Mayor won't press for aide

Rick Baker backs off on a request for a $60,000-a-year spokesperson after council members again object.

By BRYAN GILMER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 31, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- Mayor Rick Baker said Thursday he won't try to hire a $60,000-per-year communications manager if the City Council doesn't want him to.

Council members objected to adding a new job directly under the mayor's supervision while cutting more than 100 other city jobs to balance St. Petersburg's budget.

Baker had said he wanted the spokesman to handle the media and improve communication with City Council members and the public.

"We may choose not to have a communications manager," Baker said after City Council members again criticized the idea during a second day of preliminary budget talks. "If that's the will of the council, I won't be offended at all."

For all the power that the city charter vests in the mayor as chief executive, it gives the City Council the power to appropriate money. And Baker needed the council to approve a $60,000 salary and another $15,000 to $20,000 for employee benefits for the position.

"Eighty thousand bucks," City Council member Earnest Williams muttered during the discussion Thursday, shaking his head.

All morning, the council had heard that there was not enough money for many members' own priorities, such as keeping the Walter Fuller Pool open during the winter or retaining full-time rangers at the Boyd Hill nature park.

Baker said he acquiesced to the council's wishes because he values a cooperative relationship with its members.

"I don't expect the council to just agree with everything in this budget," he said late Thursday. "It's obviously my recommendations. The whole objective is to work with the council."

Council members said they were pleased with Baker's willingness to accept their advice.

"We're at a point in the process where I have to be open to some changes," member Richard Kriseman said. "And when he presents things to us, we're hoping that it's not written in stone in his mind."

Member Bill Foster agreed. He added that Baker has the power to restructure his 14-member marketing department to better handle communications without the council's approval.

"I think that the mayor recognizes the need for continued cooperation and support from the City Council," Foster said. "He is a smart guy. He knows which battles to fall on your sword over, and this is not one of them."

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