City of St. Pete Beach
After a spirited and sometimes nasty campaign, the city clerk swore in the new mayor on St. Pete Beach, Adrian Petrila, on March 28. A standing-room-only meeting welcomed the incoming mayor, and staff thanked outgoing mayor Alan Johnson.
Goodbye to Mayor Al Johnson; Hello to the New Mayor – and Others
“Really, it has been an honor and a privilege to be your mayor for the last six years. I look back at what we’ve done and I’m impressed. We did a ton of infrastructure,” Johnson said. He accepted his thank-you award, and mentioned road and sewer projects, the library reconstruction, drainage, moving power lines underground, digitizing and offering residents free parking to micro-transit service, and other projects under his watch. “We got all that accomplished and not only doubled our reserves for a rainy day, but we kept the millages the same, so that the tax rate did not go up, which I think is remarkable.”
The City Clerk swore in the new mayor, Adrian Petrila, along with two elected commissioners. Voters re-elected Mark Grill to serve District 2, and Chris Marone, District 4, to replace long-time Commissioner Melinda Pletcher. Also present were Commissioner and Vice Mayor Chris Graus (District 1) Commissioner Ward Friszolowski (District 3), City Manager Alex Rey, and City Attorney Andrew Dickman.
Mayor Petrila thanked the residents and voters. He also thanked his wife “for putting up with three months of a very tough election season.” He agreed with Commissioner Grill, who said he hoped the city and residents could put the “divisiveness and negativity” of the election behind them.
“I think St. Pete Beach is one of the best places to live in the world, and together we can only make it better,” said Petrila.
Meet St. Pete Beach Mayor Adrian Petrila
Romanian-born Petrila is 44 years old. In 1991, his family emigrated from Romania to Hollywood, Florida, and in 1995, he started attending the University of South Florida. He graduated with a degree in psychology. While living in Tampa 10 years ago, he met his wife, Irina, at a Chamber of Commerce meeting.
“It was the best thing about that meeting,” he said. Irina and Adrian married and moved to St. Pete Beach in 2018. He has worked in real estate for 21 years.
Moving Forward on St. Pete Beach
After nearly two hours of commission meeting chock full of business and residential issues, the new mayor unveiled his three-point plan. He wants to analyze, review, and update the city’s Comprehensive Plan. He concluded with his motion to bring a moratorium on “large-scale building.” The motion did not receive a second, but the commission agreed to explore a review and update. A moratorium will require the voters to get proper notice before the commission can vote. The commission discussed the need for procedures and guidelines to begin this review process. It agreed to meet in a workshop with members of the planning board at 3 p.m. on April 25.
Keep an eye out for the next meetings at the City of St. Pete Beach website.
