Pictured above: (From left to right) Robert Blackmon. Veronica Jimenez, Tara Rosenbaum, Sean Schrader, Ken Welch and Dr. McLauchlan after the mayoral forum had ended.
Courtesy of Audrey Ward | The Crow’s Nest
By Audrey Ward
A two-night live forum for the upcoming St. Petersburg City Council general election and the St. Petersburg mayoral election was held at USF St. Petersburg on Sept. 28 and 29.
The event was live streamed from The Reef of the University Student Center (USC) via Zoom for students in anticipation of the general election on Nov. 2.
Both forums were moderated by associate professor Dr. Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, and a panel of three St. Petersburg Student Government leaders: Veronica Jimenez, Tara Rosenbaum and Sean Schrader.
The event was co-sponsored by the USF St. Petersburg Center for Civic Engagement, Student Government, the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, LocalShops1 and the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area.
On Sept. 28, the City Council forum hosted candidates Jeff Danner, Gina Driscoll, Richie Floyd, Copley Gerdes, Lisset Hanewicz, Tom Mullins and Mhariel Summers.
District 1 candidate Gerdes and District 4 candidate Hanewicz focused on jobs, infrastructure, the Tropicana Field site, affordable housing and the housing crisis, public transportation, city growth and the support of small businesses.
Driscoll from District 6, said she is seeking her second term on St. Petersburg City Council and plans to focus on passing the city-wide plastic straw ban. She was vocal on wanting to eliminate single-use plastics in neighborhoods and business associations and maintaining an “open door” policy.
Also in District 6, Summers delivered her “Let’s make a seamless city where the sun shines on all” tag line and discussed her five years of experience serving the city in various roles and her involvement in community programs. When asked about her policy points, she kept it simple saying, “keep St. Pete growing, visible equity, and sustainability and resiliency.”
Danner and Floyd from District 8 focused on the Community Housing Trust Fund, community policing, development without losing the character of the city, public wages, creating jobs, access to resources and investing in the city as a whole, not just the downtown streets.
The mayoral forum with candidates Robert Blackmon and Ken Welch on Sept. 29 was livestreamed from the USF Student Center Ballroom and was viewed at a student watch party in The Reef of the USC.
Welch shared three top priorities he would focus on if he was selected as mayor.
“The top three priorities are based on what I’ve heard from the community in a number of forums, and also through driving thousands of rides as an Uber driver, hearing directly from folks in our community,” Welch said.
“Folks care about the same things: affordability. You can’t afford apartments in our community,” Welch said.
Welch’s second priority is ensuring St. Petersburg neighborhoods are safe and healthy. Third, he encourages residents to advocate for the city’s infrastructure and natural environment.
Blackmon responded, “I also share affordability, infrastructure, and the Rays as part of my platform.”
Blackmon said he partnered with the state to file a bill to allow affordable housing permit fees to be waived. He also plans to establish initiatives that help the affordable housing program retain funds.
Education is another priority for Blackmon.
“We need to be a better educated city and I’ve worked towards that end on multiple projects like the St. Pete Science Center,” Blackmon said.
On K-12 education, Blackmon discussed closing educational gaps for students ages six through 18. “We need to keep kids focused on the right track,” Blackmon said.
Welch’s opinion on education differed, stating that his focus is on early childhood education programs.
“You don’t lose kids in high school,” Welch said. “You lose kids before they even go to kindergarten.”
There was a clear disagreement between the two candidates on gun violence and law enforcement.
“First and foremost, we need everybody in every neighborhood to feel safe. We talk all the time about the crime rates down, but murders are through the roof,” Blackmon said. “We need to give our officers the resources they deserve, and they need to protect our citizens.”
Welch said gun violence is driving deaths in the St. Petersburg community. He said he supports law enforcement, however “you can’t arrest your way out of this problem.”
The candidates’ closing statements echoed the same sentiment: unifying and progressing St. Petersburg communities.
“It’s about how to bring people together.” Welch said. “It’s time to move forward. It’s time for inclusive progress. That’s what I’m focused on.”
“In so many ways we need innovative thinking and outside the box thinking,” Blackmon said.
Avery Jennings contributed to this report.
Audrey Ward and Avery Jennings are junior mass communications majors at USF St. Petersburg.
