Our research committees met last night to update members about the progress we've made in 2024 so far as well as upcoming research opportunities and next steps. At this time, the Criminal Justice committee will be in a monitoring phase until Jacqueline returns from maternity leave. If new developments arise or we schedule any meetings with officials before then, we will be sure to let you know. In the meantime, Carey and April will continue working with the Affordable Housing and Water Quality committees. We encourage criminal justice committee members to get involved in these committees because we have a lot to get done in the next few months and it will take all of us to win! The Water Quality committee will be meeting with Clearwater Assistant City Manager Dan Slaughter on Thursday, February 15th at 3:15 PM to discuss how our rain garden ordinance proposal aligns with the Clearwater 2045 comprehensive plan. Because Clearwater has a weak mayor system and city managers have a lot of influence in council agendas and decisions, we felt it was important to meet with him. The pre-meeting will be at 2:15 PM ahead of meeting with ACM Slaughter. If you want to attend this meeting, please reach out to your team leader or April to RSVP and get meeting location details. The Community Benefits Advisory Council is meeting on February 6th at 5:30 PM at City Hall, in room 100. This is a non-partisan board that advises the mayor, city council, and citizens of St. Pete. At this February 6th meeting, the focus will be on the community's feedback about the current Historic Gas Plant Redevelopment plan. This is a great opportunity for us to show up and speak out in favor of more affordable housing as a part of this plan. If you are interested in attending or speaking at this meeting, reach out to Carey to RSVP. As we discussed at the Affordable Housing Research Committee meeting, now is the time to put pressure on the leadership of the City of St. Pete. We are going to start attending City Council Meetings regularly to invite the council members to the Action, and to highlight the need for more affordable housing for our community. The next City Council meeting is this Thursday, February 8th at 3:00 PM. It is important for us to represent the organization to emphasize the seriousness of this crisis, so even if you are not planning to speak, attendance is a great way to demonstrate our power and support the speakers. If you have any questions, or plan attend, reach out to Carey in advance. On Friday, Feb. 9th, we have a Zoom meeting scheduled with Commissioner Kruse from Manatee County. We are meeting with him because Manatee County has had success in creating affordable housing for families making 80% AMI or less, which is our ask for the City of St. Pete. We are hoping to learn some concrete ways that they have met this benchmark that we could push for in St. Pete. The pre-meeting will be at 1:00 PM and the meeting will be at 2:00 PM, both via Zoom. Reach out to Carey to register for this meeting. Additionally, the FAST Affordable Housing t-shirts have arrived! They are blue with a FAST logo on the front and have the tagline "Affordable Housing: Affordable for Whom?" across the back. We have them in sizes S - 2XL and they cost $10. If you want to get one, please reach out to your team leader or organizer so we can coordinate pickup.