Mayor Ken Welch is pushing back against attacks on his work ethic and executive experience, accusing mayoral challenger Charlie Crist of distorting his record as the race for City Hall enters its most combative stretch.
In an open letter released to supporters Monday, Welch defended his decades of leadership experience and dismissed recent claims that he spent only 34% of his workdays at City Hall as a misleading use of public records.
“I won’t be lectured on hard work by someone who has tried to quit nearly every job he’s ever held to chase the next one,” Welch wrote.
Though Welch never mentions Crist by name in the opening line, the letter repeatedly references an opponent backed by “significant out-of-town money” through a political committee that has been active since Crist’s unsuccessful congressional campaign.
The letter is Welch’s most direct response yet to attacks that have surfaced in recent weeks questioning both his qualifications and his presence at City Hall.
One line of attack stems from security badge records obtained by Crist’s campaign, which contend Welch was physically inside City Hall just 34% of the time.
Welch called the claim “ridiculous on its face.” According to Welch, the records cherry-pick data from the Covid era, when city government, like many workplaces, shifted toward hybrid work schedules.
He also noted that a security badge tracks access to a building – not hours worked.
“It doesn’t capture when I come in a different door, when staff or security swipe me through, or the hours I spend at the Police Department, Fire Stations, or many other city sites, businesses and community meetings I show up to every week across our city and region,” Welch wrote.
He added that the records don’t account for virtual meetings or the hours he spends at home reviewing council agendas, staff reports and correspondence.
Welch also defended his executive credentials, pointing to more than 30 years in leadership positions with Florida Power, Raymond James, St. Petersburg College and his family’s accounting firm, along with 20 years on the Pinellas County Commission, including three years as chair.
He cited hiring current Pinellas County Administrator Barry Burton while commission chair and current City Administrator Rob Gerdes as mayor as examples of executive decision-making.
“We’ve seen this playbook before. ‘Unqualified.’ ‘Not hard working,'” Welch wrote.
“These aren’t new critiques — they’re the same old dog whistles floated by those who feel safe in their entitlement to utter them with a smile and a ‘God Bless You,’ confident that they won’t be called on their tactics.”
The mayor also defended his management style, saying decisions made by elected officials often rely on information provided by staff and that leadership cannot be reduced to keycard records or time spent inside one building. He pointed to endorsements from every union representing the city’s roughly 3,800 employees, including police officers, firefighters and municipal workers.
“They are the ones on the front lines of municipal service delivery and public safety, and I’m honored to have their support,” Welch wrote.
Welch also touted that St. Petersburg was named Florida’s Best-Run City by WalletHub from 2022 through 2024, under his tenure.
The letter piqued discussion on social media among political observers and elected officials. Florida Politics publisher Peter Schorsch, whose wife, Michelle Todd Schorsch, manages Charlie Crist’s mayoral campaign, responded with sarcasm.
“Is there someone on the Mayor’s campaign to speak to so that I can donate to his efforts if he promises to promote this post far and wide?” Schorsch wrote on social media, implying the letter would do more to help Crist’s campaign than Welch’s.
Pinellas County Commissioner Rene Flowers offered a contrasting response, defending Welch’s explanation and noting that elected officials routinely rely on staff recommendations when making decisions.
“Having served in a former role as a Vice President of the Coalition For a Safe and Drug Free organization, and Corporate Trainer as well as becoming SHRM Certified, your actions were swift once the error was identified and correction was made immediately,” Flowers wrote. “What is regrettable is that employees have to relive this again.”
Flowers continued: “As electeds we understand and expect that many times our decisions are ours based often on advice that we deem accurate from the staff we employ. However, there are times when that advice may not be the best. That happens in the corporate world, we see it in the Department of Corrections, and we see it in state, local and the federal government.”
Welch and Crist have emerged as the race’s two leading fundraisers and have increasingly targeted one another over executive leadership, hurricane response and experience as the Aug. 18 primary approaches.