Sheila Cockrel | |
Office: | Member of the Detroit City Council |
Term Start: | 1993[1] |
Spouse: | Kenneth Cockrel, Sr. (died 1988) |
Children: | Kenneth Cockrel, Jr. (stepson) Katherine Victoria Cockrel (daughter) |
Residence: | Corktown, Detroit |
Sheila M. Cockrel née Sheila Murphy (born November 3, 1947)[2] is an American politician and consultant. She was a member of the Detroit City Council from 1994 to 2009.[3] The widow of Kenneth Cockrel, Sr. and stepmother of Kenneth Cockrel, Jr., she "had [a] fractious relationship with" Monica Conyers, whose resignation she called "an appropriate decision".[4] When Dave Bing proposed a water rate hike, she was among those who voted in favor.[5]
In 2009, Cockrel joined the adjunct faculty of Wayne State University's Irvin D. Reid Honors College. She taught two seminars and joined the Board of Visitors.[6] She became the founder, CEO and president of Crossroads Consulting Group, a firm that assists companies in helping local governments.[7]
In 2008, Cockrel testified to a grand jury regarding John Clark, former chief-of-staff to Kenneth Cockrel, Jr., allegedly taking bribes from Synagro Technologies, which won a $47-million sludge disposal contract with the city.[8] She was one of five members of the council who voted in favor of this deal despite protests from residents.
Cockrel has a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and a Master of Arts in urban planning from Wayne State University.
Cockrel is a Detroit native whose parents, Louis and Justine Murphy, founded the Catholic Worker Movement there. They oversaw the operations of the St. Martha House of Hospitality, a home for men and a soup kitchen for the needy. She married Ken, Sr. in 1978 and they had a daughter, Katherine, in 1985. In 1988, Ken died.
Some of Cockrel and her husband's work is preserved in the Ken and Sheila Cockrel Papers, at the Walter P. Reuther Library in Detroit.