St. Pete resident Steve Galvin enjoyed a fully engaged life working in the entertainment industry in Southern California for much of his adult career. So he admits that if you had told him five years ago he'd be running for political office, his response would have been along the lines of, "you have Googled a different Steve Galvin."
He credits his wife (who works in the St. Pete City Attorney's Office) and his own involvement in the North Kenwood community (where he's lived for the past decade) as his inspirations to run for the City Council District 8 race this summer. Outgoing Councilman Jeff Danner's resistance to move two historic homes from Fourth Avenue NE into Kenwood, is another motivation for Galvin's jump into electoral politics at the local level.
Galvin has many skills — he's a musician, a home builder, and he builds custom motorcycles from scratch. His issue with Danner developed after he offered to renovate the aforementioned historic homes, Bay Gables and the Henry-Bryan house, which were poised to move from their downtown location into Kenwood a few years ago. Although the local community was supportive, Danner wasn't; he was the only council member to reject the proposal (St. Petersburg Preservation also opposed the move).
"That planted the seed," the 55-year-old said of his dissatisfaction with the outcome, as well as his desire to get involved politically.
