Indivisible FL-13 Weekly Newsletter April 12, 2023

NEWS & UPDATES

Oppose Tax Money To Billionaires

Faith in Florida, Clergy and community leaders have launched a campaign demanding that city-owned land be maintained and used for the benefit of residents, starting with the Historic Gas Plant. The city has the opportunity to redevelop the Historic Gas Plant to prioritize low-income residents’ housing needs, promote Black entrepreneurship and job development.

In the late 1970s and Early 1980s, the land was acquired by the city of St. Petersburg with promises of affordable housing and job opportunities. Residents are still looking for the city to follow through with that promise.                                                                                                                   
“I grew up in a 3 mile by 6 mile box in South St. Petersburg, where we were not allowed to leave, but it was where we lived and thrived. There was a true community in the Gas Plant that supported itself,” said community leader Alexa Manning. “The City of St. Petersburg promised to redevelop the Gas Plant, but that promise was broken. However, it is not too late; we still have a chance to rebuild the Gas Plant Community. We’re asking the mayor to please keep it city-owned so that we can remain a part of this city.”

The Historic Gas Plant was a vibrant and thriving community of predominantly Black residents that provided homes, jobs and business ownership opportunities, safe green spaces, places of worship, and cemeteries.                                                                                                       [bit.ly/SPNFS417]   
St. Pete residents want the new development to be focused on former residents, their descendants, and the residents of South St. Petersburg through education on the history of this community and substantive economic welfare directed toward these residents. Faith in Florida and its leaders believe that the only way to ensure the community benefits from this land is for it to remain in ownership of the city so that the community benefits from the land and decide through democratic processes its present and future.

“As residents of St. Petersburg and members of the faith community, we have a moral responsibility to our neighbors who were displaced and are still trying to make up for what was lost 40 years ago,” said Faith in Florida organizer Nick Carey. “The 86 acres at the Gas Plant represents a historic opportunity to address systemic failings of our city like the housing crisis. We should maintain community ownership for community benefit and dedicate taxpayer money to improve the lives of residents, not to subsidize a baseball stadium for a team worth more than a billion dollars.”

Faith in Florida has been a leader in the housing justice movement in St. Petersburg, calling for policies like rent control that benefit low-income residents and guaranteed housing for every resident in the city. The group will kick off the campaign by attending the budget open house at St. Pete City Hall next Monday [bit.ly/SPNFS417] .

They encourage community members to join them in speaking up about how public money and land should be used for the benefit of the community, not baseball.

Occupy Tallahassee Continues

Occupy Tallahassee made news last week and they’re not through yet. Register here for up to the minute updates.
 
Current actions are at linktr.ee/OccupyTally
 
HELP SPREAD THE WORD: 
• Click here and “Follow” @OccupyTally23 on Facebook.
• Click here and “Follow” @OccupyTally23 on Twitter.
• Click here and “Follow” @OccupyTally23 on Instagram.
• Click here and “Follow” @OccupyTally23 on TikTok.
• Click here to access our social media drive, with graphics and sample text for social media posts.
 
DONATE: Lastly, please consider donating $10 or more to support our demonstration using THIS LINK.  This is a great way to help fight back against this ban which will affect millions of Floridians.

Take Action: The MAGA Majority Is Promising To Hold The Economy Hostage

This page is Indivisible National’s new home for everything concerning the MAGA effort to throw our nation into chaos by forcing our government to default on our debts in order to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The current focus is on getting Democratic members of the House of Representatives to sign on to the Boyle, Jayapal, Kuster letter opposing the MAGA Default Crisis and refusing to cut vital services. None of our Pinellas County representatives have signed on.

Take Action

Anna Paulina Luna You Oppose the MAGA Default Scheme

Republicans in Congress are considering a plan that will drive the U.S. into default. The “debt prioritization” scheme (read: hedge fund protection scheme) proposed by the MAGA majority has already advanced through the House Ways and Means Committee, and will now face the full House for consideration. Although Republicans on the committee are trying to sell this as “default prevention,” in reality this approach would basically commit the U.S. to a scenario where MAGA extremists in Congress get to determine which bills get paid and which ones don’t, and would put critical payments to hospitals, schools, and social safety net programs at the back of the line.

Those of you in the new CD-13 please call your new Republican representative.

Take Action

MEDICAID IS A BIG DEAL FOR OUR STATE
TOO BAD IT’S ENDING FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS

This week’s Indivisible St. Johns Blog