Newsletter | October 2024
BRIGHT members gathered for our Community Problems Assembly on October 24. This amazing night allowed us to accomplish needed business while making tremendous progress on our Affordable Housing campaign with our first ever Candidate Forum. Not only did we have our largest attendance for this event to date, we got public commitments from five candidates in all three districts to work with us on funding the county’s Workforce Housing Trust Fund!
Our Education Research Committee celebrated positive momentum for reading achievement in Brevard County Schools with a special update shared on behalf of Tara Harris, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. Yet, as we heard the reports of our listening process, it was clear that there is so much work still to do.
There were dozens of different community problems shared in our house meetings this year, but affordable housing and mental health were the primary topics of discussion. We also heard many stories about the lack of affordable elder care, childcare, and care for those with disabilities.
Heart wrenching stories about the struggle to get by and afford a decent place to live came to us from every walk of life and background this year. We heard two personal testimonies on Thursday night: one about local teachers struggling to afford basic necessities due to their high rent costs and one from a BRIGHT member on disability who has been waiting for four years for Section 8! Hearing this, the assembled members voted to focus our work on affordable housing and reading achievement this year, strategically choosing to win more ground on housing before taking on a new problem area.
BRIGHT Members also voted to elect Bennie Jackson Jr. as the new Treasurer of BRIGHT.
Having completed our business, we capped off the evening with our Candidate Forum. Each candidate for County Commission, as well as Commissioners Goodson and Feltner, were invited to take part in our Candidate Forum focused on affordable housing.
Candidates Bryan Bobbitt (District 1), Katie Delaney (District 1), Nathan Slusher (District 1), Yvonne Minus (District 3), and Vinnie Taranto (District 5) participated and shared their vision with our membership.
Each candidate was asked the following “Yes or No” questions and answered as follows:
Do you agree that the lack of affordable housing is a serious problem in Brevard County?
Bryan Bobbitt - YES
Katie DeLaney - YES
Nathan Slusher - YES
Yvonne Minus - YES
Vinnie Taranto - YES
If elected, will you meet with the BRIGHT Affordable Housing Research Committee to discuss potential revenue streams by February 28, 2025?
Bryan Bobbitt - YES
Katie DeLaney - YES
Nathan Slusher - YES
Yvonne Minus - YES
Vinnie Taranto - YES
If elected, will you commit to attending the BRIGHT Action Assembly on April 1, 2025 to report on progress toward a dedicated revenue stream?
Bryan Bobbitt - YES
Katie DeLaney - YES
Nathan Slusher - YES
Yvonne Minus - YES
Vinnie Taranto - YES
If elected, will you introduce or support a motion to direct county staff to prioritize residents making less than 60% of the area median income for affordable housing created through our Workforce and Supportive Housing Trust Fund?
Bryan Bobbitt - YES
Katie DeLaney - YES
Nathan Slusher - NO
Yvonne Minus - YES
Vinnie Taranto - YES
Our affordable housing committee also gave each candidate open time to share how they would fund our Workforce Housing Trust Fund, if elected. Each candidate had a unique approach.
Bryan Bobbitt suggested making developers pay for the cost by requiring a percentage of new homes and apartments to be affordable. Katie DeLaney felt that we should redirect some of the tourism development tax that is currently going to advertising. She also emphasized the need to reach out to state legislators and bring our state taxes home to Brevard. Nathan Slusher recommended the creation of completely new funding sources. Yvonne Minus believes that there is room in the general budget. From there, she would look to the Tourism Development Tax and reserves to fund the county’s housing trust fund. Vinnie Taranto recommended bringing more taxes back from Tallahassee, in particular SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program) Funds. Mr. Taranto also recommended using expired CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) funds for the trust fund.
While BRIGHT does not endorse any candidate or party, we hope that this forum will help our members to be more informed voters at the ballot box.
While we are still waiting for the results of this election, it is a huge step forward to have candidates in three districts in support of funding for our housing trust fund! After years of work on this issue, we may be much closer to our needed majority of County Commissioners on November 6th. Thank you to all of our clergy and leaders for working so hard to make this assembly a success!
Take action in the coming season by joining the Affordable Housing or Education Research Committee! The Research Process Kickoff will be held Thursday, December 5th at 7pm in the Dining Room at Suntree United Methodist Church. This gathering will provide a critical orientation to the research process for new committee members so you’ll know what to expect when you attend a research meeting. Then, you will be kept informed about all our upcoming research meetings with local leaders and experts in these fields. Just come to the meetings you can - we know you won’t be able to make it to them all. It’s a flexible commitment that’ll make you even more informed and passionate about this work.
On October 3rd, BRIGHT clergy gathered for our first ever clergy caucus, a time of fellowship, bible study, and power building.