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Terry Coney, a self-described “son of Lakeland,” has lived a lifetime of service. Now, at 73, he’s entering electoral politics for the first time.
Coney is running for a Lakeland City Commission seat, District B Northeast.
As of Aug. 7, Don Burns is the only other candidate for the post in the Nov. 4 city election.
A familiar face at city hall
Coney served as president of the Lakeland chapter of the NAACP for four and a half years before stepping down when he announced his commission candidacy. At NAACP, he attended at least one city commission meeting a month (the commission meets twice a month).
Coney says city government is the purest form of representative democracy. “You’re right at ground level with the people. … They can come to a city commission meeting any day.”
“It’s tough for me to think of myself as a politician, but people in those positions have to remember that they’re voted in to represent the people,” he says of making difficult decisions as a commissioner.
“Can you please everyone all the time? No, but you have to listen. … Make yourself available to listen to what the concerns are.”
Coney has also served as vice chairman of Lakeland’s Charter Review Committee and chairperson of the Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board. He advocated to remove the Confederate statue from Munn Park, to approve body cameras for the Lakeland Police Department and to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday for city workers. He’s also an active member of First Baptist Institutional Church.
It’s a beautiful city
Coney’s commission priorities include infrastructure to support Lakeland’s rapid growth, a livable wage for Lakelanders and youth engagement with the city.
He wants to encourage young people to get involved in their community and, ultimately, to stay in Lakeland as adults. In order to do that, he says, the city must provide students at both the high school and college levels with the opportunity to get involved in city government and tell them about career options in the city.
As a 22-year Air Force veteran, “I have the advantage of living a lot of places and seeing how things were done,” he says.
“Compared to a lot of places I’ve been, Lakeland is a beautiful city,” he adds. He’d like to see parts of the city outside of downtown highlighted by extending nature trails and increasing recreation.
A kid from Simpson Park
Coney grew up in the Simpson Park area of Lakeland. He graduated from Rochelle High School in 1968 then Florida A&M with a degree in economics, in 1972. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1974 and earned a master’s in aeronautical science from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 1988. He retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in 1994.
In 2008, he returned to Lakeland for his 40th high school reunion and reconnected with a classmate, Earlene Bowers. They were married in 2013 and Coney moved back to Lakeland shortly after that.
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