ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — St. Pete Beach Mayor Adrian Petrila was publicly called out by two of his fellow commissioners this month who said he has been insulting them at city meetings.

What You Need To Know

  • St. Pete Beach Mayor Adrian Petrila was publicly called out by two of his fellow commissioners this month for insulting them

  • Commissioner Karen Marriott said she was insulted at the Feb. 11 meeting 

  • Commissioner Betty Rzewnicki said she was insulted at the Feb. 25 meeting 

  • Mayor Petrila did not respond to a request for comment

“It’s upsetting the mayor claims we’re all together, and he’s not modeling it,” said Commissioner Betty Rzewnicki. “I’ve had to swallow the pill for quite some time.”

At the city commission meeting on Tuesday, while talking about creating a social media policy for elected leaders, Petrila said one of the reasons he brought it up was because Rzewnicki was a ‘lead’ for the social media platform Nextdoor and he was worried about censorship.

“There were several residents that have made statements that Commissioner Rzewnicki, that you are a moderator on Nextdoor,” he said. “Because if an elected official is now involved on an online platform deciding what stays on, what stays off… what First Amendment issues do we have?”

Rzewnicki pointed out she can only flag derogatory posts and does not have the power to remove anything from the site.

“What they do is when there’s derogatory postings, we get an email, and in that email we take a poll. It’s not me individually. It’s several neighborhoods that are in the area,” she said. “We simply say, ‘keep the post’, ‘maybe’ or ‘not.’ That’s it. That is the role of the lead.”

Rzewnicki said she was in favor of having a social media policy because elected leaders have been using their official titles when releasing personal opinions. She called out Mayor Petrila for sending a letter on Feb. 10, to District 2 constituents, stating she was “handpicked” by her predecessor, who was pro-development.

“That is insulting. I know you signed it as the mayor of the city, sending it to a whole district of people here,” she said. “How horrible is that to demean me of why I’m sitting here.”

Rzewnicki said she filed as a candidate, ran unopposed and was not handpicked by anyone.

At the Feb. 11 city commission meeting, while discussing a second vote on a proposed noise ordinance, Commissioner Karen Marriott said Mayor Petrila implied she had no integrity for stating the process was rushed and recommended the issue go back to a workshop.

“So what you’re telling me is that you are disagreeing with me because you are critical of decisions I’ve made in the past?” she asked.

Petrila responded, “I agree with you on principle, just like everybody else. I’m just saying you’re not living up to your principles. That’s the irony, that you say one thing and then you do something completely different in public.”

A visibly angry Marriott fired back, “That is completely false and I find that very insulting. I have sat here for a year and listened to you insult me and claim that I have ulterior motives and that I do not have integrity and I have had enough of it. Alright? I am trying to do the best for the citizens.”

Rzewnicki was attending that meeting virtually and said the internet cut out when she wanted to speak up. She then backed up Commissioner Marriott on Feb. 25 for calling out the mayor two weeks earlier.

“I did want to commend… Commissioner Marriott,” she said. “Because I have about had it as-well-as many others of hearing the mayor continuously ridicule every time I open my mouth for anything.”

At both meetings, Petrila did not respond to the comments made towards him by his fellow commissioners. The mayor also did not respond to a request for an interview from Spectrum Bay News 9 by our deadline.

Resident Grant Izzy, who’s running to replace Commissioner Lisa Robinson, said the atmosphere on the commission was the same as the city right now: toxic and divided.

“So this whole conversation up here, seriously dysfunctional,” he said. “So let’s get it together, bring the community together, stop attacking each other. We’re never going to get anywhere. This crisis from the from the storm has just started.”

Commissioner Marriott said it’s all very unfortunate.

“We owe people the best of ourselves and not the worst,” she said. “I think we can and should do better.”

Commissioner Rzewnicki said she was surprised to be insulted by the mayor after the Marriott incident.

“To continue to do it after being called out at the last meeting is disturbing,” she said. “I support Karen and back her because I know the feeling.”