092624 - Jillaire McMillan

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, welcome back to the program. I am the
aforementioned Jimmy Lakey. Pleasure to have you here on the show,
and thanks for joining us this morning. Glorious day the
Lord has made. And rejoice, my friends, it's almost Friday.
It's Thursday morning, the twenty the twenty sixth day of September,
Year of our Lord, twenty twenty four. Don't forget anything
you miss on the show. Interviews, et cetera can always

(00:22):
be found at my website Jimmy Lakey dot com or
on the iHeartRadio app. Just look up The Laky Effect
podcast The Laky Effect that's my radio show in podcast form.
Also got another podcast up there called The Critical Mission,
where we talk about people's purpose in life. That's all
on the iHeartRadio app and anywhere you listen to. Just look
my name up and you'll see the two podcasts that

(00:43):
we do. All right, let me jump in and look
forward to the next conversation. I always like to let
you know about local races and local politics. It's easy
for us to raise our eye up and look towards Washington,
DC and talk about all the things that we want
to happen there. Don't want to happen there the people
we like, the we don't like. But a lot of
folks ignore and aren't aware of what's happening in their

(01:05):
school board, their city council. They're not aware of what's
happening down at the state capitol. And I try to
encourage you to be aware. There's a lot of things
that happen at the Gold Dome in the Capitol and
then your city hall that will affect you more readily
than a lot of stuff that happens in Washington.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
All right.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
House District nineteen is a district that is the incumbent,
Jennifer Parenti was a Democrat and she opted not to
go for reelection, and so the vacancy Committee for the
Democrats selected Jilaire McMillan to be their candidate in House
District nineteen, and she'll be taking on Republican Dan Woog.
We had Dan on a couple of weeks ago on

(01:44):
the program. So I want to welcome in Jilaire McMillan
onto the hotline. Jilaire, good morning, thanks for coming on.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Good morning, Jimmy, thank you so much for having me
on this morning.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
I appreciate you coming on listen. I always like to
ask people. First of all, tell everybody who Jillaire McMillan is.
It's not a name that i've heard in Colorado politics,
and I'm looking you're kind of new to the game
of at a selected office. You're not one that runs
for office just at every election. So give it a
little definition, give your biography of who you are.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yeah, good morning. I really appreciate what you said about
our local politics and our local elected officials really having
more effect on our lives, and so I'm excited to
represent the people of House District nineteen. I live in Langla.
I'm a most sortive I'm actually a resident of Well County,

(02:34):
living in unincorporated LANGMA, and I've been here for about
eight years. I've spent about twenty years as a stay
at home mom, and so i am a first time candidate,
as you said, but I'm not new to public service.
When the opportunity to take on this candidacy came to me,
it wasn't really anything new. It was really just a

(02:56):
reflection of the dedication that I've always had to mymmunity
and to serving. As I said, I've been a mom
with I have four children, two of them have graduated
from high school and two are still in high school,
and so for the many years they've been in school,
I've been really involved in their schools and serving as

(03:17):
the PTA president, then the Parent Advisory Committee president at
the middle school, and I'm currently the president of the
High School Education Foundation, which raises money for teachers in schools.
I've also had a lot of leadership positions in my
church congregations, in my neighborhoods, and so all of these
volunteer opportunities have really given me the up the experience

(03:38):
raising funds, organizing large scale events, and coordinating with people
that have different backgrounds, interests, and personalities. For almost a decade,
I've been a leader though in a national nonpartisan political nonprofit,
and through my advocacy work, I've engaged with people from
across the political spectrum on diverse and sometimes devices the issues.

(04:01):
So it's really given me a lot of good experience
communicating in ways that invite respectful, solutions based discussions and
that bring the kind of nuanced to issues that I
think most voters really want.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
The voice you mentioned that, oh, let me read.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
You're listen to the voice of Jelia McMillan. She's a
Democratic candidate in House District nineteen Jelary. You mentioned you
worked in the kind of the nonpartisan world. I was
curious what it is that makes someone want to jump
into the partisan, nasty world of politics. I've run for office.
It's a brutal job, no matter what level you're doing in.
What was it when the opportunity came a knock in
and they had a vacancy committee? Why would you want

(04:38):
to step into that kind of pray?

Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yeah, that's a great question. I often jokingly have told people, Well,
I wanted to run for office since I ran for
seventh grade class president back in junior high. So it's
the sort of thing that I've wanted to do for
a long time. I think in part because I just
know that I'm a good leader and I have this

(05:01):
kind of desire to serve and feel a duty when
there are opportunity is available, and so it's something that's
been on my mind as well to just hey, one day,
I'd like to run for office. And so I've been
kind of, you know, looking ahead and preparing, and so
I wasn't planning to run this year because there was
an incumbent and when and when the opportunity Arose. I thought,

(05:24):
you know what, this is my chance. I don't think
I should let this opportunity pass.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
J Oh, I'm just gonna let me keep going to
your website is Jelaire for Colorado and Jilaire's j I
L L A I R E for Colorado dot com.
As you traveled the district and you're knocking doors, I'm
sure and send it down Mayler's what do you You've
got a unique district House District nineteen's part in Weld County,
part in Boulder County. You got a big group of

(05:51):
diversity there. Politically, what are you hearing? Are the topics
out there?

Speaker 2 (05:55):
Nashally?

Speaker 1 (05:56):
You see polls, it's immigration, and it's the economy, cost
of living.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
What are you hearing is the top issues in that
district right now?

Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah? I would definitely say that as I've been out
knocking doors, talking to voters on their doorsteps and that
events that I attend, that affordable housing and the economy
is definitely one of those top issues that people are
talking about.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, well let's talk about that. What is your vision?

Speaker 1 (06:21):
I mean, obviously you're just one person, You're just one vote,
and people often say we got to lower the cost
of living in Colorado is very, very expensive. Of affordable
housing is not readily available. What's the solution in your mind?

Speaker 3 (06:36):
So, one of the reasons that our family moved to
Colorado was because we couldn't afford to buy a house
where we were living. So I really understand how this feels.
Housing prices have increased in Colorado twenty to thirty percent
in the last four years, and so I know young
people who are trying to start out and end up
moving back in with their parents. Growing families are struggling

(06:59):
to buy larger homes to fit their needs because other
people don't want to get into a new high rate
mortgage and so they're not selling their houses. And so
I really think, like you said, I'm one person, this
is a really complex problem, and so I think we
need a variety of solutions. One thing that I think
can help will be streamlining the permitting process that's flowing

(07:19):
down building and keeping inventory low. I also think we
just need to see more innovation in building and more
flexibility in zoning. I think more public private partnerships that
can enhance the supply of homes for people who have
a range of incomes. But I also recognize that as
a state legislator, I don't have jurisdiction over some of
these things. A lot of zoning laws are the purview

(07:41):
of the municipalities and local governments, and so as a
state legislator, I can't override their authority. But I know
it's going to be important to work together with municipalities
so that we can create the best solutions for the
most people.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
Have you had a chance to look at and again,
I know you're just going to start it here.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Look at the construction defects law.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
You've got a lot of apartment buildings, but most places
aren't going to sell those as town homes or condos
because of the construction defects laws that are going to
have been endless lawsuits, so they just rent them rather
than sell them. That's something that I think could be
changed at the state level. But no one seems to
talk about the construction defects laws and how they prevent
some of these more condominium smaller entry level places that

(08:21):
a young a young single person or a young couple
might want to move into.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
So I'll be honest with you, Jimmy, this is the
first time I haven't heard about the construction defects laws.
But I'm writing it down right now in my notebook.
Where whereas I learn about ashes people care about, that's
where I start my research.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
Yah.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah, I talk to some builders.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
They'll tell you all about it, but they they if
there's an agent, they can end up getting sued for
even just the smallest thing by the entire building, and
so they just want to rent them rather than it's
a it's a it's problematic and several states have had that.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
So look look at up. I appreciate you doing that.

Speaker 3 (08:59):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (08:59):
Let me ask thank you the other things that the
cost of living in the state of Colorado. Housing is
a part of that. Uh, some of the policies in
Washington effective inflation as well. Uh, Colorado, is there anything
else that the state capital, in your mind, could do
to make Colorado affordable again? Because it's not just how
it's everything just seems to be very expensive here and
we lead the nation in some of our in all

(09:22):
sorts of categories as far as cost.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
Yeah, I think that there are some some good ideas
that we could look at. I think there are limitations,
as you said, right about what state what the state
legislators can do as far as you know, some of
these federal policies some of our local policies. I think
we need to look at some policies that would help

(09:51):
would help our wages. We need to make sure that
people are in jobs that are paying enough to help
them live in the communit these where they work. That
can apply to a lot of our teachers out there, right.
We all love our teachers. Education is so important and
when so, education funding is something that I really want

(10:12):
to make sure that we are addressing so that teachers
and other people who are doing that good work of
serving in our communities have the wages that they need.
And so I think that's one thing that we can
definitely look at those things. I think we need to
make sure that we have affordable health care. Access to

(10:32):
healthcare is really significant. My husband and I are small
business owners, and I know that having access to healthcare
has been one of those stresses for us as as
we left a job that did provide that and what
we needed to do for ourselves to make sure that
that was going to be feasible.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
Jelaire McMillan is my guest. She's a Democrat candidate in
House District nineteen. Her Republican opponent is Dan Woogie's been
on the show and Jelaire joins us today from the
Democrat side. House District nineteen is very unique. I mentioned
part in Weld County, part in Boulder County, a lot
of different diverse opinions. You have a legislature, We have
a legislature that has really a Republican super minority in

(11:12):
a Democrat supermajority, and there's not necessarily a lot of
need to work together. There's not because you're part of
the Democrats have a super majority almost in both chambers
down there, but in House District nineteen it's a little
bit of a different layout. How do you manage some
of the views of a supermajority we're in charges or

(11:34):
a Democrat policies and this is what we're going to
push through the legislature versus you're representing you would be representing.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
Should you in.

Speaker 1 (11:41):
A very diverse fifty to fifty district where I think
Republicans actually have the registration lead there. How do you
balance those two influences the district versus the caucus that
you'll be a part of.

Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, I'm really glad you asked this question, Jimmy, because
I think think that this is one of the things
that makes me a really strong candidate in this district,
and that is the experience that I've had working in
a nonpartisan nonprofit. The organization is made up about one
third Republicans once they're Democrats, and one third an affiliated voters,
and so the experience that I've had has been bringing

(12:19):
people together and working with people who are from across
various across the political spectrum, and having this experience talking
about devices issues, coming to solutions that we can agree
on based on principles, based on values that are really
important to us. And I believe that I will be

(12:39):
representing all of HD nineteen, even people who don't vote
for me, I would still be their representative, and I
believe that it's my responsibility to listen to them. I
think that we do have a lot of issues like
affordable housing and good funding for schools that aren't partisan issues,
and so there are a lot of places where we
can work together across the aisle and where I see

(13:01):
it as a really easy opportunity to bring people together.
And that's the kind of experience that I have working
in this organization, and it's really who I am.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
I don't.

Speaker 3 (13:11):
I don't see Republicans as my enemies. I don't see
anyone as my enemy. I see I see people that
I want to work with. And I'm a woman of faith,
and that teaches me that everyone's a child of God
and deserves my respect and my care and so and
so that's really the type of person that I am

(13:31):
and how I will how I will approach, especially representing
this as you said, you know, a very divided district
and sense of our our affiliation, but I think united
in a lot of the things that people. You know,
people just care about. They want their families to be safe,
they want to be able to afford things, and want
to send their children to good school.

Speaker 1 (13:51):
Jelaiir McMillan is my guest. By the way, you got
to have four minutes left, so I want to make
sure we get everything in. Jelaire for Colorado dot Com.
She's a Democratic candidate for ageteen nineteen. You can learn
more jelairefo Colorado dot com. I have extended an invitation
for Jelaire and Dan Woog to both come into the
studio together and hopefully we can get that worked out.
Jailaire for Colorado dot Com Jenner. One topic that I've
been hitting a lot this week, and it's a kind

(14:13):
of a peeve of mine. I had Weld County Sheriff
Steve Riems on and we've talked about something the legislature
did a few years ago. You weren't a part of it.
I wanted to see if you have thoughts on it.
It was house built nineteen eleven twenty four, and that
basically says the Eerie Police Department or the Weld County Sheriff,
if they have somebody that they're going to release that
is here, an ICE Immigration Custom Enforcement wants them and

(14:35):
is trying to look for them. It's illegal for welld
County share for the Eerie Police Department or the Frederick
Police Department to contact ICE and say we have this
person you're looking for. It's actually illegal for them to interface.
What do you think of that piece of legislation that
was passed a few years ago in the line of
in the light of a state that has a rising

(14:55):
crime rate.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
You know, Jimmy, I support our local law enforcement. I
think that we need to be really careful about separating
who's in charge of what and making sure that that
is that that is clear right. We want to make
sure that that the officers know exactly what they are
and aren't allowed to do so that they can best
theor of our community. And one thing that I want

(15:19):
to make sure people are aware of is that I
am in favor of diverse communities. I'm in favor of
making sure that we are a welcoming place. I think
that our immigration immigrant UH population have a lot to
offer to our state. And we actually see that those
who are immigrants, and often those people who are who

(15:42):
are here undocumented, commit less crime than citizens. And so
I'm always a little bit worried when we attach some
of the rising crime rates to immigration and so and
so I want to be careful about about making those
those pigs.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
And that's that's fair enough. That's fair enough.

Speaker 1 (16:02):
But let me real quick, because we're going to be
about one hundred and twenty seconds, and I want to
make sure you give your website out again. But if
Ice is looking for somebody locally, do you think they
should be forbidden from the saying, Hey, Ice, we have
the person you're looking for.

Speaker 3 (16:17):
I would need to read more about that law, honestly
to make sure that I that I understand the nuances.
They said I wasn't there when it was.

Speaker 1 (16:24):
I got you fair enough. It's it's just one of
my peeps. I've been talking about it with law enforcement
this week. Share Steve riamss on It's House Bill nineteen
eleven twenty four. Hey Jilaire, we've got about forty five seconds.
If you want to give your website and tell people
how to contact you, I'll give you.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
The entire forty five seconds before that music starts.

Speaker 3 (16:42):
Thank you so much. I'm really grateful for the opportunity again.
My name is je Lair McMillan. I'm running for House
District nineteen, which covers those cities of Erie, a little
bit of Long Law, and then Frederick, Firestone and Dacono.
You can reach me at je Layer McMillan at gmail
dot com. My website, as Jimmy's been saying to everyone,
is jeelairefro Colorado dot com. I'm really interested in being

(17:06):
a representative for the whole district and would appreciate your support.

Speaker 1 (17:10):
Hey Jelair, I really appreciate you coming on the show.
Jeelaire for Colorado dot com and we'll talk again soon.
Thank you very much. I'm out of time. It's a
hard break, right keep going to Jelaire for Colorado dot Com. Jelairmcmillan,
thank you very much. Everybody stand by. It is a
hard break. I've got two seconds. Everybody stand by. Six
hundred KCl