Former St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Chief Jim Large sat out the first major mayoral debate (hosted by the NAACP) of the campaign season, leaving five of his opponents to spend the evening arguing over Mayor Kenneth Welch’s record.

By the time the debate ended, the St. Petersburg NAACP’s evaluators had handed Welch the highest score of the night and assigned Large an F for not participating.

Now, with another debate scheduled for Thursday, Large says voters will finally hear what he believes has been missing from the race: the perspective of the city’s former fire chief, fire marshal and emergency manager.

Much of the first debate centered on the city’s preparation for, and response to, Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Large believes his decades of experience managing emergencies would have brought about a better result.

“I’m very confident in my hurricane preparedness, having been the emergency manager for so long. I’m confident in the city’s plan, and I would have followed it,” Large said. “But since I wasn’t there, I don’t know whether they followed it or not.”

Rather than focusing on political disagreements surrounding storm response, Large pointed to operational decisions he believes should have received greater priority following Hurricane Helene.

“When debris was put on the ground from Helene, so much had sewage in it, especially household items, so it poses a threat to human health,” he said. Large argued that city crews should have prioritized removing household contents damaged by floodwaters before turning their attention to other debris.

“Start on one end of the city, and muster all resources, and pick up all Helene-damaged household items since they were soaked in sewage and was a public safety issue,” Large said. “Then the tree limbs, since those aren’t a health hazard.”

He also pointed to permitting delays that have left some residents unable to return home months after the storms. “Some people I talk to still haven’t been able to move back into their homes,” Large added. He noted he doesn’t currently have a solution to permitting delays, becausee he isn’t familiar with the operations of those particular city functions.

Large was equally critical of the city’s approach to the Historic Gas Plant District itself. “I do not support the direction it’s taken so far,” he said, questioning whether the city has accurately valued the property and whether officials have demonstrated the capacity to manage redevelopment of the site.

“The city hasn’t shown me that they have the people, ability or numbers to develop the Gas Plant,” he noted, but whether that means the city should hand off the responsibility to a single developer, he was equally dubious.

The former fire chief enters the race as a first-time political candidate, but one with decades of experience managing one of the city’s largest departments. Still, his campaign must contend with controversy stemming from allegations made during his tenure as chief.

Large was placed on administrative leave in 2023 after complaints alleging racist, sexist and homophobic remarks. An investigation ultimately did not substantiate those allegations, and he was reinstated by Mayor Welch before eventually retiring.

Asked why voters should trust him to lead the city despite that episode, Large said, “I stand on my record. I went 49.5 years with one complaint, and it was unsubstantiated.”

Large continued: “I have hired over 365 people for the fire department,” he said. “Of that, 49% were minority or protected demographics, so when those allegations come out, the evidence against those allegations was right there.”

The next mayoral debate, hosted by the League of Women Voters, will take place Thursday (June 18) at 5 p.m. at the SPC Gibbs campus Music Center. All candidates are expected to participate.

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