Is Ken Welch hiding in one of the ‘Welch piles’? Maybe not, but for the people of Shore Acres, it might as well be.

St. It’s been almost three weeks since the Mayor of St. Petersburg Ken Welch He visited the Shore Acres neighborhood, the hardest-hit area of ​​the city due to major flooding from Hurricane Helene.

When a meeting was held in the neighborhood less than two weeks ago, guess who wasn’t there? That’s right, Ken Welch.

Welch has visited Shore Acres twice since Hurricane Helene caused a 7-foot storm surge in the city’s most flood-prone neighborhood, according to his staff. One of the visits occurred when Helene was in St. Petersburg on 28 September. It happened two days after Pete made landfall north of the Big Bend area. His next visit occurred after Hurricane Milton added to the damage during a damage assessment tour on October 11.

President of Shore Acres Nonprofit Association Kevin Batdorf estimates that about 85-90% of homes in the neighborhood experience at least some flooding. Some citizens reported that water came up to their door handles. Batdorf, St. I’m talking to Pete Catalyst He described the devastation he observed while walking around the neighborhood after the storm as “like driving through a canyon with people’s lives on the sidewalk.”

And even as homeowners make progress rebuilding their lives—waterlogged drywall removed, construction under way—the contents of their homes in many areas are still rotting and mold grows along curbs. Frustrated with the debris removal process, many residents began referring to piles of home contents as “Welch piles.”

To put Welch’s two visits into perspective, the President of the United States said: visited the area He visited its most devastated neighborhood only one less time than the Mayor.

So what was he doing instead?

On Wednesday, he went to cut the ribbon on a new Habitat for Humanity home, built to help a lower-income family who might not have been able to achieve their dream of homeownership without the assistance. Under normal circumstances, celebrating that family would be a valuable use of time. Even under these circumstances, this is still true as long as adequate care is provided to the thousands of residents currently displaced from their homes.

Over the weekend, Welch traveled to St. Louis in celebration of Fire Prevention Month and the Department’s new permanent Chief. Pete attended the Fire Rescue open event. Keith Watts. Welch’s official Facebook page shows her smiling alongside city firefighters next to a tray full of cookies near the firehouse kitchen, which notably had cabinets and drywall left dismantled by the flooding.

Social media channels include several video updates of the Mayor, both standing in front of large piles of debris that litter the sidewalks in front of people’s decrepit homes.

No one expects Welch to be in the neighborhood every day. It’s safe to say that most people know that the best help a Mayor can do is to ensure resources are distributed where they are needed most.

The problem is that Welch did not inspire confidence that this would happen. And these “Welch stacks” are a daily reminder. It would go a long way for Welch to not only get a bird’s eye view of citywide efforts but also personally inform storm-damaged residents — many of whom are considering never returning to the city again — about when recovery will occur.

At this time of year, during the Presidential Election, we hear many candidates and their surrogates ask the question: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” The question often ignores larger economic realities that those in the know understand but average citizens don’t care about. It’s one thing to be told the economy is doing well, but it’s another thing to go to the grocery store and still pay a lot more. than a few years ago.

Currently St. That kind of optic is at play in Pete and, even more starkly, in Shore Acres.

Yes, Welch and city staff are making significant progress in recovery. Welch’s social media channels It’s also full of links to resources and updates on the debris removal process. A real time map The platform, set up so residents can check progress on debris removal, was available in St. Petersburg as of Thursday morning. It shows more than 368,000 cubic yards of debris have been removed from St. Pete sidewalks.

But if you are one of those who still have debris lying in front of your house, this number means little.

Welch’s St. The perception is further exacerbated by the reputation he has built for himself so far as Mayor of St. Petersburg. He faced serious backlash for his perceived absenteeism early in his administration. Tampa Bay Times investigation Some troubling trends emerged during Welch’s appearance at City Hall. During his first eight months on the job, Welch used the ID card issued to access City Hall offices, including his own, on only 34% of regular workdays.

To make matters worse, the same study found that Welch was traveling to St. Louis as Hurricane Ian approaches Florida in 2022. It was revealed that he chose not to stay at the St. Petersburg Police Department Emergency Operations Center, opting instead to go home while his senior staff left their families to sleep there. facility.

Welch told the Tampa Bay Times at the time that “there were no problems” because “the storm changed direction.”

The storm changed direction, but he could still do it. Fortunately for our region, it didn’t happen that way, but that’s not the point. As Mayors before him have always done, Welch sent the message that as Mayor, being with his family is more important than managing an emergency. Welch’s predecessor Rick Kriseman, worked 24 hours In the days before and after 2017’s Hurricane Irma, Welch also sent the message that he could bypass his responsibility, but his staff could not.

And now here we are two years later and it looks like not much has changed. Looking at all the valuable information and resources provided on Welch’s social media channels, it’s clear that most of it is posted by his staff, not Welch. While this is not unusual or even uncommon, it is a reminder that being present is not a priority for the Mayor.

Post Views: 0