by organizer Jack Wallace
A symbolic “statement of belief” was voted down 3-1 by the members of St. Pete’s City Council’s Housing Committee. They voted against symbolic recognition of the housing emergency we are facing in our city. The loudest objectors in the room were city attorney Joseph Patner (who serves at the pleasure of Ken Welch), and councilpersons Brandi Gabbard and Gina Driscoll. Why would these politicians, who claim to be so concerned about this crisis, seek to stop such an effective measure like rent control? I would suggest one to look at the campaign contributions to these three politicians from the last election cycle. Brandi Gabbard accepted $18,619 (44% of her total campaign donations) from real estate/development-related donors last election. Gina Driscoll took $66,551 (31% of total). Ken Welch accepted $491,150 or 39% of total.
In another country, we see this as corruption, in St. Pete, it’s politics as usual. We know these politicians don’t want to impact their powerful friend’s profits and vote accordingly.
Rent control is just a bandaid to stop the bleeding of working people in this city, who’ve seen rent increases of 24% on average over the past year. If this doesn’t constitute a crisis, what does? We know our goal of guaranteed housing for all will be just as difficult as the struggle for rent control, and we know that these politicians will accept our call if there is a mass movement of working people to demand they do so.
Join us as we double down on our demand!
📅 Thursday, Feb. 17th
⏰ 5:00 PM
📍 175 5th St. N., St. Pete City Hall
Visit peoplescouncilstpete.org to learn more.
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