The Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County on Wednesday named the recipients of their "Homeless Hero" awards that will be distributed at the Coalition's annual meeting this Thursday afternoon.
Topping their list among elected officials is Tampa City Council member Mary Mulhern, who the group is naming their Elected Official of the Year.
In their press release, the Coalition says Mulhern is worthy of the award because of her participation in their homeless counts in 2009 and 2011, as well as the fact that "Mulhern routinely speaks out about the plight of the nearly 18,000 homeless men, women and children in Hillsborough County and ensuring their needs are kept in mind during discussions about related concerns."
Much of that public discussion came during the long discussion about a possible panhandling a ban, a ban that the council finally approved last month. Although at one point before her re-election last winter Mulhern came out in support of a partial ban, generally she was the most outspoken member of Council to speak out against such an ordinance, saying it criminalized poverty.
This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2011.