Lattes with a Lawyer – April 2025 Recap

Summary of the April 24, 2025 Lattes with a Lawyer

Event Purpose and Structure:

Lattes with a Lawyer is a monthly civic roundtable hosted by The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson, designed to foster collaborative, community-centered dialogue. Rather than a traditional seminar or networking event, it is a casual yet structured forum where attendees—each treated as a panelist—discuss the most pressing challenges facing their industries and the St. Petersburg community at large.

The April 24, 2025 session continued the revitalized format, featuring open introductions, a guided roundtable on community and industry concerns, and two featured topic discussions. The 1.5-hour event was facilitated by Doug Jackson and emphasized candid conversation, collective brainstorming, and relationship building. Attendees exchanged contact information, received signature mugs and branded gift bags, and participated in dialogue aimed at driving awareness, civic engagement, and actionable ideas.

Introductions and Highlights:

The event began with personal and professional highlights from each participant, providing an opportunity for relationship-building and celebrating professional identity. Below is a corrected list of attendees and their self-introduced professional roles:

Doug Jackson – Founding Attorney, The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson; event host and facilitator

Alexis Egozcue – Community Relations and Marketing Coordinator, The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson; celebrated her two-year anniversary with the firm

Ryan Phalen – IT Consultant, Tritium Technology Solutions; shared news of expecting identical triplets

Nicole Waters – Founder of 525 Coaching and Amplify Women Tampa Bay; Vice Chair of the Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber; Board Member of the EDGE District

Jenean Merkel Perelstein – Business Anthropologist and Founder, Alchemie Academy; consultant in leadership and cultural strategy

Gregg Potter – Business Broker, Legacy Business Brokerage; specializes in small business sales and valuations

David Grant – Principal, Parr Media Group and Parr Moto; strategic brand consultant and executive coach

These introductions fostered a sense of trust, authenticity, and connection, grounding the session in a shared commitment to civic and professional impact. In addition to sharing their roles, several participants shared meaningful personal or professional milestones:

Alexis Egozgue celebrated her two-year anniversary at the firm, reflecting on how rewarding it has been to work with a purpose-driven team.

Ryan Phalen announced that he and his partner are expecting identical triplets, a joyful and rare personal milestone.

Jenean Merkel Perelstein shared that her son, currently abroad, was recently near a conflict zone and is now safely back in Europe, underscoring the personal stakes behind her civic advocacy.

Nicole Waters discussed the integration of her coaching and civic engagement work, highlighting the importance of unified messaging in both private and public leadership.

These highlights added warmth and perspective to the introductions, reinforcing the humanity and depth each participant brings to the community dialogue.

Community and Industry Issues Roundtable:

Each attendee presented a pressing issue impacting their industry or the St. Pete community. The discussion fostered insight into current civic and economic dynamics and set the stage for actionable follow-up in future sessions:

Housing Affordability: Ryan Phalen raised concerns about housing cost escalation, noting that while his home’s value has increased significantly, the cost to upgrade or move has become unattainable: “There’s nowhere for me to move without going into crazy debt for the next 50 years.” This echoed a larger fear of pushing out middle-class families and future leaders.

Public Communication Failures: Nicole Waters underscored the city’s failure to communicate after hurricanes and the fall of the Hines redevelopment deal. “I think that now is an amazing opportunity for the city to be communicating… and it’s not happening.” The vacuum in official messaging has bred confusion and frustration, especially among stakeholders ready to engage.

Erosion of Norms and Rise of Disruption Culture: David Grant offered a corporate example—Harley-Davidson’s board infighting going public—as emblematic of a larger social trend: private disputes becoming public dramas. He and Nicole reflected on the new normalization of disruption, questioning what leadership looks like when decorum is no longer expected.

Disinformation and Silence: Jenean Merkel Perelstein emphasized the danger of a communication vacuum: “There’s no one countering disinformation from the bottom up. Our leaders only speak from their lane.” The group discussed the dual need for offensive (truth-forward) and defensive (disinformation-resilient) messaging.

Civic Empowerment and Leadership Readiness: Nicole Waters, Jenean Merkel Perelstein, and Doug Jackson explored how fragmented narratives limit mobilization. Nicole advocated for simple, coherent civic campaigns inspired by the effectiveness—if not the ethos—of fear-driven messaging like the “No Home Run” campaign. Ryan Phalen added that local leadership, once thought inaccessible, is in fact within reach for residents willing to engage.

Economic Uncertainty and Strategic Paralysis: Gregg Potter highlighted the economic unpredictability facing small business sales and valuations: “It’s like trying to plant seeds without knowing if there’ll be a harvest.” He noted the paralysis caused by policy instability and warned that momentum lost today could be permanently unrecoverable.

Together, these issues coalesced around a shared call to action: the community must not wait for direction—it must step into leadership itself, with clarity, compassion, and strategic vision.Summary of the April 24, 2025 Lattes with a Lawyer

Event Purpose and Structure: Lattes with a Lawyer is a monthly civic roundtable hosted by The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson, designed to foster collaborative, community-centered dialogue. Rather than a traditional seminar or networking event, it is a casual yet structured forum where attendees—each treated as a panelist—discuss the most pressing challenges facing their industries and the St. Petersburg community at large.

The April 24, 2025 session continued the revitalized format, featuring open introductions, a guided roundtable on community and industry concerns, and two featured topic discussions. The 1.5-hour event was facilitated by Doug Jackson and emphasized candid conversation, collective brainstorming, and relationship building. Attendees exchanged contact information, received signature mugs and branded gift bags, and participated in dialogue aimed at driving awareness, civic engagement, and actionable ideas.

Introductions and Highlights: The event began with personal and professional highlights from each participant, providing an opportunity for relationship-building and celebrating professional identity. Below is a corrected list of attendees and their self-introduced professional roles:

• Doug Jackson – Founding Attorney, The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson; event host and facilitator
• Alexis Egozcue – Community Relations and Marketing Coordinator, The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson; celebrated her two-year anniversary with the firm
• Ryan Phalen – IT Consultant, Tritium Technology Solutions; shared news of expecting identical triplets
• Nicole Waters – Founder of 525 Coaching and Amplify Women Tampa Bay; Vice Chair of the Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber; Board Member of the EDGE District
• Jenean Merkel Perelstein – Business Anthropologist and Founder, Alchemie Academy; consultant in leadership and cultural strategy
• Gregg Potter – Business Broker, Legacy Business Brokerage; specializes in small business sales and valuations
• David Grant – Principal, Parr Media Group and Parr Moto; strategic brand consultant and executive coach

These introductions fostered a sense of trust, authenticity, and connection, grounding the session in a shared commitment to civic and professional impact. In addition to sharing their roles, several participants shared meaningful personal or professional milestones:

• Alexis Egozgue celebrated her two-year anniversary at the firm, reflecting on how rewarding it has been to work with a purpose-driven team.
• Ryan Phalen announced that he and his partner are expecting identical triplets, a joyful and rare personal milestone.
• Jenean Merkel Perelstein shared that her son, currently abroad, was recently near a conflict zone and is now safely back in Europe, underscoring the personal stakes behind her civic advocacy.
• Nicole Waters discussed the integration of her coaching and civic engagement work, highlighting the importance of unified messaging in both private and public leadership.

These highlights added warmth and perspective to the introductions, reinforcing the humanity and depth each participant brings to the community dialogue.

Community and Industry Issues Roundtable: Each attendee presented a pressing issue impacting their industry or the St. Pete community. The format encouraged participants to articulate not only challenges but also the values and perspectives shaping their professional and civic engagement.

• Housing Affordability: Ryan Phalen described how skyrocketing property values—his own home having tripled in value—are making it nearly impossible for families to upsize or remain in St. Petersburg. “We’re a very forgiving and accommodating city. But at some point, people just quit,” he noted. The group agreed that the city risks becoming unaffordable and losing the generational diversity essential for sustained community health.
• Civic Communication and Public Trust: Nicole Waters and others criticized the city’s insufficient communication following recent hurricanes. “I think that now is an amazing opportunity for the city to be communicating… and it’s not happening,” she said. Several participants emphasized the potential for grassroots or resident-led campaigns to fill this void, using clear and emotionally resonant messaging to build consensus.
• Cultural Trend Toward Disruption: David Grant introduced the theme of disruption as a rising cultural norm, noting that internal disputes—like those at Harley-Davidson—are increasingly aired in public. “There’s this enculturated permission to behave badly—especially if it means throwing ‘them’ under the bus,” he observed. The group explored whether the erosion of norms around decorum and deliberation—especially on social media—has long-term implications for civic and corporate health.
• Ageism and Us-vs-Them Dynamics: Jenean Merkel Perelstein offered a sociological lens on intergenerational division. “We keep pushing the next generation out, and then expect them to carry the torch,” she noted. She urged investment in mentorship, leadership pipelines, and intergenerational bridge-building.
• Economic Uncertainty and Business Confidence: Gregg Potter voiced concerns about economic unpredictability’s chilling effect on business acquisition. He compared small business owners to farmers who can’t plan their seasons: “It’s like trying to plant seeds without knowing if there’ll be a harvest.” The group concurred that political, financial, and environmental instability is eroding long-term vision.

Topic One – Unified Messaging and Disinformation: Doug Jackson noted that even though city officials may have taken action after recent hurricanes, many residents felt abandoned due to lack of communication. Nicole Waters added, “The worst kind of messaging is no messaging at all.”

Jenean Merkel Perelstein advocated for both defensive measures against disinformation and proactive, clear messaging. David Grant proposed that civic groups identify who is responsible for public relations at the city level—and engage them directly: “What’s our local government’s public relations strategy? Because they don’t seem to have one.” He emphasized that the community must go to the people who already hold the microphone.

The group discussed the emotional underpinnings of persuasive communication. “People think they want happiness and peace, but deep down in our cave-dwelling DNA, we are driven by fear,” Gregg Potter stated, advocating for emotionally resonant messaging. Nicole Waters urged reframing narratives around civic pride and shared ownership: “We have to define the community, invite people in, and let them feel proud of what we’ve done—while acknowledging what still needs to be done.”

Topic Two – Tropicana Field and the Gas Plant District Redevelopment: The second major topic focused on redevelopment of the Gas Plant District and the uncertain future of Tropicana Field. Gregg Potter emphasized the need for planning whether or not the Rays stay: “We’ve spent 25 years talking about the same stadium. That’s oxygen we could’ve used to build something—anything.”

David Grant challenged the group to look beyond the stadium debate: “The Rays are like a relationship built on promises they never keep.” Nicole Waters noted the lack of transparency: “I’ve heard that plans are already happening—but if no one knows, do they even count?”

The panel proposed civic-centered alternatives to a stadium, such as a multi-use event facility or hurricane-resilient infrastructure. Ryan Phalen lamented the Trop’s closure during storms: “They had the Superdome. What did we have? Nothing.” Jenean Merkel Perelstein urged development that benefits the broader public, not just narrow demographics.

Conclusion: The event closed with reflections on grassroots action, civic responsibility, and the role of clear messaging in an era of information overload. Doug Jackson emphasized: “You don’t need to wait for leadership to step up—maybe we are the leadership.” The May 2025 session will center on housing affordability, with an open invitation for expanded participation.

“Good communities are built when residents view themselves as shareholders, not just customers.” — A guiding insight repeated by multiple attendees.

In Their Words: Quotes and Paraphrasing from Lattes with a Lawyer

*Disclaimer, some of these have been paraphrased to highlight the spirit of the message of the speaker.

“In the best communities, the people think of themselves as shareholders and not customers.” — David Grant

“What’s our local government’s public relations strategy? Because they don’t seem to have one.” — David Grant

“We have no unified goals. There’s a complete vacuum in leadership right now.” — Nicole Waters

“The worst kind of messaging is no messaging at all.” — Nicole Waters

“We are not becoming the next Austin. We’re becoming St. Pete.” — Gregg Potter

“You don’t need to wait for leadership to step up—maybe we are the leadership.” — Doug Jackson

“Shitty messaging would require some sort of message.” — Gregg Potter

“You only get a sliver of anyone’s attention anymore. The message has to be short, repeatable, and clear.” — David Grant

“People think they want happiness and peace, but deep down in our cave-dwelling DNA, we are driven by fear.” — Gregg Potter

“We’re a very forgiving and accommodating city. But at some point, people just quit.” — Ryan Phalen

“I think that now is an amazing opportunity for the city to be communicating… and it’s not happening.” — Nicole Waters

“There’s this enculturated permission to behave badly—especially if it means throwing ‘them’ under the bus.” — Jenean Merkel Perelstein

“We keep pushing the next generation out, and then expect them to carry the torch.” — Jenean Merkel Perelstein

“It’s like trying to plant seeds without knowing if there’ll be a harvest.” — Gregg Potter

“They had the Superdome. What did we have? Nothing.” — Ryan Phalen

“We’ve spent 25 years talking about the same stadium. That’s oxygen we could’ve used to build something—anything.” — Gregg Potter

“The Rays are like a relationship built on promises they never keep.” — Ryan Phalen

“I’ve heard that plans are already happening—but if no one knows, do they even count?” — Nicole Waters

“Until the Ben Workshop, I didn’t even realize how accessible local leadership actually is.” — Ryan Phalen

“Why aren’t we using the same communication playbook to advance good?” — Nicole Waters

TRANSCRIPT OF APRIL 25, 2025 LATTES WITH A LAWYER

*This transcript was made with AI technology, and may contain slight inaccuracies.

[Doug Jackson]

Go ahead and get started. All right.

[Alexis Egozcue]

Do a highlight real quick. If anyone has any highlights because I know someone has a highlight here that I’d like to.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Yeah,

[Alexis Egozcue]

I

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Agree.

[Doug Jackson]

Uh, I’m going to address a highlight. Was related to the firm, but I’m not sure. Okay, there’s another highlight. All right, well, let’s do this. We’re gonna, we’re gonna go through. We’re going to, uh, introduce ourselves. Like we did last time, and then one of the things we can say is if anyone has highlights all right. So now we’re this lattes with Allure. This is our second revamped version of it, and we are now, this time recording this everyone’s given consent so that we can’t share this conversation with a broader audience. I do things a little bit differently than normal because right now, this is a little bit more scripted.

[Doug Jackson]

Until we get into the conversation. So I actually am going to read a little bit from a script here, uh, so good morning. I want to personally welcome each of you to lattes with a lawyer. My name is Doug Jackson. I’m the founding attorney of the law firm, Douglas G, Jackson. We’re excited to have you here today, and I want to start by saying this isn’t just another networking event or seminar. It’s something unique lattes with the lawyers about more than just drinking coffee with a lawyer from the law firm, Douglas G, Jackson. It’s about bringing people together and have real, meaningful conversations about our community Industries and the challenges we all face today. You’re not just attendees.

[Doug Jackson]

You are the panel. This is your platform to share insights perspectives in an open, engaging setting. At the law firm of Douglas G Jackson, we believe in the power of community and the importance of conversation. This program was created as a relaxed open Forum to discuss legal and non-legal issues that affect all of us. The goal is to learn from one another connect on a deeper level and leave with valuable insights that extend beyond today’s discussion at each of your seats are gift bag because we’re happy to have you here. We don’t have bags today, do we? Oh, we do behind your seats, our gift bag,

[Ryan Phalen]

Because we’re happy

[Doug Jackson]

To have all of you here. I lost my place in front of you. At the table, you’ll find notepads and pens to help you take notes during our discussion, because we hope that you’ll take away good information from today’s lattes with a lawyer and share with others. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll notice each of you has received a signature lattes with a layer mug. This is our way of saying thank you for being part of this exclusive event, we hope you use it, not just as coffee mug, but as a reminder that dialogue, collaboration and connection are what grow our communities so.

[Doug Jackson]

What I want to do now is, is give everyone an introduction. We all I think kind of know each other. I’m Doug Jackson, obviously. The founding attorney of the law firm of Douglas G Jackson, and as we go around, I want to do two things. I’m kind of combining things because I believe that that building this community building these discussions. We need to have very personal connections that that sometimes you don’t, in a lot of networking, things. So, we did this last time, but this is going to be, and I’m going to do this as well. I’m going to ask that each of you write your name and your cell phone number.

[Doug Jackson]

So that when we’re this, comes back to us. After these introductions, we’ll take a picture of it, and we’ll text it to everyone because this is a group where I think that we need to continue these conversations more than just this business, phone, or email type setting, so I’m gonna start with on my left here, and I want you to introduce yourself. Tell us what you do and tell us how you heard about lattes with a lawyer. And if there’s any highlights,

[Ryan Phalen]

You can share the highlights. Well, good morning Ryan Phalen. I work with tritium Technology Solutions. We do I.T cyber security. I’ve been doing that for about 18 months now. Their company’s been around since the owner was in high school. And I’ve heard about this through my connection with the Ben, the monthly meetings, uh, that you guys sponsor, which has been fantastic, and I really enjoy being a part of it. And, uh, the update. I think we’re looking for is my wife is pregnant. Uh, congratulations. Yeah, first time in eight years. Uh, and we are with triplets.

[Doug Jackson]

Wow,

[Ryan Phalen]

Oh wow, yes, no, no, for a month. But yesterday, yeah, uh, and they’re identical, which supposedly is one in a hundred thousand something like that. So,

[Doug Jackson]

Wow, uh, so we

[Ryan Phalen]

Spent yesterday at the OB getting all kinds of videos, you know, what flavor

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

They are not

[Ryan Phalen]

Yet

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Okay? Uh,

[Ryan Phalen]

They’re 12 weeks, we’ll know, at 18 to 20 weeks. Yeah, so early on. Very exciting. Tell

[Alexis Egozcue]

Them when you told me

[Ryan Phalen]

On April 1st. Oh, uh, I had lunch with us. Somebody else on April 1st. I’m like, I’m not going to see this guy for another two months. I’m, like, I gotta tell you. He’s like, this is a joke.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

No, no. It’s for real! Wow,

[Alexis Egozcue]

Congratulations! So now, I’ve

[Ryan Phalen]

Got my big three, and we’re gonna have our little three. Hopefully, they’re the little three and not the medium three.

[Alexis Egozcue]

Yeah, yeah, it’s

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Wonderful, you

[David Grant]

Know? There’s thing you can do. Yeah,

[Ryan Phalen]

Let me tell you. The Opie walked in yesterday and she goes. How did this happen? And I’m like, I don’t know if I trust this doctor.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

What are we working with here? Oh, it’s so beautiful! Hearty, congratulations!

[David Grant]

Thank you, thank you!

[Nicole Waters]

I cannot follow that, but

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Yeah, my name

[Nicole Waters]

Is Nicole Waters from 525 coaching. I am a professional collaborator with Executives um and the founder of Amplified women, Tampa Bay. I said on the board of directors, The Edge District, as well as Vice chair of the Tampa Elgin T chamber. So, I am very excited to be here at both a business owner and Community leader. Highlight highlight. I don’t have one. You don’t have to

[Doug Jackson]

Have a highlight. That’s that’s only because you wanted him to share.

[Nicole Waters]

I’m a twin. There you go.

[Ryan Phalen]

Oh, okay, identical

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Way

[Doug Jackson]

There.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Identical twin

[Nicole Waters]

Fraternal for turtle

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Twin brother

[Nicole Waters]

Jeff?

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

I have

[Doug Jackson]

A brother, Jeff.

[Alexis Egozcue]

Well, that’ll make it easier. Remember that no? Look at that. All right, I am Alexis Segasky from the law

[Alexis Egozcue]

Firm of Douglas G Jackson. I am the community relations and marketing coordinator. And, uh, my highlight is my two year anniversary today.

[Doug Jackson]

Oh, congratulations, happy anniversary. Thank you. That was the highlight. I was going to share when it got back to me. Good work.

[Ryan Phalen]

Well, you were

[David Grant]

Superseded.

[Alexis Egozcue]

You can share it again. Well, it is

[Doug Jackson]

Your highlight. So.

[David Grant]

Uh, David Grant, I own par media group in parmodo, which is a brand of retail marketing firm. Uh, I’m struggling to find a highlight to be very honest with you. So, I’m in the past, but I’m thrilled to be here. That’s your highlight. I’m mostly here because Nicole told me how inspiring the session was.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Last

[David Grant]

Time you did this, and I said, well, if I find a way to be here and participate, and I’m gonna do it, so you’re right.

[Doug Jackson]

Well, thanks for coming. I think I think it was inspiring. I hope this time’s just as inspiring. Yeah, yeah.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

It was inspiring indeed. Um, I’m Janine Merkel perlstein with Alchemy Academy. I’m a business Anthropologist and. Uh, help leaders and their teams enrich their workplace culture and their outcomes.

[Ryan Phalen]

Um,

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

I heard about lattes with the lawyer. I think when I downloaded the welcome to Saint Pete software package into my brain, it feels like I’ve just always known about it since I since we’ve been here. So, probably because Scott came, I don’t know. I mean, all Reds lead to Alexa. Yeah, beautiful. My highlight, I have, uh, got a new client in the tech industry in Hollywood, and I’m happy about that, and I guess. I guess our biggest highlight is that my kid is safe after the bombings last night, so? Yeah. Most interesting

[Nicole Waters]

Situation, I think right now, is orbiting around you.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Yes,

[Nicole Waters]

Yeah, so congratulations on the client. Thank you. Yeah, it’s

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

It’s, it is it’s, it’s really beautiful. And, um, yeah, so if I’m a little scattered?

[Alexis Egozcue]

Thank you!

[Doug Jackson]

I like, I like scattered conversations. They’re more real. Yeah,

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Luckily I, I did some pre-work instead of leaving it to the last time.

[Doug Jackson]

No, thank you. I didn’t actually expect anyone to even really read what I sent, so I appreciate that you, uh, I read it twice, did you?

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Yeah, what’s with the low bar here? Doug,

[Doug Jackson]

You know, I’m I’m impressed. I’m impressed. All right, so, uh, as soon as actually, I set up again. Picture and text it, but I have my phone recording. Yeah, I’m going to actually ask Alexis to do this. All right, and now we’re gonna jump into some more meaty conversations here. So we’ve got 20 minutes allotted to go around and talk about the biggest problems facing our community and industries. So, what I’m going to ask is that as we go around, each person is going to briefly share a major issue that affects our industry or our community. It could be local or broad, um.

[Doug Jackson]

And discuss why these issues matter in the broader impact, so we we’re going to as we do this. We’re going, we might. We have a only 20 minutes, so we’ve got, uh, what do we have one, two, three, four, five, six? So we got about what three minutes a person, uh, to do this, so we’re not really going to address these issues. We might try to briefly, but we’re going to do is actually use these topics for later discussions. Lattes with a lawyer or even our Ben Workshop, um? So, we’ll start with you. You haven’t been here, so you didn’t know. We’re gonna do this. I’m gonna put you right on the spot here. Ryan and talk. What are the, what are the biggest problems? What’s the biggest problem that you think is facing your industry. You, uh, the community, sure, broader Community, you know?

[Ryan Phalen]

I’ll be honest when I bought my house here in Saint Pete 12 years ago. It was 168, 000. And now, it’s probably valued over 500. I would love to sell and cash in, but that means I then have to move. Uh, especially now that I’m expecting triplets. I’m gonna need a few more bedrooms. Um, and there’s nowhere for me to move. There’s nowhere for me to upgrade without me. Going into crazy debt for the next 50 years. So, you know, I think it’s so, not even just to make this about me. But now, we’re gonna have a hard time getting younger more, um.

[Ryan Phalen]

Middle class. Families individuals to move to this location because I think in some regards, we’re outpacing ourselves. It’s a very expensive city, and we’re going to be forcing people to go elsewhere, so I don’t want to leave Saint Pete. Staying here becomes a difficult option. Ryan, I’m happy

[Doug Jackson]

You brought up this topic, because actually the next lattes are the lawyer. I was planning to talk about housing prices. Here we go, and Nicole and I actually talked a little bit about. This is a program that I want to maybe develop around lattes with the lawyer. Maybe it can even be a venture that we spin off, uh, I was thinking about calling it JV homes, uh, to help the younger people get into ownership Step Up, uh, joint venture, but also JV, like sports, right, right? So I think it’s kind of a fun name, but uh.

[Nicole Waters]

Can’t wait to talk about that because I think it’s interesting to talk about that topic, not only from the challenge that it creates, but actually the movement within our city. Who’s coming? Who’s going? What opportunities and challenges does that create? Um, like, coming from Miami, where I spent two decades and people continue to move to Miami, regardless of how expensive it is. It’s an ever-changing tide, and what does that mean, you know? How does how does that project the future, so I’m so super excited to hear you talk about that? One of the things that I have noticed is the.

[Nicole Waters]

The lull, which is what I’m seeing as an opportunity that is not being addressed from. Now, we know that, um. The deal with the raise Heinz is not happening, but we don’t know exactly what’s happening next, and so we had a very. Divided Community, like people. For this project, people against this project, and now that the project is not happening as it was originally approved, that opposition. I think people are, like, okay, well, where do I stand now on this project? And I think that now isn’t an amazing opportunity for the city to be communicating, you know, or at least pulling people into a conversation to say, okay, what’s next? How do we tackle this? What can you expect as a resident and it’s not happening?

[Nicole Waters]

And so I think people who probably could be coming together in conversation right now, or being left to like their own. Devices and devices in regards to, like, okay, well, what do I think about? Well, I don’t know what to think because I don’t. I’m not hearing anything.

[Doug Jackson]

And

[Nicole Waters]

That’s dangerous in my mind.

[Doug Jackson]

I’m happy you brought, uh, both of these topics up because they happen to be both of our topics for today. So, yes, well done.

[David Grant]

Yeah, it was. Very, I was, like, well, wait, are we already jumping into this and I’m ready to go?

[Doug Jackson]

Yeah. I,

[David Grant]

I’m going to talk about my industry and what, not the my industry, but the the company that I work for because I’m I’m seeing what play out is a very typical thing that happens can happen very rarely, and corporations or businesses themselves. And that is that we have a a board member of the corporation who is decided to turn to to take public a dispute among the board in an effort to select the next CEO of the company. And instead of it staying inside of a boardroom as it should. This gentleman, it was part of a hedge fund, chose to, uh.

[David Grant]

Make it public,

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

And it

[David Grant]

Received extraordinary. Media coverage in places where things were Harley Davidson’s. The company doesn’t show up Wall Street Journal USA Today. Places like this? Um, and what it’s done. Is turned into, turned a very tenuous situation into now a dangerous situation. Where Harley-Davidson could become the next Sears robot in my my mind, where it could eventually go away now. The downstream effect of that is, that changes David Grant’s business model and, and, you know, dozens of other companies like mod, so, uh, really tough time, especially considering we about these other things to consider, like tariffs and a declining economy and?

[Doug Jackson]

It. It’s interesting because it’s, we’re kind of changing the dynamic and and social media is as well, because a lot of these things used to be kind of. There was a lot of negotiation and backroom deals. I mean, in terms of politics, I actually think before we had social media. Things got done, because, uh. They, they were able to talk without everyone knowing their constituents. Welcome, Greg. I’ll give you an introduction in just a minute. We are recording this one, just so you know, so that, uh yeah, by being here, you consent, all right, uh, but every everyone’s taking everything public that didn’t used to necessarily be public private disagreements are becoming public. I mean, the and it’s interesting in my profession, too, because we have ethical rules that we can’t really approach the media. Um, first, because they, if it’s going to influence any kind of jury or decision maker, because the idea is that we don’t want the court of public opinion being the court of law? And, but it is, it’s. It’s a little frustrating sometimes because we’ve got this very changing Dynamic from every level, at least certainly nationally. Where private things are becoming just aired out to the public in a way where they may not even understand, and we’re not. And they could, like, you said, become problematic, for, for everyone, versus getting a deal done in a way that resolves it behind closed doors. So, that’s, that’s an interesting.  Topic I’m not, and I know it was, like, you’re it’s kind of personal to you, but it’s, it’s just an interesting topic generally of. And, and maybe even like. Is that? Is that okay that it’s going this way? Is this The New Normal? Are there rules of Civility, um? That we should. We should look at more, and we should be. I mean, because I will say, I think, just generally in the last really decade, we’ve become much more hostile to one another, too. So, that’s, huh, that that you get. That’s a really broad, broad One and I’m not sure what the the answer is that. That would be a great discussion topic. I’m curious

[Nicole Waters]

If if you guys are hearing what I’m hearing, the broader topic really is this, um? To your point, almost normal, normalizing being a disrupter,

[Doug Jackson]

Sure right, and

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Almost being modeled at the highest levels exactly.

[Nicole Waters]

And so there’s this open door to behave in that way where there might have been a second thought or more Quorum of filter. Yeah, and so, I

[David Grant]

Wonder repercussions have gone away. That’s why, yeah.

[Nicole Waters]

Right? Yeah,

[David Grant]

For the most part, well, what’s our Global issue? That’s really not just a for sure,

[Nicole Waters]

For sure, absolutely. But I, I also feel like that behavior is being perpetuated and and actually celebrated being a disrupter. Being somebody who does things out of quorum, you know

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

It, it’s actually. What I was gonna say along the lines? No, it’s. It’s perfectly tied in, I think, with what everybody is saying, is that my estimation of, oh, first of all, I’m I’m sorry, I’m Good.

[David Grant]

Yes, absolutely.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

I’m Janine Merkel Perelstein. As I mentioned, I, um, I. Feel like there’s a? Um, bifurcated enculturation happening with us versus them, like never before, and it’s happening economically. It’s happening. It’s, it’s exacerbating racial divides. Um, it’s happening in the elitism of this particular. Um, it’s it. It’s sort of, um, part of the conversation, like a subtext in the conversation that makes those things possible for people to. To feel kind of like a like, an enculturated permission to behave badly, even if it means throwing the them under the bus and almost, especially if it feels that way. So, um, you know, it’s a lot of what I was looking at with the white paper, which I know we’ll get into, but I think it it. Oh, it also shows up particularly in ageism and the reason why this is so big in my mind, right now, is that I’m concerned with the sustainability of the community, you know, the sustainab?

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

In success means that we have to have a pipeline of prepared and able individuals, and if we keep pushing them out as the them. Uh, and then in the Next Generation, expect them to be prepared and able to carry the torch then. Um, we have, we’ve cut off our nose, despite the face.

[Doug Jackson]

You know, it’s interesting, because, uh, one of our lattes with the lure before we revamped it. We talked about two. This idea of that that we’ve heard it for for years now. The the workforce is saying that students aren’t ready to enter the workforce the, but on the other side, we’re not really doing anything with the workforce isn’t doing anything with students. It’s so, it is very much an ivory Tower, but not just the professors, the students. And I think that we used to have more Apprentice type programs, more mentorship programs, and I don’t think we have that anymore. I actually believe that the data shows that really from the 70s.

[Doug Jackson]

Expenses on training in have gone way, way down. And I don’t know that. That’s necessarily the same as what you’re talking about, but I would. I would contend that it all weighs in if we don’t have good mentorship. If we don’t have this idea that Nicole mentioned before, we started recording about making decisions for the Next Generation, uh, or the generation. After that, it’s hard to to Mentor people and train people in the right way, where they’re going to have that same mindset because we are going back to to what David said, too. I feel like we’re very much now, immediacy.

[Doug Jackson]

Type thinking? We, we don’t. We’re not sustainable, and we don’t think long term very often, so that’s

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Right. These are.

[Doug Jackson]

These are interesting topics. I think we’ll have to have discussion on them and Greg you came in late. So, we’re going. I’ve been here the whole time. What are you talking about? We’re gonna allow you, uh,

[Gregg Potter]

I’ve been very quiet.

[Doug Jackson]

I know I got it on the record, uh? We, uh, I’m gonna let you introduce yourself, say what you do. Say, uh, how you heard about lattes with a lawyer, even though I know you were here last time? And also, if you have any highlights and then what we’re doing because you were here last time, you know, we’re doing the, uh, the biggest problems that you see facing either you, your industry, the community, or or even worldwide.

[Gregg Potter]

Hello, everybody! I am Greg Potter with Legacy business brokerage, business sales, Acquisitions, and valuations. Uh, I, I don’t know how clocks work, so I apologize that, um. Yeah, so I was on my morning walk and I said to myself, uh, man, it’s awfully look the sun’s really coming up early, and it’s getting bright so early and. Son of a bitch. I thought it was a half an hour ago, so, uh, yeah, uh, you know, the biggest thing facing, um? You know, I miss everybody else’s, but it’s the same thing. The biggest thing facing biggest problem facing my business on the on the business sales and the business acquisition side is just uncertainty. It’s um.

It’s just, you don’t know. From day to day, what anything’s going to do, and that’s not good for for anything. And you know, I was listening to, um? I was listening, actually, the daily this morning when I should have been actually taking a shower and coming here on my walk and talking about the same thing. They were interviewing a farmer, and um, in her thing, was like, I just need to know, you know, I’m getting ready to plant half a million dollars worth of soybean.  Can I sell?

[Gregg Potter]

This in September when you know when this is ready to to be harvested? You know, they’re the main, especially since they’re with China, you know, we’re starting. I’m starting to see a lot of the same thing on the business buyer and the seller side, you know. You know, I? What? What does tomorrow bring, you know? When it’s, I mean it, right? Radical. My back. My education is in economics, and I can remember, you know, being in classes with my, you know, and, and they would talk about, you know of something difficult with the US? Is every four years the economic policy may change? And now, we’re literally within the same day, it’s it’s, you know, four years is too quick.

Four hours is. Insanity, but that’s my rant on that.

[Doug Jackson]

Well, I, I think that, uh, that’s a good rant and a perfect segue into our, uh, first topic, because as as you know from last time last time, we talked about really uncertainty. We talked first, our first current topic, um. Was uncertainty really nationally? We talked about everything from from tariffs to Renee, with the LGBT chamber talked about uncertainty with minorities, and they’re facing, and then we moved into uncertainty locally, mostly with the the Ray Stadium falling apart. Last time, and so we’re going to jump into our our topic number one for today, and each of you have a handout that kind of goes over it a little bit deeper, uh, to help facilitate talking points. I’m not going to go over everything here, but last time, one of the themes that kind of emerged in our our problem, uh, discussion here. The biggest problems facing us is this this idea that we don’t have great communication, uh, and I’m it’s unfortunate. Dana couldn’t make it today because she had some ideas, and I wanted her to be able to weigh in, but that. That being said, she can still listen to this later and maybe come up with some of her own ideas and the idea it really kind of. It was a theme, but I think it started emerging around the permitting issue, because obviously we had a bad hurricanes. And uh, people aren’t getting per. And they don’t know where to get this information. And we have information coming at us from from different directions. We don’t necessarily have a unified message. I mean, again, I look at this top down. I’m not seeing unified messages coming out of of any organization. Not to say that, in my opinion, either we should necessarily have one unified message. I think we need different voices, but I guess the idea is, how can we Take this upon ourselves to be ambassadors of communication and be leaders and step up when maybe other leaders are not stepping up to communicate, and also, how can we make sure that we preserve opinions, but disseminate factual information, and perhaps even more importantly with all of this information coming at us. There’s also a lot of disinformation coming at us. So, how do we? How do we help cure this, and I, I don’t know. I’ve got some ideas, but I don’t. I don’t know that there’s any one, right? Answer. But it was. It was something that this whole table last time, uh, and we have a lot of the same panel members this time, as we did last time, uh. But the panel member, this last time, all felt that this was a big issue, and I, I tend to agree with that and I, I tend to look even after the Hurricanes. I didn’t feel like there was a unified message coming out from anyone and in times of uncertainty. I think it’s even more important that we have a unified message that we have places that you can go. Get information that you need that when you’re bombarded by facts and non-facts, and uh, alternate facts and and everything else. How can we help be the ambassadors for Clear, efficient dissemination of communication, and in turn, how do we help our current leaders do that as well? How do we help amplify their message? Because one thing I will say that I and I’m getting a little, I apologize. I’m kind of taking the floor more than I meant to. I did notice after the the Hurricanes. I’m on several boards and things, and I, I got to hear the the. Mayor talk about what they were doing, but I didn’t feel like that message was, was reaching people and, and I know, this is largely how organizations spread their message, which is funny because it’s the opposite of what we were talking about David that people are going public, is they talk to their their leadership, and then they hope that the leadership spreads the message, but I don’t necessarily know that. That’s always being done, and I don’t know that. That’s a good way to a efficient way to to Really extend that communication, so I’ll open up to the Panel.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

I want to really put an exclamation point on. One thing that you said about the disinformation campaigns, you know, I believe a lot of. Uh, the the leaders that are in their silos are attempting this kind of offensive communication about what they know about. And, um, but there’s nobody that’s. That’s tackling the bottom up of what do we go? How do we go on defensive to counter all of the disinformation that’s here. And, and I think that that the problem is twofold, then, because you’ve got leadership within the within. Community, just starting with our community and this. I think it’s exacerbated as you pan out, but they’ll speak about only what is happening with their Lane. It feels like they’re not. They’re either not collaborating and talking with one another, or they’re not willing to speak about it. Maybe it’s part of the fear of us versus them thing. Ah, they don’t want to get kind of thrown under the bus, but? They’re not doing enough from from offensive Direction just to get us to neutral, and nobody is filling the void to bring us up from the fear and uncertainty by battling what’s happening, because in this day of social media that fills in the blanks, and that’s where the disinformation spreads like wildfire, so I think it’s, you know, coming at it, coming at us from both directions. And if there’s an opportunity for, you know, a road group like?

Because I think it would be from battling that disinformation. I like

[Doug Jackson]

To think we’re the mainstream group and the other group, but okay, fair enough. We’re unsanctioned. I’ll give you that

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Gorilla, yes.

[David Grant]

Well in the situation that you described. Our government needs public relations strategy. In most governments to a very poor job of having public relations strategy and a true public relations strategy goes top up and top and bottom.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Yeah, um.

[David Grant]

And it’s no, just it’s. It’s, it’s not casting aspersions on St Pete because they’re no different than anyone out, sure. You need to understand that you only get a sliver of anyone’s time and attention anymore. We live in two. The world comes at us too fast and too Furious. We get so over, messaged by everything, and so. What you have to do at a local level is you have to be very simple. And you have to be very direct, and you have to be very consistent. And. You know, so if we got magically placed? In in the in the pr team for Saint Pete. When it comes to dealing with hurricane, then I would very systematically go to my traditional media and endemic media, which is endemic is everyone when it comes to government with one clear message that directs people to a Next Step.

[David Grant]

And then I would go to all of those meetings that you talked about. And leave them with a very clear and coherent. These are the two things that you need to say. Because ultimately, what you’re just trying to do is drive people to where they can get the information that actually affects them, and then make sure it’s there when it’s found. So if it’s someone that’s having a conversation at the local YMCA, they just hear this and this, and they go to where they need to go for that information. Um. To put together a road group to do something like that which I I took is not being part of this. Like, well, I mean, that’s.

[David Grant]

That’s a really interesting idea. It’s about five steps down the chain as far as I’m concerned. And um. I’m fascinated by the idea of it. But I’m fascinated in a much broader context than what I read. Yesterday. Okay, I mean if the idea at the ultimate? End of it. This is about Saint Petersburg and how St Petersburg is better than anywhere else where you would want to live right. I want to. Make my community so attractive to my residents. That they want to stay, and they want to grow, and they want to prosper, and I naturally become attracted to others to want to be part of it.

[David Grant]

And. There’s a really good organization called strong towns. I don’t know if you’ve heard about it. Grassroots non-profit organization called strong towns. I just happened upon a podcast because a guy that I respect and admire very much on the on the financial side and the world side was on. This and strong towns in one of their key tenants that struck me is. The best communities. The people think of themselves as shareholders and not customers. Everyone that’s a resident is a shareholder and not a customer. And how do you create that system to do that and from it’s exciting for me when you started talking about Road groups and things like that is what a great opportunity to get out in the public and be the true Town criers of not just that, the the blown up gas kind of project that’s.

[David Grant]

A dozen things that are important to this community. But all of them, right? Shine in the spotlight on the things that are important to everyone and showing up in places where it’s, not just. Popcorn on social media that you just have a bite and then move to the next. Sorry, took a lot of body went in there. I love

[Nicole Waters]

It and kind of reflecting on what both of you said. I took a couple quick notes for myself and. I think talking about what’s going on from the bottom up, right? Instead, I think that there’s a lot of fragmented. Feeling, positions, values, and so. How do you mobilize the bottom when it’s so fragmented, right, and? I, I think there’s an absence of Direction absence of goals, but then, to David’s point, you start thinking, okay. Well, what could be a campaign, something that’s tangible, easy, accessible? It doesn’t have to be complicated, right? And then, immediately, I thought to myself, what’s a campaign that wasn’t super complicated? That mobilized people that got people’s attention, good or bad, was like the no home run, right? That was a small group of people who mobilized, created a campaign, made it easy for people to understand and then decipher if they were getting on that bandwagon or not. But I think those are tools. Those are vehicles that we could learn from that says okay, if we want to create.

[Nicole Waters]

A campaign for Saint Pete that says, hey, this is a community that we’re proud of. We want to attract people. You know, there’s a lot of there are a lot of elements to making that happen, but it does start with a simple message and is a reflection of what we were talking about earlier. What makes Saint Pete so special, and it starts with the people?

[Doug Jackson]

Let me come back to that because I want to ask you a little bit more about no home run, but I want to talk about something you said David about when? I can’t remember exactly what it said what it was. Luckily, we’re recording, so I’ll be able to actually like use the quote, but good good communities or good neighborhoods happen when they’re the citizens view themselves as shareholders rather than just. Whatever, customers, um and I, I want to put Ryan on the spot because I saw him on Monday, and he said something to me, that was interesting. Can you share that? Do you remember what it was? I Have no idea It was. It was about how, what you were thinking about from the last benward shop?

[Ryan Phalen]

Oh yeah, well, we were talking about the last Ben Workshop, um. Was about politics, and somebody had said something of you can’t influence the federal government. What’s done has done it’s in motion. Um, it’s very hard to even change some of your state policies. But yet, what we do control is, is our local, you know, we can control what’s happening within the the Pinellas County area. We can sit on boards. We can talk to our our Representatives a lot easier than we would somebody on a state or a federal level. Um, but until that Bend meeting, I never thought that was even something attainable. You know, I see Copley Gertas at Mass every, you know, Sunday, but don’t think to see how I can be of service to him, or you know what he’s building records?

[Doug Jackson]

Yeah, I just sorry I wanted to because you said shareholders and I, he had said that to me on Monday. And I’m like, this is the perfect, perfect topic, because that is the way that we can be shareholders and Nicole. I want to ask you because you said no home run had this very clear message, and I never understood no home run their. Or even how they were getting such support. So, maybe you can? We can dissect this a little bit because, like I tried to, I tried to look it up. I couldn’t figure out who was organizing it. I couldn’t figure it was like a Facebook page. It didn’t even have that many followers, but everyone seemed to be following the message, which I wasn’t clear. Exactly. I mean, the message was, it’s a bad deal for St Pete, which I don’t know where they got the facts for that. But can you help me understand what you mean and and maybe I totally missed what was obvious?

[Nicole Waters]

And I, I wish I could speak in more depth to that, and I cannot. Um, I also tried to research, um, without, especially because we’re being recorded. I’m not going to dissect, like what I learned in regards to who is mobilizing it. Um, I, I think the point was that there it was known throughout the city that there was a group in opposition that they, um. That they had a clear message as to what they felt like it was a really bad deal that we were being robbed in regards to the value of the land and how it was being honored, and ironically, it was not by the population you would suspect. So, the point, though, is not so much about the no home run campaign, but the fact that they created a campaign that became universally. That known that there was something out there in opposition.

[Doug Jackson]

Well, let me ask you this because I feel like the campaigns that catch on are not necessarily. Good at creating any more certainty, uh. In fact, I feel like the campaigns they catch on are not good at disseminating real fact. I feel like the campaigns that catch on are fear driven campaigns. This is this is going to bankrupt the city. This is gonna, uh, we’re we’re. The immigrants are going to steal everyone’s jobs, the? The trade deficit so bad, we’re going to be bankrupt. These are the campaigns they catch on And I feel like No home run was a very similar campaign in that respect. And exactly,

[Nicole Waters]

This is exactly why I’m bringing this point up, there is a recipe. Why are we not using it for the good? Why are we not using it? Yeah, for behavioral stress we want do, do we not meaningless, but just as a population do we have clear goals? Do we have clear initiatives. And can we sit down and be intentional about saying, all right? This is not a recipe. They are not using something that is not accessible to all they are. Just using a tool of emotion, clear communication, manipulation, and, and so, how do we use that? In a way that benefits our initiatives and and our.

[Doug Jackson]

It’s interesting that you say this because I, I originally viewed them as just complete opposites, right? One one is, like, oh, there’s this uncertainty. There’s this fear and the other is. We want to create certainty we want to create communication, but I, I suppose you can use a fear tactic in a way and say, if we don’t come together if we don’t actually figure out what are fact versus not. We’re going to be in a really bad situation. These things will happen. So that’s I never really thought about using fear to guide people to Clarity. Uh, well,

[David Grant]

Just as much as fear people want positive, and people want good. Do they, they do? Do they right, they do? I people you don’t turn on the news when, like, you can’t appeal to that. Yeah, people people

[Gregg Potter]

Think they want happiness and peace, but deep down in. I’m down in our in our in our cave dwelling DNA. We are driven by fear.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Yeah, exactly.

[David Grant]

People are drawn to both lights. Yeah, and I think they are much easier drawn to the light of fear in their privacy of their own screens and their things like that. But I think when you are in public? And I think when you were? Outside in the sunshine, people want the positive in the in the bright, and you can. You can take it there and but you, you can’t turn an issue okay, like this like that, that that issue which I know is such a predominant mindset for us of this, this whole, what are we going to do with the trial? You can’t take the positive spin into that. Okay, no, you can’t take you. You can’t do a position, but you can take a larger one, which to me is the more important one, which is Saint Pete. Is this vibrant, thriving community? We are amazing. Everyone wants to be here. And here’s why. And that’s, like, I literally because I did. I delve into this with no backstory, not being part of this first meeting, and I’m like, well, what exactly are you trying to do here? Yeah, and

[Doug Jackson]

I apologize, because these topic handouts we actually didn’t give them out ahead of time last time, uh, but they’re just to get ideas and get a conversation going.

[David Grant]

But that whole idea of building Community, I’m, like, yeah, what or what? Okay, what is that? How do you make it a positive and I was, like, well, you know, what I do is, I create a group that’s called Saint Pete shines? And I would be everywhere Talking about their. Here’s the five things that are most prevalent right now. That is making this place shine. Right and not becoming, uh, not taking sides publicly. Topic two. On what to do? That’s a private. That’s a back door with the people that actually have the money and make the decisions and have influence them. But just being a beacon in a spotlight and showing up in places where people are looking for that light, right?

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Ah, scientifically speaking. Behavior change strategies work with joy, as well as fear. And you know, you can think of the monster’s ink rule that actually Joy will will pre will flood your brain with more neurotransmitter chemicals than, um, that that make the synapse all of this. It’s a good thing to go for a joyful campaign. I love what you’re saying. If it also has the meat of, you know, we’re not just trying to put a :-) sticker over an empty gas gauge we want to. We want to say this is a great place to live. Here’s why, and here’s what we’re doing to deal with the very real issues, like we want Ryan to stay, we we don’t want him to leave, You know, we? We want A new generation to step into leadership positions and for them to be ready for it. So, so here’s part of this, we we are shining campaign, which. I Love. By the way, I think has to have some kind of a, you know, here are four pillars or the things that we’re working on that. We’re actually engaging in systems.

[David Grant]

Yeah that was Kind of my point promote in public influence in private. Love it! Okay,

[Nicole Waters]

I love the idea and this is not a New Concept coming. I’m previously a credit union person. But I’m also an individual business owner that completely believes in the co-op. Mission right, and to your point, you know, when you have residents who think of themselves as a stakeholder and you Empower them to get behind this campaign and also the work that needs to be done. Then they feel engagement and people will be mobilized by feeling that they are part of a community, but we have to define the community and we have to invite people in, and we have to let them feel proud about what we’ve done and also acknowledge the work that needs to be done and having that Co-op.

[Nicole Waters]

Reality that you are not an innocent bystander who just pays taxes, but you are vested as a stakeholder, and that’s what makes us different. That’s what makes us special. I think this is a huge recipe for the I think mobilization that is required to create the change that we’re looking for. I love it. And

[Ryan Phalen]

Speaking to that though. Saint Pete leadership screwed up. They did not handle The hurricane. Well, I mean, we’re now nine months removed from the hurricane, and I still don’t think they’ve recovered. And Rather than address it, and No One’s Gonna Blame them for three hurricanes in 60 days. No one’s gonna blame them for any of that. I Feel Like they disappeared. And I’m speaking as a homeowner who my home was not impacted. My business was not impacted, so in some regards, I have that survivor’s guilt. Like, I shouldn’t be talking about this. Um, but the little that I, I observed, is, you know, the people who have no homes who have no businesses couldn’t find their leadership. Yeah, they Couldn’t find it. I mean, they can’t even get permits. I mean, somebody’s got a permit last month. They still can and. And we’re not owning that, and I think it all makes us different than a Philadelphia, a Boston, and New York. Is those cities are ready to hang their leadership when something goes wrong. We’re a very forgiving and accommodating City. We will work with leadership in the case of mistakes when you can’t control three hurricanes back to back to back, but but they’ve disappeared, and they’ve alienated their residents, and they’re still nine months later. Kind of leaving us alienated,

[David Grant]

I came from Fort Myers When I moved up here. I flip through. A hurricane a season. For 20 years. Yeah. They got good at it, Right? They they got. They got cut out. Where the opportunity lies with the fact that, yes. This has very been very poorly executed, continues to be poorly executed. It goes back to the original thing that you said. Investing your mind. Share in local leadership. Has proven to be more important than ever, right? And here’s the demonstration of why it failed. Right. Our leadership has failed us because we as Citizens didn’t really focus on what kind of leaders we wanted, who we wanted to put in the position. Right, It goes back to. We gave way too much airspace to these things. Okay, You can’t be A single issue, you know, business. You can’t be a single issue. Government, and, and so, yeah, our, you know, as as Leaders? Focusing on influencing who’s in those seats and who’s in those office and who has those positions so that these things happen because you are affected by this, okay, right? One Of the Reasons why it’s why Saint Pete hasn’t toppled yet, because Southwest Florida is toppling. I don’t know if you guys realize that Cape Coral Naples Bonita Springs? Um, 14 Lucy on the east side pot six of the top. Uh, declining home sales in the United States are in Florida. Right now, it’s it’s. It’s toppling, so good news, bad news, right. Good news is, is your place is going to you’re? You know, things will pop up for you. Bad news is, yeah. You’re going to sell Your house for less right now, so it it’s kind of conundrum, but it happened because. We’ve got this concentration of a bunch of people that are just stuck. You know? Right, because we haven’t moved fast enough

[Doug Jackson]

When you say, stuck. What do you mean they’re stuck?

[David Grant]

They haven’t got resolution on their homes, right? They had to get out of their homes and rent or or purchase something else. They’re if we’re in Shore Acres, the value of your home is now 50 percent of what it was before you’re stuck, right? You’re making a decision. Do I build up? Do I, you know, do I do? I take the loss, leave Florida. They’re stuck, You know, what’s That Doesn’t? A lot of them are leaving Florida, but A lot of people, yeah, objective having, leaving Florida, um, so? They’re stuck. Things are slowed, right? Correct? We’re not permitting. We’re not turning things around, you know. We’ve got. You know all of these? Affordable, affordable housing units, apartments, and things like that

[Ryan Phalen]

Well. And then, my big question is, I’m sorry, David. You’ve got a great point, but June 1st is right around the corner. What lessons have we learned, right? What policies are in place so that if it happens again, even if it’s just one storm or tropicals. We have to remember Milton and Helene didn’t hit us dead on. Yeah, you Know they were 100 miles outside of the area, so if we even get this one little storm, what have we learned and put in place so that this doesn’t happen again? Because that will completely correct, so it might not be this year. It could be next year, and if we don’t have something in place. That’s when people really, they’re stuck, and they just quit. They’re gonna walk away. Yeah,

[David Grant]

Well, that, that, yeah, you’re right. This summer, it really could topple it. Could there’s a lot of people that could could cry afoul if it comes through all right.

[Doug Jackson]

Greg, you got the last point before we move on to the next topic. I

[Gregg Potter]

Think it’s hilarious, though, that every group I’m in, we’re having the same conversation. You said it, you said it, you said it, you said it, you alluded to it, but didn’t say it. We say, well, there’s been a, there’s been definitely not a great response, I, you know, I’ll say this. I’ll say the response from the city, the actually doing shit part was decent. The messaging was. Not, I don’t know. I wouldn’t say it was bad because there wasn’t one mess it. You know, shitty messaging would require some sort of message, but I think for too long. And it’s amazing! I, I don’t care what the conversation is, I say this. I am tired of fucking with it. That’s one the stadium. Get past it for 20 years that I’ve lit 25 now years. I’ve lived in St Pete, that’s been a discussion, and I think when it comes to the city when it comes to a lot of people when it comes to the city council when it comes to a lot of these leadership groups. It’s when it comes to the chamber, it sucks so much oxygen out of the room every time that if we could have applied. We should Be doing something like we could be. I don’t know, build condos, build a puppy play park, I don’t care, do something if we’d have done that. Five years ago, everyone would be saying, man, there’s a lot of progress Out there, and The gas plant district, and hey, hurricanes are coming. We should start doing things about this, and I think for too long that has taken up way too much time, effort, and money from the city of Saint Pete’s government and. What too much Headspace.  Yeah, it’s. It’s, it’s. It’s. It’s occupying. It’s so, and it’s, it’s amazing that I, I, you know, I sit in a lot of different rooms. I get to some of them on time, and it doesn’t matter what the topic is. The Frog comes up. And. Again, I’m just tired of dealing with it, you know, going back to the, you know, I’m still trying to. We’ll talk later off if you know more about the, the no trout thing, because? You won’t say it on tape, but everybody here knows I don’t care that. It. There is something going on there with who was backing that because the people that were opposed to the Trop, weren’t you know? I’m going to call the middle income as Saint Pete goes. It wasn’t people in Kenwood. It wasn’t people south of 175 it wasn’t businesses downtown. It was Rich, old, white people in Old Northeast. I live in Old Northeast.  Apologies.  When that was happening, I’m walking around my neighborhood, going man. This movement is huge. The rich, old white people don’t even want that. And I stepped three blocks out of Old Northeast, not peep about it. So we’re going to talk because there’s something funny, unless it’s just the nimby attitude That is original white people, but there was No, there’s. There Something probably a larger group of people that there’s some money involved in that somewhere, where somebody had some money online funding that that was not a neighborhood sitting at the potluck going, you know, this Stadium thing we need to get? We need to? Because there was something going on.

[Nicole Waters]

I don’t know if we need to take up more of this space on on that, because that thing that was going on. I think to your point and I, we have to More research, but is? Is not? It was not rooted in the benefit of the people or honoring the people that, you know, should really have a problem with it, so we, we can definitely talk about it.

[Doug Jackson]

But, well, we need  to move into our next topic, which sorry, Greg. We’re going to mess with the stadium a little bit more, uh, I, I will. I will topic one with this. What David said that we need to be shareholders is exactly right, and we need To when we hear, because a lot of the people in this around This table are on boards, and when we hear information, we do need to be sharing it ourselves, because especially if there’s no messaging, maybe we need to be the message in the interrupt? Make sure that you’re sharing things. Make sure that you are because we do have social media now, so it’s easy to if you see something good, share it. Let people know because I think that that information is not being closed.

[David Grant]

So You absolutely, you guys, especially. They’re very involved in a whole number of organizations and boards, like. The leadership of those groups need to go to the government and demand some accountability in messaging. Really, I mean, tell us what we should be telling. Everyone else that in in, instead of waiting. Proactively get in front of. Whoever runs PR whoever is that that leadership group and go? What’s the messaging strategy that the downtown Alliance needs to know about? The chamber needs to know about the edge District needs to know about. All these groups need to know about Because You are sitting there going. Nobody’s telling us what to do well, maybe walking, you know, take the take the journey up the Mountaintop and ask for a couple tablets. Take back,

[Doug Jackson]

All right, all right. I like that idea. Thank you for concluding on that. All right, the next topic is a continuation really of what we were talking about last time. The uncertainty with Tropicana Field, and what are we going to do about? Are we going to keep talking about it for 20 years, uh? A lot of uncertainty here, but I think part of my idea is that we need to push forward and try to be persuasive, because right now there’s a lot of opportunity. One of the things we ended up talking about, Greg, said last time. Hey, maybe we’re not a major league City minor leagues cooler anyway. I think I’m paraphrasing Nicole was talking about because we’re talking about the Rays or the anchor tenant, right? And that’s part of why we believe, as far as we know, because again, not great messaging, uh, the Hines are out, uh, because if there’s no anchor tenant, what are there? Is it going to be piecemeal and Nicole was talking about well? What if, what if it’s not just an anchor tenant? It’s, it’s a whole almost system. Soul, you got. You got the heart, the organs, whatever, and so part of what I want to do today is, instead of just talking about things, is try to push us forward. And so, I’ve supplied everyone with kind of a white paper that we can discuss kind of ideas because I want to take this group and use it as as a brainstorming session, so the firm can Advocate ideas and maybe send it to leadership to To persuade influence, give ideas to because right now, I doubt that anyone has any idea what’s going to happen. And, and there’s a lot of uncertainty, right? Because there’s there seems to be a lot of pressure. Rumor has it on the owner of the race selling the raise, which then could give life to a new deal. It could take the race out of out of uh Saint Pete entirely, we don’t know, but that being said, my position and, and I think that David might disagree with me on this, which will make for an interesting topic is that we should be advocating for a plan moving forward so that we don’t have an empty parking lot, Uh, an abandoned stadium for 20 years, so I’ll I’ll open up and David. You look like you’re you’re amped up, ready to say something.

[David Grant]

I’m curious to know who.

[Gregg Potter]

Who?

[David Grant]

Would you intend to Advocate to? That’s the question.

[Doug Jackson]

Well, Yeah, right now, it’s my my plan is to try to get. Some kind of consensus on what maybe we should do and look at even alternate options. Not saying, hey look, let’s get rid. Let’s count the Rays out. I think we need a bit of a contingency plan of hey, maybe the raise. Maybe they’re going to sell, and this is good, but we also can’t just sit on our hands and and hope that they do something either, um, one. One of the possibilities is the they now have the Rays lost the development rights now, so the city has those development rights back so they can start. Something. Now the problem is, if they start doing something and they do it piecemeal without a master plan, it’s going to be hard if another baseball team wants to come in or something like that. So, one one of the things I could probably start doing is kind of like a parking structure. Maybe some of the parks and green spaces stuff like this. Any way that they were already talking about because right now it’s a useless piece of land. But to go back to your question because I’ve kind of been, I’ve diverted a little bit. Get get. Get the opinion. And then start pushing it towards send letters to to the city. Send letters to the mayor. Send letters to to the leadership, the different organizations. We’re a part of to, and it doesn’t need to be the same opinion, but I think the opinion needs to be, hey, let’s do something. Let’s come up with some kind of a plan, even if it has contingencies, even if it’s okay. We’re gonna wait this long to see if the raise come back on board or if if they sell the stadium. And then we’re gonna have to move forward because otherwise, we’re it’s going to be 2029, the Pieces up. And the. Made me move, we don’t know. And then, so we’ve waited four years, and nothing’s happened. And now, we’re back in the same position when we were for the last. How many years, Greg?

[Gregg Potter]

For Me 25, 25.

[David Grant]

Well, my my objection to it is. There are so many other things to talk about. There are so many other things. Why get caught in the wash of of something that at the end of the day, like Major League Baseball is already determined whether they want to be here or not. And their decision is going to determine if the ownership stays or if they can force him out. You know, my understanding is, they would prefer to be in Saint Petersburg in Tampa Bay. Their preference will be because of the growth of the Sarasota. Uh. You just throw, we’re gonna throw a new idea into the mix without the financial. Without Showing up with the money to make it happen. It is that the best use because at the at the at the simplest terms right in in the city. That’s a land use. Um, conversation. It’s all about millions well. Transportation is is a critical part of what we need to be concerned of, and, and how are we approaching once these things finally get done here on Central Avenue? And as we expand in reading about the Pinellas Trail project. If that moves forward to me, I’m like, okay, great. You’ve opened up the opportunity for the artist to be the next Wynwood, you want to, you want to turn Saint Petersburg into something she’s been there and? Did what, what? A what an opportunity like, there’s all these other things education. Uh, is, is so important, so critical, our housing issues so critical. It’s, it’s. Is it the best use of your R in our others time to go? Hey, we really need to focus in on this thing because I’m sure the last 25 years just set us up for you’re ready to make a decision for something that’s not going to car for another four or five years. Right. In a best case scenario. It’s not going to happen for another three, four years well. Central Avenue is going to be reshaped. Six months from now. The opportunity to turn into something is incredible, the arts district. Just Lost two key people on the on the association. Well, why did they lose it? Was it Federal funding that caused it? Well, wouldn’t our community want to step up and find a way to to make that good? Like, what? What’s the reason is that? Is that an area that we want to get into? So, to me, when I read this, I, I just, I kept going back to why? So now! That I’ve said that tell me why.

[Doug Jackson]

Because there is momentum right now, people people care about this. I mean, this is going to be, then summertime is going to be really interesting because the Rays summertime’s slow in St Petersburg anyway, and being on the the board of the edge District with the Kohl’s, the vice president. We’re the discussions that we’re worried about the businesses because the raised crowd does drive a lot of business, and without them there, it’s going to to be problematic, then also just historically you’ve had this. Problem that the Rays stadium is a divider. It divides really from the north side from the south side, and if you could get parks and things like that. If you could get people there, you’re you’re going to build something that’s better with the community, your point. I do think that these things are going to develop anyway. If we wait four years before we start talking about what to do then? When we start talking there, it’s going to be another five years before anything gets done. So, I think we need to continue this conversation while the conversation’s hot, because Because as we were kind of talking about with, how do you get people to to get behind a message? Well, don’t don’t let it get cold is one of my my opinions for how you do that, and I do think that it’s an important. I think that that gas plant District, whether it’s it’s today, and they they say, hey, you look, we’re coming back to the the table with a new idea, or it’s 10 years from now. I think that that is going to be really a heart of Saint Pete because it’s in a non-flood zone too, which is like, I hate to say it got to be a really important thing. Uh, because the seawater seems to be getting warmer, uh, we don’t have a plan for what happens if we have another bad hurricane season, so I, I think that that is one of the key pieces of development, and I don’t think that we can stop talking about it.

[Nicole Waters]

I’d like to make a comment. I think we need more people at this table, or maybe a different voice. Um, and the only reason I say this is because I’m kind of caught conflicted. I don’t want to not talk about it because it is what I feel, and we’ve had this conversation, the heartbeat of St Pete, right? Like, I feel like that land has so much potential. But we’re really naive to. Thank you guys that. Wheels aren’t turning. I, I have spoken to developers who are already mobilizing about rear, resurrecting their proposals. There’s conversations going on. There are people talking about this land decisions are being made, and we are naive to sit here and think, just because we’re not hearing about it, because we, because poor communication, the lack of communication things aren’t happening. I can assure you something’s happening. There are things happening. There are conversations being had with the MLB and the players union and the city and the governor, I mean. The problem is, is that we are not hearing about it. We are all Community leaders, and we are out in the dark here. And so we are left to be frustrated, and we are left to be feeling like, well. What do we get behind or what aren’t we getting behind or what’s next? Exactly what I was talking about at the beginning of this conversation? We just what is the campaign? What is what are the two tablets that you said we’d go to the mountain?

[Doug Jackson]

So, so if we do this, one of two things happens one. We, we make people feel good, like, hey, at least, someone’s talking to us and it falls on deaf ears or two. We, we, it doesn’t fall on deaf ears. And they say, actually, guys, we already have these other plans in the works, and then we can say, oh, great! Thanks for sharing with us. Let’s help message this better. Um, so I, I don’t think that it’s a useless topic. And Greg, you were about to say something.

[Gregg Potter]

I 100, think it is not a useless topic as tired as I am of talking about it. I want to be done talking about it, and I’ll Say this not to not to dismiss your point, but You Say that there’s people with plants? Yeah, part of my business Is actually commercial development side, I I, probably I, I don’t know. I, I know more about some things that are going on in downtown than a lot of people do. That’s the story I’ve been hearing for 24 years. Oh, trust me, trust me. There’s things that I have. I don’t know how long the rest of you guys have been here. I’ve been through the Trump is going to move to the airport, and they’re going to redevelop that. All right, the Trump is going to move to the soccer stadium. They’re gonna be. The Trump is going to stay there. Bill Edwards and and the city are going to do a land swap. They’re going to move the soccer team there. We’re gonna have a major League Soccer Team. By the way, I went through that one too. Yeah, to say that. Plans are in place. I agree, I mean people are scheming. I’m not going to say they’re planning. I’m like, it is 100, and I know some of the people that are scheming that are saying, look, man. This thing fell apart. This hindsteel fell apart. I want a piece of it. Well, hell, yeah, me too. Man, There’s Nothing wrong with that. But, You know, I’m a. I gotta pay my mortgage too, so I get it, but What I say to that is? And going. You know what? I think going back to what you said now is we are some people that have some influence in the community. My piece is very small, but I’m part of bigger pieces, and those pieces are part of bigger pieces, and then you it’s the doing something about it. We can sit in this room and solve all the world’s problems. But unless we we take that out to our bigger Circle. It’s slightly bigger, Circle a slightly bigger Circle. It doesn’t matter, and so I think it’s important right now that to your point. The topic has a lot of momentum because it Was Thrust into the Forefront in the last two years of. Again, We’re we’re making this a big issue. We are doing this. Again, we’ve spent enough time and effort on it. It has some momentum. The hardest thing to do is let it stall and get the momentum going again because. Okay. On a good note, we’ll stop talking about it for four years. Yeah, I Mean, but then We’re going to be back here in four years, all of us will be four years older, And it’s Not good for our community for it to be. Well, yeah, Our our general population. Me included. We thought this was a done deal twice, and now we think it’s a not gonna do done deal a third time like it, Then so. And it’s going to be a done deal. In 2029, the deal will be done at Some point In 2029. This ends, and it sounds like a long way away, but it is, it is not. It is coming up fast. Yeah, you

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Know, I think going back to the original question of how do we? How do we help and support Saint Petersburg? And I think that it’s two-pronged, it’s it’s we have immediate needs. We’ve got to be focusing on the the fires that are here today. The permitting, the hurricane preparedness, all of that. And we have needs to develop a sustainable future for this community, and I think the gas plant Redevelopment is a huge piece of, uh, you know, an opportunity for that, if done correctly, and our voices could? Help with that issue, and so I think that it’s not an either or thing. I think it has to be an and thing if you really want to, if you really care about the sustainability of of the and and not buy into the graying of this community that we’re gonna we’re gonna age out. We’re gonna go. We’re gonna go away for one reason or another.

[Gregg Potter]

Well, we were all dead when I got here 24 years ago. Yeah,

[Doug Jackson]

Your moving to Saint Pete. Greg brought it to life right here.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Yeah, yeah.

[Doug Jackson]

And I will say too. I mean, in terms of even talking about hurricanes, one thing that I didn’t realize until the the roof got pulled off. Is that we actually have a lot of First Responders that we we kept there? And that’s why, in my proposal, hey look, even if this, uh? The baseball State baseball doesn’t stay here. We, we should have a large facility. I looked at a multi-use sports facility, largely because I was like baseball is a really bad use of space as it turns out, and you can do things with a like Square Fields a lot more you could have. You could have basketball cheerleading matches people coming from worldwide to come here, but also, I want a large facility where we can house First Responders in case of hurricanes, because right now, we, I don’t know how. What a thousand First Responders were supposed to be there, and we have. I don’t know where we’re going to put them.

[David Grant]

The airport, the airport. That’s where every every other city Does. It’s they’ll be at the airport,

[Doug Jackson]

Okay, but I’d rather have them here in Saint Petersburg versus across the bridge or no,

[David Grant]

No, the the the Saint Pete clearwater. That’s the natural place.

[Ryan Phalen]

I Wanted to speak to that. I have two random thoughts is when I think of Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago. The Mercedes Dome was the staple that held the city together. That was the play, the place of Refuge, and they still speak very highly of how Mercedes helped them get through the storm. Our storm came, and Tropicana folded real quick, and I feel like it’s a good personification of what the the Rays have done for our community is man. We have high esteem for them, and they let us down every year. You know, they put together, and I know they’ve had a good stretch baseball wise. They’ve been mediocre. They don’t properly invest in the team they’ve had luck.  Because I’ve had some good young players, but they haven’t been a true investment into our community. And I think our community feels that, and we keep getting duped. Oh, this is the year. This is the deal. This is the opportunity, and they they continue to be building a relationship built on, you know, sand, and we’re having a hard time really trusting them. Um, so you know? That’s, that’s point one, the second point, and, and this is really outside the box, but? This January last January, the WWE came to town and they rat the the Trump. I’m a huge wrestling fan. They weren’t allowed to say they were in Tampa Bay. They were only allowed to say they were in Saint Petersburg. They were only allowed to the visitors bureau had paid the x amount of dollars, and they said this is a Saint Petersburg event. Welcome to Saint Petersburg for the Royal Rumble is very, very clear. It was a Saint Pete event and we do pride ourselves on calling us Tampa Bay. But what support are we getting from Tampa? What support are we getting from Sarasota? We keep saying, how is St Petersburg going to benefit well. Are we deferring our identity as as Saint Petersburg hoping that we’re going to get support from other communities to come and build up this this team this network these these businesses? Or is it Saint Petersburg? Oh, you’re too far away, Tampa’s not coming, so maybe what a rebranding be important to call us. The Saint Pete raise to call, can I get it? I get. We’re very Tampa Bay centric. But if we’re not getting the benefit of, you know, I’ll go to a lightning game. I’ll go to a Bucks game. Will they come to a race game, and if not, I think we need to have a different perspective of it.

[Doug Jackson]

And, and another thing, you and I spoke about is Ryan. Is that, uh? I, I know where Foxboro is. I would have no idea where Foxboro is, except that I know that there’s a football team that plays not in Boston, but in Foxboro, and okay, fine baseball fans. It might be limited to baseball fans, but they know where Saint Petersburg is because we have. We have something like this, and so we it’s on a map? I mean, it is on a map. We’re not just Tampa. People know where Saint Pete is. And so, yeah, this is. In terms of looking at the gas plant District, whether it’s the race or something else, this is we need it to be a place that draws, draws, tourism, draws people here, like, like, the WWE, uh event.

[Jenean Merkel Perelstein]

Yeah, I went down a rabbit hole, um, looking at statistics, and I brought copies if anybody wants this. But, uh, of the demographic, psychographics, and economic impact of an MLB franchise on a community, and it’s not good. I mean it. Benef, like in the large scheme, it benefits older white men. With, uh, higher from a higher Association. Right, and I think that again, like, going, I don’t want to, you know, like? Really driving this this home, but if you’re looking at the future of one kind of repairing relations across racial divides, but then two looking into the future of, you know, how are we building something that can that can uplift and benefit everybody? Then I think the multi-use, uh, makes way more sense in terms of the the, um Goals that this group is talking about. I don’t know, you know, the goals that other groups that are looking at this place are talking about, but for me and, and as I’m looking at Equity, I think that that MLB across the board does not provide that answer for us.

[Doug Jackson]

Weirdly enough, I think this may change because the and all the MLB hates the Savannah bananas because they see them as competition. I actually think the Savannah bananas are going to groom a new generation of baseball fans because they’re gonna give. Are going to grow up being, like, I love this fan of bananas, but I’m getting a little old for this. So, let me watch real baseball now, so I wonder if that right that will change?

[Ryan Phalen]

Yeah, basketball, yeah? What?

[David Grant]

What do you guys think Saint Petersburg is becoming?

[Gregg Potter]

What’s a comparison? We’re becoming Saint Pete, you’re becoming Saint Pete. We’ve never had this conversation before, but this is the hill I die on as the conference, and I’ll just say this something that something that drives me nuts is. People say that, say, and I don’t realize you’re not saying this, but we’re not becoming anything. We’re becoming Saint Pete. We’re not the next Austin. We’re not the next. Whoever we are or not that we’re the next Saint. Pete, and I think that’s a problem that Saint Pete. Again, in the time I’ve lived here, Saint Pete went from Tampa’s little ugly little stepbrother to, you know, the last 10 years Tampa going shit. What’s going on over there? And you know, for a long time, people said, oh, you know, we, we should be like, we should be the next tent. I’m like, no, we should just be the next station. Be the same piece. I mean, you have to look outside and see, you know, there’s other communities. But St Pete is a really strange Strange town, and I love it, and I hate it. And it’s, and they’re all wrapped in together. It’s part of the same being that this is a city. That essentially didn’t exist 50 years ago. It really didn’t. I mean, Saint Pete existed, but. You know, this is a city that didn’t exist 25 years ago, like it is now. And it’s, it’s a it’s amazing, the boom that the town is having, and again. The closest thing to Saint Pete, which is, which is what I said is in Austin. And um? You know, Saint Pete doesn’t need to be the next Austin. It needs to be the next Saint Pete, but we need to look at Austin and learn from a lot of their mistakes and sure. And, and that’s fine, but you know, people? It’s funny. This was a slight digression, but this was always something that I found humorous as people are, like, oh well. Back to the ways you know people like, oh, well, there’s not a lot of Rays fans, and I’m like, I mean, I, I grew up all over the world, so this doesn’t apply to me, but I know, you know, a good friend of mine is a huge die-hard New England fan. He’s a, he’s a Boston Red Sox through and through. Lived, lived in St Pete for 30 years. He goes, no, he said, because. He grew Up In Boston. He’s like, no, we would go and get on the train and go to the Red Sox games with my dad and my uncle, and that’s part of his identity, and that I think seeps into a lot of other areas of any City that, you know. I’ve lived in some Midwest towns that have that identity. I wasn’t part of it because I’m not from there, but that’s something that Saint Pete is starting to develop. And I think that’s a good thing because we as and we as the Saint, Pete, and whole we have a chance to figure it out along the way, what our identity is, and we’re starting to get to that point where we’re becoming a real grown-up City.

[David Grant]

I agree with you and I asked that question because I see in my sphere of where I’m at, which is not in Phoenix like this. So many 28, 30, 32 year olds. Migrating to Saint Pete? Yeah, they could give a shit about the Rays? Okay, they they can. They could care about the gas plant district. They’re being brought. They’re drawn by. This quirky, local side of this, they were brought by it’s it’s walkability, right? Why look at the team if I went to St Pete’s, like a no-brainer for me. Why would I want to go there? That’s old. That’s boring. This is Young. It’s vibrant like to me, and that is. That’s the parallel to us, the tech side of it a little bit, you know, Austin, they’re they’re trying Is populated up and down. This, you know, these floors? With a whole bunch of 32 year olds that are they’re here, and they’re getting ready to move into their. You know, make that migration from living in the apartments to getting their first home getting married. And if they stay, like? That’s where I see Saint Peter’s Saint Pete, going right. I see that. Great youth movement went from God’s waiting room to the second stop out of college. Did

[Gregg Potter]

You say they don’t care about the Rays? And they don’t care about the gas plant development, but they do because they care about the ecosystem that grows up around that.

[David Grant]

I agree with that. Yeah, and the Identity.

[Gregg Potter]

So they Say they can say, I know so many people that this is, I don’t. I don’t. A couple really good friends, and I’m kind of one of them. I, I like going to the Rays games. Doug gave me his tickets a couple times. I’ll hang out and watch a game, drink a beer. It’s fun. I’m not dying to go there. But I, I’m going to Fergs and watch a lot of other things and Ferbs exists. Say what you want about Ferguson Fergs exist because of the Rays period absolutely and and I’ll go actually go to the Lightning. According to Mark Ferguson. Well, what the lightning was, yeah, but For them now, Now, it, you know, yeah, they. They pay their bills, and there’s a lot of other places. You know, on Fridays, I’ll sit with my buddies down at happy hour on Central. And I’d say this to everybody that says, and I agree, the economics on paper of a baseball team are atrocious to the average person that said. The ecosystem that grows up around any large sports team or sports stadium is, you know? And I’ll sit down there on happy hour, and it’ll be somebody with the Yankees are in town. Well, now they’re in Tampa, but when you know when the Yankees are in town and on Fridays, you’ll see just people up and down Central. And you know, my buddies will say, ah, a fucking am. I’m like, they’re spending their money. You know what a stein offer? Always say, he said, we’re gonna take him. We’re gonna hold him upside down. We’ll shake them till all the money falls out of her pockets, we’ll go put him on a plane and send them back and Identity. Markers are important, but there are other ways to do it.

[David Grant]

That’s Different, but those are those are two different things, though, but that’s A that’s twenty eights or eleven here, but that’s, that’s true. That’s a tourism industry, Right, which is also important, which is more, which is important. And this is community, and so I and I think those. You know your earlier points? Absolutely correct. Yeah, you go to Fergs and you wear. I wear my Michigan stuff because Michigan alumni is there for us, Right? You Know, the Buckeye people are there. On the other side, we call them the cool people, the cool people. Yes, the other side like, so, so, yeah, you see that you see that identity play out it in fergs in in up and down here in the galley, and things like that, and that always exists. But I think things like the art district has just as much appeal. I think if the if the Pinellas Trail Comes to be, and They could start to really do some that momentum and create a little mini Beltline or something like that start, like? The appeal to the residents is just as strong As Building a baseball stadium or a multi-use stadium, a multi-use stadium is, is still tourism right by And large, Um, Actually, even more. So, oh Yeah, than or than A Rays Stadium. Is is a tourism drop? So, to me, there’s um. Not to, not to belabor the point, But It’s just there’s so many other things to talk about. And so, if you’re gonna, if we’re gonna go, walk a white paper. Expand the white paper. Here’s five things that we need to focus, not not one. I Agree with that, you know, And let. Let’s lean into the one, which is look. We appreciate the fact that you’re trying to figure out whether we’re going to have Major League Baseball or not, but in the interim, why you’re not. Can you make sure you got a backup plan of this, this, or this?

[Doug Jackson]

Well, David, I think you have good Insight. However, my my opinion is, you got to start with one of them before you can move on to the next because if we and and I, we do this in law sometimes where it’s like, look, there’s five arguments, but if we argue all five, they get muddied, so you got to focus on one and what I want to do with. This is as a monthly discussion is, is start to shape ideas. Start to press them forward. I mean, the the next month’s topic. We’re gonna try to take a break from this and talk about housing costs so that that. Then, I want to press that forward, too. But I, I will say, I’ve heard rumor that the city is planning to move forward with some developments with or without the raise. My big fear is that what I think we really need to do is, say, hey look, you need a plant because what some of the no home run stuff was talking about was this. We could get a lot more money if we sold it to highest and best use. Highest and best use is not that that St Pete quirkiness. It’s not that walkability, exactly. It’s a high-rise condos and and So, that’s why I think that this does need to be because I, I agree with you, and honestly, a lot of this. I mean, we talk about the deuces live. We talk that area can connect all of these places, and so even by talking about what the gas plant development you start spinning stuff off, and you can start doing other ideas. So, I, I would say, I would personally, and, and this is why we have these panels. I love these discussions, this one totally different than I thought it was going to go, uh. I would say that we start with one white paper, and because part of this is again the effect of communication, I I want to start like, do, do a letter release. It publicly get people like behind it to share it, but if we, if we muddy it by having too many things. It’s like Congress, where they they have a they have a bill, but they put in all these other things. And, and I think that it’s harder to share a point and get people behind it if we don’t kind of Really isolate some of these points. Um, but great discussion. It’s 10, 30, so we have to end this.  Yeah, we’ve had an incredible discussion today, touching I key issues affecting our industry’s community and future. Really, really interesting, not, not at all the way. I thought it was going to go, but I loved. I love that, uh. Before we wrap up, I want to take a moment to thank each of you for your time, insights, and participation. Your engagement is what makes lattes with the lawyer valuable and meaningful experience next month’s lattes with a lawyer? I hope to be just as exciting for next month. I know at this point we’ll be discussing housing costs in some some shape or form, uh, so we. Well, I’d like you to come back Ryan since you specifically talked about that. But, but each of you is will come back. The. As you know, this is made possible through the law firm, Douglas G, Jackson. I got to give myself a little plug, since we’re doing this, uh, we’re, uh. And to build our community. We also host other events. We’ve got three signature events each month. Obviously, this one latte is with a lawyer, which actually is changing times, uh. Next month, we’re going to do it. I think the second Friday at 10:15. 10,:15.

[Gregg Potter]

Oh, shit. I’ll be early for that one.

[Doug Jackson]

So that, uh, anyone who wants to attend the edges insights morning, uh, morning insights can actually come afterwards, uh. We also have a peach cleanup, which is every first out of the month of the month at 8:30 at pass a grill, so you can get your month started right and get back to our community. Education or band Workshop that allows us to network present, learn, collaborate, and grow. That takes place every third Thursday, except for November and December. It takes place from 11 30 to 2 p.m., So make sure you check out our upcoming events and register at our website www.kelulaction.com events slash events. Next one? I hope you’ll tell everyone about this. And finally, before we close, we have to do the the group photo. I, unfortunately, I now, but she had to go, so that’s all right. She doesn’t get to be in the photo. It’s her loss, so I’m still recording here. So, can you, uh, Alexis? Oh, I have to have the officials. Yes, grab your mug. You don’t

[Gregg Potter]

Want your who dat from Steen hatching.

[Alexis Egozcue]

Yeah, oh wow,

[David Grant]

What scrolls in? Yeah.

[Alexis Egozcue]

One, two, three. And we’ll do one more. Get in nice and tight one, two, three. Perfect!

[Doug Jackson]

All right, so don’t forget your gifts and signature lattes with the lawyer mug. Thank you again for being here. I look forward to seeing you all the next lattes with the lawyer. Hello, David and Ryan those.