State limits city’s ability to replace street art 

The City of St. Petersburg lacks First Amendment free speech protections, which hinders its ability to replace recently removed street murals that promoted inclusivity. 

Assistant City Attorney Brett Pettigrew said the State of Florida can also abolish St. Petersburg at any time, provided it appeases municipal creditors. His comments stemmed from a hurried city council committee discussion Thursday regarding potential alternatives for public art. 

Mayor Ken Welch pledged that St. Petersburg would create “powerful new expressions of who we are” about a week before the Florida Department of Transportation began erasing five murals over Labor Day weekend. Those efforts will likely require private property and funding. 

“The fact remains, as a legal reality, the state has the ability to take power away from the city,” Pettigrew said. “The state is legally authorized to tell the city what it cannot say.  

“The city was created by the state – the city can be abolished by the state.”

Recent efforts to ban local governments from raising certain flags underscore a complex situation. The city can control its messaging until explicitly preempted by the state. 

Citizens, who do enjoy First Amendment protections, can say whatever they want on private property. Pettigrew noted local regulations limit the number of signs someone can place on their lawn, “but the city isn’t going to tell you what to put on those signs.” 

He said the law “gets dicey” in a third scenario – public speaking on city property. Officials can provide space for expression, so long as they allow all viewpoints. 

“There’s really no way to open up city property for private expression and control what comes next,” Pettigrew added. “You could have things that are very supportive of city values and things that are directly opposed … and we’d either have to leave them, or close the whole thing.” 

A collage of the five removed murals. Image: City of St. Petersburg.

Funding murals on public or private property also presents a problem. Pettigrew said artists would be acting on the city’s behalf in the former instance, which constitutes government speech. 

While it would “depend on the specifics,” any government-funded art on private property must, “in most cases,” welcome opposing viewpoints. Pettigrew said Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) grants fund initiatives that are “generally not expressive in nature” to avoid financially supporting “something that residents or the city itself would object to.”

Streets are not a traditional public forum. Pettigrew noted the state can allow or disallow those atypical areas for expression at “any time and for any reason.”

He said the state has seemingly removed the artwork in a “viewpoint-neutral manner,” and used Tampa’s “Back the Blue” installation as an example. 

“We are preempted every which way,” said Councilmember Corey Givens Jr. “If we were to allocate funds, we risk – as if we aren’t already – being under the ire of DOGE and the state government.” 

Mayor’s memo highlights alternatives

Councilmember Brandi Gabbard requested the discussion in August. Much has changed in the weeks that followed, and she bemoaned “a lot of isolated decisions made here at City Hall.” 

“The community is feeling very left behind,” Gabbard said. “They’re feeling like we have these conversations about being an inclusive city, yet we have nine elected officials, and not all nine are included in the conversations.” 

Gabbard and her colleagues received a memo Wednesday from Mayor Ken Welch highlighting the administration’s progress on public art and placemaking opportunities. She called it a “laundry list of things that have been decided on, once again,” without a collaborative discussion with council members. 

“There are ideas on there that I think are very worthy, and that I look forward to seeing the results of,” Gabbard continued. “But there was no collaboration, in my opinion, that got us to that place.” 

Mayor Ken Welch invited 20 stakeholders to discuss public art opportunities Wednesday. Photo: City of St. Petersburg.

The memo, obtained by the Catalyst, states that the city has “memorialized” the five removed murals with an 18” x 24” poster that staff will distribute at five events throughout September. Residents can soon download digital versions to use as smartphone wallpaper or virtual meeting backgrounds. 

Staff will also distribute 200 Pride and 200 Black History Matters flags to businesses and organizations. The community can submit ideas for public art opportunities that “reflect the city’s identity and values” via an online platform. 

Welch invited 20 arts and community leaders to discuss those same opportunities Wednesday. The city’s Public Arts Commission and Arts Advisory Committee will hold a similar, joint public meeting Sept. 26.

Welch wrote that staff will continue evaluating “alternative forms of expression” found in other municipalities. He pledged to update the council after compiling the community’s ideas and determining “the financial impact on the citywide budget.” 

“St. Pete has always been a community that leads with creativity and heart,” Welch wrote in a subsequent social media post Thursday. “Here’s the truth: Art and culture are essential to our city’s identity. Despite recent efforts to silence our voice as a city, we’re strategizing to take impactful and sustainable action.

“This is just the beginning of a larger effort to keep St. Pete welcoming, and we’re not slowing down.”