The St. Petersburg City Council met on November 9, 2023, at 6:30 PM to consider proclamations, a police department report, a presentation from the Palladium Theater, and a CRA funding agreement for an affordable housing project. The meeting included a roll call, invocation, and Pledge of Allegiance. All council members were present, with Councilmember Driscoll absent for one vote. The council approved all consent items unanimously and passed a resolution for the Fairfield Avenue Apartments project.
Welcome to the City of St. Petersburg City Council meeting. Your elected officials are Mayor Ken Welch. District 1, Copley Gerdas, District 2, and Council Chair, Brandy Gabber. District 3, Edmonton Ari, District 4, Lisseth Hanowitz, District 5, and Council Vice Chair, Deborah Fig Sanders. District 6, Gita Driscoll, District 7, John Mohammed, and District 8, Richie Floyd. Good afternoon, everyone. We will call to order the November 9th, 2023 City Council meeting, beginning with a roll call. Montaneri. Here. Hanowitz. Here. Fig Sanders. Here. Driscoll. Here. Mohammed. Here. Floyd. Here. Gerdis. Here. Gabriel. Here. We will begin our meeting this afternoon with an invocation that will be given by District 2's own pastor, Pastor David Harding from St. Petersburg Presbyterian Church. And then following the invocation, please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand. Let's pray together. Gracious God, we give you thanks for this beautiful day which you have made and for the privilege of living in such a beautiful place as St. Petersburg. Your word tells us in the Prophet Jeremiah that we are to seek the welfare of the city where you have placed us and to pray to you for its blessing. And so we do that now as this council meets to conduct the business of our dear city. We thank you for our mayor and our council members and all those who serve at every level in our city government. They are your servants whom you've raised up for such a time as this to serve in their respective offices. We thank you for their hard work and sacrifice and ask that you'd give each of them wise and discerning hearts to skillfully lead and govern our community. Give them your wisdom to solve problems justly, to distinguish between right and wrong, and to bring order, stability, and prosperity to our city. Remind them each day of the privilege and honor that it is to serve in this capacity. And we ask that you would remind us all, Father, that whatever our station in life may be, you have placed us there not to be served, but to serve others, even as your son, Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life on the cross as a ransom for many. And we ask all these things in his great and glorious name. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God with liberty and justice for all. You may be seated. Thank you so much, Pastor Harding. Have a wonderful day. God bless. Council members, we have an agenda before us today. I'll entertain a motion for approval. Move approval. Second.