Latest / Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott / Campaign 2024 - Dr. Isaac Montilla, Candidate Leon County Commissioner, District 4

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Campaign 2024 - Dr. Isaac Montilla, Candidate Leon County Commissioner, District 4 · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

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Coming up next my visit with doctor Isaac Montia. He is running for Leon
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County Commission District four against incumbent Brian Welch. In the days subsequent to our
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interview, understanding that these interviews were not aired in any way, shape or
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form before July one, but in the days after my interview with doctor Montia,
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he received a letter which was forwarded to me from the Tallahassee Professional Firefighters
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Union and signed by its president, Joey Davis. And it's dated June twelfth,
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and I'm simply going to read the very beginning of this note. After
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much deliberation and thoughtful input from many in our association, at our meeting on
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June eleventh, the Tallahassee Professional Firefighters decided not to endorse in the race for
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Leon County Commission District four. There's some other words in there, but the
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long and the short of it is the Firefighters Union is not endorsing a candidate
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in this race. So with that stated, rolling tape, as they say,
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now, you and I met a few months ago, but you obviously
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made a decision before that to enter into a political race. Now, before
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we talk about what went into that decision, let's get people that do not
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know who doctor Isaac Montia is. Who are you? Well, first of
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all, thank you for announcing my last name correctly. I try to pronounce
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it. That was that was perfect mantilla like tortilla. So who am I?
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I was born in New York in the Bronx. I lived there for
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a few years. From there, we moved to Los Angeles, California,
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and then from California we moved did you escape California listen? Uh, Actually,
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I'm thinking about it right now. I was like, well, maybe
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that's actually my favorite in my in our favor as a family, that we
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can see opportunity before it happens, right, I think that's where we were
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laying. Actually a side note on that is that actually my dad was in
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ministry, okay, and that's why we moved around a lot. So we
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were in New York and then we went over to California. From California,
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we went over to Orlando, Florida, and so my dad would travel and
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he'd preach. And so that's a little bit of a side note that not
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a lot of people know as I'm running in this race, is that,
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yeah, I have a lot of my background is in ministry, and that's
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what There's a lot that I learned in that process, and that's why.
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Sure there's the good old saying there's a political aspect in church as well,
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you know, but in all of it, I'm reminded through grace and mercy
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and that were imperfect people, right, And that for me and my faith
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in the way that I view it is that I got to a point in
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my life that I was viewing God through the imperfect people that caused me to
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veer away. And then I started viewing God for who he is and his
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goodness. That allowed me to say, wait a second, and there's more
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to God in this this thing that people paint him out to be, and
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he is true through through the Bible. Anyway, that's a side note.
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Well, I used to say I was a vocational minister for twenty years and
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I used to tell people that ministry'd be awesome if it weren't for all the
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Christians there. And that's what you're talking about. It's full of people,
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and people aren't perfect and we all fall short, and sadly people form judgments
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based on our imperfections, not God's perfection. And so yeah, so how'd
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you end up becoming a doctor. Okay, So that that's so the whole
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thing about being a doctor. So when I was younger, part of the
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ministry story there is. And my dad was pursuing the medical profession in Dominican
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Republic. So my dad was born in Dominican Republic. My mom was born
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in Brooklyn, New York. So my mom went to Haiti. My dad
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went to Haiti because we as Dominicans share the island. They went over to
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Haiti to do to do uh, to do ministry there, to just help
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out the people, the locals there, and they fell in love and the
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rest is history. So but my dad left the medical profession of medical route
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to pursue ministry. So it was always in conversation that the idea of being
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becoming a doctor was always there, right, and so he gave it.
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He told me his story and he'd always is part of his story in terms
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of where he where he's how far he's come. But he pursued ministry.
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Fast forward. Growing up, we kept on hearing the idea of a doctor
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or of a doctor, of a doctor looked into it, and and the
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more that I looked into I said, you know what, I want to
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be more of the holistic, more of a holistic route, give the work
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with people and power individuals to make the best decision for themselves given the education
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piece, walk, you know, hold her hand through the process. And
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what I love about that that correlates with what I'm doing today is the idea
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understanding that there's a lot of good things happen when you're proactive, spiritually,
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spiritually, relationally. I mean you you go through the line and you know
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the all aspects of your life, and you realize that more the more proactive
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we are, the better that we can be long term. So I love
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the idea of being a holistic doctor. Right, I'm a chiropractor that focuses
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on being proactive. Let's take care of the problem now. But how do
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we how do we forecast the future and be better prepared for it? So
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yeah, so I fell in love with it the more that I saw.
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It was in college that a friend of mine, one of my best friends,
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is like, hey, maybe you should look into being a chiropractor.
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And before all that, a chiropractor I helped me. I had a car
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accident and then I went from low back pain. It actually created more digestive
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issues later on, there's neurology that's involved with all that I found out.
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Personally, I start getting adjusted, I started getting better. I say,
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there's more to this, and so the more that I dug into it,
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the better I felt. What would be a bigger surprise if I were talking
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to the younger version of you that you are doctor Isaac Mantiya Noe or that
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you're running for office. That's it, brother, that is it right there,
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that I am running for office. That would I would have laughed had
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you told me that. Heck, I would have laughed if you would have
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told me that five years ago. I've never had I've never been driven to
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take a political seat whatsoever. This is the first time that I've ever said,
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you know what, I think we need more accountability. I don't think.
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I know there's a difference between I think. I try to work with
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my kids. So I have four kids, but a little bit of my
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story is I'm married, I have four kids fifteen, eleven, nine,
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and six, and so there's a lot of correlation that comes along that you
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learn through those different ages that helping equip you to lead in different ways.
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So back to your statement, I would have never thought even four years ago.
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Four years ago, I would have not thought that I would be in
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this seat right now talking to you about this great opportunity of running to represent
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a certain piece of the pie, as I like to say, of Tellhassee.
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Let's take that apart for just a second, because I've talked to more
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than a few people running for office in doing this show. I'm in the
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twenty third year, down about eight thousand interviews all right now. Out of
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those, a percentage of them are people running for office. Sometimes it's federal
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office, sometimes it's a state office, sometimes it's a local commission seat.
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The one thing that's so unique for every single one of them is what was
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the straw that broke the camel's back? Because to me, it's it's it's
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a calling if you're going to run for office, and it's not for the
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faint of heart. I said to another candidate, it's not for sissies.
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Anybody that runs, whether I agree with him or disagree with them, I
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respect them because this is not for the faint of heart. It just isn't.
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That said. What led to you, Isaac having the conversation with your
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wife, your family, yourself saying I'm going to do this? What what
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got that going? So I'll give you a little back story on that about
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was it. Yeah, the last election cycle, the previous commissioner had a
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few run ins with everything else going on, everybody remembers twenty twenty was a
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little I call it hyper sensitive. There's a lot of emotions that was all
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over the place, and it clouded a lot of judgment, right, and
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so sometimes it even clouded judgment a sense of it didn't represent really who the
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person really was. Is just that that season they were led by so many
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things circumstances that it really obscured the situation how to press judgement, A lot
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of pressures from all over the place. So part of that it brings us
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to this story. So the previous commissioner, there's certain things that were done,
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certain ways. That was that was he was just in a different position.
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I was one of those people that unfortunately did not get clarification. And
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it wasn't that I just didit g clarification of certain questions that I asked.
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So I'm really involved in my community. How did I build my practice?
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People say, hey, listen, how was it or how is it that
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you built your name? I built my name on serving. That's just my
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background. My businesses have been solely purposed. I moved to Tallahassee thirteen years
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ago, not knowing as a single person, and so what I thought,
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I told myself was I'm going to build. Sure it's a profitable business.
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It is a business, but how much of this can we turn around and
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invest in our community? Ok? And so in twenty twenty, we did
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this thing called tap into our Tab, which what I would do is I
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would take my own money and I would go to local businesses and I would
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invest in that business. And then what I would do is I would invite,
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through social media means, the community to come in to tap into that
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tab. So either tap into some of it, all of it, or
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leave it untouched and let someone else, bless somebody else to come in.
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So the whole plane, how that worked. What do you mean in regards
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to what the tab? Yeah? Yeah, So I go into your business?
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Okay, pressing you have you have a The first place that we opened
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it was a barbecue joint here in Tallahassee. It's no Better's barbecue, one
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of the best barbecues I've ever had. I walked up and I said,
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here's one hundred dollars. I want you to open a tab. And then
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I did a call to action on social media. Hey, I just opened
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one hundred dollars tab to this business. They're struggling, that can use some
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extra support. I've already paid the way for you to come in and say,
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hey, meal and have a meal. It's on me. If you
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can afford to, don't tap into the tab. Come and spend your own
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money and let that. Let's see how far that tab can go untapped.
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And so what it did is it pumps so much money back into the economy
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to these local businesses during that season. So you did that for different businesses.
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I did that for different businesses. So I started getting more and more
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in touch and grounded with the community, especially with the hospitality community in Tallahassee,
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and I realized the greatest need. So why do I say that,
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let me let me rewind just a little bit. When when that happened,
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there was going back to the initial statement that I made. Certain things were
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happening in the tallahasse area until in terms of local politics, we weren't getting
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clear answers. So I took it upon myself as a community leader to reach
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out and try to get answers. I didn't get answers. So give you
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an example of what you were trying to get an answer to. So some
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of the some of the questions I was trying to figure out is what direction
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was our community heading towards. One of them being the mass mandate. One
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of them was being you know, open opened, more open doors in terms
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of all COVID related accommodated and are we shutting it down? What are we
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doing? Yeah? All that, Yeah, I just want to clarity.
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I just want to know what direction because a lot of the patients I can
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being plugged, having a pulse in the community. They were asking me questions
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because it pertained to their health. Sure, mentally, it affected people mentally,
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emotionally, all of it, right, all of that was being affected.
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So I was just trying to get clarification. Didn't get clear answer.
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I got treated a certain way. So I went on social media and I
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actually posted about my concerns in my interaction with the then and get it with
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that commissioner at the time, right, they didn't know it was going to
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spread like wildfire. It did. I was just voicing what my interaction was
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so that was election year, a local election year. So what happened then
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we rallied with the current incumbent and at that time, at that time,
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people were asking me if I would consider putting my name in a hat.
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And as a small business owner that I am, I have a couple clinics.
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The name of my clinics are Verity Health Center. I was trying to
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figure out how to just get through twenty twenty as much as my colleagues were,
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and so we were trying to figure out how we're going to make it,
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How do we make payroll? How is this going to work? In
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twenty twenty when we were we got hit really hard financially. And even though
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we got hit financially, I was still going around happening to our tabs because
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one thing I've learned growing up is that when you serve, it doesn't always
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look pretty, but by golly, the rewards are phenomenal when you do it
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with the right heart and mind. And so that's what we were doing.
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So when my name was being tossed the idea, I said, no,
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the best the other option is just there's somebody else running. Why don't we
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just support the person running, which is a current incumbent, and so I
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said, yeah, we we'll just get we'll support them. And let's be
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clear for people listening, it may not be clear that you're talking about commissioner
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Brian Welch. That's district that's right, all right, Brian Welch, District
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four. And so we said, hey, we'll just we'll support them,
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we'll come behind them and uh and then uh and it's it's the other option
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that we have right now, right well, we did that. He won.
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If you don't know, you know now, hopefully you know by now.
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Which is interesting enough, preston real quick, is that I actually ask
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people around the community if they know who their commissioner is. And a lot
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of people tell me this, they don't know who their commissioner is. District
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for residents aren't sure who their district for a rep is. That's correct.
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Interesting and so so so he won, and I had a conversation with him
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on the phone and one of the one of the few things that I did
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I did discuss with them were one is one of the greatest opportunities for our
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community is for our community to be mourned, to know of what's going in
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our community. And we talked about that. What does that look like social
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media? Be connected with our community. Let us know what's going on right
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in terms of updates, if there's projects going on, so on and so
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forth. The other one is I said, you know, I think it
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would be really good for to have better representation, to be boots on the
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ground, be present, right, caring. What are the needs having a
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poulse, a consistent polse in our community? And three is I said,
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hey, we need all of us to be together, I think more than
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any anytime, especially during that season and moving forward. One thing I've learned
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is that being in isolation is detriment mental being in community is much more powerful.
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How can we come together? How can we move forward? So?
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How and how can we or as a leader, can you represent our community
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right? You're going to sit around a table and reach across and work alongside
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with other people to make sure that that Tallahassee as a whole is as healthy
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as it can be. Those are the top three things that the conversation that
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I had with him over the phone. How'd that go? Well? Fast
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forward? I think his aid is doing a great job on the connecting and
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and forming the community. But what was the reaction to your thoughts at the
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time, at the time, cordial course, Yes, it was great.
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It was great. So I've known Brian off and on, you know,
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And this is what I also want to make sure I put this in there,
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is that this opportunity is not against Brian. Right. I think when
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you run into politics, people try to pin you against someone. Well,
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but hang on, now, let me challenge that. Please come on,
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but not from a personal level. But if you you know, if you
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are putting yourself against an incumbent, you are saying I can do this job
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better, more effectively and differently than you. Correct. So when you so
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in that statement, sure one can say, hey, you are representing the
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idea, right that I am going against him. And what I'm saying is,
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hey, I'm I'm soliciting the idea that I feel that I can lead
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in that seat in a in a more effective manner, in a better way,
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not trying to sound politically correct. And I'm saying that because as it
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continues to ramp up. Right, one of the things that I've been running
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this race on is is who I am. Right, I am a guy
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that really looks for opportunity to succeed forward right, I don't. I don't
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take ls of as losses. I take them as lessons, right. So
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for me and as you bring it up, yeah, this is when someone's
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going to vote for me, is voting with the idea that I'm going to
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be a bridge between all involved in the community. That's developers, that's community,
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that's Hays, that's community, anybody part of the community. Is it
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is. I'm looking at representing everybody part of that community. I'm not going
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to select who what direction I want to represent more of, right, community,
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we all make first responders, we all make part of that community,
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right. And I think today if you look at if you look at least
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in our district, there's opportunity for that. I just hung out with I
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think Station Bradfordville, the band Yeah yeah, the fire with the Fire Department
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of Bannerman, right, and we were all just hanging out this past week
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and I provided an event in our in in one of our business at Verity
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North and Bannerman Crossing, which we've been doing for years to doing events and
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creating opportunity for people to come together. And one of the firefighters looked at
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me in the eye and said, Isaac, I just want you to know
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that our station supports you. We've been working together, not just during the
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election season. We want you to know that you are supported by us,
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and that means the world and me. Because when you're running right as an
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incumbent, sure you're looking for endorsements. I think he recently got endorsed by
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the bigger branch right the Union. That doesn't phaze me one bit, because
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why doesn't it bother me. It doesn't bother me because my heart's been plugged
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into the community for the last thirteen years. My heart is for the community
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that I represent, that I live, that I play in, that I
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go on date nights with that you know that our children go to school in
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right, that I volunteer in, that I help coaching. So for me,
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running in this race is not just simply saying, hey, you know
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what, who's going to give me the most money so I can pay attention
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to them the most. You know, the reporting just came out a couple
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days ago, right, and it's all public records. Go on there,
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find out who is contributing, who's contribute to both through our campaigns. Find
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out and see if there is there possibly is an invested interest, maybe not
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that's for you to decide as someone who should be educated. I was told
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when I'm running this race, and these are vague numbers, you know,
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eighty twenty twenty percent are really are plugged into local politics. Eighty percent vote
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on name recognition. Right. Well, to me, we just broke one
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of the big one of the greatest things that we did as the first time
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candidate. In eight months, we just raised over one hundred thousand dollars.
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Three or four thousand dollars of those dollars are family. They tell you that
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when you run in the first people to believe in you is your family.
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Right. Go. If you look at everyone who's contributed, they have an
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invested it for sure. Community. How do we move our community forward?
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So, as the first time candidate, when people are looking at these numbers,
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they're saying, wait a second, this guy is representing us as a
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whole. I got a family. I got a family. Most contribution you
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can give per per contribution is one thousand dollars, right, So an individual
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entity can give up to one thousand dollars. Had a family of six and
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a small was they lived under was under eleven hundred dollars, sorry, eleven
20:15
hundred square feet, and they came to me and said, we want to
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give you maximum contribution because I know that you will also represent us. It
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wasn't you're just going to represent us, You will also represent us, Right,
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So why do I say that? And what why is that important in
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terms of this election race? Because I'm running with the understanding that it's about
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we, not me that for anybody to be for you to be an elected
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officials, for you to be in a in a in a in a in
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a servant role, public servant role as we like to describe it. You
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you got to represent your community, right, not pick and choose on who
20:55
you're going to represent, but to be able to navigate, to be you
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know, to be a leader or you know. They say, well,
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not everybody's gonna like you, And my response to that is, I'm okay
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if I'm not liked for the right reasons, if I'm going to be representing
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my community, if I'm going to if I'm going to be working diligently on
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being abridged in my community, if I'm going to be working on you know,
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bringing certain uh you know, private sector principles into that public seat to
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be proactive, right, I'm okay, because my interest is going to be
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everybody part of the community. Do a little compare and contrast for me,
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contrast as needed, your ideas on what really matters from a commissioner's standpoint,
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someone who's serving to represent a district. What was in your mind as you
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started and where it is now after visiting with and talking to endless numbers of
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people. How has that list adjusted changed or has it? Yeah? As
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you know again, you know, faith plays a big role in how I
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do this or you know. And why I say that is because you know,
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some people are like, oh, this guy is I've been told this
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along the way that this guy, you know, he's an They call me
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evangelical candidate is what they call me. Right, And much like I do
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in my other my other jobs or my businesses that I own, I tell
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everybody this and not everybody believes in the same thing that I do, and
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I tell them this, my faith holds me accountable to how well I lead
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and care for my community. So one of the things that really led to
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feel at peace as you run this course or as you run this race,
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is there's a scripture that I really been quoting a lot which is be wise
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as a serpent, but gentle as a dove. But I'll tell you it's
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things sometimes, right, It's things that I've had meetings with people that are
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quote unquote respect in the community, and they ext and the truth right in
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front of your face. Right, it's and and it stinks, and it
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stings every so often. Right. But but I'm reminded that I'm not running
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for their approval, right, I'm running because I had a conviction that there's
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more to be done. Uh, there's better representation that could happen. And
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you know, and I said this before in terms of me against sim and
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what have you. What I'm asking Brian is she just passed the baton.
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That's what it is. Because before him, somebody paved the way, and
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somebody before that paved the way. Certain ways were done something, certain certain
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approaches were taken. And and right now, sure after four years, come
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up to four years, we're not we're not moving in direction that we should
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be moving. That we're not moving in the direction that I see us unified.
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I don't see us unified. I had a patient come the other day
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and said she just moved in. By the way, there's a lot of
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people relocating to tell ahassee I see it in my practice. And a patient
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came out and said, I feel like weich is a here. I feel
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like everybody's on your own. Everybody's isolated. This came out of a person,
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you know, a person in my office that just was we were just
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just having a conversation about So this is saying, hey, I just I
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just pass the baton. Help. Once I take this baton, I want
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to move in disdirection that's going to bring us more closer together, being done
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in a more effective manner, efficient manner, and to see good results.
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No one's personally he doesn't want to pass the Baton's right for reelection, that's
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right, he doesn't want to pass the baton. So let's circle back to
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the priorities. What what in your mind is what like, you know,
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you got a whiteboard somewhere, or you got a sticky notes somewhere, or
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you've got a to do lists somewhere. What's on that list of things that
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need attention from your perspective, from a district for perspective, and what have
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you learned from others that that are in the district that needs attention. So
25:00
the first one, I made a post about this not so long ago.
25:02
Is the word heard. There's a lot of people in the different parts of
25:06
our district that don't feel heard. Why do you think that is? Is
25:11
it the three minute rule? Is it the sense that these meetings are held?
25:15
We get it. These are part time jobs sort of kind of.
25:19
So I'm sorry to intrupt you, but I'm gonna say this. You could
25:22
say part time job with a salary of what eighty nine thousand dollars eighty eight
25:27
thousand dollars. Oh, look, I hear you, and I think most
25:30
people will agree with you on that. But the question still becomes, these
25:36
meetings are at a time where a lot of people aren't going to go to
25:41
them. They're just they're not accessible to most people to be heard. Yeah,
25:45
So how do you break that down to where people feel heard? I
25:51
like so as a practitioner, I call myself an old school with the new
25:55
school, and I think that one way that we can and allow our community
26:00
to be heard is I want to bring I want to bring back the town
26:03
hall meeting for just you or for the entire commission. Well, I think
26:10
one of the opportunities is you do what you can in your community and see
26:14
the progress and bring it to the table and see what's been working. So,
26:18
you know, I attend to some of these forums here locally, and
26:19
one of the things that urged me the most is that there are people that
26:23
I've been sitting there, including the incumbent, that there was a lot of
26:30
I think we should, I think we should, and not enough of this
26:37
is what we've been doing. This is what we've been doing, this is
26:40
what I found to be working. And so what I find in this process
26:45
is this is that in our community. My first goal is I want our
26:52
community to be heard. Town hall meetings is a good way for them to
26:56
be to feel that way right what it is and what it is it's not
27:00
let's make sure and well understand this too. Is at least people in the
27:03
community that I've been talking to. When you go to these city hall meetings,
27:07
oftentimes decision has been made already, so you're going in there and oftentimes
27:11
you might feel like the box has been checked. My minds have been made
27:14
up. Yep, the minds have been The minds have been made up.
27:17
So before we get to that point, how do we how do we work
27:22
together right so that you have a better pulse in the community. And again
27:26
I went back to the understanding we I would love to implement the town hall
27:30
meeting and again have a clear description, differentiation of what it is and what
27:34
it's not. And those are the opportunities that are going to be uh that
27:40
are going to be extended to the community for them to be heard. So
27:42
you go to a local public school auditorium, Let's say you open the doors
27:47
in District four for the District four residents. They want to show up to
27:51
just share, share, share, but with the understanding of how do we
27:56
as you share, what are solutions? Run of my biggest pippees in life
28:02
is to attend a pointless meeting. And even as I'm as you mentioned before,
28:07
I'm meeting so many people through the community, even after my meeting,
28:11
I'll ended with okay, so just bird's eye view and I highlight what we
28:18
just talked about. Okay, what's the effect? Right? What do we
28:22
say? The same thing as my office is sure, let's bring concerns to
28:26
the table. How do we bring solutions? What are we going to do
28:29
about it? What are we going to do about it? All? Right?
28:30
So you started yourself talking about kind of the catalyst for you was COVID,
28:37
Yes, and trying to get some direction from the county on what what
28:41
are we doing? Correct and not feeling as though you're getting clear definitions and
28:45
communication correct. All right? That matches up then with what you just shared
28:51
that you're hearing from people in general that they just feel like they're not heard,
28:55
and that's probably universal at every level of government, city, county,
28:59
state. We don't feel like our voice is heard, all right? What's
29:03
number two? Number two is having a better plan for infrastructure. And actually
29:11
this morning, as I told you, I had a good meeting with just
29:12
trying to get a better understanding grasp of what the plan looks like for better
29:18
for better infrastructure. I think, you know, I think that the idea
29:22
of growth becomes the villain right without understanding. And so as I'm doing homework
29:29
and I'm still gathering information, you know, I tell people that I'm running
29:32
on GSI right, which is you gather, then you study, and then
29:36
you implement, right, and so the idea is understanding, Okay, what
29:40
are what are our resources? Are there truly ways? What does it look
29:42
like in a foreseeable future for us to be better prepared for growth? Because
29:48
there is there is you know, I'm a guy that understands pattern, right,
29:51
I see pattern again, same thing. Well, most business people do,
29:56
or they don't survive in business. So you have to you have to
29:57
be able to understand mar forces. That's that's exactly right. So so for
30:03
me is to be able to see, Okay, how do we better,
30:06
how do we better prepare for the growth that is happening? Right? And
30:11
again, growth becomes a villain. And I think that oftentimes growth becomes a
30:15
villain because there's some misunderstanding, right, whether it be cutting down too many
30:18
trees or whether it be you know, broadened discs. It's it's understanding what
30:23
does it look like if things don't get done efficiently, incorrect, in a
30:27
correct manner, a responsible manner. And so I'm really big on understanding that
30:33
we can do better on responsible growth and focusing on infrastructure and having a plan,
30:38
a better plan set in place of what that will look like in the
30:42
near future. Responsible growth sounds to me like balancing. That's exactly right.
30:52
What are we balancing? We're balancing understanding and communication between and between from developers
31:00
to community to hoas having and like I said before, having everybody in the
31:07
community better be well informed and prepared. If we're going to do X,
31:11
Y and Z, what are the repercussions of doing X, Y and Z.
31:14
Who's going to be negative impacted by that? Or who's gonna be positive
31:17
impacted by that? Right? Why are we doing that? I think that
31:19
there is a lot of I think that there is opportunity for knowledge and growth
31:25
in these areas because what happens is this, and this is something that I
31:29
know to be true, is that the more that people understand, the better
31:33
we can function as a community. The less people understand. We're emotional beings.
31:37
We're going to be driven by what we feel. So if something's not
31:41
right and you feel any ounce of wrong being done towards you, you will
31:45
be defensive and you'll be less receptive to understand anything. Yeah. I find
31:52
that people when they sense a lack of transparency and a process in whatever happens,
31:59
they're resists didn't because there's a sense of insider work of not really knowing,
32:07
Okay, well, why has this decision been really made? And as
32:10
we know, this community has a history of having issues like that, not
32:15
so much in the county, but certainly in the city and the city is
32:19
part of the county. That's right, it's it's it's a bigger picture,
32:22
and you know it's it's it's neat as I'm as I'm running in this race.
32:27
You know, I did a vision board before I came to Tallahassee,
32:31
and I excuse me, and I remember, I remember putting different pieces of
32:37
that big picture, and in Tallahassee was right in the middle, you know,
32:40
grow a family. You know, there was a lot of give and
32:45
serve part of my vision board, and right in the middle of Tallahassee,
32:49
I just put my town right. What would I do to care for my
32:52
city, for this city right? Working together, that's another opportunity that I
32:58
feel that that could happen. You know, a current commissioner, I think
33:01
it was last year, made a statement and he said that I believe that
33:06
we operate in silos, is what he's This is from the city commission right,
33:09
city commission or a county commissioner. No city commissioner said this, I
33:15
believe last year. I read it through an article and he said, I
33:17
believe that we operated in silos. And I think that that transpired intentionally or
33:23
can be transpired. It can actually come across even subconsciously, right, because
33:28
sometimes we get stuck in, you know, and we neglect the things that
33:30
are of value around us because we're just go, go, go go,
33:34
and don't have time to sit down and say, okay, wait a second.
33:37
We got to be intentional with how we're communicating. We got to be
33:39
intentional with who we're communicating with. We got to be in there's intentionality aspect
33:45
to it. So too much of what you mentioned earlier. I'm being on
33:49
the first one, which is accountability. Right, Accountability, That's one of
33:52
the things that I'm running on. Accountability. I'm running on strong community.
33:55
How do we build? You know, everything I'm speaking of today is falls
34:00
under accountability and strong community? Right. I believe that these are really key
34:06
components and responsible growth. Right. So are the top three things that I'm
34:08
running on. And all of those funnel right through those those three main and
34:14
again the idea of how do how do we do this in a more proactive
34:16
manner? Right? So, so that caught my attention was, Hey,
34:22
I feel like I can again lead in this direction. We we we decided
34:30
to run after last summer. I took about a month month and I have
34:34
to talk to my wife, to talk to my team. One of the
34:37
things that I'm really keen on is being present. Talked about in intentionality.
34:42
I feel like a leader of the community should be physically present, meaning you
34:51
are there, not just when you have to make not when you have to
34:53
cut a ribbon, or not when you have to just show up to a
35:00
a meeting, right a board meeting. I think it goes between that and
35:05
when I was evaluating, Hey, can I run for this opportunity? Can
35:08
I take advantage of the opportunity. Can I afford, meaning time wise,
35:14
to be able to be physically present? Because if I would not be able
35:16
to be physically present, I would not run for the seat. And I
35:21
think there's something to be said about human interaction and I'm big on that.
35:24
I'm big on loyalty, I'm big on friendships. I'm big on relationships.
35:30
I'm a really relational person. A matter of fact, my friends can tell
35:32
you, don't text him, call him. I'm still that guy. I'll
35:37
get in my truck and I run and I'll drive down and I'll do friend
35:40
checks. I'll call my friend. Hey, I'm just calling to see how
35:44
you're doing. You can ask my close friends or even some friends that I
35:46
haven't spoken to you a while. I'm big on relationships, not to be
35:51
perfect. I'm big on again, hey, how are we here for each
35:54
other? And so fast forward that after this, that's when I decided to
36:00
run and say, okay, can I Can I run? If I run,
36:06
what would thou look like? And one of the big things was again
36:08
being physically being, being physically present? Can I hear? And I suspected
36:15
that because as a small business owner, so just to recap so you can
36:20
run your clinics and serve in this capacity. Is your contention? That's exactly
36:23
right. Okay, that's exactly right. So structure, processes and procedures.
36:27
I'm really big on them, So can I be Can I be present?
36:30
What would that take? Sure? My went to my team and I asked
36:35
them, I'm thinking about running. Would I have your support in the offices.
36:38
Yes, I got phenomena doctors, I got phenomenal staff, right,
36:45
so yes, my family, yes, right. We thought about it,
36:47
we prayed about it, and then when we had a file. When we
36:52
filed, we had about was it twelve days? I forgot the timeframe,
36:57
but there was about window where we had to show some sort of financial support
37:02
contributions was again in this game where everybody listening out there, contribution plays a
37:09
big role on how your message is going to be you know, displayed.
37:13
Right that they say that when election comes around, that's when you start getting
37:15
flyers about this and that and what have you, and it's all attention attention
37:20
grabbing, and how do we stir emotion inside you do? I liked I
37:23
love to operate on facts, right that if I'm going to dispute anything to
37:27
you President, as we're discussing this, you can go and check on the
37:31
things that I've been saying, Right, how does that align right with what
37:36
I'm saying? And so we had about a short window to do some fundraising
37:40
and so within I think it was like twelve days, I'm not too sure
37:45
exactly in the days, but a short window of opportunity before the before the
37:49
quarter ended, we had raised I think like we had raised around twenty nine
37:53
thousand dollars, right, And that made a big statement saying, Okay,
37:59
yeah, we can have the support that we need to run this race.
38:02
And again, it hasn't been pretty right because there's there's a lot of things
38:07
that come into play as you're having meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting,
38:12
and so there is the understanding that again, how are you consistent? And
38:17
one thing that I am telling community, our community as I'm meeting new members
38:24
and what have you, is saying this, ask me the same question next
38:29
week and see if I give you the same answer, Because what I'm thinking,
38:34
I find out about a lot of times when people run in a race,
38:37
they say what you want to hear, and then what happens is when
38:39
you sidetrack from that, you catch them, You catch them in something that
38:45
was not truth. What it might not come across this truth put politics on
38:49
any level breeds political wind socks. Yes, which way is the wind blowing?
38:53
And that's the answer you'll get at the given time. But you know
38:55
what I found through this is that costs a lot of energy spent that doesn't
39:02
need to be sent spent in that direction. Well, it's no different than
39:06
telling a lie in in the In this regard, you have to remember the
39:09
lie. Yes, the truth is always easy. And I'm not suggesting any
39:15
any individual candidate anywhere is lying. I'm merely pointing out that when you are
39:19
political windsock and you're answering to the crowd that you're there in front of,
39:23
instead of just speaking where you are on whatever the issue might be. You
39:28
have to remember what you said because the next time you're somewhere else, you're
39:32
going to have to figure that out. Whereas if you're just speaking the truth
39:37
of what you think, you don't ever have to worry where you were what
39:38
you said too. It's just the truth, you know what. So as
39:43
a studying part of this process of understanding, you know, it's it's it's
39:47
you find things that you know the incumbent has said in conversation with you know
39:52
that with so we got Welch and then we got the loads. The loads
39:57
was before Welch. Right For those that out there that I don't know,
40:00
Brian Deloe's longtime commissioner in District four, which I will tell you that even
40:05
afterwards, got a chance to sit with Brian Delowe's and we had an amaze
40:10
I mean ever since. He's a smart guy, oh smart, but not
40:14
only but he has a heart. He got he has a heart. I
40:16
think again, going back to what I said before, the season was rough
40:21
for a lot of people, right, and it's not an excuse. And
40:23
the beautiful part about him, even even uh and even speaking with him,
40:29
is hearing his redemptive story. Well, and I was going to say,
40:31
I think Brian looks back and I haven't spent any time with him. I
40:35
spent a lot of time with him when he was serving as a commissioner,
40:37
but I would I would think that he probably regrets. Brian delse yes,
40:44
I think he probably regrets not being in a better place when he served then
40:49
he ended up getting to later in his life. Let's let's do this.
40:57
What's the best part of the campaign process for you? What have you enjoyed
41:01
the most? The thing, the part that I've been enjoyed the most is
41:09
is the platform I'm running on. Is knowing that running does not define me,
41:17
that this role is not going to define me. Is knowing that I'm
41:22
in this for the understanding of the we aspect of all this, right,
41:27
how do we? It's the we part? And so having these meetings with
41:31
people that oftentimes I've talked to all the candidates and what having they feel certain
41:37
pressures, but I don't. I don't feel I don't have the pressure.
41:43
I don't have the pressure because my five year plan never was part of being
41:51
county commissioner. Right, So there's this this part of me that I'm running
41:57
on that I get up and I'm like, God, you're good. Like
41:59
this is I'm meeting more people. I love that. It's a platform that
42:02
we part. I'm listening to people. There's some people that are you know,
42:07
that have been in support of the incumbent. I don't have a problem
42:09
with that, right, And I think and I also want to take a
42:14
side road really quick, is for everyone listening out there, know who you're
42:17
voting for. Right. You know, there's a lot of things that uh,
42:22
there's a lot of statements that I hear in One that stands out the
42:25
most is that I hear, especially in the local politics, Oh they're a
42:29
nice person. Right, there's a lot of nice people preston that I know
42:34
that I would not allow to run my businesses. Being nice is a moral
42:39
thing. Being qualified to lead is a whole different statement. Right is knowing
42:46
to decipher between emotions, learning, learning to stand on what's what needs,
42:51
what's very important for the community. It's knowing to say, hey, we
42:55
could do this. It's knowing to lead your community in the right direction.
43:00
Right. So going back to that, the question is that I'm energized by
43:07
understanding that there's a lot of people that are in support of us coming together
43:13
stronger. I'm energized knowing, as I'm meaning more people that they understand the
43:19
importance right of community of a leader that's going to represent them right in all
43:24
aspects. I think, you know, I think that his role is great.
43:30
You know I say this. I have respect he's a teacher. I
43:32
have respect for teachers. Teachers invested in me, and that's what helped me
43:37
improve my life, right. It changed the trajectory of my life. Right.
43:44
So at the same time, I also believe to be true that there's
43:49
ways to be done, to be said, to lead in our community in
43:53
a more effective way. So I love the process of meeting people and sitting
43:59
down and having a cop of coffee at any given time to listen to be
44:02
heard. But then I love the opportunity to even I have a I have
44:07
a a little book that I walk around with and I can show you page
44:10
after page of all these diagrams of problem solving and solutions that excites me of
44:16
the opportunity. What's the worst, what's the worst? I would I would
44:23
go back to what I said earlier about being wise as a serpent but gentle
44:31
as a dove. The wise part just when you think you have your meeting
44:37
with somebody who's connected in the area that might have the best interest, and
44:43
then takes a side road just like oof. So I would say that's the
44:50
worst. It's the and I will say this because it is what it is.
44:54
But the worst is playing the political game. I don't like it.
45:00
I don't like the political game because, as anybody's out there listening, I
45:05
don't care who you are. I mean, I care who you are in
45:07
terms of who you as a person, but in terms of I don't care
45:08
what level rank. I think there's very important that everybody needs to listen to
45:12
what I'm about to say that it's very important. I'm gonna say it over
45:15
and over as we play. As people play games, and I'm not saying
45:17
everyone does. Other people are paying for it. The community ends up paying
45:23
for it when things aren't done with the right intentions and with the community in
45:30
mind, and we hurt more and we don't move forward together. Right.
45:36
So it's for me, I'm finding that it's a value to keep everybody in
45:42
mind and to put it into action. How do we move forward from here?
45:47
One of the things that I love to say is, oftentimes we get
45:51
We've always heard the expression of the cup is half full or half empty,
45:57
right, We've heard that over and over. To me, both matter right
46:01
because it's an emotional perspective. But the problem oftentimes can be is that you
46:07
can be really positive or you can be really negative. What I like to
46:10
focus on is the fact that the cup there's a cup and there's water in
46:15
it. There's a two truth. So we can take the two truths and
46:19
say, Okay, how do we digest this and how do we move forward?
46:22
The progress it looks better. And I will also say this because no
46:28
leader can tell you to have all the answers, and I'm not claning to
46:31
have all the answers. But what I am saying is that we've been plugged
46:37
into the community to have the right resources to tap into. Right. I'm
46:42
far from perfect, where all of us are far from perfect, but it's
46:45
understanding that we're gonna mess up. We're not perfect, but by God,
46:50
there's things that we can do to improve that. Right. To move forward,
46:53
how would somebody learn more, get in touch, reach out to you
47:00
so you can reach out to us through our We have social media platforms.
47:04
The two big social media platforms that we have our Facebook as well as Instagram.
47:08
You have a website, Yeah, we have a website and it's it's
47:12
uh, we not me dash leon dot com. Okay, so we not
47:17
me dash leon dot com. And it's funny because of course any candidate's running,
47:22
they always tell you you have to put your name so everybody can remember
47:25
your name, remember your name, And that's been I guess back to one
47:30
of your questions, that's kind of been one of my struggles because I don't
47:32
like the attention, right, I don't like the attention, and so I've
47:37
had to as I was thinking about what can we run on we not meet
47:44
him about? Because again it represents all of us, but I have to
47:47
have my name on it, right, just telling me. So, my
47:51
email is Mantilla at we not Meet dash leon dot com. So that way
47:55
is attached to what this campaign does. This campaign is about we. Is
48:00
that the same handle that you're using on social media? We not me?
48:02
We not me as well? Correct? And then so we do a hashtag
48:07
on social media, is we not me? The number four for District four?
48:09
Right, Leon. So we not me for Leon is what we run
48:15
on in terms of the handle and how you can get a hold of us
48:19
also, and so so if you type in we not Me number four Leon
48:22
Facebook platforms, you'll see all of the all of the things that we we've
48:28
been doing in the community. And as we're wrapping up, Preston again,
48:31
thank you for having me here. This has been phenomenal. Just also knowing
48:35
your heart that we we think a lot alike in a lot of ways.
48:42
I am excited because there's so much opportunity that I feel like also people in
48:49
our community don't know we actually have. Right. One of the things the
48:52
safe bed is always well you know then company is doing all he can.
48:58
Right, That's a that's a really a common statement. But there's more that
49:02
can be done. And I think the more that can be done is again
49:07
it's having a pulse in the community more often than not. And as I'm
49:10
a business owner, I'm a family man. You know. One of the
49:15
things that they tell you about social media is they want you to clean up
49:17
yourself. I'm letting it all out, pressing like this is all this is
49:22
because I have nothing to hide. I'm transparent, right, and so they
49:24
tell you, hey, you got to be careful on what you said in
49:28
the past on social media and certain issues and what have you. And what
49:32
I told them was, you can have my password, you can have my
49:36
password. Who I've been in the last thirteen years, who I am,
49:38
Who's allowed me to have a community support to know that the interest in mind.
49:44
They say it's a non partisan race is what they're calling. It is
49:46
what they say here in Leon County, right. But for somebody who does
49:52
have conservative values myself, there's certain ways that you can you can work with
49:58
everybody in the community. Absolutely, there's ways you can do that right,
50:01
ways you can do that. And I'm loud and proud in the aspect of
50:07
I will always put people in front of this whole process, people first,
50:14
because every person matters, again, from HOA groups to the people that make
50:19
up the HOA, to the communities that make up the HUA, to the
50:21
developers too. There's a way that I have a vision for that. And
50:27
I started to say this earlier as I'm studying all this and some of the
50:30
interviews. Was mentioned before, is that the incumbent kept on making these statements
50:36
of the community is ready for fresh ideas. That's what he said in an
50:42
interview over and over and over and anybody listening. If you see any fresh
50:49
ideas and you love what you see, then you vote the same. That's
50:52
what I'm running on. If you know what you're voting for them, vote
50:54
the same. If you don't see fresh ideas, but you see a pattern.
50:59
You can follow us on social media and you see different ways of how
51:04
we've been implemented in the community. There's more where that came from. There's
51:08
more where that came from. And one thing I will also add about the
51:13
education system, which you know, there's been a lot of push in different
51:17
directions, and I think one of the biggest ways and important ways to even
51:22
as a commission that I feel like can have an impact is to invest in
51:24
the younger generation. I believe that if you help the younger generation connect the
51:30
dots of what's going on in your community and how you bring them alongside.
51:35
You know. One of the things that I'm looking at doing, and this
51:37
is the first time I'm actually making this known and we're working to some of
51:42
the logistics, is when I take seat, I would love to hold a
51:46
one to two week camp in Northeast Tallahassee that we will also offer scholarships for
51:53
that's going to highlight the importance of our community. And there's ways that we're
51:58
working through that as well. Right, And that's something that I want to
52:01
put on as a commissioner, right because again it's getting those involved from a
52:07
young age to see the value of what community looks like. So for me,
52:14
starts a young generation. For me, it takes you know, you
52:17
listen in the older generation, hey, what are some things that we don't
52:21
want to repeat? Right? And then in the middle generation I call it,
52:24
I'm you know, young and middle and then the older generation. But
52:28
the middle is just saying, hey, how do we come alongside you?
52:31
Because I have a list of things that there is now there is a difference
52:35
between need and want. I want to make sure I'm clear on that,
52:38
right, how do you decipher between need and want? And today is understanding
52:43
this my background, my background, I came from nothing, and by God's
52:47
grace, I'm in a different position in my life where I can't afford a
52:51
stake right. And so for me, not only can I sympathize and empathize
52:58
for right a less represented community in our community, but I can also do
53:01
it from all range of the spectrum there, right from the from that aspect
53:07
to that from both ends. I can empathize and sympathize with our community,
53:13
and there's a way that you can do that you can help and provide hope
53:16
within our community. Thanks for the time, Absolutely appreciate it. Absolutely