Lisa Wheeler-Brown files to run for St. Pete City Council District 7

ST. PETERSBURG – Earlier this week, Lisa Wheeler-Brown filed paperwork to run for St. Pete City Council District 7 that encompasses Childs Park, Wildwood Heights, Perry Bayview and West Minsters Heights and others.

Wheeler-Brown is a highly respected civic leader and has a decorated history of working collaboratively with city leaders, law enforcement and community activists to bring people together to reduce crime.

A second generation St. Pete native, Wheeler-Brown has seen the difficult challenges and promising developments across St. Pete that has inspired her to run for elected office. Her plans for St. Pete are based on four main pillars: safer neighborhoods, education, jobs and rejuvenation.

“I am running for St. Pete City Council because no family should have to worry about education opportunities for their children and that all kids should have hope to live a long and successful life. We need to rejuvenate our neighborhoods, bring more sustainable jobs to all areas and work collaboratively with civic and business leaders to grow St. Pete,” said Wheeler-Brown.

Her life changed when her 21-year- old son, Cabretti Wheeler, was murdered September 6, 2008. When the case went cold because of the “no snitching” code of silence, Wheeler-Brown took to the streets to combat the no snitching code of silence.

People began talking and in April 2011 a suspect was arrested for her son’s murder.  In 2013 Jerry Tyrone Jones was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for the murder of Cabretti Wheeler. From this tragedy, Wheeler-Brown has become an advocate for homicide victims and their families.

“I used to walk around with tunnel vision,” she said, “until the murder of my son opened my eyes.  I want to be a part of the change that I advocate so hard for every day.”

Wheeler-Brown is the immediate past president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations of South Pinellas County (CONA), the recipient of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Social Justice Drum Major Award, the 2013 Special Courage Award honoree from the United States Department of Justice and the 2013 Florida Holocaust Museum Loebenberg Humanitarian Award.

She earned these accolades and more for being a well-known community activist that turned a tragedy into accountability; she became a unifier of the community against violent crime.

Wheeler-Brown is a wife and mother who have a sincere passion for the future of St. Petersburg. To learn more about her and her plans, visit www.ourcitymyhome.com.