As a passionate advocate for the city and outspoken business leader, Pete Boland is running for City Council District 3 of St. Pete to end the cycle of career politicians with a small business approach to problem-solving and to move the city forward.
Meet Pete
Pete Boland was born & raised in the Shore Acres area of St. Pete where he grew up working the register and stocking the shelves alongside his brothers at his mom & dad’s neighborhood store. His parents also served on the board & volunteered for many years at Northeast Little League. Working for his parents at the family owned business and with them in their community service instilled a strong work ethic and sense of civic pride into Pete.
He later attended Southside Fundamental Middle in Midtown during the tense times of the 96 Riots, and is a 2002 graduate of St. Pete High, where he proudly lettered on the school wrestling team. When his parents divorced and his father stricken with illness, Pete was a troubled teen that fought through adversity to make ends meet working two jobs living on his own in St. Pete at age 17 in order to finish high school.
After High School, he moved to Marion County to be with his ailing Dad, pursuing a degree in Mass Communications at College of Central Florida, all the while still working in Customer Service. While a student, Pete fell in love with the Hospitality Business & he began bartending at the tender age of 19, before beginning a long career in management as an Assistant General Manager at 21.
In 2008, Pete returned home to St. Pete, riding the PSTA Bus to classes at St. Petersburg College and continuing to work in hospitality, and once again as a volunteer youth baseball umpire. Further focusing on his career, he attended culinary school at the Art Institute of Tampa and served as the long time manager at popular bars and restaurants in Tampa Bay plying his craft.
Pete co-founded and opened The Galley: A St. Pete Tavern in 2016 on a “cursed” block in Downtown St. Pete. The Galley was an immediate success creating dozens of jobs while also becoming a community gathering place. The Galley’s success spawned an expansion with The Ship’s Hold cocktail bar in 2019, and a sister restaurant named for his grandma, Mary Margaret’s Olde Irish Tavern, in 2020.
Battling thru challenging events like Hurricane Irma & Covid 19, The Galley & Mary Margaret’s have become staples in the downtown business community & helped to lead the way in the fight against the virus while feeding thousands in the community. Neither The Galley or Mary Margaret’s laid off a single employee during the Covid Lockdowns.
As a passionate advocate for the city and outspoken business leader, Pete is proud to call St. Pete his forever home and resides again in Shore Acres with his loving wife, Jessica and her 3 children— just one block from where he attended pre-school at LCC and stocked shelves at his parent’s store. Pete & Jessica are also members of the St. Raphael’s Parish in Snell Isle, the same church Pete was baptized at as a child.
