Newsroom
Karl on Economic Solutions for St. Pete Citizens
Bank on a better future (SPT 1/26/09)
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“…. Karl Nurse (has) a capital idea: establish a program that teaches low-income residents financial literacy while helping them open bank accounts … Bank on St. Petersburg could greatly benefit low-income residents, potentially raising their standard of living by as much as 5 percent. In turn, the entire community would benefit.”
Report says 'green' jobs could energize Florida's economy (SPT 3/9/08)
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“Green jobs could put Florida's unemployed back to work, a new report released Tuesday predicted. Investing in "clean" energy could produce 123,756 jobs in Florida…. ‘Shifting to clean energy will put more people to work and revitalize our economy at a time when many Americans are hurting,’ St. Petersburg City Council member Karl Nurse…”
Karl on Open and Fair Government
Karl Nurse: A Lobbyist for Good Things
(Creative Loafing 9/26/07)
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“Through his 30 years of work as an environmental and community activist, Nurse has had his hands in everything from living-green initiatives to affordable housing and homeless issues. He serves on the Pinellas County Homeless Task Force and the St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services board… Nurse has a knack for bringing together groups of people with varying agendas by illustrating how their goals overlap.”
Council member wants a review after Jabil deal (SPT 7/4/08)
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“The City Council's newest member called for a review Thursday of the city's economic development deals in the wake of disclosures that the city secretly set aside millions in public dollars to persuade a private business to stay… Nurse said the city should shine a light on economic deals in the future.”
It's about time: Debates on TV (SPT 11/07/08)
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“For years, the largest of Pinellas County's 24 cities refused to televise local election debates. Finally, the blackout will lift in 2009…Credit a recent newcomer to the council for dragging the city into the 1990s. Karl Nurse, appointed to the City Council in April to fill a vacancy, started pushing the issue over the summer.”
Televise 'under the radar' St. Petersburg council talks (SPT 7/12/09)
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Council member Karl Nurse thinks that's wrong. At a recent City Council meeting, he asked his colleagues if the committee meetings could be televised. "The problem is that all the real discussion occurs at the committee level," Nurse said last week. "The discussion of any real issue is under the radar." ... Nurse's idea has a precedent: The Legislature has been broadcasting committee meetings statewide for years in recognition of the important work done there.
Karl on the Environment
Time to get moving on curbside recycling (SPT 9/18/08)
Full article
“City Council member Karl Nurse has offered a compromise that calls for weekly curbside yard waste collection during parts of the year and monthly curbside recycling collection for newspapers and other items. That would be worth exploring. So would more frequent collections that could be phased in by neighborhoods.”
St. Petersburg official calls for native plants in lawns, medians
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“The city's sprawling vistas of thirsty grass are costing taxpayers a lot of green, City Council member Karl Nurse announced last week. His solution: Replace lawns and grassy medians with native plants and encourage more residents to do the same…”
St. Petersburg might ban nitrogen-based fertilizer for summer (SPT 3/18/09)
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“Nurse said the council hopes that an educational campaign and cutting off the (nitrogen run-off) supply is enough to do the trick. He said St. Petersburg residents will see improvements most distinctly in the area's lakes, and that the ordinance should save money in the long run.
‘When we do this to our lakes, we eventually have to clean them up,’ Nurse said. He said the city has spent about $20 million on cleaning lakes in the past three years.”
Hybrid buses may roll by mid 2008 (SPT 3/4/07)
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/04/Neighborhoodtimes/Hybrid_buses_may_roll.shtml
"It looks like it's moving along," said Karl Nurse, a PSTA board member who has been trying to promote hybrids for several years.
The benefits of hybrids: They run cleaner, get better mileage and are quieter than regular buses, Nurse said.
Council to consider 'Green Cities' resolution (4/20/05)
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/04/20/Neighborhoodtimes/Council_to_consider__.shtml
“Karl Nurse, president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, said of the 200 policies that are standard for the Green Cities initiative, St. Petersburg does about 65 of them well.”
Posted: 10/23/2009
Councilman Karl Nurse receives the endorsement of The St. Pete Times
Karl Nurse, District 6
Karl Nurse has become the City Council's most creative, innovative and energetic member in the 18 months since he was appointed to fill an unexpired term. The longtime neighborhood leader's initiatives have benefited both his district and the entire city. Voters should return him to the council for a full term.
Nurse, 55, owns a successful printing business. Before joining the council, he was president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, chaired the city Planning Commission and founded the Living Green Expo.
As the recession took hold and threatened low-income residents of his district, Nurse initiated a city effort to educate residents on how to avoid foreclosure. With no banks conveniently located in his district and residents victimized by predatory lending, Nurse worked with other officials to recruit a credit union that will be Midtown's first financial institution.
An advocate for green initiatives, Nurse recently suggested a way to use utility tax revenue to help residents pay for energy efficiency upgrades of their homes. He also has worked to make city government more transparent and accessible. For example, he pushed and cajoled until other council members agreed to allow their council committee meetings to be televised. He also got more documents posted to the city Web site.
Looking ahead, Nurse will continue to focus on the revitalization of Midtown, expansion of a loan program to make homes more energy efficient and better relationships with county government. He supported the sidewalk vacation at BayWalk, and he supports redevelopment of the Tropicana Field site as part of any plans for a new stadium.
Vel Thompson, 51, a cosmetology student and former city employee who was fired for misconduct last year, is well-known in the district. But she is not well-prepared to handle the challenges that confront local governments. Nurse has demonstrated he can serve the needs of the city as a whole and District 6 in particular with energy and vision.
For District 6, the Times recommends Karl Nurse.
read the entire article here http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/for-a-better-st-petersburg-city-council/1044576
