Mayor Ken Welch gives concession speech

And we hope for an extension of that service for one more term. But the voters have made a clear choice, and they've selected a different mayor to move us forward. I wish Charlie Crist the best in his next administration, and I just left Charlie a voicemail a few minutes ago. Thank you. But I'm so thankful and proud of what we've achieved in this city, this renewed Manhattan Casino that we stand in today. From McCann Field, we've hosted three... The Obama library, the 400 units of affordable housing, including right here on the Deuces. To the leadership and employees of the city of St. Pete, the 3,800 employees of the city of St. Pete, thank you for setting the standard for service in so many ways. Y'all don't charge the city for that, because y'all do that. I also want to thank our campaign staff and our volunteers who are working up to 7 o'clock tonight. I don't know if... Commissioner Flowers made it down from the headquarters down the street. They were still working until 7 o'clock tonight. But to Adrian, to all of our campaign team, Sam, the young man who's taught me how to use tech a little bit better. Sam's a Seminole in a master's degree program at Florida State. I want to thank all the volunteers who gave of your time. My colleagues, I see Debra Figg-Sanders, who's supporting me throughout this. Thank you for your steadfastness through a challenging campaign, as we face record amounts of money and attacks from all sides. But we stood strong on our principles, on the things that we believe in. Thank you very much. To our volunteers, I know how much you've given to this campaign. I know that you've knocked on doors, you've made calls, and you've waved signs. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you've done to support this campaign. I don't know if she's made it down here. Is Commissioner Flowers here? I'm just going to name one person. I know that gets me in trouble. But she has done extraordinary work. Here's to the end! To my family, our matriarch, this is why I'm on good behavior. My mom is here. Thank you. Donna, daughters Kiana and Kenya, and this wasn't on my card for 2027 either, but I'm going to be a granddad now, and all my family members, my sister Katrina, all my family members, my extended family, my prayer power family, the Sunshine Band, y'all know who y'all are. Just thank y'all for standing up and speaking up for what we believe in. It means so much to stand right here at the Manhattan Casino. It is a symbol of our history, a renewal. As we move into this new season, I'm not going anywhere, I'm a third generation St. Pete native, and we're going to continue to honor the city's history and the promises made from the gas plant to the Woodson Museum to neighborhoods impacted by climate change and housing affordability. One thing mom taught me is to speak up and I'm going to keep speaking up regardless of the office that I'm in. So the season has changed and the challenges persist. And we must meet those challenges as a community. Y'all know my favorite saying is, we are St. Pete. I do want to note, though, that the GO bond is winning, right? The general obligation bond, which is the largest investment in stormwater infrastructure in our history. $600 million, it was approved. So the plan was approved, but not the architect. Y'all, think about that. But we're excited about how we move forward. I want to thank y'all for your support. May God bless the city of St. Petersburg.