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St. Pete City Council may appoint a new member Thursday. Meet the candidates

Six candidates for the District 7 seat will come before the St. Petersburg City Council on Thursday.
 
Concerned residents attend a St. Petersburg City Council meeting on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022 in St. Petersburg.
Concerned residents attend a St. Petersburg City Council meeting on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022 in St. Petersburg. [ ANGELICA EDWARDS | Times ]
Published Oct. 12, 2022|Updated Oct. 13, 2022

ST. PETERSBURG — Six candidates seeking appointment to the vacant District 7 seat on the City Council are scheduled to appear before the board Thursday morning to field questions.

Seven people initially applied for the job by a Friday deadline. Lorne Abrams, a 74-year-old retired engineer, withdrew his application over residency concerns.

District 7 represents southwest St. Petersburg, including the neighborhoods of Childs Park, Jordan Park and Central Oak Park. In a predominantly Black district, three of the six candidates are Black. All are men.

The district was represented by Lisa Wheeler-Bowman since 2015. She was in her second term when she resigned last month after facing accusations that she no longer lived in the district.

The candidates to replace her will be asked to answer previously submitted questions from the public.

A little more than a year remains in the District 7 council term. The person chosen would have to stand for election next year if they plan to seek a full term. The job pays $54,385.

Here are the candidates:

St. Petersburg City Council candidate Corey Givens Jr. said he mistakenly donated a $500 campaign contribution in his personal checking account. The donor, though, doesn't believe his version of events and said Givens hasn't given the money back yet.

Corey Givens Jr., 30

Givens already had a website up to run for the District 7 seat next year. A St. Petersburg native, he is a financial representative at Northwestern Mutual. He has previously worked as a regional field organizer for the Florida Democratic Party.

“As a city council member, I will advocate for expanding the community land trust, redeveloping the Tropicana Field site with a community-first approach, and preventing gun violence,” Givens wrote in his cover letter.

Givens has unsuccessfully run for office several times. In 2020, he finished last in a four-person race for Pinellas County School Board. He ran for that same seat back in 2012, when he finished third in a five-person race after he was found to have inflated his educational credentials. And in a campaign run for another St. Petersburg City Council seat, District 5, he deposited a $500 campaign donation into his personal checking account, which Givens said was a mistake.

Moneer Kheireddine, 2022 candidate for U.S. Representative District 15 [ handout ]

Moneer Kheireddine, 26

Kheireddine is a student at Stetson University College of Law. He finished last out of five candidates in the August 2022 Republican primary for U.S. Rep. District 13.

Kheireddine was raised in the Tampa Bay area and served as the student body president and a university trustee at the University of South Florida. In his cover letter, Kheireddine says his youth allows him to be a unique voice.

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“With the growing trend of younger and younger citizens moving to St. Petersburg, I believe I would be the perfect candidate to help bridge the gap for our new city council and the new representative base,” he wrote.

Brother John Muhammad Neighborhood Association meeting Childs Park Rec Center 4301 13th Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33711 Pollution is so bad in the Childs Park neighborhood that Fairmount Park Elementary had to rush kids inside during recess a year or so ago. The NAACP is teaming up with the Childs Park Neighborhood Association and the Sierra Club to launch a "Smell something, say something" campaign for this years-long problem. on Tuesday, March 15, 2022 in St. Petersburg. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]

John (Muhammad) Malone, 46

Muhammad, whose legal name is John C. Malone, is a longtime community activist. He works for Florida Rising, a statewide organization that seeks to build political power among historically marginalized communities.

He has spent 10 years as president of the Childs Park Neighborhood Association, one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, most recently working to identify the source of a pervasive smell likely coming from the neighborhood’s industrial corridor.

Muhammad has drawn criticism for his support of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-Semite. Muhammad said he does not have hate in his heart and points to his 10-year track record of deep civic engagement and public policy changes.

“My work and my relationships speak for themselves,” he wrote in his application. “The role I have played in bringing people together and staying engaged in the ongoing work of co-governance and community service has prepared me to be the best candidate to fill this vacancy.”

Muhammad has a record of several drug charges and a weapons charge from the 1990s.

St. Petersburg Mayoral candidate Wengay Newton smiles while talking with the media after voting at the Supervisor of Elections office, 501 1st Ave N, on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021 in St. Petersburg. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]

Wengay Newton, 59

Newton held the District 7 seat from 2008 to 2016. After that, he spent two terms, from 2016 to 2020, in the Florida House of Representatives.

Newton has been unsuccessful in his last three forays for office. In August, he lost the Democratic primary for House District 62 to incumbent Michele Rayner. He came in fourth last year during the St. Petersburg mayor’s race. And in 2020, he finished second to Rene Flowers for a seat on the Pinellas County Commission.

Newton believes his experience in Tallahassee will help bring resources to District 7 and the city as a whole.

“Being a member of the Florida House ... affords me the opportunity when the Legislature is in session to lobby on the House floor as needed on behalf of our citizens,” Newton wrote in his application.

Daniel Soronen submitted an application for the vacant District 7 seat on the St. Petersburg City Council. [ BizBuySell.com ]

Daniel Soronen, 48

Soronen is a restaurateur who opened the Old Northeast Tavern. He is a licensed Realtor and has been working with the Urban Collective, which is active in the Deuces corridor and manages the Manhattan Casino. In his application, Soronen wrote that he was planning to run for the city council in the next election.

“My concern and true reason for seeking this position is that while most of the city has evolved and prospered a great section of the city has languished without proper representation,” Soronen wrote. “Our former council member never even entered the Manhattan Casino as we begged her for help to keep this vital piece of community history alive and available.”

Soronen moved to Pinellas County in 1996 and to St. Petersburg in 2005. He was charged with driving under the influence in 2014.

Glenn Wilder submitted an application for the vacant District 7 seat on the St. Petersburg City Council. [ Facebook ]

Glenn H. Wilder, 55

Wilder is a social worker who has lived in St. Petersburg for the last 20 years. He is the chief executive officer of Southern Supportive Services, Inc., where he designs treatment programs for substance abuse. Wilder says his program houses 300 homeless individuals. He also runs a thrift store and feeds 50 families a day through a food pantry.

“I have been actively involved in uplifting and fighting for change within St. Petersburg for the last twenty years,” Wilder wrote in his application. “And to occupy a seat, whereby I would be able to take growth, change and renovation to the next level, in continuing to improve upon our community, would be paramount.”

Wilder told Bay News 9 last year that he’s turned his life around. He has a lengthy arrest record, with convictions from driving the under the influence and driving without a license to assault on an emergency care provider, possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest with violence and exposure of sexual organs.