St. Petersburg Civic Engagement Guide

Eight St. Petersburg City Council members, one per district, represent residents in October 2026.

The St. Petersburg council roster lists Copley Gerdes in District 1, Brandi Gabbard in District 2, Mike Harting in District 3 and Lisset Hanewicz in District 4 (City of St. Petersburg, City Council). Deborah Figgs-Sanders holds District 5, Gina Driscoll District 6, Corey Givens Jr. District 7 and Richie Floyd District 8 (City Council). The city site also has a Find My Council District tool for matching a St. Pete address to its member.

Kenneth T. Welch is the Mayor of St. Petersburg (Office of the Mayor). His office takes appearance requests, meeting requests and proclamation requests online and offers sign-up for a Weekly Progress Report (Office of the Mayor). The Digital Towns St. Petersburg City Council guide covers council structure, members and elections in more depth.

St. Petersburg City Council generally meets on the first three Thursdays of each month in Council Chambers at City Hall, 175 Fifth St. N., and meetings can be watched live on SPTV.

The St. Petersburg schedule is the first Thursday at 9 a.m., the second Thursday at 3 p.m. and the third Thursday at 1:30 p.m., and the city says to check the Council Calendar for changes (City Council). Meetings can be watched live on SPTV on cable channels 641, 15 and 20 or by live web stream, and the St. Petersburg council office answers at 727-893-7117 (City Council). Mail for council members goes to PO Box 2842, St. Petersburg, FL 33731.

City Council agendas are on the Council Agendas page, while agendas and minutes for St. Petersburg advisory boards sit on each board page; documents older than one year are not posted and have to be requested through the Public Records page (City of St. Petersburg, Boards and Committees).

The Digital Towns St. Petersburg City Council guide explains council terms, how council business moves and where minutes are kept.

St. Petersburg voters can request a mail ballot by October 22, vote early October 19 through November 1, including at Pinellas County Election Services, 501 First Ave. N., or vote at their assigned polling place on November 3.

The city St. Pete Votes guide sets the vote-by-mail request deadline at Thursday, October 22, at 5 p.m., through VotePinellas.gov or the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections at 727-464-VOTE (8683), and mail ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day (City of St. Petersburg 2026 General Election Guide). Early voting in St. Pete is at Pinellas County Election Services, 501 First Ave. N., and any early voting site in Pinellas County may be used (Election Guide).

Florida requires picture and signature identification at the polls, and a St. Petersburg voter without it may cast a provisional ballot (Election Guide). The city adds a warning worth heeding: a polling place may not be the same location used in past elections, so it is worth checking VotePinellas.gov before Election Day. Florida closes voter registration 29 days before an election, and the state lists October 5, 2026 as the deadline to register for the November 3, 2026 general election (Florida Division of Elections, Election Dates); a voter information card cannot be used as identification at the polls (Florida Division of Elections). Overflow parking for early voters is at the St. Pete Coliseum, 535 4th Ave. N., on October 31 and November 1 (Election Guide).

On the city side, the St. Petersburg 2026 election calendar had a primary on August 18, 2026 and the general election on November 3, 2026 (City of St. Petersburg, Candidate Rules and Information). The seats are Mayor and City Council Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8, each for a term of about four years beginning the first Thursday in January 2027 (Candidate Rules). The Digital Towns St. Petersburg voting precincts guide covers how Pinellas County runs precincts and polling places.

A St. Petersburg candidate must be a registered voter, must have lived in the declared council district (or, for mayor, in the city) for at least 12 months before the primary, and must run without a political party label.

The St. Petersburg candidate rules say candidates cannot be a nominee or representative of any political party, which makes city races nonpartisan (Candidate Rules). Council candidates must have been residents of the declared district for at least the past 12 months as of the primary election date (Candidate Rules). For 2026, St. Petersburg qualifying was scheduled for noon Monday, May 25 to noon Friday, May 29, 2026, and the city posts its candidate handbook, election laws, qualifying forms and fees, the City Charter and district maps on the same page.

The St. Petersburg City Clerk is the office for questions about future city elections and how to run: [email protected] or 727-893-7448 (Candidate Rules). The same St. Petersburg page publishes 2025 to 2026 campaign finance filings and a schedule of reporting dates. Council Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 were not on the 2026 St. Petersburg ballot.

St. Petersburg residents apply to city boards and committees through one city application form, and the Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA) unites neighborhood associations across the city.

The St. Petersburg boards list runs from the Advisory Commission on Aging and the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee to the Public Arts Commission, the Development Review Commission and the Social Services Allocation Committee (Boards and Committees). To serve, a resident completes the city application form; on October 15, 2026 the Advisory Commission on Aging showed one vacancy, and the Citizens Redistricting Commission and the City Charter Review Commission were listed as currently inactive (Boards and Committees). Some entries, such as the Budget, Finance, and Taxation Committee, are City Council committees rather than citizen boards.

The Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA) of St. Petersburg is a volunteer-led nonprofit that unites neighborhood associations across the city and says it has done so since 1957 (CONA, About). CONA says its executive committee is elected annually by the membership, and its standing committees cover leadership development, civic engagement, public safety, zoning and communications, open to representatives of member associations (CONA).

Neighborhood groups also carry city civic campaigns. The St. Pete Votes campaign supports the Childs Park Neighborhood Association Don't Be Scared, Vote! event, a Trunk or Treat and nonpartisan voter engagement event on Saturday, October 31, 2026, from 4 to 7 p.m. at 1526 49th St. S. (Election Guide). The Digital Towns St. Petersburg neighborhood associations guide covers CONA and the city's member neighborhoods.

The Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment is a St. Petersburg decision still open to public input, with a community benefits review and City Council approval still ahead.

Mayor Kenneth T. Welch announced the selection of the Pinellas County Housing Authority and The Burg Bid proposals for the Historic Gas Plant District, and the St. Petersburg project page dates that announcement July 2, 2026 (City of St. Petersburg, Historic Gas Plant District Redevelopment). The Burg Bid proposal goes through the city Community Benefits Agreement process, which includes a Community Benefits Advisory Council project committee and opportunities for public engagement and feedback (Historic Gas Plant District). A final agreement must be approved by City Council before ground can be broken on the site (Historic Gas Plant District). The same St. Petersburg page also lists a November 21, 2025 city announcement of the completion of the Tropicana Field roof installation.

The St. Petersburg budget is an annual decision with public hearings. In a release dated October 6, 2026, the city said City Council approved the fiscal year 2027 budget of $1,017,757,894 at the second budget public hearing held at City Hall, after a first budget public hearing on September 3, 2026 and a FY27 Budget Open House on April 13, 2026 (City of St. Petersburg, FY27 budget release). Neighborhood projects ride on it, for example Shore Acres Denver Storm Drainage Improvements at $2.8 million (FY27 budget release), and the city says suggestions received at the Budget Open House significantly influenced the recommended budget submitted to City Council on July 16, 2026.

Pinellas County decisions are made separately, by the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners, not by St. Petersburg City Council (Pinellas County, Board of County Commissioners). County agendas are posted about five days before each meeting, and the board lists a work session and agenda briefing on October 22, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. and a 2 p.m. regular meeting and 6 p.m. public hearing on October 27, 2026 (Board of County Commissioners).

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the City of St. Petersburg website.