48: Meet the St. Pete City Council District 6 Candidates (w/ Jameka Williams & Linsey Grove)

All right. Here we are. Here we are. District 6. Yes.

St. Petersburg, Florida. You both are running. Yeah. I’ve got Lindsey Grove and Jamika Williams here with me. How cool is this?

I just want to say, um, my podcast serves several different- it checks several boxes for me. Okay. Both personally and professionally. And this is like an embodiment of what I want to do with this kind of medium. I think it’s so important to have these conversations regardless of who wins and, and what we’re doing after this.

Just having these kind of conversations, in my opinion, are where progress happens, people grow and getting the word out and everything. So I just appreciate both of you for being open and Jamika helping to, you know, facilitate this. I really appreciate it. Absolutely. No, thank you for having us on.

I’m excited to be here. It’s pretty cool. Thanks. Yeah. And thanks for listening, whoever you are out there.

Welcome back to the Name Creative Show. Or if this is your first time, we talk to really cool people and today’s no exception. We have two people running for District 6. And that’s a big deal. You guys are going to be pushing buttons and twiddling knobs of our lives.

So no pressure or anything there. Absolutely. Yeah. Whatsoever. I have a piece of paper in front of you guys and there’s numbers 1 through 3 there.

So as I’m going to have each of you give a brief introduction of who you are and as the other one is introducing themselves or just as it strikes, because I didn’t want to put you on the spot like immediately in that moment. Number 1, next to number 1, I want you to write the most important topic you think we should be focusing on. Okay. Right. In humanity and politics and this.

Okay. Right. What is the most, the top? If you just had to say we need to focus a majority of energy on this, then number 2 is the next most important. So at least you have 2.

And then 3 is A lot of people are talking about this topic, and I think that this is the least important topic we need to be focusing on. Interesting. Okay, all right, so, so that’s 1, 2, and 3. 1 and 2, very important. 3, the least important.

Why are we talking about this? Let’s please prioritize 1 and 2. Sure. Okay, the goal here is I want to, I want to talk about the things that we all agree on, and obviously it doesn’t matter for me, but we all agree on so many things, and that’s the thing that bothers me about discourse today is we find that 1%, we just- that’s- that becomes the 99% of what we feel we disagree on. And so I think it’s really important to illustrate that we agree on so much more than we disagree on.

So I want to- I want to bring that out, bring that to light. And then I also want to see like, where is it that we, um, we have differing opinions, and how would there be a compromise, or how would you approach those things? And maybe even talk about how each of you would approach those different problems. So That’s kind of what I want to dive into after getting to know you each a little. Does that sound good?

Absolutely. That’s awesome. Yeah, Jamika, since I, uh, was introduced to you first and have been talking to you, I’m going to give you the floor first, and then Lindsay, you can go next. Perfect. All righty.

Well, as Josh said, my name is Jamika Williams. I have a background in marketing and community engagement, but I’m also a community advocate with several nonprofit organizations, um, here in St. Petersburg. I started with what used to be the People’s Council. Our first campaign was literally called The Rent Is Too Damn High because during COVID it was going just ballistic, you know, um, and people were experiencing housing insecurity out of nowhere, and I just wanted to help. A, I wanted to be able to live and work and thrive here, not just work to pay rent, but also I knew real people in real time that were experiencing housing insecurity, and I wanted to be a resource for them.

So the first thing I started, besides, you know, canvassing and going to city council and going to protests, I started a blog called Housing is Human that really put a face to those experiencing housing insecurity, and it helped them get the resources they needed, but it also helped them not feel so alone because they knew that there was people, um, that were experiencing the same thing as them. So moving from that, I got involved with DSA and now the League of Women Voters, and now I’m on the board of my, um, neighborhood association. So very good girl about town. I have a great social life as well. And I’m now scheduling rest.

So that’s what I’m now learning in my 33 years of life. Oh yeah, if you don’t schedule rest in there, you’re gonna get burnt out quick, especially the work that you’re doing in that realm and caring. This takes care. You said DSA? DSA.

What does that stand for? Democratic Socialists of America. Okay, cool. Yeah, I just wanted to make sure it was whatever that- because I’m sure, I’m sure there will be other acronyms, but making sure everybody’s on board. We’re just so used to saying them, but forget that’s a technical term that everyone- not everyone knows.

So yes, DSA, Democratic Socialists. That’s your AOC, Bernie Sanders folks. That maybe people can, you know, relate that to that term. Oh man, when, when I see Bernie and think about Bernie, I was, I was totally for him when he was running. I was like, finally a person who like at least is like real.

Like at a base, you know, nobody is perfect, nobody is nerfect. Yeah. And like, but Bernie, I could just like- this dude clearly cares regardless of what- where you stand on stuff. That guy is being real with you and cares. And his history is- so yeah.

And when that bird landed in front of him, I have the- it’s at home, but I got that picture that launched like a thousand like images, memes, everything. Yeah. Yeah, so, oh, good old Bernie. Okay, thank you, Jamika, for setting us up. Uh, floor is yours, Lindsay.

Sure. So, uh, my name is Lindsay Grove. Um, I have lived here in St. Pete for 15 years, have been a resident of Roser Park, which is a lovely little neighborhood in South St. Pete. And, you know, I came to Florida originally to go to USF and get my master’s in public health. And fell in love with St. Pete.

I really loved the sense of community that this city really makes you feel when you’re here. It’s unlike any other place I’ve lived in that, like, everybody always says local. Oh, I want to go to this local coffee shop. In fact, my partner makes fun of me all the time because he’s like, you say local a lot. I’m like, well, it’s a value I think that we have here in St. Pete, you know.

We For a lot of us, we’re like, we don’t want to go to Starbucks. We want to go to Pistol House or Black Crow because we really- I know, right? So I will say too, staying here, I got really, really involved also in the League of Women Voters in 2017, right after the Women’s March, and eventually became president during COVID which was a really interesting time for as somebody who has a degree in public health, and for democracy. We were seeing folks being nervous about going to the polls because they were worried about getting sick. And that really demonstrated to me not only the need for folks with different expertise to sit on the dais.

I mean, we were seeing people in elected office making decisions about community well-being that were not based in science. And that really made me start thinking about, hey, what if we did have folks that worked in public health or in social services that were elected officials that could bring that added lived experience and added set of skills, right? We, I also am, you know, good at facilitating, at doing collaboration, building consensus. These are all skill sets that not only are translatable from public health, but also I think doing coalition building. Trying to figure out what makes sense in terms of policy that’s going to impact people the most positively, right?

So I, um, left the league in- not left, but I left the presidency of the league in 2022 and immediately started working on Dr. Keisha Benson’s campaign for school board. She was running for an at-large seat, which is the entire county, and that also really lit the fire to want to be able to enact change. Unfortunately, she lost to a QAnon candidate, which definitely, uh, was extremely disappointing. But also, I think, much like COVID and much like what we’re seeing now in politics, has shown a light on the, the areas of our communities that really, um, are either struggling, have bought into these ideas around white supremacy, around just, you know, this really fervent individualism that has broken down the social fabric of our- of all of our communities. And I really want to bring that back.

And I think we need folks in office that are willing to, you know, hit the ground running with wanting to build back those community connections versus engaging in political theater. I, you know, have worked in the community for a long time, both, you know, at the health department, uh, as, uh, at the, you know, I currently I’m a small business owner, um, and I do nonprofit consulting. So I do a lot around like trying to help folks that want to do good in our community scale that and build capacity to continue that work. And I think that that’s something I can bring to city council. That’s great.

Yeah. Okay. It’s good to get to know both of you better. It’s awesome when you start to uncover what brought people where they are now, especially like doing this kind of work. It’s like when someone’s like, yeah, I’m busy.

I’m like, are you? You know? Yeah. Because I know some people who are doing a lot and I’m not like downplaying anybody’s feeling of how they’re, but. There are people running much faster.

And it seems like both of you are no exception on that. And I really appreciate it. You know, the care that we have for how things are running or how did this run wild and now, whoa, we’re seeing this wild thing or like what you just said about someone who you were working with lost to someone in QAnon or whatever that is. You know, it’s- that’s telling, you know, and we need to take that a bit seriously that, okay, And so people, there’s, there’s a deficiency of like being equipped with reasoning or logic or whatever education gaps there are to make sure that we can all, whatever realm we are in humanity, make proper decisions moving forward to in this shared reality that we all share. No matter what, we breathe the same air, we use the same roads and public facilities and things like that.

So like, we gotta get along. Exactly. And it does not have to be that hard. That’s the wild thing. It’s frustrating.

It’s like, it does not have to be hard. I was carrying my t-shirts. I had just picked them up from Sarah. Shout out to Sarah at Wide Sky. Hey Sarah.

I was picking them up from her and I was walking, my friend and I were walking to her car and I had the box and this guy was like, oh, what’s in your box? You know, a man talking to a woman. Oh, what’s in your box? And I’m like, oh, I’m running for city council. It’s my t-shirts.

And he’s like, tell me your first, like, two things. And I was like, housing, infrastructure. He was like, oh, so you’re a liberal. I was like, geez. I was like, hey, city council is nonpartisan.

Yeah, but also, why wouldn’t you care about housing? You said you were a snowbird. Don’t you want, like, two things we all need, right? Yeah. Don’t you want your condo fees to stay, like, level?

And we also- your condo is on Beach Drive. Don’t you want it to survive? Like, I don’t think like you said, like these are shared realities. Like, that doesn’t make me, you know, anything. It’s just like, I care about not drowning, or I care about having somewhere to live, and other people- and I care about your ability to live here too.

Like, it’s not just- again, not just about my ability to live here. I want you to have a house and be protected and like go back to wherever you come from and have one to come back to. Exactly. Yeah. It’s interesting how quickly that person was- I mean, the first thing, not like, oh, those are like neat things to focus on, or that’s important, or I have a home too.

It’s like, I’m going to label you. I’m going to put you in this box. Yeah. Like, what does that do? Did that help the conversation in any way?

No. You know, it’s- and that’s like part of an issue where we seem to be so quick to like, I am left, I am right, I am middle. It’s like, does it matter? What do you care about? Yeah, now let’s get over that and let’s, let’s decide on the labels after we make progress, right?

I know that they have their place, right? But that, that’s wild. Yeah, but it’s not uncommon scheme of things. That is very wild. Yeah, these are all things that touch all of us, right?

Like regardless of your party and regardless of your income or sociodemographic status, right? Like, again, like, if you rather- whether or not you live on Beach Drive or you live in Meltown Heights, housing is important to you, right? Uh, having sidewalks, having a safe place during storms, those are all important, um, to everybody. And, um, that shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Um, yeah, one more thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, so speaking of issues, so you had already kind of said some stuff that’s like, I care about this and this and this. So let’s go, let’s start with number one. And we’ll go in order of how you introduced so that anybody who, you know, because this isn’t visual yet, we do have one video podcast out. Oh, nice.

That’s a whole nother level. Yeah. So I’d like to talk about what you guys think is the most important thing that we can focus on or that you plan to focus on and whatnot. And so real quick, I’m going to have Jamika say what’s next to number 1 and then Lindsay, and then I’ll let you dive into why. So what is number one for you, Jamika?

Definitely housing. That’s been something that I’ve been, like I said, for the last 6 years been organizing around getting more deeply- I say deeply, people- affordable housing. And I say that because when we measure the AMI, it’s kind of skewed from the influx of our population. We have people working remotely that are making much higher salaries that are contributing to our area median income, which the government uses for need-based, like, vouchers and stuff like that. But there’s also a missing middle- our teachers, service workers, who are making more than that 30% and can pay a little more in rent, but they still can’t pay $2,000, $2,100, you know, like they’re still struggling at that.

And there’s people who are making a little bit more who are still struggling too, who are still hurting. And when you said the world, I’m thinking, I put economy because if people don’t have jobs, they can’t pay rent anyway. So like, yeah, though building those pipelines, I think those will work together, building more deeply affordable housing with long-term affordability and building talent pipelines so people can have jobs and aren’t comp- 100 people aren’t competing for the same job. Sure. So those are most important to me because right now, unfortunately, I’m experiencing those same issues right now.

I’ve been searching for work for 8 months now. Wow. Okay. Yeah, and it’s scary all the time, you know. But, um, I’m a, I’m a religious person, so I would say God has provided for me throughout this time.

But it, it doesn’t mean that the human in me is not scared. Sure. Yeah. And I, I like Like I said, I used to tell stories about people who were facing these issues, but now I’m one of them. And so I just show up every day trying to, you know, fight for those people who are feeling that squeeze.

‘Cause not only am I one of them, but I’ve always felt what they’ve been going through. So yeah, I want to be a voice for all people, not just a select few. [Speaker:JASON] Yeah. And you said something interesting that- and I don’t- what is AMI? Oh yes, sorry, another time.

It’s the Area Median Index. So it’s, uh, it’s a percentage that’s used to compare, um, lower income, middle class, and like sort of an upper middle class, um, based on needs of the people. So if I say Affordable housing. People will say, well, we’re building affordable housing. Well, someone making $14 an hour can’t pay a $1,600 apartment.

Now, to you that sounds affordable in the grand scheme of things because my apartment used to be $750, it’s now $1,200. Boy, you see how that stretches, like how that’s changed based on our population. So someone who was a server who was comfortable paying $750 is now struggling paying that $1,200, $1,400. So like, that’s just a percentage of what the need is for people, um, who are needing truly affordable housing. Yeah, that’s interesting because like what I was going to say is there’s a lot less people who could make a lot more who can affect that number depending on how that number is calculated and skew it in a way that really makes it difficult for people who are on the fringes.

Or like you said, teachers, that’s, that’s like a tough thing. I used to be a teacher as well. And you know, it’s like, okay, yeah, I made money and I could get by, but it’s not like it is right there. Yeah. You know, it’s like, and I’m, this is good work.

Why? Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s interesting the prioritization. So I agree people should have affordable housing.

So I, I would imagine, I imagine most people agree except for maybe that dude on the street. Yeah. He’s doing just fine. I’m sorry, he’s doing just- he’s the few that I was talking about. Good for you.

I’m so happy that you don’t struggle. Like, I don’t want anyone to. Like, that’s my point. Like, I’m happy that you’re thriving, but everyone deserves to have a place to lay, you know? Like, they say money can’t buy happiness, and that’s true, but there’s happiness in security.

That’s what I was just about to say, is people our sort of tunnel vision on that. When you think about probably most of the topics that we’re going to talk about today and the things that need to be addressed to help those who don’t have as much help, or was set up in a way, or born into an environment, etc., etc., right? If we help people, the world will be safer and better. And we all, regardless of where you are, you walk on the same streets and things like that. If people are taken care of, then you are going to be in a better world.

That world will be better. Yeah. And safer. Yeah. And more enjoyable.

Yeah. We can all just be happy and have fun. Yeah. Well, I, I was just saying, that’s a great segue into my number 1, which is strengthening our social fabric. Um, which, you know, typically when I’m out, I typically talk about, you know, affordability, which is actually my second one.

But, you know, as I’ve gone and canvassed and, you know, been to community meetings and spoken with voters, you know, in order to enact change, we need people to be engaged in the process. And a lot of people feel really disempowered and really disengaged from politics, from just their community in general. And I think that has allowed folks with more means to be able to set policy. Right, to advocate for policy that’s only going to benefit them, right? Um, and that really starts a snowball effect, right?

Wow, I really would love to see more affordable housing, but you know, I don’t have the time to show up to city council meetings. I, I work 3 jobs, I have kids, I don’t have the mental or emotional space to even think about some of these things when all I’m concerned about is survival, right? And that has created the conditions that have allowed, I think, you know, um, I would say special interest groups to come in and, and make it even harder for people to advocate for the things that would make everyone’s lives easier, right? Um, we are in the middle of a loneliness epidemic. We have folks who are aging in place that are socially isolated, and we also live in an envi- live in a, I think I would say maybe more nationally, we’ve gotten to this place where we don’t know our neighbors.

We are scared to like talk to people in person. It’s easier to hide behind a screen and live inside of a digital you know, echo chamber. And so one of the things I would love to see is more support for these kinds of programs and opportunities for people to build back that social fabric, whether that’s better support for neighborhood associations, uh, you know, creating more opportunities for people to get out of their houses and actually meet other people, um, to bridge some of these social gaps, you know. Um, I was literally last night at a neighborhood association meeting, and, you know, one thing that I hear a lot, especially sort of in the downtown core, is people being really upset about homelessness. And for me, as somebody that’s worked in social services- I used to be an HIV case manager when I first came here, and many of my clients were homeless- and, you know, there sometimes real vitriol for home- for the unhoused.

Yeah. And you know, for many of those folks, they are, they are dealing with significant mental health issues. Um, they are, you know, they’re trying to either get into recovery or they have relapsed. I mean, there’s so many different things that the unhoused are dealing with on top of the fact that we are all in an affordable housing crisis. So imagine also being unhoused.

And looking down the pipe at, you know, federal funding cuts to substance use disorder programs, also affordable housing programs, wraparound services. So, you know, I, I love that there are these neighborhood associations and actually people our age that are taking up the helm and saying, hey, these are also our neighbors and they are just trying to survive like the rest of us. We have, we are more likely to be unhoused than we are to be millionaires. So the solidarity that we need to build is actually within the people that are literally in our proximity. And so let’s try to creative problem solve.

Can we work with, you know, St. Vincent de Paul and Boley Centers and the police and the city to come up with creative solutions to help, you know, folks who are unhoused, to help educate residents, right? Because there’s this fear that a homeless person is going to, you know, be violent with them, when the reality is, statistically, a homeless person is more likely to be a victim of violence than they are to be a perpetrator. So when you see somebody who is unhoused who’s just laying in the park, are you actually scared, or are you uncomfortable? Those are two different emotions. And helping people understand and navigate that, and also explain to them what the current system looks like and why we’re seeing this outcome, I think is how we build a better social fabric to increase empathy, and also to get people engaged in the process to be like, hey, I am uncomfortable with seeing you know, folks laying in, in Unity Park because I- it’s not because I’m scared of them, it’s because I feel helpless to be able to even try and assist them.

I have no idea what to give them in order for them to be housed or to help them in their situation. And if you are feeling uncomfortable, there are ways for you to be a better advocate in your community. And so that’s For me, I really want to, I think that’s extremely important, especially as we look at other policy solutions around affordability, around infrastructure, around, you know, zoning and ordinances and that kind of thing, because you do need community support and you need a community that’s willing to go to bat to support those kinds of policy ideas. Yeah. You brought up, I’m glad that you kind of ended in that light because all I can think about is when you think about the situation of seeing someone who’s unhoused and on the street and that helplessness that you feel or that frustration, not because you’re scared, all right, some people are, all right, whatever that is.

But I think a majority of people are like, I feel like I wanna do something, I don’t know what to do, and now I feel bad. Yeah. In general, I have a bad feeling and I don’t know what to do with that. And then I carry on with my day. And, and I feel like people, number one, you had said at the beginning is we’re so busy trying to make these rent for and pay our bills.

And I don’t think that’s an accident. I think that’s intentional by design. Sure. Yeah. Oh yeah.

All these things are just, there are so many things to distract us from actually getting good work done, because people who want to keep things the way they are can be strategic about that to keep things the way they are. Because they’re the ones benefiting. Exactly. From the way things are going. I think something that is hard to grasp, but people who find themselves in those frustrating situations is involvement.

It’s like if you think about the road of like exercise and, and, and losing weight. For me, like, man, I’ve been like trying to shed like this extra 10 pounds for like now it seems like since my kids were born. My oldest is like 3 and a half. Did you have the baby or did your wife? Yeah, I know.

No, yeah, I put on baby weight too. Yeah, she crushed it. She looks great. It’s not even fair, but she puts in the work. But it’s consistent work.

It doesn’t happen immediately and it’s with intention and it’s planned and I- you have plan it out in your day, even though it’s like, okay, I can’t watch that show, but I’m gonna go on a run or whatever. We have to find that space. And I feel like it’s easy to deprioritize involvement. Oh, that’s hard. Am I really gonna make a difference?

Same why so many people don’t vote. It’s just one vote. Well, yeah, but 80 million people add up. Those one votes is everything. That one voice, our collective community, is really important to move needles.

Yeah, that’s why they work really hard to disenfranchise people, because your vote does matter. So they wouldn’t be fighting the vote so hard if people’s vote didn’t matter. Yeah. And I will say one thing, and like, luckily these are not my friends. I’ve been blessed with a very great community here, but I think y’all are being nice because there are plenty of people that I’ve heard that are not uncomfortable and they don’t feel helpless.

They just want to get rid of the solution. Oh, they want to get rid of that population. Where are they supposed to go, right? Where, where do you think they’re supposed to go? You have us people who have to pay 3 times the rent just to move in anywhere.

You think they have that? And if they did, they probably wouldn’t be living on the street. But also, some people just choose to. I watched a Skid Row documentary about Skid Row, and some people choose to be there, but that doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be things in place to help them. Because like you said, when we help people, it helps us.

Why? Because they don’t have to go to the emergency room as much if we have people that are willing to go and do outreach and give them essential things. And they don’t have to be a burden on our jail system because they don’t want to just go to jail for the night to get a meal. Like, those are things that if we help people help themselves, then we can all be better off as a society. And no, I don’t, I don’t have all the answers, but I can find someone- that coalition building that you talked about, Lindsay- I can find someone that does My friend Dan Wood is doing amazing things in the housing space, especially for homeless outreach.

He’s been doing it for years, so I can say, “Hey, Dan, tell me about that thing you did in LA or London.” And, you know, like, those are things that you can do when you focus on social fabric, community building, finding people with answers that are going to help these people that you may not have everyday contact with. And you might be afraid because people are afraid of what they don’t know, but that turns into anger. And that’s what a lot of people are leading with these now, not empathy but anger. Yeah. And it’s, it’s not getting us anywhere.

Yeah, fear and anger. But I also think you, you made a good point that there are established organizations and people doing work that you can ride momentum. So yeah, okay, you can’t solve that person’s homelessness that’s- that you pass, but you can find an organization that’s working on helping that in some way and link arms. And now your energy is amplified, and that organization is amplified by your energy that already is in the right momentum. Yeah.

And now you don’t feel alone in that work. You don’t feel as helpless. And that’s- I feel like the reminders that we need. Uh, but I agree, we, we are being nice and we keep saying they. So, you know, it’s interesting, like, they want to keep people in that- it’s interesting, like, how do you define they?

Who’s they? Rich, very, very wealthy people, oligarch types, you know. Um, some of these PACs that are being funded with so much money that are able to literally influence votes, you know, like those, those people are- I’m gonna just say it, Florida Power is one of them that I have an issue with because I mean, look at our environment. We want to cut down more wetlands, more- like, how much more do you want? How, like, how much more do you want to take, you know, some of these Home developers, how much more land?

And you want to complain because there’s a cougar in your yard and there’s coyotes walking around? Where are they supposed to go? I get, where are they supposed to go? We’re talking homeless people, animals. Where are they supposed to go?

Well, not only that, but why are these hurricanes becoming more real, stronger, and things like that? Why, why is the environment fighting back against us? It’s this thing that’s been building called climate change. We need to, yeah, we need to protect our Earth, because your investments aren’t going to be good on that beach if you keep doing the things that you’re doing to fuel the precipitation in the air, which fuels all of these cycles, making things stronger. Your bunker is not going to save you from the world on fire.

Yeah, especially not if you keep telling people exactly where it is. They’re gonna come find you. Yeah, they’re gonna storm the Bastille eventually. I mean, oh sure, yeah, they’re gonna be the first to- yeah, be stormed. Okay, this has been great.

What about number 2? So, uh, Jamika, I’ll have you go first. You touched on it, the environment. That is very important to me. I mean, I was working at USF St. Pete when, um, Milton and Helene hit, and, you know, part of that campus was just devastated by, you know, flooding some of the buildings.

We had a lot of professors and staff members and students lose their homes, and you’re watching that devastation in real time. And I think, I think afterwards, I think our city came together like they always do, um, you know, help one another. But I think there’s more things people can be doing to build resiliency so we’re not rushing and scrambling after the disaster has already hit. Um, those are things like holding corporations accountable for their emissions and having them implement more green, um, energy into their working practices. I know when I was at USF, um, St. Pete, I worked with the student, uh, Green Energy Fund.

We had this machine called the Orca And it was in the nest and it composted a lot of waste and we would give it to, um, the Bayboro, uh, food forest. Um, when we transitioned from Aramark to Chartwells, I- Aramark was gonna take their to-go, we called it the Aussie. It’s a green container. The machine cleans it. Spits it out.

You know, it’s like the Aldi shopping cart. You put a coin in and you get your little to-go thing. They were going to want to do away with that. I said, absolutely not. We have on the- this campus is huge on sustainability, and while your contract is still here, you have an obligation to fulfill it.

So we need more Aussie boxes. And then I went to Chartwells to make sure we were continuing program, probably why I’m not there anymore. I’m a gutsy girl. Like, you know, I quickly found out they had a different vision for the program, but they did listen to me on that. I was like, this campus, they will riot if we get rid of those.

And I mean, like, that’s something that’s very important to them. You know, even after my events, if it’s a root beer floats on, you know, Harbor Walk, I collected all those cans myself and put them in the machine that feeds the student pantry. So those are small things that everyday people can be doing, but larger, I’m holding corporations accountable for their emissions. And like I said, stop letting them buy up all the land. We need trees to breathe.

I’m an asthmatic. I need to breathe. Like, but like everyone. You know, needs to. I remember my stepbrother was living in San Diego and he just started having nosebleeds.

You know, they’ve done a lot to clean up their fuel and their emissions, and it’s a lot clearer now. But why does it take that for us to- like, we’ve all seen WALL-E. I don’t wanna- I don’t wanna head there, you know. I don’t want to be enlarged on a boat because I can’t live out and I need to touch grass. I’m an earth sign, for God’s sake.

I didn’t hear. So yeah, like, the environment is very important to me, and I’m just gonna say it: no cruise line in our last clean space in our water, please. Like, for goodness sake. Yeah, people can’t go to Tampa for cruises, but yeah, we need to- that can be remedied in different ways. Keep going to Tampa, it’s fine.

It’s 30 minutes. Yeah, definitely cross cross the bridge and get on that boat, you know, for sure. All right, don’t go anywhere, we’ll be right back after this quick break.

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We’re back. Thanks for sticking with us. Now back to the conversation. So both of your top two are the, the, the realms that we live. Yeah, I mean, I guess everything is part of the world we live, but you know, your home and then your environment.

Two quick notes regarding having corporations be accountable for their emissions. There’s a great organization called Citizens’ Climate Lobby that I recommend anybody get involved in. It’s a bipartisan action committee. Great. That, so they link arms.

So a Republican and Democrat have to join at the same time. And now that it’s a committee that, what is it called? I’m, uh, loss of words. But there’s lots of people who sign up to help get, um, government officials to join together to then have a greater voice in that. And one of the things is, um, a, uh, a carbon tax.

Yes. And that carbon tax would be collected on the amount of the emissions that, that corporations emit, and then it would be redistributed to everyone. So it would come back to us. And so they would be incentivized not to do that because money influences everything. And then the second thing is that if you’re a corporation or a small business, you can become carbon neutral by- there’s a lot of different organizations, but you can offset your emissions.

So they’ll have a questionnaire. You say, this is my team, this is my building, this is what we do, this is how much travel we do. Yeah, they give you a number. That’s like the B Corp I know some of that is a part of becoming a B Corp, correct? Yeah, yeah.

So I recommend becoming carbon neutral. These are all things that you can do to move the needle. But yeah, I mean, you, you tugged on a, a string that we could talk for hours about. I literally could. Yeah.

No, I mean, we could have a part 2. Uh, Lindsay, you’re up, number 2. Well, we’ve- I mean, we’ve threaded this, I think, throughout most of the conversation, but I, I obviously affordability is really important to me. And I think affordability is different for different people in different parts of our community, whether that’s ensuring, you know, if any company comes into St. Petersburg that wants to put its headquarters here, they have to provide living wages, providing better public transit so people aren’t reliant on cars that touches the environment. And it’s an affordability issue, right?

Yeah. I don’t know about you. When I first moved here, I could not believe how much it cost for me to change my title and registration over to the state of Florida. And the car insurance- car insurance is also wild. Exactly, wild.

I would love to just ride my e-bike or take the bus and not have to have a car. Um, and that, and that’s- I mean, for me, as somebody who is like, I mean, probably at this point like lower middle class, um, I know that, you know, service workers, folks that work in retail, hospitality, tourism You know, if, if I am wanting this, they definitely need something to help them with keeping some of their costs down. One of the cool things that the Edge District has actually done has been partnering with PSTA to give businesses free bus passes for their employees, which I think is awesome because it touches both, you know, allowing employees to be able to use public transit and not have to rely on their cars And it frees up parking because we know that parking is always an issue. Yeah, absolutely. But if we had better public transit, maybe we wouldn’t have to, you know, have so much emphasis put on parking.

And I would also say as a small business owner, I want to see opportunities for small businesses to, you know, figure out ways of cutting some of their costs around like some of their pain points. One of the things that I’ve been exploring is, is there a way for us to create group health insurance that small businesses around the city could actually buy into? We know that insurance premiums are going up, and many of our small businesses do not have health insurance and do not offer health insurance to folks. And as somebody that, you know, works in public health, believes in universal health care, I mean, I feel like this is one of the closest things we can do is reaching those populations that are either underinsured or not insured at all. And that helps us reduce over time healthcare costs for folks that end up in the ER.

And, you know, I think about folks that are, you know, living in some of our neighborhoods in South St. Pete that are struggling not only to make rent and to, you know, even purchase their first home, but also the folks that are living in older housing stock and they can’t afford to make repairs or rehab. So then they’re being pressured to sell. And that’s why we’re seeing private equity come in and purchase all those single-family homes in South St. Pete. 40% of Campbell Park is vacant, which is insane given that we are in an affordable housing crisis. We’ve gone through two hurricanes where folks were looking for houses that were in a non-flood zone.

But most of that is because we’ve had private equity come in and buy up those single-family homes and just sit on them. Yikes. And this is actually a bipartisan issue. I mean, Bernie Jacques, who is about as conservative as you can get as a state legislator, actually tried to pass a bill last year that would have actually given home rule back to cities to essentially create zones where private equity couldn’t buy single-family residences. So I think there’s an oppor- a policy opportunity here to preserve some of the last pieces of affordable housing for folks who need it.

I also think that there’s ways of leveraging CRA dollars and other funding sources to help some of these older folks that just cannot afford to, you know, Do the repairs. Do their repairs. Replace their roof, which replacing your roof can reduce your property insurance. I mean, there’s all these things that I think that we can look at, you know, together can really help, I think, address a lot of pieces of affordability that touch different parts of our community. Yeah.

And speaking of that, with the Tenants Union, we tried to put a tax on these vacant homes. We tried to you know, rent control. We tried all those things, but we have a state legislature again that’s hell-bent on keeping the rich rich. Oh, they love protection. Yeah, yeah.

So like when we did get somewhere on rent control and things like that, and Orlando saw what we were doing and got it passed, you know, but he came back and said, oh, it’s unconstitutional. So I’m like, so buying up all these places just to sit on them and cutting up, taking a tax loss is not unconstitutional? That’s fine. But not taxing these people so that can benefit people, so that we’re asking you for less money at the state level is fine? Like, and now they’re trying to get rid of property tax for homesteaded properties, which is going to absolutely devastate, devastate municipalities and counties.

Devastate. It’s such an interesting thing because you’d think that these people would be a little smarter, that their companies- first off, you’re good. Like, how much is enough? Next is, aren’t you a long-term- isn’t- shouldn’t you be thinking in the long term? You know, same with the environment.

The oil companies should be the first investing in renewables. I get, oh, they have these systems and so much equipment and assets going in that direction, but the writing is on the wall, and they actually had funding and research in place well beyond when it was public knowledge about climate change. Yeah, you should be- you should be investing in that so you get ahead and dominate the market on sustainable energy. You would think in theory that is how capitalism works, but that is absolutely- I, I actually kind of feel like in a way some of the most like avid you know, zealous capitalists are nihilists. They’re like, I’m gonna get as much as I can.

Yeah. Because I don’t see how anything is going to get any better. And that is a really, like, depressing thing to think about. It is dark. But I also think- but to your point, I don’t know how else you square this circle, you know?

I’m like, yeah, if, if I were an oil company, I would think like, well, you know, the next iteration of this is renewable energy. So like, let’s you know, try and do that. But no, no, they will go torture Venezuela and like, yeah, Iran. And you know, they rather keep exploiting other- I mean, like, people act like- people have been acting like all this is new, and it’s not. Like, this is the foundation, not for non-Western countries, all right?

This is the foundation of our country is pillaging other people’s resources and then claiming them as our own. So this is not new. It might be new to some populations who’ve never experienced- and it’s explicit. Yeah, I feel like now it’s explicit, right? People, it’s in your face.

Yeah, you can’t avoid it, right? So it’s not some covert CIA operative, which is normally how we’ve operated. It’s now we are openly doing this. Yeah. Yeah.

Woo! Oh man. Yeah. I mean, it’s almost a good thing that we have a hard cutoff because I mean, this is, you know, I recorded a 2.5-hour podcast with a buddy of mine just the other day, you know, and that was like easy. Just flew.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. With two people like yourself. Let’s, let’s move on to the third.

Sure. Because this is kind of interesting and it’s tough because we care about lots of issues, but it’s hard to, you know, I wanted to like throw something different in there, which is like what has a lot of focus that maybe we could like focus on some other stuff. So, Jamiko, what’s number 3 for you? It has a lot of focus and I think other people should be focusing elsewhere. That’s the erosion of LGBTQ rights that we’re seeing.

I mean, we’re talking at federal level, um, the Supreme Court are going to be thinking about, you know, reversing same-sex marriage. What? Yeah, but the state- yeah, yeah, they’ve been, they’ve been working towards that. Yeah, yeah. And then at the state level, we have DeSantis cutting AIDS, uh, medicine funding, like critical medicine that without it people will die.

Like, how evil is that? He just woke up one day, was like, you know what, I’m gonna do- and then I really think he was targeting St. Pete and Tampa because people don’t want to see other people happy and living and thriving at Pride. Like, so you’re, you’re telling me that you can, you can remove Mayor Welch from his office because he put a flag up? Like, you think you have- someone that the people elected- you have the right to do that? So I think that’s- of all the things our state is facing that we just named- car insurance, health insurance, housing, our environment.

His focus has been on just eroding the rights of LGBTQ people, of higher education institutions, trying to take sociology out of, you know, out of the curriculum. Like, but his biggest focus, and I think the Supreme Court too, is eroding LGBT rights when all these people, all We- I say we because I am a queer person- we just want to exist. We want to have the right to exist. Just like, should be simple. Yeah, come on.

Like, literally not asking for anything more or anything, just the right to live and exist and, you know, thrive. Just like I said, I want you to. I want everyone. But I think a lot of people have gotten to a place where they are angry and they want other people to be sad and angry and lonely and feel all these things. Like, they don’t want the world to be better.

Misery loves company. Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, that’s a great- yeah, yeah. So it’s like they don’t want the world to be better, or else they couldn’t keep thinking in those silos that they do. They want everyone to be at the same level as they are.

It’s really telling when you’re talking about, like, rights of other humans, like, with LGBTQ, uh, you know, all of those rights. When you’re talking about like same-sex marriage, and, and just forever I’ve thought about this, like it’s so telling about the people who have a problem with it. It’s like they don’t affect you at all. If someone else is expressing their love, are they harming you in any way? Are they threatening your family?

Are you in danger? What is your hangup? Let them live. You know, I, our friend Carl Sagan here has talked about the silver rule, which I’m a huge fan of. The golden rule is great, but it can be compromised.

Do unto others as you would do- have them do unto you. Well, that’s an action that you’re taking against other people. Yeah, that’s where it becomes a problem because I think I’m right, therefore I’m going to change your belief. Yeah. And that, that golden rule just was compromised because of my internal belief.

The silver rule, Carl, uh, says is don’t do unto others what you don’t want them to do to you. So do you want me to change? You know, am I harming you? No. Then yeah, don’t do the same thing to me and we’re good.

Absolutely. That’s a much more harmonious inaction, and it’s easier. Just don’t do anything. Yeah, don’t focus on that. Why don’t you get a freaking hobby?

Yes. Or something like that. You know, there are drums. We were talking about drums earlier. That you could use your entire life trying to get good at drums.

Nature. Yeah, go read a book. Yeah, absolutely. Yes. How about you, Lindsay?

So I said federal politics. So I, I think at least like the few folks that I’ve talked to- I don’t know about you, Jamika, but I hear a lot like, why would you ever want to run for office? It’s just everything. And here you are. Yeah, yeah.

You know, um, because people are asking why we don’t want- yeah, yeah, yeah. They’re like, you know, they’re like, I, you know, politics is awful. You know, I hear from folks like when I’m out canvassing, they’re like, oh yeah, I don’t vote because I just, I’m not really into politics and blah, blah, blah. And, and I think that because what’s happening at the federal level really is so extreme, people take that and they apply it to everything else. And so one of the things that I try to remind people is that, listen, local folks who are running for office are the folks that you’re going to see at the grocery store.

They’re your neighbors. They’re the ones that are more likely to, to enact policy that’s going to touch your life. Yes, at the federal level, there’s definitely things that are happening that are not good that touch everybody’s lives, but at the end of the day, you know, what you do at the local level is definitely going to be more impactful. And so the focus on, you know, all the horrible things- I know people are exhausted. I’m exhausted.

Oh man, I’m exhausted. People have stopped watching the news. They’ve, you know, they’ve, um, stopped talking to their family, like, you know, especially if they have really differing political views. I mean, there’s real div- you know, I would say there is a, obviously, a push for this kind of divisiveness, which goes back to like what I said about social fabric. Yeah.

But I wish people would- if you’re feeling really, uh, depressed and awful because of what’s happening at the national level, try focusing on local politics. Focus on the folks that are at your down- that are on your down ballot. I tell people, I’m like, I know that talking to people is not always easy, especially after going through COVID. I think we are all agoraphobic to some degree, and given the amount of social media we consume, we all are not as good as we used to be at talking to people in person. But I tell people, I guarantee you, if you go out and canvass with me one time, it will renew your faith in humanity.

I know that sounds crazy, but I have had nothing but good experiences with people when I’ve been out canvassing. People are kind. They want to talk to you. They want to interact with other people. They actually deeply care about their community.

We have so much more in common with each other than we don’t, right? And so I really think that tuning out what’s going on- and listen, I- that’s dangerous. It’s hard. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t pay attention. I’m just saying You know, if, if you feel like this is gonna dull your senses, try focusing on something that you might actually feel a little bit more locus of control around.

Um, and listen, I am impacted by national politics every day. My partner is Iranian, and you know, what’s happening in Iran is really scary. It, it directly impacts us and his family, and it’s extremely depressing. Um, but I can tell you that when we go out and canvass together, we, we at the end, at the end of canvassing, always feel a little bit better because it’s like, okay, the people in our community are actually really great. They actually love immigrants.

They love, you know, other people in the community. They actually really care. And we have to remind ourselves of that because otherwise we start thinking that everybody else in America hates us, is, is wants to see us fail, you know. I think, and then that just festers, you know. But also, look how we got here.

Yeah, that’s because people weren’t voting and running. Progressive people weren’t running for office in the school board, in the, like, these small things that are technically nonpartisan. Yeah, yeah, sure. But they’re the QAnon Muhammad. Yeah, right there trying to take the bluest eye.

Out of schools. Like, so these are how- like, when you say that, yes, like, your local government is the most tangible thing. Yeah. To you. You say you want a stoplight at this, well, you need to go to City Hall and tell them you want a stoplight at this.

I did it after the hurricane. I was like, hey Gina Driscoll, hey girly, um, there’s a tree down on 9th that people are literally getting in the street to walk around And 2 days later, she had a truck out there coming to pick that trash. She’s like, oh my gosh, no idea. Thanks for letting me know. You know, that’s a way to- that’s such an easy way to get involved.

Yeah, but I- now is not the time for apathy. It is not the time. Yeah, to be able- and I understand being bogged down and feeling that, but I think I know for a fact that me focusing on taking my attention from the national sphere. Like, now I just listen to the two Heathers, Heather Cox Richardson, and I can’t think of the other Heather’s name, but they both do the Substacks. And that’s the only thing that I allow myself.

I get one comprehensive Substack a day to be like, okay, that’s enough. Sure. And then I focus on my campaign and the things that matter to me. And, and my own community, my chosen family, my real family. Um, those are things that matter to me and keep me feeling- because I see the problems you go through as a local business owner, and all the businesses I frequent that I- that no vacancy, what?

The Hideaway Cafe, what? Like, yeah, I don’t want that to keep happening. Yeah, the chat away, like institutional places are leaving us because private equity- and, and I’m not saying, like, I am not anti-development, but I am pro-responsible development, and I am pro-development that is going to benefit my community. Yeah, that means hiring people locally, paying living wages, giving enough, supporting them enough so they can have insurance. Like, you know, those are things that, yeah, fuel me and that rev me up.

And my why- why would you want to do this? Because look at us. Someone’s got to do it. And we can’t keep allowing the same people with private interests to keep doing it because it’s just gonna get worse and worse and worse until we don’t recognize anything. Yeah.

So, yeah. And people are already saying that. I mean, I- there’s been multiple like, man, this isn’t the St. Pete that, you know, that I- when I first moved here, it’s just not the same city. The, the artists, the quirkiness, you know, all of those things that made St. Pete the desirable place that people want to move to, those things are getting priced out. Um, yeah, you know, and, and I was even thinking too, like, you know, we talked about the environment, man, you know, that is something that feels very big and hard to try and enact change on.

But you and I both want to see things like a public utility around electricity, right? That is something that we can actually do here that will not only address affordability, but it will address environmental issues, and it will make sure that people actually have the ability to make decisions around electrical use, renewable energy, um, rather than continuing to line the pockets of corporate interests. And that’s something that we can do locally, right? Which is really exciting, you know. And I think if people knew that those are the things you can do locally, I think they might actually be more interested in getting involved.

Agreed. Well, hopefully there’s a reminder of that, you know, you know, someone who tunes into this. I would I feel like the tug of not turning this one off is much greater than maybe other ones. But I have pretty good guests, not going to lie. We have good conversations, but I just appreciate all this fuel.

We’ve reached a point in our episode called Rapid Fire. Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah, I love when people go along. So ultimately, I’m going to ask the same questions that I ask all guests.

Okay. The through lines and the differences. Sure. Ideally, keep it as concise as possible, especially with a hard deadline to hit here. But if you need to expand, it’s all good.

You just lose points. Ooh, okay. Da na na. So I got 4 questions for you. The first one, and we’ll start with Jamika and then go to Lindsey.

We’ll just keep that order because that’s where we went. So first one is, what is your biggest source of inspiration? Jesus. Boom. Keeps me calm and from punching people, and he’s just a good man.

All right, like, uh, flipping tables like that. I’m, I’m ready to flip some tables for sure. Clearly. Okay, I would say like honestly the women and queer people in my life, um, definitely continue to help me keep going. Yeah, I love it.

Yeah, I love it. Both strong, um, sets of individuals. Great, nailed it. You guys are doing great. So we’re on an island, and this is a two-part question.

So first part is, you’re on an island alone hanging out, and, uh, no library, but a book can fall from the sky and that you can continue to read on that island alone. What is that book? The Woman I Wanted To Be by Diane von Furstenberg. She was a self-made woman. I mean, her mother survived the Holocaust.

She was a self- yeah, Diane’s a self-made woman who failed many times and just revamped, rebranded her business several times over. And let me tell you, that woman has lived a life. So yes, that book was just so inspirational to me. Great. Okay, I’m a big, uh, science fiction nerd, so I would honestly say The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin.

All right, that book has so many really interesting, um, social justice and commentary, like social commentary in it that it’s like every time you read it you come away with something different. Mm-hmm. So yeah, I love that. Carl Sagan, his only novel, Contact, was about that. They destroyed the whole point in the movie pretty much.

Yeah, because it was all about deciding who goes on this machine and who’s chosen and, and who represents Earth and things like that. So much meat there. I love like hard sci-fi. So, uh, all right, so we’re friends. Golden Disc, the pulsar map.

All right. Oh yeah, for you guys. Love it. Well, yeah. Um, so you’re on that island and now a record drops from the sky.

So you have- you’ve got a vinyl player, right? So yeah, I know it’s, it’s a little harder. Yeah. And it could be a musical artist. You don’t have to limit it to an album, but what, what on repeat?

Oh, a musical greatest hits of all the people I love. And now that’s what I called 47. Yeah, all right. Oh, okay, record. We’re going vinyl.

You know what, I think one of the most complete CDs, non-skippers, was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. That’s a good one. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard it. If you haven’t, you have homework, and you are doing yourself a disservice if you haven’t. I mean, start to finish, great.

Yes, I love it. Yes. Okay, that’s a tough one. I know, that is rough. It still hurts.

I would say, honestly, I love Random Access Memories by Daft Punk. So it’s great on vinyl, um, and also it’s just a good album. Like, I don’t know. I can speak to Daft Punk. They’ve got a cool sound.

They’re real neat. I look forward to your recommendation. Sad that they’re no longer a band, but yeah. Yeah, I mean, it’s, uh, as a musician, it’s tough to keep that going. I mean, there’s just, I mean, it is a grind, but it is so worth it.

It’s so much fun. And the beauty, the beautiful thing is, you know, a band can make a lot of cool stuff and then leave it and there’s no changing that album. Yeah. It’s there. Yeah.

Cool. Yeah. Yeah. You guys are doing great. Now we’re through the- I think the hardest part.

I know the island scenario is tough. All right, because if I got asked that question, I’d be like, what’s my mood, right? Literally, what’s my mood? I’m like, do I want Cuban Social Club? Do I want disco?

Do I- like, that’s rough. Yeah, I think I saw the Cuban Social Club. Yeah, years ago. Yeah, it was very random. Anyways, um, Last question.

Okay. How do you define success?

Hmm. When you can wake up and be good with yourself and decisions you make, and even when you can go to other people and they’re good with you and decisions you made and how you treated them and how do you treated yourself. This has nothing to do with your class, your job, nothing. Just that when you can sit with yourself and be good with yourself, I think that’s success. I love that.

I love that. I think about the saying, like, you know, leave the, the campsite better than you found it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. We only have a finite amount of time on this campsite, and, you know, you gotta leave it better than where, what you found it.

And I think that’s the simplest way and most concise way I can define success. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, leave nothing but your footprints, as they say in the beaches. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love that phrase. Yeah, so I’m always frustrated, like, you left this, like, can, like, what are you doing?

Exactly. Or the cigarette next to the trash can. Yes. Like, you were so close, you were so close. Yeah.

But I mean, yeah, you, you, we touched on the environment and things like, like, you know, and also it’s can be metaphorical too on like cleaning up ourselves and like making sure that we’re okay and we’re happy with and how we treat others because that shows up on the cleanliness literally of our streets or whatever that might be. But we’re all on this mote of stardust floating in a sun, sunbeam, you know, and so like Even though that’s small, it’s very big. And this is an important thing that, you know, it’s fragile. And so, you know, number one, you both won. Yeah.

So congratulations. Thank you. Rapid fire. Thank you. It has been a fantastic time with you.

Like, I just- we could sit here all day and just dive in. Definitely. I know we’re going to try to do like a forum here at Connect St. Pete with like more candidates. And obviously, I bet you two would be down. But yeah, I’ll be in touch with you about that.

I hope that anybody listening would vote. When’s voting day for local? So the primary is August 18th. There are 5 of us in the race. Mm-hmm.

And then the general is November 3rd. Okay, cool. Is that correct? Yes, correct. All right, good deal.

Make sure that you make sure you’re registered to vote. There it is. Yes. Uh, make sure that if you wanna vote by mail, that you have, um, that you are registered to vote by mail. Cuz they purging.

Yeah. That, yes. And they’ve changed the law, so make sure you check. Um, and we are- I know the League of Women Voters is advocating for another early voting site in South St. Pete. So if you are interested and you’re one of those people that likes to early vote and you live in South St. Pete, like, get involved and help us try and add another early voting site.

Wonderful. Come with us to stop redistricting. Also that. There’s also that. Yeah, there’s no shortage of things you can do.

So if you’re bored or wondering what you can do, yeah, there’s clearly stuff you can plug into, especially at the local level, which I loved how we covered. Jameika Williams, Lindsay Grove, I really appreciate your time and, you know, your energy and what you’re doing. You obviously care. And these are the people who move the needle forward and are good for humanity. And we need more of you.

And so I wish you both the best. Thank you. And everything. I look forward to continuing this conversation. Thanks, Josh.

Yeah. Thanks for having us here. Yeah. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Yeah.