector lobbying association.
St. Petersburg's Internal Services Manager, Dave Metz, is recommending that the full-time position of city lobbyist be removed as part of ongoing efforts to close the $12 million budget deficit. The shortage of funds has already limited current city lobbyist Todd Yost's ability to travel to the state capital of Tallahassee. Metz suggests that the city instead contract with a private firm, which Metz estimates would cost between $25,000 and $30,000.[16]
Elected Officials
St. Petersburg's government follows the strong mayor model, which utilizes both a mayor and a city council. The mayor is the executive who carries out the council's ordinances and runs daily operations whereas the council is the legislative body that shapes budgets and policies.[17]
The current mayor is Bill Foster, a Republican, who was elected in November 2009.[18] Foster's annual salary is $158,355 as of Aug. 2010[19]. City Council members earn approximately $50,000 per year.[20]
Current members of City Council, as of June 2011:[21]
| Member | Title | District |
|---|---|---|
| Herbert E. Polson | Member | District 1 |
| Jim Kennedy | Chair | District 2 |
| Bill Dudley | Member | District 3 |
| Leslie Curran | Member | District 4 |
| Steve Kornell | Member | District 5 |
| Karl Nurse | Vice Chair | District 6 |
| Wengay Newton | Member | District 7 |
| Jeff Danner | Member | District 8 |
External links
References
- ↑ U.S. Census Bureau
- ↑ St. Petersburg At a Glance
- ↑ St. Petersburg on Wikipedia
- ↑ St. Petersburg, Budgets, Accessed: March 19, 2013
- ↑ St. Petersburg, Staff Directory, Accessed: March 19, 2013
- ↑ St. Petersburg, Elected Officials, Accessed: March 19, 2013
- ↑ St. Petersburg, Meeting Minutes, Accessed: March 19, 2013
- ↑ St. Petersburg, Meeting Agendas and Video, Accessed: March 19, 2013
- ↑ St. Petersburg, Meeting Calendar, Accessed: March 19, 2013
- ↑ St. Petersburg, Audits, Accessed: March 19, 2013
- ↑ St. Petersburg, Bids, Accessed: March 19, 2013
- ↑ St. Petersburg, Bid Results, Accessed: March 19, 2013
- ↑ St. Petersburg, Contracts, Accessed: March 19, 2013
- ↑ St. Petersburg, Zoning and Building Permits, Accessed: March 19, 2013
- ↑ Membership Directory
- ↑ no full-time lobbyist
- ↑ form of government
- ↑ Bill Foster elected mayor
- ↑ mayor's salary
- ↑ city council's salaries
- ↑ elected officials
