We’re about 2 months away from the November elections.
To help better inform our election coverage, Central Florida Public Media has been doing a lot of listening through surveys and listening sessions, like the one we introduced last week.
ICYMI: MEET THE PARTICIPANTS HERE
Part of the conversation between the four Central Florida voters revolved around the local economy, from concerns about housing to living as a retired person.
National vs Local
“It’s the economy, stupid” is a famous phrase coined by Jim Carville in 1992, referencing that people often vote based on their pocketbook.
But, does that still hold true in 2024? Somewhat, if you ask Doug Bowman, who is paying attention to candidates’ positions on the Federal Reserve.
“Any politician who wants to make the Fed job a political job would be someone that I would not vote for because, just like other positions in government, there is a need for people to be apolitical,” the East Orlando resident said. “So they can take the best interests of the country, the county or whatnot, and not have to worry about where their political party wants them to go down a particular platform.”
As for Tom Unrath, he’s more focused on what’s happening at the local level.
“I'm really interested in what's happening in the Indian River Lagoon that's in Brevard County,” said the Melbourne resident. “That's going to take some money, and it's going to take people doing smart things with that money to make it work.”
He said he’s looking for candidates who are working closely with experts on the environment.
Tiffany Jeffers agrees with Unrath.
The Kissimmee resident said she’s looking to vote for politicians who are creating jobs and opportunities for growth, regardless of their tenure.
“It's not so much of how long you've done something, it's what have you done with the time that you have had?” she said. “And a lot of what I'm going to look at is, how have you created wealth in our economy and in our community?”
Housing
Housing is impacting the pockets of most Central Floridians. The Florida Housing Coalition recently reported that 2.4 million Floridians are cost burdened, which means more than 30% of their income is spent on rent and utilities alone.
Jeffers said the cost of housing is diabolical.
“ [In] Kissimmee, you got people living in motels as a way of life. There are school buses pulling up to motels to take children to school, which, when I first moved here, I cried seeing that for the first time,” she said. “Then you have developers who are creating quote, unquote, affordable housing that starts at 1400 a month. I mean, that is a mortgage for some people.”
She calls the high cost of living making it unaffordable for many to live, as a mistreatment of human beings.
“I really am looking for candidates who are going to make sure that people have a way of life that is respectable and dignified, and that they can survive, and move from survival to thriving. That is what I want to see,” said Jeffers.
Living after retirement
When David Walker retired from the New York City school system and headed to Florida in 2017, he was told he would be able to live like a king off his pension.
“Seven years later, I went from living like a king to living like a pauper in some ways, and I'm saying that because the pension has stayed the same, but the cost of living has gone sky high,” he said. “Even if I thought to sell my house, where am I going to move to because that house is going to be more expensive than the one that I live in.”
The Harmony resident said that means he’s had to budget more and spend less as his saving days are behind him.
He said living in Central Florida is starting to feel as expensive as New York.
“We have to get people into office that's going to help us to deal with the economy, to fight for the economy, [and] reduce taxes, because everything is going up,” said Walker. “Tax for this, tax for that, and it's just crazy.”
