Councilmember Lina Teixeira is a woman of multitudes. A mother, a business owner, an author, artist, retired nurse, volunteer, and collaborator. For the past 9 years, Lina has been a communing part of the city’s fabric, serving in affairs civic, social, and governmental while she reared two children and expanded her involvement in her hometown.
Teixeira is steeped in the commerce, culture and complexion of Clearwater, serving on the COVID-19 task force, former Vice Chairperson of the Clearwater Downtown Partnership, and is a past president of the Downtown Merchants Association. She has been a member of the Clearwater Historical Society, the Island Way Women’s Club, the League of Women Voters, and the Downtown Development Board. Currently, Teixeira is the Chief Advocate for SAFE, an anti-human trafficking organization serving the Tampa Bay region as well as serving on the steering committee of AchieveHERs, a professional women’s group.
Teixeira, who speaks four languages, spent years working with various civic and government boards, such as Code Enforcement, to learn, understand and help advance the city’s many missions. Like most Clearwater residents, Teixeira came to Clearwater from elsewhere: Montreal, Canada. Shortly after getting married, her and her husband Frank decided to do some travel nursing, which is Teixeira's area of education and employment. Florida was their first stop, and like so many here, they never left. Shortly after arriving, she and her husband started a medical research company, which still exists, decades later. She has opened several businesses, is a celebrated wearable art designer, and has met like-minded residents from Countryside to Old Clearwater Bay.
The retired nurse and business owner volunteered, studied, joined, researched, and participated in community groups and governmental boards as she defined the city’s many strengths, its wants and needs and its global allure. “We live where the rest of the world vacations,” Lina said of the city’s world-class beaches, the economic engine of this coastal Florida city. “There’s a special magic to our sparkling city, the place we all call home. I cherish it.”
Often sought out by newspaper and television reporters for observations, opinions, and wisdom about Clearwater – its people, places and politics – Teixeira has become one of the city’s most active and effective citizens, winning several awards for her civic involvement. She also conceived and directed an original song and video of the song, Sail Away, Clearwater, celebrating Clearwater.