|
St. Pete holds a special place in Florida. We’ve done a great job of being a welcoming city, and still, far too many of our residents have been left out of our successes. By building a community based on compassion we can ensure every resident has a job with dignity, and an affordable home to return to in a clean and safe neighborhood.
|
About Me:I'm a community organizer in St. Pete, building relationships with faith leaders and everyday people, and working to find solutions for the problems in St. Pete and across Pinellas County. In my role as an organizer with Faith in Florida, I have led campaigns on access to safe and stable housing for working people, public health and safety, as well as expanded access to voting.
As a member at Allendale United Methodist Church, my faith is strong and it drives my belief that all people deserve dignity and justice. With the support of the community at Allendale, I left my career as a chemist in the pharmaceuticals industry to pursue work that centers on people, particularly those typically excluded from the decisions that impact their lives. I live in the Euclid Heights neighborhood with my wife Aileen. You can usually spot us walking our two dogs, Wilbur and Rylie around the neighborhood or at a local park playing frisbee. |
|
Contact Us:
|
Do you have a question about the campaign?
Do you want to share your vision for St. Pete or concerns about issues your neighborhood is facing? Send an email to [email protected] Or fill out the form below. We’d love to talk to you. |
|
Issues:
Lowering Cost-of-living
While certain sectors of our city have flourished, far too many of our residents have been left out of the economic successes of the city, and it’s harming all of us.
Housing: The way we currently do “affordable” housing is broken. We rely on taxpayer subsidies to boost developer profits, in exchange for a short period of a few less expensive units sprinkled amongst luxury apartments. We should be investing public resources into revenue generating, city-owned, mixed-income “social housing” that provides truly affordable housing to residents across income levels permanently. This will grow the city’s wealth, not developers’. We should also take steps to protect tenants with guaranteed right to legal counsel in eviction proceedings, establish a robust Tenants Assistance Office and more aggressively enforce existing ordinances prohibiting short-term rentals.
Jobs: Everyone in our city deserves the access to dignified work through good paying union jobs. We should ensure that job creation keeps careers for our current residents top of mind instead of creating high wage jobs for people who don’t currently live here. We should promote job training and apprenticeships for union labor amongst residents, create more job programs for local youth, and fund affordable city operated child care to close wage gaps and extend opportunity to all families.
While certain sectors of our city have flourished, far too many of our residents have been left out of the economic successes of the city, and it’s harming all of us.
Housing: The way we currently do “affordable” housing is broken. We rely on taxpayer subsidies to boost developer profits, in exchange for a short period of a few less expensive units sprinkled amongst luxury apartments. We should be investing public resources into revenue generating, city-owned, mixed-income “social housing” that provides truly affordable housing to residents across income levels permanently. This will grow the city’s wealth, not developers’. We should also take steps to protect tenants with guaranteed right to legal counsel in eviction proceedings, establish a robust Tenants Assistance Office and more aggressively enforce existing ordinances prohibiting short-term rentals.
Jobs: Everyone in our city deserves the access to dignified work through good paying union jobs. We should ensure that job creation keeps careers for our current residents top of mind instead of creating high wage jobs for people who don’t currently live here. We should promote job training and apprenticeships for union labor amongst residents, create more job programs for local youth, and fund affordable city operated child care to close wage gaps and extend opportunity to all families.
Infrastructure & Environment
As St. Pete continues to grow, our infrastructure is straining under its own weight. We can improve the day to day lives of our residents by investing in the basics that make a city run, and asking developers to pay their fair share.
Flood Mitigation: Residents in low-lying neighborhoods shouldn’t have to worry about the loss of their home and economic devastation that comes with it every time a storm enters the forecast. Starting with homes that have been repetitively subject to flood losses, the city should assist in low cost and creative measures such as flood barriers for doors. The city should provide technical and financial support to residents seeking grants to raise homes, and explore alternative options for the land where residents would like to get out. We should also improve storm drain clearing efforts and install backflow preventers and pumps in our storm water system as fast as possible. Finally, developers should be held to the highest possible standards when creating runoff into our city system, to ensure that residents are receiving benefits, instead of penalties, from our city’s growth.
Protect our Environment: We’re fortunate to have our own slice of natural paradise in St. Pete. We have work to do to protect it, and stop our contribution to sea-level rise that threatens our community. The city needs to explore taking control of our electrical grid back from Duke, in order to switch to renewable energy rapidly, improve our storm preparedness and resilience, and lower utilities cost to our residents. We should take steps to reduce stormwater pollution and invest in sustainable and natural infrastructure upgrades such as tree canopy development, oyster beds, and mangroves.
As St. Pete continues to grow, our infrastructure is straining under its own weight. We can improve the day to day lives of our residents by investing in the basics that make a city run, and asking developers to pay their fair share.
Flood Mitigation: Residents in low-lying neighborhoods shouldn’t have to worry about the loss of their home and economic devastation that comes with it every time a storm enters the forecast. Starting with homes that have been repetitively subject to flood losses, the city should assist in low cost and creative measures such as flood barriers for doors. The city should provide technical and financial support to residents seeking grants to raise homes, and explore alternative options for the land where residents would like to get out. We should also improve storm drain clearing efforts and install backflow preventers and pumps in our storm water system as fast as possible. Finally, developers should be held to the highest possible standards when creating runoff into our city system, to ensure that residents are receiving benefits, instead of penalties, from our city’s growth.
Protect our Environment: We’re fortunate to have our own slice of natural paradise in St. Pete. We have work to do to protect it, and stop our contribution to sea-level rise that threatens our community. The city needs to explore taking control of our electrical grid back from Duke, in order to switch to renewable energy rapidly, improve our storm preparedness and resilience, and lower utilities cost to our residents. We should take steps to reduce stormwater pollution and invest in sustainable and natural infrastructure upgrades such as tree canopy development, oyster beds, and mangroves.
Community Engagement & Support
No matter the color of your skin, who you love, how you identify, how you pray or how much you earn, all of our residents should feel safe and welcomed to participate fully in the life of our community.
Accessibility to democracy in our city government: Leadership in our state alongside corporate lobby interests have constantly sought to divide us along lines of difference. We need to root out the toxic corporate money that undermines our democracy by publicly funding city elections. We should also explore new ways to inform, educate and encourage participation from residents in all corners of our city.
Invest in Community: Our aim as a city should be to invest in high-quality, revenue generating public goods and services to benefit as many of our residents as possible. Instead of corporate handouts we need more public parks with expanded services, libraries, community centers and youth programs. Economically stable and cohesive neighborhoods reduce crime and promote safety for everyone.
No matter the color of your skin, who you love, how you identify, how you pray or how much you earn, all of our residents should feel safe and welcomed to participate fully in the life of our community.
Accessibility to democracy in our city government: Leadership in our state alongside corporate lobby interests have constantly sought to divide us along lines of difference. We need to root out the toxic corporate money that undermines our democracy by publicly funding city elections. We should also explore new ways to inform, educate and encourage participation from residents in all corners of our city.
Invest in Community: Our aim as a city should be to invest in high-quality, revenue generating public goods and services to benefit as many of our residents as possible. Instead of corporate handouts we need more public parks with expanded services, libraries, community centers and youth programs. Economically stable and cohesive neighborhoods reduce crime and promote safety for everyone.
