Staff Reports
Former St. Petersburg City Council member Lorraine Margeson is suing her husband, Don Margeson for divorce, according to documents filed in Pinellas County court.
Margeson unsuccessfully ran for St. Pete City Council in 2013 against Jim Kennedy who won his second and final term on the board. That seat is now held by realtor Brandi Gabbard.
Margeson is an outspoken advocate for environmental policy and an avid bird protector. She was also the office manager for Concerned Citizens, the group that successfully forced the referendum that ultimately cancelled the Lens design for the St. Pete pier. That referendum asking voters whether the city should cancel its contract to build the futuristic, tiara-shaped pier overwhelmingly passed the same year Margeson was on the ballot against Kennedy, who favored the Lens.
According to lawsuit documents, Margeson says her marriage is “irretrievably broken.”
The husband and wife are already living apart at separate homes in St. Pete. The couple married in late 1997.
Margeson lists her self-employed income at $18,000-$22,000 per year with $1,700 a month net income. Despite the low income, Margeson listed a bank balance of $70,000, which she indicated was hers, not her husband’s.
The couple co-founded Donlo Communications, but that company was administratively dissolved in 2016. The couple lost their home to foreclosure the same year.
Both Margesons have been previously married.
Since losing her City Council bid, Margeson has been less active in St. Pete politics, but still maintains a regular presence in the birding community as shorebird nesting volunteer. She’s currently working to help birds that become sick from red tide that’s currently impacting Pinellas County beaches.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Margeson called on beach-goers to notify volunteers if they saw any sick birds because Hurricane Michael had pushed red tide closer to the beach rather than breaking it up as some had hoped.
