Welcome back to season 3 of My Mayor, the Catalyst series that helps you get to know the person behind the policy. We sat down with each candidate and asked them each the same five questions, with a few follow up questions sprinkled in. For Episode 3, we asked:

  • What do you collect? 
  • What’s something you’ve changed your mind about because of a conversation with someone who disagreed with you? 
  • How do you express your creativity? 
  • What’s a small moment in your life that ended up having a much bigger impact than you ever expected? 
  • What’s something that never fails to make you smile?

JOE HAMILTON

Joining me on My Mayor, episode three, is candidate Maria Scruggs. Great to see you again.

MARIA SCRUGGS

Likewise. Thank you for having me.

JOE HAMILTON

So we’ve got five more questions to help the voters get to know you a little better.

MARIA SCRUGGS

Okay.

JOE HAMILTON

First one is — what do you collect?

MARIA SCRUGGS

Well, that’s a pretty good one. What I collect most are memories. I am an awful photographer, and one who has not been very apt at taking pictures and capturing memories through picture. But I certainly am a strong collector of capturing them in my heart and in my mind.

JOE HAMILTON

Nice.

MARIA SCRUGGS

And those are what I have to reflect on. And when the times get tough, I can go deep in myself and find some things that make me happy.

JOE HAMILTON

What’s something you’ve changed your mind about because of a conversation with someone who disagreed with you?

MARIA SCRUGGS

Well, I don’t know if it was this show or another interview where I shared the fact that, in my role as the NAACP president, I had an opportunity to take quite a few hits at the then-Fire Chief, Jim Large. And we happened to appear on a podcast a couple of months ago, and we had an opportunity to talk before the podcast, just getting to know each other. And I can tell you — and I admitted this in another show — that I really had a different perspective, because I found that we had a lot more in common than we had in differences. And it certainly helps put people in a different perspective when you talk to them and get to know them.

JOE HAMILTON

Yeah. That was the show that we talked about that on. And we said — I think good things come when you sit down and have a conversation with people. Good things tend to come from it.

MARIA SCRUGGS

Yes, absolutely.

JOE HAMILTON

How do you express your creativity?

MARIA SCRUGGS

Well, I’m a lover of the arts. I’m a dance minor from Florida State. And while the knees and ankles don’t perform as well anymore, I certainly love following dance, and those young dancers that are coming up in the arts. That is probably one of the most creative sides of me — when I’m able to dance. And I’ve had some challenges lately where I’m not able to do as much, but it never leaves me.

JOE HAMILTON

Arts have suffered under some funding cuts. They’re always somewhat suffering under funding cuts. But there’s art revenue generated from the art itself, there’s philanthropy, and then there’s government. What’s your thought on funding art? What should the mix be?

MARIA SCRUGGS

Well, it’s not a mix — it’s just how we approach supporting the arts. I have identified the arts as one of the five industries that I will target in the economic clusters. We have to shift our focus from looking at art as a grant program, and instead focus on the arts as a business — and recognize that artists are no different from any other small business owner. They’re typically operating in their gift. They have made personal sacrifices. They’ve made financial sacrifices. And I think one of the things that will help take this to a different level in St. Petersburg is if we start treating them as a small business as opposed to a program.

JOE HAMILTON

Makes sense. And art is one of those things that throws off what I’d call intangible value. A lot of the best museums in the world don’t turn a profit just off ticket sales, because they’re so expensive to operate — these nice, secure, climate-controlled museums. But yet they do feed the value of the city, and the other businesses they attract. And art kind of falls in that same category — it’s tough to make a noteworthy living, except for the very top few artists, but the overall sense of art in a city can bring intangible value. And one might argue the sports team is there as well. There’s the actual economics of the stadium itself, and then there’s the value that the region derives from it. Can you give me your thoughts on the intangible economic value of institutions that don’t necessarily have direct financial membership?

MARIA SCRUGGS

Well, I think you can’t put a dollar figure on everything. And when you talk about total quality of life, you just can’t. And you referenced earlier the value of a stadium. I think one of the things the research really supports is that in most major cities there is actually a direct loss in economic opportunities for cities that take on these professional sports stadiums. But yet and still, it adds to the quality of life of the region. And I think for me, while that may be considered an intangible, it really is tangible. People just don’t function in a vacuum. And that’s just one perspective that I think we have to focus on — what the arts bring to a person’s total quality of life.

JOE HAMILTON

Wonderful. What’s a small moment in your life that ended up having a much bigger impact than you ever expected?

MARIA SCRUGGS

My birth.

JOE HAMILTON

Yeah. What impact did you expect from that?

MARIA SCRUGGS

You’re growing up. When I heard the question, I thought about it — hmm. Just having grown up in St. Petersburg, I probably have active memories maybe starting from about five years old, as a child, when you really start to conceptualize, “Who am I? Who is this little person in this big world?” And I tell you, there are so many days that I have to go back to being that little girl growing up in South St. Petersburg, and reflecting on what I have blossomed into today. Everything is wonderful at five years old. You’re loved. You have a strong village. You’re the apple of your parents’ eye. And then you get to be 68 years old, running for mayor, and you have to deal with the realities of life. But then you realize — wow, it was that foundation of support, that foundation of love that the village gave me, that affords me to be able to do what I’m doing in 2026.

JOE HAMILTON

Birth is a great answer — that’s what I’d answer for myself, too. All right, last question: what’s something that never fails to make you smile?

MARIA SCRUGGS

Well, I am the mother of a 37-year-old daughter, Sheeland. And when Sheeland graduated from St. Pete Collegiate High School — that’s a dual-enrollment program where she earned her high school diploma and her AA — she then went on to UCF. At her graduation party, I did a development board of all the different aspects of how I felt, as a mother, I was called to raise my child. I was called to give her a sound spiritual background, where she was christened, and she was baptized, and she was a member of a church. She went to Vacation Bible School. And then the physical — getting her in swimming at six months old, and enrolling her in the St. Anthony’s Triathlon and the various sports and things that focused on recreation. And then the academics, and then the social engagement — ensuring that she had the best opportunities for education, and the best opportunities for social and civic engagement. And I felt that I had done all that God calls me to do. And I posted a card, actually — last week, I believe it was. It’s a Christmas card that she gave me last Christmas that said she was thankful for the way she was raised. And I can tell you, it sits right to my right when I’m sitting on my sofa — it’s still sitting on the shelf. And every time I read that card, it makes me smile.

JOE HAMILTON

Nice.

MARIA SCRUGGS

She’s not perfect, but I’m certainly proud of the young woman that my child has become.

JOE HAMILTON

That’s great. That’s definitely smile-worthy.

MARIA SCRUGGS

Yes.

JOE HAMILTON

Wonderful.

MARIA SCRUGGS

It is. Because a lot of parents can’t say that. And of course, in my business, I see a lot of parents hurt — who have done all that they felt they were called to do to raise their child, and their child makes decisions that make their lives complex and difficult. And that’s a constant reminder for me to be thankful for the child that I have.

JOE HAMILTON

Makes sense. Wonderful. Well, that was great — I very much appreciate your time. We think we’ve got one more episode before the primary, so we’ll look forward to touching base one more time at the end of the month.

MARIA SCRUGGS

Okay.

JOE HAMILTON

And otherwise, I appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to join us on “My Mayor.” It’s candidate Maria Scruggs.

MARIA SCRUGGS

Thanks so much for having me.

JOE HAMILTON

You are welcome.

MARIA SCRUGGS

Look forward to wrapping up with you guys.

JOE HAMILTON

Me too.