St. Petersburg Mayor-Elect Rick Kriseman announced his transition team on Wednesday, a day after defeating incumbent Bill Foster.

Kriseman announced Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich and Andrew M. Hayes as the co-chairs of his transition team.

Kriseman said Scruggs-Leftwich, a Ph.D. and former Philadelphia deputy mayor, and Hayes, an architect by trade and Air Force veteran, will help make for a smooth transition.

"I want to surround myself with confident, qualified people because that's what this community deserves," Kriseman said at today's news conference. "Their credentials are impeccable."

Hayes said he's looking forward to contributing his expertise in planning and design to start the transition.

"Break the next two months into small manageable bites and set up tasks and a schedule," said Hayes.

Scruggs-Leftwich is also looking forward to a smooth transition.

"Transition means bridging and I want to help bridge this government to the next phase," said Scruggs-Leftwich.

In the interim, Kriseman said he wants to work with current mayor Bill Foster. He also plans to look at staffing positions.

"We want to focus on the first 100 days and hit the ground running," Kriseman said. "We want to put things in place so we have the process in place for a successful start."

From public safety to landmarks, quite a few questions about the transition focus on some controversial issues concerning the people of St. Petersburg.

First, the Rays stadium dispute.

"I’m looking forward to sitting down and just getting to know each other, so that we can then start the process of doing what we can to make this team successful here," said Kriseman.

Then, the now vacant St. Petersburg Pier.

"I’d like to see about potentially giving the people the opportunity to fish again around the pier to at least walk it and ride their bikes around there like they used to be able to do,” said Kriseman. “I hate seeing that fence, that barrier there. I don’t like what it represents."

Lastly, the new mayor will select a new police chief.

"I think we need to have an outside firm that is coordinating it,” said Kriseman. “I think it gives us an opportunity to get a broader spectrum of candidates potentially."

Kriseman, who won with 56 percent of the vote to defeat Foster, takes office January 2.