Pinellas faith group calls for action on red tide, affordable housing at forum

LARGO — More than 1,000 people filled an auditorium at Indian Rocks Baptist Church on Monday night to demand changes from Pinellas County officials.

This annual Nehemiah assembly, a biblical reference for holding power to account, has a remarkable track record of reforms stemming from its calls to action. Key issues this year were water quality, license suspension reforms and affordable housing.

Faith and Action for Strength Together, better known as FAST, is a faith-based group made up of more than 50 congregations across different religions and denominations. Its asks are based on research, beginning with conversations in parishioner homes and extending to expert consultations. The result is a detailed plan for action deemed “reasonable and doable.”

FAST has successfully campaigned for free full-day pre-K for low-income children. It has gotten millions allocated to affordable housing and helped establish a workforce readiness program. It has helped pass a bill that expands access to pre-arrest diversion programs for youth.

On Monday, congregants erupted in cheers to celebrate their most recent win: a centralized system to help residents access mental and behavioral health care. Their campaign began in 2018 after members shared stories of failures to find care in emergencies. The county is expected to have the system running by summer.

“Our faith compels us to change the way things are,” the Rev. Ben Winder of St. Petersburg’s First Baptist Church said.

License suspension reforms

Each year, thousands of people in Pinellas County are arrested for nondangerous driving offenses. These include driving on a license that’s been suspended because of unpaid fines or fees or driving with expired plates.

The arrests are often the result of economic inequities — people who can’t afford to pay a traffic ticket are less likely to write that check — and feed a cycle of poverty.

“Maybe you got a new credit card and forgot to update your insurance. Your failure to pay results in your license being suspended,” said the Rev. Oscar Banks of Palm Lakes Christian Church. “But you still need to drive to work. You still need to take your children to school.”

Data shows the arrests disproportionately affect Black people.

“We’ve heard story after story about our members being branded for life with arrest records for nondangerous driving offenses,” Banks said.

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FAST called on the city of St. Petersburg to implement a pre-arrest diversion program for nondangerous driving offenses. The city already has such programs for youths and those with mental illnesses.

St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway — who has the authority to implement such a program — was not in attendance. But City Council members Richie Floyd and John Muhammad were.

Each shared stories of family members affected by suspensions and agreed to champion an ordinance that would decriminalize nondangerous driving offenses this year.

Water runoff solutions

A healthy bay is imperative to the financial and physical health of Pinellas County. But red tide blooms and worsening water quality have taken their toll, FAST representatives said.

Because Pinellas County is blanketed in pavement, rainwater often floods streets rather than being filtered back into the ground. It picks up chemicals — like nitrogen, which feeds ecological ailments — then rushes into larger bodies of water.

Rain gardens — or sunken gardens chock-full of native plants — help absorb stormwater and prevent flooding. The city of Winter Haven has more than 60 rain gardens, which have filtered over 220,000 gallons of stormwater in the last few years, according to FAST. Pinellas County has just a handful.

FAST called on Clearwater Vice Mayor Kathleen Beckman to draft a policy that would ensure newly developed or redeveloped commercial properties include rain gardens to manage runoff.

Beckman, who sits on the board of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, agreed. She added that the estuary program has minigrants that would help cities establish rain gardens, noting that Gulfport has already done so.

More affordable housing

Taylor Barnes, a single mother and member of Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, spoke about losing her housing voucher because she couldn’t find a home in her price range.

Eliseo Santana, a Universalist Unitarian, said his three adult children — each with full-time jobs — are living at home with him because they can’t afford housing. He has 12 people sharing his three-bedroom house.

And Pat Fling of the Universalist Unitarian Church asked people to raise a hand if they know anybody who’s left Pinellas because they couldn’t afford a place to live. Almost every hand in the room shot up.

“Look around,” she said.

FAST called on St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch to set a goal to create 5,000 units of affordable housing for families making 80% of the area median income or less by the end of his first term.

Because Welch wasn’t in attendance, staff passed out postcards prompting attendees to share personal stories with the mayor.

“We know that this is going to take the attention of city staff,” said Julius David of East Lake Church. “But where there’s a will …”

David paused, allowing the crowd to bellow back.

“There’s a way!”

FAST will next meet on May 8 during its Joshua Assembly to share progress reports. For more information, visit fast-pinellas.org/.