CURED to sponsor a People’s Forum

ST. PETERSBURG — Communities United for Reparations and Economic Development (CURED) will be sponsoring a People’s Forum Monday, Oct. 30 from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Sanderlin Center, 2335 22nd Ave S.

This will be the last opportunity for the voters in St. Petersburg to hear from all the candidates in the general election for mayor and city council at a public event. CURED has invited all the candidates to participate.

CURED is the organization formed by the campaigns of Akile Anai for District 6 City Council, Jesse Nevel for Mayor and their supporters to continue to work for the agenda they laid out during the primary elections.

“Unity Through Reparations” is the guiding principle of CURED.

“A truly progressive city must deal with past and current injustices to create a principled unity among its residents,” said Anai, CURED chair.

During the primary election cycle, many residents of St. Petersburg supported the call for justice and voted for an agenda that puts reparations front and center so that our city can stop the gentrification displacing the historically black community of the south side, implements a public safety policy that puts economic development at the forefront of the city budget and eradicates police containment of the black community and builds affordable housing for our residents.

Anai, Nevel and CURED will decide after this session which candidates they will endorse based on their platform as it relates to Unity Through Reparations and four burning issues in St. Petersburg: Gentrification and affordable housing, economic development, public safety and worker’s rights.

The people of the city can also bring issues, concerns and questions for the candidates. The people will give testimony of their concerns in this forum that will require the candidates to truly hear from the citizens of this city.

The members of CURED invite and encourage all citizens to attend this important event that keeps the focus on the ongoing creation of a progressive city government that values all residents and makes sure that this city is controlled by the interests of the people, not pawns of big money developers who care only about their profit and nothing for the people in the city.