To call it a good night's sleep would have been an overstatement.
The mats were less than plush, the air conditioning was erratic and the fluorescent ceiling lights were distracting.
City Council members James Bennett and Jeff Danner spent Wednesday night at St. Vincent de Paul to get a firsthand look at the city's homeless shelters.
Just before the vote was called, City Council member James Bennett issued a challenge to local business and civic leaders.
Bennett had just carved $100,000 out of the city's budget to help the homeless. Now he was asking others to match that donation.
"This may not solve all of our problems," Bennett said during the Sept. 9 meeting, "but it's a step in the right direction."
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street stretches about 9 miles between Pinellas Point and Interstate 275, through black and white neighborhoods and areas both business and residential.
"Dr. Martin Luther King died for freedom. To me that's a true definition of what a patriot is. . . . We need this reminder as we drive around," said council member James Bennett.
A year and a half ago, we were asked to make a decision on the Albert Whitted Airport Master Plan revision. This was a revision of the 1993 Master Plan, which was never fully addressed. We have seen plans for development studies of sewage plant removal and even proposals for parkland. We can no longer delay our obligations to run our airport in a more responsible manner. Also, we cannot allow grant funding (which has a Dec. 31, 2002, deadline) to lapse.