Some Tampa City Council members say they were left out of negotiations that produced the framework for a publicly financed Tampa Bay Rays stadium, raising questions about the role elected legislators play under the city’s strong-mayor form of government.

While officials in Mayor Jane Castor’s administration participated directly in talks with the Rays, Hillsborough County, and the Tampa Sports Authority, several council members said they were not involved in crafting the memorandum of understanding that includes roughly $180 million in city-backed funding.

The concerns surfaced during the tense May 21 council meeting in which the MOU was approved, 4-3. Before the vote, members Bill Carlson and Lynn Hurtak, both mayoral candidates, questioned whether alternative financing structures should have been considered during negotiations rather than after the framework was put up for passage.

The proposed $2.3 billion stadium would be built on Drew Park land currently occupied by Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry campus. The MOU commits the city to $80 million from a half-cent Community Investment Tax and $100 million from future property taxes through an existing Community Redevelopment Area.

Carlson has been among the most vocal critics of the process. “All kind of options that could be discussed,” he said. “Unfortunately, the administration did not include us.”

A day after the council agreed to hold a follow-up discussion for input on negotiations, Rays CEO Ken Babby told the Tampa Bay Times the team would not reopen negotiations on the financial framework. When the council reconvened on May 28, they removed the agenda item.

Hillsborough County Commission Chair Ken Hagan, who has been involved in Rays stadium discussions for 15 years, said the friction is a predictable byproduct of Tampa’s government structure. “There always seems to be a rub between the city council and the mayor, irrespective of who the council members are and who the mayor is,” Hagan said. “It’s just an inherent rub because the structure is different.”

Hagan anticipates final votes by the county and city on a binding deal in mid-July. Carlson voted for the MOU at the May 21 meeting as a condition to secure state money to rebuild Hillsborough College, but has said he is a “no” on any future vote because he does not support using public dollars to subsidize private development.

The governance questions could take on added significance beyond baseball. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers recently began discussions with the sports authority about a reported $1 billion renovation of Raymond James Stadium, talks tied to a potential lease extension that could require substantial public funding. Hagan said the county and city preserved sufficient reserves to address requests from both teams.

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