Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2

Chair Largo Planning Board & Candidate for Largo Commission Seat 2. Opinions are my own.

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

If you want to change Largo, Let's start by changing commissioners. #change #millennial #grassroots #local #largo #TampaBay #pinellas #HousingCrisis #yimby #growth #lowerprices #lowertaxes

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

Largo deserves better than a commissioner that votes to not just keep a 6% tax on your power bill but thanks Duke Energy for the money because they are so out of touch with working class people they didn't even realize Largo residents pay the franchise fee not Duke. #Flpol

[Matt Faustini @MattFaustini]

For the first time in a while over a decade we might have a city election in Largo where every incumbent is challenged. This is good for Largo. Good for Democracy. The only person without a declared challenger currently is Commissioner Johnson. #Flapol #pinellas #largo

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

With our current Largo City Hall closing and well over 200 concrete parking stops that won't need use. We should reuse these and complete additional segments of the protected bike plan on East Bay to run at least until US-19. This is the cheap kind of solutions I will push for.

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

Commissioner Holmes is more worried about climate goals than saving you money. I will never vote to allow this taxpayer funded corporate subsidy to Duke Energy. If you want to change Largo let's start by changing commissioners. #MakeLargoAffordableAgain

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

My neighbors and friends,

As the Christmas lights glow across Largo tonight, I’ve been sitting with a deep sense of gratitude for this place we call home. Christmas is a season of light, but it’s also a season of reflection, a time to ask ourselves what kind of "city on a hill" we are truly building.

I have always been inspired by the vision of a "shining city," as President Reagan described it in his farewell address. He spoke of a city "teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace." He reached back to the very beginning, to the Pilgrims and John Winthrop, to describe a place that was, above all, welcoming. Reagan saw the "shining city" as a place with doors that were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.

He believed that our strength didn't come from closing ourselves off, but from our ability to welcome the "other" into our community through a shared set of values.

As Winthrop told his fellow travelers nearly four centuries ago, to succeed, we must "be knit together as one." He warned that we must "make others’ conditions our own" and "labor and suffer together" (Winthrop, 1630). This is the heart of the American experiment and the heart of my vision for Largo: a community defined not by who we exclude, but by how well we integrate every person into our common life.

At the center of it all are the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:

"You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid" (Matthew 5:14, NRSV).

But as I look at our city through the lens of my faith and my work on the Planning Board, I am reminded that a city is only as bright as the lives of the people within it. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives us a vital test for our actions and our policies: "Every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit" (Matthew 7:17, NRSV).

When I think about our vision for Largo, I think about the fruit of our decisions. If our planning and our laws create isolation, or if they make the newcomer feel like they don't belong, then we aren't growing a healthy tree. My hope is to foster a city where the fruit of our labor is wholeness and dignity for every resident.

We are told that the yoke of the Gospel is easy and the burden is light. Our local government should reflect that same spirit. It should not be a burden that weighs people down, but a system that lifts people up.

As the Social Gospel teaches us, we have a moral obligation to ensure that we are always welcoming the other, treating them not as a stranger, but as an essential member of our one body. For as St. Paul wrote, "We, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another" (Romans 12:5, NRSV).

My plan for Largo is to be a faithful steward of this "shining city." I want to ensure that every person who chooses to call Largo home, regardless of where their journey began, can find what the prophet Isaiah promised: "a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places" (Isaiah 32:18, NRSV).

This Christmas, let us commit to being a community where the doors are open, the lights are bright, and no one is cast out. Let’s build a city that doesn't just sit on a hill, but shines with the "good fruit" of kindness, opportunity, and grace.

From my family to yours, I wish you a Christmas filled with the peace that comes from truly belonging to one another.

Warmly,

Matt Faustini
Chair, Largo Planning Board
Candidate for Largo City Commission, Seat 2

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

Happy Thanksgiving!!

[Strong Towns @StrongTowns]

Bus stops in Buffalo, New York, often lack any kind of seating. It’s a daily struggle for people who rely on public transit, as they’re forced to wait for long periods of time with nowhere to rest.

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

On my nightly walk and explaining Largo's housing crisis at the same time. It would cost me 3.6x more than my parents to buy the same duplex & lot #MakeLargoAffordableAgain #Largo #Pinellas #Walk #Housing #Crisis #Yimby

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

Another Largo Evening Market done. Great convos & listening & discussing people's concerns, ideas, & questions. They're consistently shocked when told we can't do x that as the state prevents us now. Very much a light bulb moment for residents on why things are happening

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

Here's the choice. Matt Faustini and Hometown allies vs Curtis Holmes and his Tallahassee and Washington DC allies #flpol #largo #pinellas #tampabay #pinellascounty #fl #largofl #housing #prices #childcare

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

Help us get our message out with any donation possible. No amount is too small! https://t.co/k8Yi4sYXxv

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

If you want to change Largo, Let's start by changing commissioners. #change #millennial #grassroots #local #largo #TampaBay #pinellas #HousingCrisis #yimby #growth #lowerprices #lowertaxes

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

Help us get our message out with any donation possible. No amount is too small! https://t.co/k8Yi4sYXxv

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

Curtis Holmes: Wrong on Taxes. Wrong On Rates. Wrong For Largo #Largo #flpol #taxes #rates

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

A New World Is Coming #727day #largo #LargoHousing #pinellas #TampaBay #yimby

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

Great time last night at the Largo Evening Market. We are there every month to chat, hang out, ask questions, and get free swag. Visit us next month at August's market on the 30th from 5pm to 9pm.

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

Donate: https://t.co/Jud0H9071l

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

When the only Democrat on the County Commission is more fiscally conservative than the so called "taxpayer advocate" Commissioner Curtis Holmes here in Largo. Truly living in the Twilight zone. If you want to change Largo, Let's start by changing Commissioners.

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

Help us by donating, no amount is too small. https://t.co/Jud0H90EQT

[Matt Faustini For Largo City Commission Seat 2 @MattLargoPlan]

My opponents plan to control spending is to make housing more expensive and unaffordable for working people in Largo. Reality check, it's not rates preventing people from buying homes, it's prices. Curtis Holmes wants to price you out of your own city. We won't let him.