Jeanell Wilson has been the owner of All South Realty since 1979 and took her seat on the Jacksonville Beach City Council, district 2, seat 5 (South Jacksonville Beach) in November, 2010.
Her company
All South Realty is a full-service real estate company that specializes in the leasing and management of income property including condominiums single-family homes, multi-family units and commercial properties. Realtors Mary Anne Kritsky and Caroline Stockton focus on the listing and sales of property for her company.
Her involvement
Wilson has a long history of serving on local boards as well as community and professional positions in Jacksonville and the beaches. She has been appointed to various positions during the administrations of former Jacksonville mayors Ed Austin and John Delaney and current mayor John Peyton.
“I’ve always served on boards and committees for as long as I can remember. I was vice chairman of the Jacksonville Beach Community Redevelopment Agency for about eight years. For the last seven years, I served as the chair of the Jacksonville Water Sewer Expansion Authority downtown. I am also a past chairman of the Jacksonville Beach Chamber of Commerce.”
Why the City Council?
“I’ve always been involved in local issues. When my son was in school, I was very involved in the school, sports and volunteer work. I thought now that my son is off to college, I have time to do even more.”
After serving two terms, Wilson was term-limited out of her seat on the Water and Sewer Expansion Authority so she set her eyes on the Jacksonville Beach City Council and won.
Her goals
“I want to add some business experience to the council to help see things from a small business owner’s perspective.” Wilson would like to work on keeping the city’s spending in line with its income and not raising property taxes.
“Families are out there struggling and many have lost their jobs, yet they still have to pay high property taxes even though their property value is half or less than it was when they bought it. Property taxes and quality of life issues are Realtor issues that also carry over to the Jacksonville Beach City Council.”
Other issues?
“Another thing that will be coming up is the paid parking issue. Right now, we have three paid parking lots on the weekends, but there was a proposal to put parking meters in where the free parking is now.” A new position is also being discussed for someone to oversee and monitor the parking situation.
Advice for others
“You can have a voice. Getting involved in local government gives Realtors a voice in local government. It gives other council and committee members a new perspective on how to look at things.”
Time commitment
The Jacksonville Beach City Council has two meetings a month in the evenings and other special call meetings or workshops, so the time requirement varies each month.
Personal
Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in zoology and English from the University of North Alabama and a master’s degree in biology and physics from the University of Florida. She was a biology teacher for nine years and started in real estate part-time while teaching. “I started working for a builder and sold homes on weekends until I decided to go into real estate full-time.” She is single.
Teaching and selling
Wilson said it has helped her in dealing with people. “I am good at helping customers make decisions on properties. It can be very confusing if they are looking at a lot of properties, so I help them analyze the pros and cons of the properties until they pick one.”
— by Michele Gillis