While barbs are flying in St. Pete Beach’s mayoral contest, Adrian Petrila reminds he has a record to run on

In just over two weeks, St. Pete Beach Mayor Adrian Petrila will find out whether voters want to keep him on the job for another four years or go in a different direction.

Petrila is facing a tough challenge from Scott Tate in a race that has, at times, become quite negative. A recent candidate forum included accusations leveled against Tate, while a third-party group called Restore St. Pete Beach has launched a website attacking the incumbent on a number of fronts.

Speaking with Florida Politics, Petrila not only defended his record, he touted it.

One of his biggest wins came by way of negotiations with Delray Beach-based developer Kolter Urban over the Corey Landings project. The City Commission voted unanimously in October to approve the mixed-use project on long-vacant land, including 133 condo units, 11,000 square feet of commercial space and a park.

The approval came after significant concessions from the developer resulting from extensive negotiations. Petrila said the project started at 256 units, meaning the developer slashed its scope by nearly half. More than that, Petrila touts, the developer agreed to invest $5.6 million for community amenities, such as a boat dock.

“This is the same fight that’s been going on for 20, 30, 40 years,” Petrila said. “You always have a group of residents who are looking to preserve the character and quality of St. Pete Beach, and then a group who are aligned with the developers.”

He went on to accuse his opponent, Tate, of lacking experience and only getting involved in city politics after he decided to run for Mayor. There are also questions about a third-party group helping Tate, but more on that in a moment.

Petrila is hoping voters will consider his track record, including how he has held the line on overdevelopment. In addition to the Corey Landings project being scaled down under his watch, Petrila has also voted against expansion plans at the Tradewinds and Sirata resorts.

Petrila also voted to lower taxes in the current fiscal year, joining the St. Pete Beach Commission majority in approving a 0.8889% millage rate reduction.

Even in areas where Petrila has faced criticism, he finds a record to tout. Petrila oversaw the city through two historic hurricanes in 2024 — Helene, which brought widespread flooding and devastation, and Milton, which was more of a wind event.

And while some have criticized Petrila’s leadership through recovery, lamenting permitting delays, he notes that the city managed to process an unprecedented volume of permit applications, leading to the city hiring 30 additional employees to cut through the backlog.

Ultimately, the city processed and cleared nearly 9,000 permits since the hurricanes, and waived some $4 million in permitting fees property owners would have otherwise had to pay. The number of permits processed, Petrila said, was about 10 times higher than what the city typically processes in an entire year.

“We did the best we could with what we had available at the time,” Petrila said, pointing to numerous emergency City Commission meetings to tackle challenges as they came up. He also said he inherited a leadership structure woefully unprepared for such a devastating natural disaster, and has since improved the city’s emergency response procedures to ensure that the next time disaster strikes, the city is better prepared.

While he says any strong storm would no doubt stress the city’s abilities, lessons were learned from Helene and Milton.

“At the end of the day we were more prepared than we ever have been before,” he said. “Where we are now is infinitely better than where we were.”

Already, the city is working to update its website, and it has already implemented digital permitting options so applicants can track the process.

The hurricanes also shined a light on the city’s infrastructure needs. Petrila’s administration has identified more than $200 million in needs to improve “infrastructure that was neglected for 20-plus years.” Petrila said he has offered a variety of options to raise funds to cover needs. One of those has garnered significant attention.

Among Petrila’s suggestions was imposing a toll at the north, central and southern access points of the island. Residents and beach employees would be exempt from the tolls, leaving only visitors to the island footing the bill. Still, some have worried new tolls would reduce tourism and other revenue-generating traffic on St. Pete Beach.

Petrila acknowledges the plan doesn’t have everyone’s support, and he said ultimately voters would decide the issue. And he said he would rather impose tolls on visitors than raise taxes for residents and business owners.

He also laments that while Tate has been critical of the toll option, he hasn’t proposed an alternative.

“My opponent has ignored the need for that money,” he said.

Petrila also points to a 26% year-over-year drop in crime he attributes to improving the city’s relationship with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, which serves the community. Petrila said he met with Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, telling him he wanted “a safe, clean city.” Gualtieri, Petrila explained, asked him how he would like the Sheriff’s Office to achieve that goal. Petrila said that’s up to the Sheriff, as the law enforcement expert.

“We gave him free reign to do what’s necessary,” Petrila said, adding that the Sheriff’s Office was able to more efficiently deploy deputies. The result, the Mayor said, is one of the safest cities in Pinellas County.

Yet Petrila is facing a major political challenge. Election Day is March 10, in just 15 days. Petrila and Tate have raised modest amounts of cash for the race. As of the end of 2025 Tate had raised just over $14,000, only $1,300 less than Petrila.

But Tate has a group working on his behalf. A website backed by the group Restore St. Pete Beach includes a roundup of news clippings, a trove of opposition research, and an advertisement released earlier this month slamming the St. Pete Beach Mayor for having “Perks for Petrila” to the detriment of beach residents.

Records show that from Jan. 1 through Feb. 12, a political committee under the same name raised $18,550. The group’s largest contribution, $10,000, came from Ward Friszolowski, a former St. Pete Beach Mayor and City Commissioner who also serves as a Senior Principal for PBK. Harvard Jolly Architecture, which Friszolowski ran, recently merged with PBK. Friszolowski, during his time on the City Commission, frequently voted in alignment with developers.

He was one of four City Commissioners who resigned in 2023 after a new state law requiring additional financial disclosures went into effect. While Friszolowski denied he was trying to hide anything — he told Bay News 9 at the time he felt the law was an invasion of privacy because it would have also involved his wife’s finances — some speculated the longtime beach leader may have been trying to shield conflicts, a claim he also denied.

The political committee is chaired by Kenneth Amos, a local lawyer who previously served as President of the Belle Vista Community Association in St. Pete Beach.

While the group’s website does not directly support Tate — it lists itself as a group dedicated to supporting responsible leadership and post-hurricane recovery — a second website directly attacks Petrila. And financial documents filed with the St. Pete Beach Clerk show the group is backing Tate, along with Betty Rzewnicki, who is seeking re-election to District 3. Rzewnicki succeeded Friszolowski and was his preferred successor.

The political committee also received a $2,500 donation from Ron’s Holdings, LLC, a business controlled by Jacob Holehouse, who is President of HH Insurance. Holehouse has advocated for reforms that would better protect property owners from hurricanes in flood-prone, and even non-flood-prone areas.

Whether Petrila manages to survive the attacks politically, he’s entering the final stretch of his re-election campaign committed to one thing — continuing to fight to preserve St. Pete Beach’s character and further protect the island from future storms.