Janelle Irwin Taylor
Juawana Colbert, a local Realtor who gained some level of fame from her appearances on a Netflix reality show, is running for the Tampa City Council in District 5 to replace the late Gwen Henderson.
Colbert is a Realtor with Allure Realty, an all-female, all-Black real estate firm in Tampa that focuses on luxury properties. She and others at the firm were featured in the Netflix series “Selling Tampa.”
She also has an extensive background in economic development, holding roles not just in Tampa, but in several other cities across the country similar to her work for the Tampa Economic Development Corporation, where she served as a project manager. She also served as Vice President for the Pasco Economic Development Council.
Her work — and closely related campaign priorities — are informed largely by her background. Colbert became a mother at 17 years old, and largely raised her son alone.
“I worked, I put myself through school,” Colbert told Florida Politics. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business from Northwood University in Michigan, and she bought her first home using a down payment assistance program.
“That’s something I always carry with me in my mind,” Colbert said, adding that the down payment assistance programs and others like it are critical components in equitable homeownership and other housing opportunities.
Her campaign will reflect that, Colbert said, explaining that she wants to ensure constituents understand the home-buying process and tools available to them to help buy a home or identify affordable housing opportunities. More than that, she also wants to eliminate the stigma surrounding programs offering a hand up.
“We still want to be treated with dignity,” she said.
Colbert, now also a grandmother, is also prioritizing community amenities, but balancing those perks with the need to keep gentrification in check.
District 5 is the only majority minority district in the city. It includes an eclectic variety of neighborhoods, ranging from affluent areas in downtown, such as Water Street, to lower-income neighborhoods of East and West Tampa. She lives in East Tampa.
As a single mom, Colbert said she made regular use of the local YMCA and is a huge proponent for access to recreation centers, which she said were vital in her own son’s upbringing. They offer not just opportunities for youth to enjoy safe activities, but also to learn about service to the community. That’s something every child and adult should be passionate about, Colbert said.
“At some point, everyone should be involved in their community,” she added.
Colbert previously lived in New Tampa, but after getting divorced a few years ago, moved to East Tampa. Living outside the city wasn’t her choice, and when the opportunity arose, she landed where she had always wanted to be.
Now, she’s set on ensuring those who have long lived in East Tampa — or West Tampa, Ybor City or anywhere else in the district — can afford to stay there, while also advocating for a welcoming community that can grow its residency, business climate and access to amenities.
She lamented a common problem with communities such as East and West Tampa.
“Successful people leave the community because they can’t get what they need,” Colbert said.
That could be to move closer to better schools, nicer parks or more robust business offerings. It could also just be the optics of leaving the blighted community.
“I wanted to challenge that stereotype,” she said of her own move into the community, rather than away from it.
There is a fine line Colbert hopes to navigate between offering desirable amenities to attract people — and investment — into blighted neighborhoods and encouraging gentrification. But Colbert wants to successfully implement “reintrification,” redevelopment without gentrification that invites those who have left a community to return to it to make positive change.
That means ensuring access to grocery stores in communities that have long been food deserts. It means better infrastructure, more lighting and more attractive façades.
And perhaps most importantly to Colbert, it means investing throughout her district, not just in select parts.
“When I go down certain parts of MLK, it’s blighted, but other parts are beautiful,” she said.
Instead, she’s looking for an equal distribution of community investment, including improving local schools that continue to struggle even as others nearby undergo sweeping improvements.
Colbert bought her East Tampa home in 2023, but she has worked in Ybor City for the past six years.
“Change isn’t happening quick enough” in the district, she said, adding that her “relationships, temperament and experience” will be a good fit to speed up progress.
She’s also running to ensure the City Council represents all of the city’s constituents. Having grown up with a single mom as her primary caregiver — her father struggled with addiction — Colbert feels she represents those who have been historically underrepresented, and it’s continuing to shape her priorities.
As a small-business owner herself, Colbert is focused on economic opportunity for all. She told Florida Politics she regularly speaks with small-business owners about their challenges and needs. Access to talent is often a key hurdle, as is the city’s permitting and zoning process, two areas she’s prioritizing in her campaign platform.
“We can’t say we want small business and then not really give them the opportunity to succeed,” she said. “They’ve invested in us, so we should invest in them.”
Overall, Colbert sums up her campaign simply.
“I want a thriving, inclusive city where we all feel safe and valued,” she said.
Colbert isn’t the first to file for the City Council seat. Elvis Piggott, who has run unsuccessfully several times for various local offices, has also jumped into the race.
The two are running to replace Henderson, who passed away suddenly June 10. Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer scheduled a Special Election to replace her for Sept. 9. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will be held Oct. 28.
Candidate qualifying for the race begins Aug. 11 and ends Aug. 15. The deadline to register to vote for the Special Election is Aug. 11.
Other candidates are expected to join the race. To run, candidates must have been a resident in District 5 for at least six months prior to the date they assume office and a resident of the city for one year.
Early voting for the Special Election will run Sept. 4-7 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., with polls open on Election Day from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Because Henderson passed away more than 15 months before her term would have ended, a Special Election is required to fill the remainder of her term.
