St. Petersburg business leaders urge Kriseman to keep working with Rays

City business leaders sent a letter to Mayor Rick Kriseman imploring him to resume working with the Tampa Bay Rays on a stadium deal that would keep the team in the Sunshine City — despite the legal battle between a group of the team’s minority owners and principal owner Stu Sternberg.

The letter was sent Thursday and signed by Chris Steinocher, president and chief executive of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce; J.P. DuBuque, president and chief executive of the St. Petersburg Economic Development Corporation; and Jason Mathis, chief executive of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership. They also sent copies to the City Council and Pinellas County Commission.

The letter came a day after Kriseman declared during a radio interview that he “can’t negotiate” with the Rays over a new stadium while Sternberg remains at the helm and shrouded in legal uncertainty. The lawsuit accuses Sternberg of trying to pry the team away from the minority owners by pressuring them to sell their interests to him and by transferring corporate ownership of the team to himself.

Read more on the Tampa Bay Times by clicking here.

‍