Pictured Above: Crow’s Cast returned this Friday with an interview with City Council candidate Richie Floyd.
Graphics courtesy of Darnell Henderson and Baron Reichenbach | The Crow’s Nest
Image Courtesy of Richie Floyd
By Trevor Martindale
After a brief hiatus, Crow’s Cast is officially returning to The Crow’s Nest’s multimedia platforms.
Crow’s Cast, along with Crow on the Go, and other special videos can be found on The Crow’s Nest’s YouTube channel: The Crow’s Nest at USFSP
The return episode features an interview with Richie Floyd, a teacher, political organizer and candidate for the St. Petersburg City Council in the 8th District.
Here is a sneak peak of this week’s interview:
Q: How did you get involved in politics?
A: I think like many people, the events surrounding 2016 were the biggest catalyst for me. I had been slightly politically active before that, but in 2016 Donald Trump winning the presidency woke up a lot of people my age.”My biggest (initial) involvement was through efforts in my labor unions and union solidarity efforts. And so, that’s where I started from and what guides my politics now.
Q: What made you decide to run for the St. Petersburg City Council?
A: It’s really about what I can best do to further serve my community, but really push further for building the movements we’re trying to build… What it really seems like is that you have to meet people where they are. You have to communicate with people in a way they understand and electoral politics is a way that people understand and it’s where people are. And it is one facet of getting the world changed. As time went on, and I had an opportunity, we talked about it with the groups we organize in. (We concluded) that for myself to run for office would be beneficial because we could make positive change together.
Q: If elected, what would you prioritize in the City Council?
A: Better housing and development for the city. The city has an affordable housing crisis, I would say. Wages have been stagnant for a long time, housing prices have gone up. Personally I work as a teacher, so does my wife. And we would not be able to afford to move into our house if we were trying to now and it’s just been a few years since we moved in… (Also) we want to do things that make it to where every development that comes into the city benefits the residents that already live here… We should make sure that when we are developing things around the city, we should make sure they are creating living wage jobs for existing residents, creating affordable housing for people who need it. (I’ll also be focusing on) bettering working conditions and attempting to raise wages in the city.
Q: What would you say to the people who prioritize national and state politics over local politics?
A: When we are out at the doors talking to people, national politics comes up first and state politics comes up second. It’s usually Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Ron DeSantis – like those are the things that come up a lot at the doors – way more than any local issues. And it is disappointing because people need to know what is going on in their local government – it is incredibly important. It really affects your day-to-day life more than any other level of government does. I will say, it is sort of a feature of our political and our economic system to make it to where you don’t have enough time to know everything that’s going on. So I’m not going to fault people for not knowing what’s going on in the local government. Part of what I want to accomplish as a councilmember is to stay very well connected to the community to make sure that they know ‘hey there are city elections, this is how they directly affect your life, this is what we can do for you.’
