PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — As we start the new year, there are now two new members of St. Pete City Council.
Both Corey Givens Jr. And Mike Harting were sworn in Thursday morning.
Their terms could impact the next hurricane season and the Rays stadium development.
"You're supposed to represent people in the best way and kind of be an amplified voice for people on the ground because only one person can be elected to those specific positions," said Donald Couch, who lives in St. Pete.
Couch hoping for a productive year for St. Pete City Council.
"It's best to embody the biggest majority that you have in your area and be a good politician," he said.
Two new councilmen were sworn into their positions Thursday morning: Corey Givens Jr. will replace John Muhammad in District 7, and Mike Harting will replace Ed Montanari in District 3.
Both Givens Jr. and Harting said they are entering their terms with a big focus on hurricane recovery.
"Everything from crime to affordable housing to infrastructure too, doing everything we can to help St. Pete rebuild," said Givens Jr.
"I think we have a lot of work to do on suring up what it is we have," said Harting.
Harting said he wants to allocate more money toward making St. Pete more resilient.
"This means, how do we shift dollars? There's $1.1 billion available in the city's budget, and is enough of it apportioned to infrastructure?" said Harting.
While hurricane infrastructure is top of mind for both of these council members, council member givens said he's also focusing on the Rays stadium deal.
Givens Jr. said he wants to rework some of the terms of the deal.
"I just think we should have a bigger piece of the pie, you know, when it comes to revenue sharing, St. Pete has been on the short end of this deal, and I want to make sure we get more bang for our buck," said Givens Jr.
He also plans to make sure the Historic Gas Plant District gets what it's promised.
"For me, housing and history. When you think of the Historic Gas Plant District, those are the two top priorities. Making sure that we create affordable housing, workforce housing and making sure we address the history there," said Givens Jr.
No matter who is on the city council, Couch hopes the new stadium project is completed.
"I hope they get everything done and will be able to play in 2028. I like the rays being in St. Pete for sure," said Couch.
"Why are you not giving us our money back? You owe it to us — just pay us.”
After waiting over eight months for a refund from a medical clinic, an ABC Action News viewer reached out to consumer investigative reporter Susan El-Khoury for help.
