Introducing Velva Lee Heraty, Your St. Pete Patch Mayor

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- Meet your mayor.

No, St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman isn't being replaced.

Velva Lee Heraty is the mayor of St. Pete Patch. That means she's going to be the liaison between Patch and community, keeping an eye and ear out on the issues and happenings in St. Petersburg that interest you.

Writing about her community is something she's been doing since her jet from Chicago landed at Tampa International Airport 12 years ago.

First she became "Dream Momma" for Creative Loafing's new online media site, writing sassy, insightful responses to reader's dreams. Then her book, "The Dream Belongs to the Dreamer," went to press after six years, earning five-star status on Amazon.

After that, her popular blog "Night Walks with Miss Nena" brought downtown St. Pete alive to the local daytime crowd. Her media presence grew when, in 2013, her local radio show, "Let's Talk Life!," began to broadcast live every Saturday morning, eventually transitioning to podcasts.

Writing for Heraty didn't start there. Throughout high school, under the pen name Susan Van Doren, she wrote a fun gossip column and in college she focused on Pregoff Journal Writing. Later, she co-owned a sports publication named "Racquetball Today" where she wrote feature pieces and covered tournament events.

That experience opened the door to other, more mainstream opportunities leading to membership in the prestigious Society of Professional Journalist. Later, during her years living in downtown Chicago, Velva wrote a regular advice column for professional women in the Chicago Woman newspaper titled "Leveling the Playing Field: Communication Skill-Building for Women."

Heraty earned her master's of social work at Loyola University in Chicago, and her Jungian Depth-Psychotherapist Certification at the Jung Institute in Evanston, Illinois. She lives in downtown St. Petersburg, is a community activist, a safety coach and is working hard to make the world a better place for her granddaughter, Ryan Moira Heraty.

As the Patch mayor for St. Pete, Heraty has full administrative access to the St. Pete Patch website, and will be posting stories about the subjects St. Petersburg residents care about.

So, feel free to reach out to her at vlheraty@gmail.com.