On how he found the Uhurus
JN: {Nevel, 27, was born in Miami and moved to St. Pete when he was 18 to attend USF.] While a student at USF I became a member of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement — that's the organization of white people that works under the leadership of the Uhuru Movement and organizes in the white community to support reparations in the black community… During the time that I've lived here I've seen the conditions faced by the black community in this city and I've seen what a divided city this is, and how the interests of the wealthy and the interests of real estate developers and gentrification are put at the center of the city's agenda at the expense of the black community.
On reparations
JN: If you look at the history of how the economy of this city developed, all of the expansion came at the expense of the black community, including the interstate that was run through 22nd Street, including the construction of the Tropicana Field baseball stadium on top of what was the oldest black neighborhood in the city, the Gas Plant District, where they pushed out 800 black families and put over 100 black-owned businesses out of business before the city even had a baseball team to put there. What we are saying is that reparations, for one, would mean turning that land beneath the stadium back over to the black community — to build affordable housing, to build black-owned businesses — and that would increase the tax base and relieve pressure for the housing market in the entire city. Reparations would actually benefit the entire city. And on a larger scale, beyond specific reparations projects such as Tropicana Field, such as a massive infusion of capital into a 22nd and 16th street redevelopment plan, we also need that the entire city's budget should be restructured to prioritize economic development for the black community.
On city priorities
JN: If you look at the city's $500 million budget as it stands right now… over $100 million of that $500 million goes toward the St. Pete police department. That's not even including an additional $85 million that Kriseman managed to scare up from Pennies for Pinellas towards a new police station. That shows the priorities of this city… They justify the bloated police budget through the use of the term "public safety" but the real road to public safety is ending homelessness and starvation.
On that controversial debate
DW: Let me ask you how your mayoralty would work. This is based on what I understand to have happened in past debates. The modus operandi among your supporters was apparently to out-shout anybody else, to make a lot of noise that prevented any kind of discussion. I don't think that'll work in city hall.
JN: I don't even know what you're talking about. That sounds like you read the Tampa Bay Times.
DW: You're denying that the moderator at the League of Women Voters debate said we can't go on if your group can't let other folks speak?
JN: There were people in the audience clapping. Were you at that?
KB: We had a reporter there.
JN: What happened was, there was a District 6 City Council debate, and Akile Canion, who is running along with me [on the Uhuru slate], she was receiving the most applause from the audience. I know that it is startling to the status quo that my candidacy and Akile's candidacy have actually elicited enthusiastic support and participation from the people in the electoral arena, because the electoral arena is not accustomed to that, in fact they generally discourage mass participation in electoral politics. It's set up as a nonviolent contest between competing sectors of the ruling class. It's about who's going to manage the business of the company of St Petersburg for the next four years.
DW: To go back to the original question…
JN: What happened was…
DW: …how do you run a city if you have to compromise?
JN: Are you trying to outshout me now?
DW: I'm trying to finish a question.
JN: I'm trying to finish an answer.The moderator threatened to take time away from Akile equal to the amount of time they cheered. That's ridiculous! They want to stifle the sound of democracy.
DW: Or they just want to get through all the mayoral candidates and city council candidates without having it last five hours. It seems like it was a reasonable request: Don’t clap over your time because we have so much to get through. And yet it doesn't feel like that was heeded. It sounded like chaos was preferred over discussion.
JN: You should really get a job with the Tampa Bay Times.
DW: In other words, if someone doesn't agree with you or questions you, then automatically they're part of another power base? How are you going to work as a mayor if you can't compromise with the other people on City Council? Or explain to me how you will do that. Or is it just going to be a slash- and-burn kind of thing…
JN: Slash and burn…
DW:I'm just saying that the descriptions you're giving of St. Pete “the company” suggest that you want to come in and upend everything.
JN: So the point of this interview is so that CL can decide who you're going to endorse.
DW:Yes.
JN: Spoiler alert! You're going to endorse Baker in the form of Kriseman!
DW: So you came in here with that assumption.
JN: Assumption? You will endorse Baker in the form of Kriseman.
DW: How do you know?
JN: Because I read Creative Loafing.
DW: Then why did you come?
JN: Because I was invited.
DW: So… explain why should we endorse you.
JN: Because I'm the only candidate that is not a puppet of big money interests that wants to continue gentrifying the south side to death, that wants to continue pouring millions of dollars into police containment…
On governing
DW: Much of what you say I agree with, but I need specifics.
JN: Would you like more specifics on plans for Tropicana Field or for the 16th St. or 22nd St. plan?
DW: Talk about some other parts of the city.
JN : What do you mean?
DW: You're not just going to be mayor of the south side.
JN: No.
DW: So if, say, someone in West St. Pete objects any of these issues, what's your argument going to be?
JN: The argument from the beginning has been unity through reparations. It's a message designed to speak to and unite the entire city.
DW: I buy that, but you only talk about the south side, so what are some of the issues in other parts of the city that you want to address through reparations?
JN: The issues that those of us in other parts of the city have faced have come about as a consequence of a system that is built on the backs of the black community. So reparation is a solution for the entire city. What I mean specifically by that is that, in a system where the rulers of the system, the big-money corporate puppet politicians like Kriseman and Baker, come into power on the backs of the exploitation and oppression of black people, they administer a system that is to the detriment of the majority of the people of this city. It is on that foundation that they would shut down a sewage plant and leak 256 million gallons of sewage into first Clam Bayou and then into Tampa Bay at large. It is on that foundation that they would overrun the rest of St. Petersburg with high-rises and make it impossible for people to afford staying in their homes. It is within the context of this system that your guy, Kriseman… is backed by people like John Catsimatidis, a New York real estate billionaire who just bought an entire block of Central Avenue, and Miami investment firms like that which bought up the 600 block and raised the rent for small businesses, including small businesses owned by white people, and forced the businesses to go into extinction. It's on a platform of the oppression of black people that all of this takes place. So instead of doing as we have done historically as white residents of the north side of St. Petersburg, and just try to reform this thing or eke out a bigger piece of pie for ourselves, the solution is to unite with the people who have long fought the hardest and most courageously to bring justice and democracy to this entire city, and that's the black community. That's the message that is inspiring many people in the white community to step forward and join this campaign. It's an optimistic vision. The only way to unite this community is through reparations for the black community.
DW: How would you bring people under that umbrella, like recalcitrant white people that don't support reparations. What’s your move if you get elected?
JN: I don’t share the cynicism that white people can’t support reparations. People see that we're fighting for the people — they're tired of business-as-usual politics. A lot of people, including white people, are rejecting the status quo and to some extent even people who voted for Trump were rejecting the status quo. I think people want something new, something radically different from what has come before. In terms of how do we govern, we are involved in building a people’s movement. That’s why we’ve been a force to be reckoned with throughout this campaign… We have hundreds of volunteers, but we're doing that not just because we need volunteers to win an election — we're laying groundwork for how we govern. It would require people to be involved — the people's movement is not just a vehicle to win. It's also a plan for afterwards.
On restructuring
DW: What would be the steps you'd take to restructure city government?
JN: It's bigger than just reforms and things like that. I believe that City Council members should have staff and their own budget. Akile has said she wants her office to be in District 6. We would organize city council meetings the way the Uhuru movement organizes meetings at the Uhuru House, where every week we would be out in the community doing outreach and packing the room. Right now the way city government operates is very secretive. A businessman gives a Power Point and another high-rise pops up. I believe in workers' power, and I would support workers’ councils. City workers have been the consistently most enthusiastic supporters we have in this campaign. If workers’ power had been in force in Water Resources, the sewage spill wouldn’t have happened because workers knew and they were ignored and threatened and harassed.The outcome was the sewage crisis.
On the environment
KB: How would you deal with some of the other pending environmental issues?
JN: I believe that big money's dominance poses a primary threat to the environment. Capitalism is bad for the environment. Gentrification is bad for the environment. Reparations and workers' councils are good for the environment. I would definitely call for a five-year moratorium on high-rises. They're bad for the environment, increasing waste and pressure on the stormwater structure. The reason I'm answering this question is that i know climate change gets thrown around and environmentalism becomes a buzzword for shallow reforms that are implemented to make this system of capitalist corruption appear green — they’re going to put solar panels on the new police station so Kriseman can tout himself as a kind of environmentalist. I think Kriseman is a major threat to the environment.
DW: Is there anything you appreciate about Kriseman or his administration?
JN: No. Nothing, not at all.
This article appears in Aug 24-31, 2017.
