The city of buccaneers and cigars has been through a lot of change since Jane Castor was sworn in as Tampa's mayor seven years ago.
There was a pandemic and hurricanes, an influx of people moving to the area and an updated bridge connecting across the Bay. And now by the time she finishes her second term, the Tampa Bay Rays could ink a deal to build a stadium on Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry Stadium.
On "Florida Matters Live & Local," Mayor Castor discussed the Rays, Ybor City safety and immigration enforcement.
Here's what to know.
The Tampa Bay Rays' plan for a new stadium
The Major League Baseball team is negotiating to build a new stadium at Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus. The cost of the stadium is estimated to be a minimum of $2.3 billion.
ALSO READ: Hillsborough will begin stadium negotiations with the Rays, with cost top of mind
"The Rays' plan is to pay for half of the stadium and have the county, city pay for the other half. And so we're still figuring out what the total cost would be [for Tampa]. It did balloon almost double the cost for the stadium so that clearly is an issue," Castor said.
Castor said the money should give everyone "some concern" as they need to figure out where the money is coming from.
"I know the governor has said that he would definitely support the Rays building a stadium with the mixed-use [development] around it, but the taxpayer dollars wouldn't go towards a stadium," Castor said. "Well, that's the same thing I have said all along. But we are working, along with Hillsborough County and the Tampa Sports Authority, to figure out how we make the Tampa Bay Rays — staying in Tampa and specifically right there on that site — how we can make that a reality."
Her goal is that taxpayers wouldn't have to pitch in for the stadium, but might for the development around the stadium.
"We're still in those conversations, but we clearly have to look out for the taxpayers' dollars and be very cognizant of how they are spent," Castor told host Matthew Peddie. "I also believe that our city — our region — is too big of a region to lose a major sporting franchise, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a line of demarcation where we can only spend so much for a privately-owned endeavor."
She said Rays' ownership team has been "very upfront" and "very transparent" in all discussions so far and is looking at how to "craft an arrangement that is advantageous for everybody involved."
Pedestrian safety in Ybor City
Mayor Castor also touched on safety concerns in Ybor City. This comes a few months after a drunk driver fleeing from the Florida Highway Patrol crashed into the patio of a nightclub on 7th Avenue — killing four people and injuring 13.
The tragedy has prompted some support to close Ybor City streets to traffic, while others don't support it.
Castor falls in the latter, saying that due to her law enforcement experience, it'd be better to keep 7th Avenue open to vehicles. She did acknowledge, however, that there are advantages to both scenarios.
But she described how that area was her first assignment as a sergeant back in the mid-to-late 90s. They'd gone back and forth with leaving the roads open and closing them.
ALSO READ: FHP pursuit policy a focus of speakers during Ybor City town hall on public safety
She explained how, when the roads were closed, it was an attraction for young people congregating in the area instead of going to their destinations. They had a lot of fights, violent incidents and some shootings. It also hinders public safety vehicles from getting where they need to be.
"We are going to keep 7th Avenue open, but we're also going to provide as much safety and security in that particular area," Castor said. "We can't ward off everything. If someone decides to use a car as a weapon, it's very difficult to stop that. We're going to do everything that we can to continue to make Ybor City an incredibly safe area of the city of Tampa."
She said she wouldn't dictate what FHP's pursuit policy includes, but that the Tampa Police Department's policy is "very restrictive" and that the agency does everything it can to avoid pursuits.
Her perspective on immigration enforcement and message to the community
All eyes have been on Minneapolis in recent weeks with a federal crackdown on immigration and the death of two Americans at the hands of federal immigration agents.
Mayor Castor said she doesn't foresee what's occurring in Minneapolis happening in Tampa. Her understanding is that there are five times the number of ICE officers as police officers in the city.
"That's an occupation, and so that's something that we will do everything in my power and working with the state and the federal government, to avoid even playing a part in something like that," Castor said.
ALSO READ: Why Tampa Mayor Jane Castor says National Guard troops occupying cities is 'not sustainable'
She added that when looking at immigration from the perspective of people committing crimes in a community, there are ways to identify and apprehend them without "basically throwing a very wide and deep net and pulling everybody up in that net."
"The way that it's being approached right now, I think it has no advantage for anyone — Americans, immigrants, legal or otherwise," she stated.
She said in Minneapolis, there's "no relationship at all" between the ICE agents and the community. That compares to the city police officers who spend the majority of their time building relationships so they can prevent crime, and people aren't afraid to call for help.
She added that cultivating those relationships is how "you build successful and safe cities."
She explained how to date, Tampa police have not received the training, so they have not been engaged with ICE up to this point.
"And one of the things that I want to put the listeners at ease, we have always had MOUs — memorandums of understanding — with all federal agencies, with the FBI, Secret Service, DEA, ICE, and we have collaborated on investigations," she said. "When I worked in family violence, sex crimes, when I worked in narcotics, we work closely with ICE agents — especially when the investigations took you outside of the country. So it's not something that unheard of, but just the way it's being utilized today has caused a number of problems across our nation."
When asked what her message is to immigrants who make Tampa their home, she said the community is a "very welcoming and collaborative community."
"We understand we are a minority majority. The largest minority population are Latinos and Hispanics in our community. They play a very big part in our workforce, and we depend on those individuals. We depend on the collaboration," Castor said. "Clearly, no American is in support of individuals that are in our country committing crime — whether immigrant or not — so the focus on those individuals I have no issue with. Also switching to the police department hat, police officers' effectiveness or power comes from the trust of the community. If you don't have that trust in your community — among your residents, among your visitors — then the police department are going to be powerless to keep the community safe."
You can listen to Mayor Castor's full discussion in the media player above. This story was compiled from interviews conducted by Matthew Peddie for "Florida Matters Live & Local." You can listen to the full episode here.
