Politics
With a high-profile sexual harassment scandal now public, City Hall culture under Ken Welch is again in the spotlight
It’s no secret that workplace culture under St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch has been questionable.
The writing was on the wall less than one year into his administration, when his then-Deputy Mayor resigned amid allegations of creating a culture of hostility and retribution. Welch claimed he didn’t know about those issues. But shortly after, a leaked letter from campaign staffers given to him before he was even elected showed he absolutely did.
And that wasn’t the only turnover. The senior staff member who leveled the allegations against former Deputy Mayor Stephanie Owens, former Communications Director Janelle Irwin Taylor (who, full disclosure, is now a senior staff member for Florida Politics) resigned due to the culture she divulged. And her successor, Bay News 9 reporter Erica Riggins, left her post after less than two years. Former Marketing Director Nina Mahmoudi also left her job.
And the city’s longtime fire chief, Jim Large, retired last March after reports that Large created a culture of bullying and discrimination during his then-17 years leading the city’s fire department. He was placed on administrative leave during an investigation, but ultimately reinstated after the Welch administration found allegations were unsubstantiated. Later, a photo surfaced of Large holding a mug that said, “go ahead, call HR.” His retirement was announced shortly thereafter.
Then there were reports of Welch’s work-from-home mentality, showing he was at City Hall on just 34% of regular workdays during his first eight months in office.
Adding insult to injury, the same investigation found that as Hurricane Ian approached Florida in 2022, Welch chose not to stay at the Emergency Operations Center at the St. Petersburg Police Department, opting instead to go home while his top staff left their own families to sleep at the facility.
There’s an awful lot that has happened since then — a failed stadium deal with the Tampa Bay Rays, “Welch Piles,” his weak response to the state’s demand that street murals be removed — but the latest is perhaps the worst, at least when viewed in the context of an administration that seems to keep finding itself in turmoil.
A high-level staff member has now been forced to resign amid credible accusations of sexual harassment, the details of which are disturbing and, well, gross.
To be sure, the guilty party here is most definitely Brian Caper, the city’s former Managing Director of Economic and Workforce Development who resigned last week after a female subordinate filed a complaint with HR alleging a troubling history of sexually charged comments, inappropriate communication and unprofessional, often after-hours comments about other city employees.
But what implicates Welch in this is both the inaction to address concerns that had already been levied and the culture created that seems to be allowing unprofessionalism to run unchecked at City Hall.
The specific allegations from the complainant, whose name Florida Politics is not releasing due to privacy concerns for the victim, are disturbing enough. Text messages provided as part of the sexual harassment investigation show Caper tracking the complainant after hours and inappropriately commenting on her whereabouts, declaring his love for her — he later said it wasn’t romantic love, but admitted being attracted to the employee (and, it’s worth noting, Caper is married) — and consistently making sexually-based comments.
But it’s the allegations that weren’t pursued that are perhaps the most damning not just to Caper, but to Welch.
Another employee, whose name Florida Politics is also redacting to protect her privacy, resigned in late 2022 due to Caper’s inappropriate conduct, which she outlined in her resignation letter. The investigative report findings show that the employee reported Caper’s toxic conduct, which she wrote included body-shaming women, defaming leadership and maliciously manipulating colleagues’ reputations for his own benefit. But she said management not only overlooked it, they promoted him.
To be clear, Welch was Mayor at that time. If he wasn’t aware of the employee’s allegations, presented in a resignation letter, he should have been. A good leader sets a tone that makes employees feel safe to present grievances. The investigative report suggests no such culture exists at St. Pete City Hall, despite Welch’s claim in response to the report that the city “takes any allegations of harassment or inappropriate behavior very seriously.”
But it doesn’t stop there. The same investigative report included transcripts of text messages Caper had sent to the complainant supporting the other employee’s claims. And those texts suggest one of Welch’s top-level administrators is also setting a toxic tone at City Hall.
A series of text messages show Caper describing City Development Administrator James Corbett as someone who drinks excessively and fraternizes with female employees. Corbett is married. In fairness to Corbett, these are unsubstantiated allegations from a disgraced former city employee, but the number of text messages referencing Corbett’s behavior at least warrant looking into.
In one text outlined in the HR report, Caper wrote that Corbett was holding hands with a female employee “at the bar.” The employee is named in the report, but Florida Politics is protecting her privacy.
In another, Caper wrote that “James eventually got overserved and it turned into daycare.”
In another, he wrote that “James was already smashed when I got there so hopefully he’ll be more capable than he let on.”
Still another said in apparent reference to a work trip to Atlanta that “lots of people were sloshed when I got here,” adding that “James and (redacted) showed up to dinner and started pounding drinks.”
If there’s any truth at all to Caper’s many text messages outlining Corbett’s drinking habits with city employees, that’s not just on Corbett — the buck stops with his boss, Welch, who promoted him as one of his first acts as Mayor.
Before taking office in early 2022, Welch promoted Corbett to Neighborhood Affairs Administrator from his previous role as Codes Compliance Director. Later that year, Corbett was named City Development Administrator, technically a lateral move, but one that is perceived to include more responsibility.
Taken individually, none of the headlines that have plagued the Welch administration over the past nearly four years would be especially concerning regarding Welch. Taken collectively, it paints a troubling picture of an administration in chaos, and one that is too busy putting out fires than making the progress Welch ran on.
He hasn’t filed yet, but Welch has said he’s seeking re-election next year. As the incumbent, he’s the assumed front-runner.
Already, City Council member Brandi Gabbard, a respected public servant and local Realtor, has said she plans to run against Welch. She’s a credible candidate, to be sure. As a moderate Democrat and a known supporter of property rights, she has the political bona fides to capture support from the city’s liberal base, and give enough comfort to its conservative constituency to back her over an incumbent plagued by plenty of negatives.
And it looks like she won’t be the only one challenging Welch. Charlie Crist, a former Governor and former U.S. Representative, is reportedly mulling a bid himself.
Former state Rep. Ben Diamond had seriously considered running, though he ultimately chose not to.
Incumbents don’t draw intraparty opposition — let alone twice over — unless they are unpopular.
If Welch is going to survive next year’s election, he’s going to need to stop giving his opposition fodder.
Legislation that would narrowly recategorize 911 dispatchers as first responders so they can receive workers’ compensation for work-related psychological injuries is one step closer to passing in the Legislature’s upper chamber.
Members of the Government Oversight and Accountability Committee voted unanimously to advance the bill (SB 774), which would eliminate a barrier that today denies aid to people who are often the first to respond to a crime.
The measure’s sponsor, Hollywood Sen. Jason Pizzo, noted that during his time as a prosecutor, playing a 911 call would often be the most effective thing to do to sway a jury.
“911, what’s your emergency? He’s going to kill me! He’s going to kill me! Now, imagine hearing that 12 times a day, 15 times a day,” he said.
“Two years ago, you all voted to require these 911 operators to be proficient in CPR so they could administer (it) over the phone. And they’re not considered first responders? They are first responders, and they’ve been grossly overlooked and screwed, and this brings some remedy.”
SB 774 would add 911 dispatchers to the group of “first responders” covered by Florida’s special workers’-compensation rules for employment-related mental or nervous injuries. It would apply the same framework to them as other first responders for mental health claims.
Essentially, if you’re a 911 dispatcher and develop post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or similar mental health injuries from traumatic calls, SB 774 would make it so you can get workers’ comp-covered treatment and that your claim is handled under the same special rules lawmakers already set for other first responders — without certain time-limit restrictions that typically apply to mental injury benefits.
Several dispatchers signaled or spoke in favor of the bill, as did representatives from the Florida Police Chiefs Association, Florida Sheriffs Association and Consolidated Dispatch Agency.
Jennifer Dana, a dispatcher with the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, noted that in a Senate analysis of SB 774, there’s a list of disturbing things first responders see and do on the job, from seeing dead children and witnessing murders to helping severely injured people, including those who commit suicide.
What it doesn’t include, she said, is that 911 dispatchers also witness those things.
“We’re seeing and hearing it,” she said. “We have the technology for people to livestream it now, so it’s a double-whammy for us, and we want to make sure we have the protections.”
Kim Powell, a licensed and clinical mental health counselor who oversees an employee behavioral health program at a 911 communications center in Leon County, detailed several examples of what dispatchers experience: a woman struggling to breathe while dying from a gunshot wound inflicted by her child’s father; an officer’s final words moments before his murder; the sound of a mother discovering her deceased infant; the 800 or so calls received in the wake of the Florida State University shooting last April.
“These are not isolated events; they are part of the job,” she said. “The trauma compounds over time with repeat exposure.”
St. Petersburg Republican Sen. Nick DiCeglie thanked Pizzo for carrying the bill and expressed gratitude to the “3,500 dispatchers” across Florida for their work.
“For me personally, (this) could be one of the most important bills that we have this Session because of the importance there is for your well-being and your quality of life,” he said.
Melbourne Republican Sen. Debbie Mayfield, who chairs the committee, echoed DiCeglie’s remarks.
Pizzo reminded the panel that four years ago, during COVID, a $280 million set-aside for payments to first responders and front-line workers did not extend to 911 dispatchers.
“They never stopped working,” he said, adding that Mayfield at the time acknowledged the oversight and pledged that the Legislature would get it right in the future. “So, it’s serendipitous that you were kind and gracious enough to put us on the agenda.”
SB 774 will next go to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government, after which it has one more stop before reaching a floor vote.
An identical bill (HB 451) by Republican Rep. Jeff Holcomb of Spring Hill awaits its first hearing in the House.
The Tampa Bay Rays’ search for a new home took a tangible step forward as the Hillsborough College Board of Trustees approved a nonbinding agreement that could ultimately shift the franchise away from St. Petersburg under its new ownership.
The Board voted to approve a memorandum of understanding (MOU) authorizing staff to negotiate with the Tampa Bay Rays over a potential stadium and mixed-use redevelopment at the college’s Dale Mabry Campus.
The agreement does not commit the college to the project and can be terminated by the Board at any time. Instead, it outlines key terms the parties would like to see in any future binding agreements, which would require separate Board approval at a later public meeting.
College officials characterized the MOU as the beginning of negotiations. Under the document, staff would begin drafting potential project agreements for Trustees to consider in the future, with an anticipated negotiation timeline of up to 180 days.
Rays CEO Ken Babby addressed Trustees during the meeting, calling the proposal an early milestone. He emphasized that the effort involves the college, the team, the state and local governments. Babby said the Rays are exploring a roughly 130-acre redevelopment anchored by a new stadium and an integrated college campus, alongside residential, commercial and entertainment uses.
“As we envision this development, together in cooperation and partnership with the community and the college, we’ve been calling the campus portion of this work ‘Innovation Edge’ featuring Hillsborough College,” Babby said.
“It’ll be neighbored by, of course, what we envision to be ‘Champions Corridor,’ which we hope will be the mentioned home of the Tampa Bay Rays. Of course, this will be a mixed-use with residential, with commercial, and, as we’ve said, billions of dollars of economic impact to the region. … This is an incredible moment for our community.”
Public input was split. Supporters recognized the economic impact the project could have, while critics worried about the effect on housing affordability, in particular for college students.
Following the vote, Trustees acknowledged uncertainty among students, faculty and staff, particularly those based at the Dale Mabry campus, but stressed that the approval did not determine final outcomes.
“This is a major decision, and I truly hope that it leads Hillsborough College towards growth and advancement,” Student Trustee Nicolas Castellanos said.
Trustee Michael Garcia echoed the sentiment.
“It’s a tremendous day for the future of Hillsborough College and for the future of Major League Baseball in the area and also for the future of the city of Tampa,” Garcia said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis publicly expressed support for the concept ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, saying it could benefit both the college and the region, while cautioning that details still need to be resolved.
“It could be very good for HCC, and I’ve met with the President about it. I think he’s excited about the possibility,” DeSantis said in Pinellas Park.
“Obviously, they’ve got to iron out details. But basically, we’re supportive of them pursuing that partnership because I think it could be good for them. I think it could be good for the state. But I definitely think it could be really good for this region.”
Also ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told Florida Politics the city and Hillsborough County have been in ongoing discussions with the Tampa Bay Rays as the team explores long-term stadium options — including the potential Hillsborough College site. She emphasized that any future stadium proposal would require coordination among multiple governments and would be evaluated alongside existing contractual obligations related to other major sports facilities.
No timeline for construction, campus relocation or final land disposition was discussed Tuesday. College officials emphasized that any binding agreements would return to the Board of Trustees for approval at a future public meeting.
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A.G. Gancarski and Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
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