Mayoral candidates to talk housing crisis July 27

The eight candidates vying for the St. Petersburg Mayor’s office will participate in a live, in-person discussion of the city’s housing crisis Tuesday, July 27 at St. Pete College’s AllState Center, 3200 34th Street S..

The event, “Zoning is the Answer,” is set for 5:30-7 p.m. Admission is free (registration required here), and it will also be livestreamed through the St. Pete Catalyst website.

Moderator Valerie Hyman will speak with Darden Rice, Wengay Newton, Ken Welch, Torry Nelson, Robert Blackmon, Pete Boland and Marcile Powers, asking what specifically they’ll do to solve the shortage of housing working families can afford in St. Pete.

Karl Nurse, who chairs the nonprofit affordable housing organizations Suncoast Housing Connections and Neighborhood Home Solutions, believes housing is one of the most crucial issues facing the city today.

“This is a most challenging time to build affordable and even middle class housing,” Nurse said. “We need will need the next mayor to actively engage to reduce the barriers – zoning, bureaucracy and time – or the ability of people to buy housing will be severely impacted.” 

“Zoning is the Answer” is sponsored by these community organizations: Council of Neighborhood Associations-CONA, Deuces Live, Faith and Strength Together-FAST, the St. Pete Chamber of Commerce, 22 South, Edge Central Partners, Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa Bay Rowdies, St Petersburg College, Neighborhood Home Solutions, Bandes Construction, Habitat for Humanity, Barkett Realty, One Community, Power Broker Magazine, YIMBY St. Pete – Yes In My Back Yard, CHAF Properties, Boley Centers, Bright Community Trust, Feldman Equities, Tampa Bay Builders Association, Florida Suncoast Sierra Club, Pinellas Realtors, Old Southeast Neighborhood Association – OSNA, Grow Smarter St. Pete, Deborah F. Scanlan, St. Pete Rising and the St. Pete Catalyst.