- June 19, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
ST. PETERSBURG — Pete Boland believes the hospitality industry is an important cog in the machinery of St. Petersburg, and that he, as an unofficial spokesman for the local industry, has something worthwhile to say about how city government should run.
That helped spark his decision at age 37 to make his first foray into electoral politics by running for mayor.
Boland, a St. Petersburg native, is co-founder of The Galley, a popular restaurant and tavern in the downtown arts district, and the nearby Mary Margaret’s Olde Irish Tavern.
Boland advocates a conservative, “small business approach” to city government — cost-cutting, more financial support for the police, increased prosecution for minor crimes including bicycle theft, and ending pandemic restrictions, which he says weren’t realistic to begin with.
Instead of choosing a single master developer to redevelop the Tropicana Field site, he says it should be split among several developers…
