October 25, 2024 • 54 mins
IN A DISTRICT that has historically elected Democrats, State Rep. Vicki Lopez is running as a moderate Republican to keep her spot. House District 113, which covers Key Biscayne and coastal Miami.
Know for her work on condo issues, she is fending off a challenge from Jackie Gross Kellogg, the leader of Key Biscayne Democrats who says she will restore bipartisan balance after decades of Republican rule in Tallahassee.
We talk to both candidates about some of the top issues facing voters and what has been at times a nasty campaign.
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Episode Transcript
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Announcer (00:00):
The views expressed in the following program are
those of the host and guests anddo not necessarily represent
those of the Key BiscayneIndependent or Miami Fourth
Estate. Portions were prerecorded. She will
Unknown (00:20):
she will always be my
Tony Winton (00:40):
friend. Live from Miami, Florida. This is anti
social, the podcast andsometimes a radio program where
we bring you current events withmaybe just a little bit of
calmness, you know, andtranquility, a little bit too
much. Yeah,
Jan Dillow (00:55):
we try.
Tony Winton (00:56):
I'm Jan Dillow, Tony Winton, and well, you know,
we're here in political season.
It's, you know what the goodnews about it is. Here we are on
october 24 as we're recordingthe show. It's really only a
couple of weeks, I
Jan Dillow (01:08):
know, less than two, right? Yeah, yeah. It's, well,
it's been, it's gonna be a longtwo weeks, I think, for us and
for our guests. And
Tony Winton (01:19):
you know, what's worse? I mean, just so much this
particular day, the last 48hours for us in the Key Biscayne
Independent, been very busy,because we had not one but two
council meetings this week inKey Biscayne. We had not one but
two criminal sentencings goingon in in state court today. And
of course, we have this podcastsay so it's like this is like a
(01:40):
48 hours of incredible newsintensity. What I don't
understand is, is that normalfor like, village councils to,
like, schedule extra meetings asthey're in a lame duck scenario?
It
Jan Dillow (01:51):
seems weird, right?
Yeah,
Tony Winton (01:53):
I think it's a little weird, like, you know.
And they actually talked aboutlast night having another
meeting before they're out ofoffice, having to do with the
Richard Nixon helipad inBiscayne Bay, and whether or not
that connects to the Big Digstormwater project.
Jan Dillow (02:10):
Our story said it was the last, it was the last
one for Allison. They
Tony Winton (02:15):
theoretically could keep meeting until actually
there's the new one is sworn in,right? I'm not encouraging it.
No, okay,
Jan Dillow (02:24):
maybe it would be a distraction from what else is
going on, though. Well,
Tony Winton (02:28):
we have our guests here today, two very interesting
guests wrapping up the season,though, for
Jan Dillow (02:33):
us, Vicky Lopez and Jackie Kellogg, right?
Tony Winton (02:37):
And they are the candidates Republican and
Democrat for House District 113which covers key, Biscayne and
much of coastal Miami. And wedid flip a coin, and then we
threw the coin flip away, justto accommodate people's
schedules. But so, but that wayit worked out is representative
Lopez is going to go first so,and she's been on the program
before. So welcome back. Thank
Vicki Lopez (02:58):
you so much. Tony, thank you, Jen.
Tony Winton (03:01):
Well, there's been a lot of angst in this race.
It's drawn a lot of how should Isay there's been a lot lot of
attention paid to it. And Iguess I wanted to start off with
something that just came outtoday, and I'm sure you're
already aware of it. This is astory that comes from a another
publication. It's in the sameorganization we are in the
(03:24):
Jacksonville tributary, and ithas to deal with your connection
to this company called buspatrol and legislation in 2023,
House Bill 741, which you wereone of, I want to say, about a
dozen co sponsors of iteventually passed on a
bipartisan basis in Tallahassee,and it has to do with the fact
(03:49):
that your son, I guess, laterbecame Vice President of
Government Affairs for thiscompany. And what they do is
it's kind of like red lightcameras, but for school busses.
If you've never heard of thistechnology, right, someone
blasts past the school bus, andthen it captures the that's what
that's what the business is. Andthe legislation allowed school
districts to implement thisprogram and set up rules on how
(04:11):
it worked. And so this storygoes into quite a bit quite
detail, but we wanted to haveyou come on the show and and
have the opportunity to addressit
Vicki Lopez (04:20):
Sure. So, you know, it's interesting. I think the
reporter from the Jacksonvilletributary who wrote the article
doesn't really understand whatco sponsor means. I must co
sponsor a great deal of billsthat really just say I agree.
You know, I support this bill. Ihave no access to whether or not
it gets heard or whether or notit moves through committee, it's
(04:42):
simply an act of sort ofsupport. So the reporter is
saying that somehow my supportprior to my son actually even
working for the company, was anissue, and then once my son
became Vice President ofGovernment Relations, there was
a second tweak to the originalbill, of which I co sponsored.
As well, because I co sponsoredthe first bill. And for me, it's
all been about child safety,pedestrian safety. We've had
(05:06):
deaths occur across the country,and some here in Florida, and
it's an issue. And we know it'san issue because the first day,
14,000 people were going arounda school bus. So for me, it's
really, I'm kind of accustomedto it. It's a it's part of the
political world that we live in.
People want to subscribe somesort of, you know, suspect, full
(05:27):
kind of activities. It's reallynot at all. I don't inure any
benefit. My son didn't inure anybenefit because the bill was not
specific to a vendor, specificto a region. It
Tony Winton (05:41):
just authorized school districts to, yeah, and
anybody
Vicki Lopez (05:44):
could apply for that. And and have, across the
state, there are several vendorswho have already, you know, been
awarded that bike school boards.
And so the school boardsactually are the ones that are
charged with the responsibility,if they choose to move forward,
to determine their own ways inwhich they would contract with a
company. So for me, it's really,I just see it as yet, a hit
piece in a campaign. And, youknow, honestly, I'm, I'm
(06:07):
accustomed to it, you know, thisis part of the, I think this is
part of what you will see if yourun for office. It's
Jan Dillow (06:16):
very long and involved history of 30 years for
you, yeah,
Vicki Lopez (06:20):
and that history is old, and honestly, you know, I
have to tell you, it's one ofthe things that worries me most,
because if my history continuesto be brought up 30 years later,
what does that say for thepeople that have come home from
prison and who really believethey're going to get a second
chance? In reality, they maynot, and I'm hearing from a lot
of them just recently aroundthis and, you know, it is
(06:44):
troublesome. It'll be somethingthat I'll be talking about,
quite frankly, in the months tocome, whether or not someone can
ever escape their past,especially when they're doing
well. And so, you know, the Ithink it bears the question,
Does second chances really, youknow, really exist for people
that
Jan Dillow (07:02):
kind of brings up the whole idea of, like, felon,
felons voting right in Florida,yes,
Vicki Lopez (07:07):
exactly. I mean, you know, for so many people who
have come out of prison andstill have their felony, they
are not, you know, able to vote.
They've made it so onerous thethe process, and the only time
it was really quite acceptablewas under Governor Crist, when
he automatically restoredpeople's civil rights if you
applied for them. And so this isa much more complicated issue
(07:30):
that really is highlighted inthis article, but it's it's been
part of my past two years ago,when I ran people said the same
thing. You talked about it onthis program 100% and listen, I
actually told my story on theHouse floor, because we had two
people who were falselyincarcerated for 40 years who
were asking for, you know,financial claims. And I remember
(07:52):
looking straight up at that atthe gallery and telling them my
story and why it was soimportant for me that they be
there, because they had, infact, been, you know,
incarcerated falsely. And it wasjust a moment in time where
everybody just froze on thefloor. Because, you know, it's
real, it's a real story. I'vetold it 1000 times, and it's, it
(08:13):
doesn't surprise me that itwould come back out again. I
mean, it is, it is politics, youknow. And I'm, I'm pretty
accustomed to this by now. What
Jan Dillow (08:23):
with the Republican committee that allowed that?
Isn't it? A Republican committeebasically the governor and other
officials that decide whether ornot people will be able to vote
again or have had their rightsrestored?
Vicki Lopez (08:39):
Well, it's, it's two ways. It could be the
legislature who could rememberthat they interpreted the
amendment that gave ex felonsthe right to vote, and so then
they put in certain hoops andbounds that people had to go
through, such as paying all oftheir fees and actually going
through all of their probation.
So that's one place, and theother place, of course, is the
(09:00):
governor and the Cabinetcertainly sit as the the
authority to restore civilrights, and they could it. Could
certainly change their rules.
There it's but it's been doneover the last four different
governors have had fourdifferent ways of doing it.
Tony Winton (09:15):
You mentioned the campaign, and I do want to talk
a little bit more about that,because we have, you know, we
had an incident that involvedour publication. There was an ad
that was sponsored by the, Iguess it was the house Campaign
Committee, and it mentioned thisour publication, which we
complained about because it wasinaccurate. I never got a
(09:35):
response to that complaint fromMr. Perez, Representative Perez,
so that's, was the chair of thatorganization. Could you address
that? Yeah, so
Vicki Lopez (09:45):
I found out from actually, one of your former
reporters, John Pacenti, thatwhat they had quoted was
incorrect. And I said, then itshouldn't have been used. It's
very simple. I mean, it shouldbe that if you've got something
to say about someone and theirviewpoints. That you accurately
cite your source. And so Ilearned it wasn't, and told
(10:05):
them, I don't think you shouldbe using, you know, sources that
are already telling you theydidn't. They that's not them.
So, yeah, unfortunately,
Tony Winton (10:14):
all right, let's, there are a lot of big issues
going on the state, so let's tryand get to that. Yeah,
Jan Dillow (10:20):
there's, there's a couple of things that like that
are going on in the state, andthings that are also specific to
you. So we want to talk a littlebit about your voting record.
It's my understanding onabortion, that you've voted or
that you voted against the sixweek abortion ban, but I believe
you're on record as supportingthe 15 week is that true? I am
Vicki Lopez (10:39):
I? Am I? When I ran for office, the legislature had
already moved to 15 weeks. And Isaid, I'm good with 15 weeks as
long as it has exceptions, andthose exceptions must be rape,
incest, human trafficking, and,of course, the mother's life,
Jan Dillow (10:52):
okay. And so how are you going to be voting on
amendment four? I'm
Vicki Lopez (10:55):
going to vote yes on amendment four.
Unfortunately, they have left usno choice. I think that 15
weeks, and I can tell you this,I spoke to a physician who heads
one of the largest OBGYNpractices in Florida, who is
personally pro life, but yethe's talking to me as a
physician, and he said, 15 weeksis good. Vicky, trust me, it's
enough time for a woman to doall the things that she must do,
(11:17):
and then to make her personaldecision with her physician. So
as long as, as long as thatworked in my, in my book, for a
physician, I was good with it.
Tony Winton (11:28):
What do you think about how it's going to play out
in that this in the state,though, because obviously the
governor, the rest of yourparty, very different position.
Vicki Lopez (11:35):
Yeah, they do have a very different position. And I
don't know it looks, it lookslike it had a real high
percentage. I think it waspassing the bar, but just
recently, the polls show thatit's now down to 60% I think a
lot of that has to do with notonly misinformation, but
disinformation that is beingspread out there. And one of
(11:56):
them is that somehow parentalconsent is being removed and it
is not. And that is so very,very clear is
Tony Winton (12:03):
that in the actual text of the Yes, it is, yes, it
is.
Vicki Lopez (12:06):
So it appears to me that there has been on both
sides. You know, it'sinteresting. If you watch the
commercials that are playing,you know, you'll, you'll see one
for, one against, and neither ofthem do this issue any justice I
believe. I believe that there'sscare tactics on one side,
there's scare tactics on theother, there's disinformation,
(12:26):
misinformation. And I would justsuggest that all the voters do
their own research. You know,don't listen to what everyone
else is saying. Look at theamendment language and decide
for yourself. If that'ssomething that you can live
with. You
Tony Winton (12:40):
are you were talking before the show. I guess
you're getting dubbed as thecondo queen. I didn't that was
your words. You said, No,
Vicki Lopez (12:46):
that is actually Florida politics words, I might
add, they coined that, and it'sstuck.
Tony Winton (12:51):
Okay, well, I'm not using it but, but you have
obviously been attached to a lotof legislation here, and we were
just, we had a story todayinvolving and the key biscuit
independent. You can read abouta criminal case that maybe will
get resolved tomorrow. I don'tknow. There might be a depending
on what happens. And then we'vehad yet a word of another set of
charges involving the hammocksthat the Miami state attorney is
(13:13):
prosecuting, looking back atthat and what happened there,
what needs to be done in thearea of condos. And of course,
we have the whole financialaspect as well, right?
Vicki Lopez (13:22):
So there are many issues about condos that I will
be working on when I'm elected,not the least of which is, do we
have enough controls in place?
As as we all know, the stateattorney doesn't have a lot of
money. She barely has money tohire competent people and keep
them. But I do believe that thehammocks case in particular, I
(13:42):
have not yet seen, and now thenew condo case in the in the
Aventura area is beginning tolet us know that we need more, I
think, more regulation. And Ihate saying that, because I'm
not, you know, I'm a person ofless regulation. However, we
have to pledge to condo ownersand to Hoa owners, which are
(14:05):
which are two different things.
By the way, the hammocks is ahomeowners association, and
condos are run by condoassociations. But nonetheless,
all of them deserve to know thatthey are their their assets are
being safeguarded, and theircondo boards are acting on their
behalf and not on their own. SoI think giving more more
jurisdiction to to theDepartment of Business and
(14:28):
Professional Regulation toconduct random audits, I mean,
somebody's got to start lookinginto this. Now, we made a lot of
progress in condo 3.0 by puttingin criminal penalties on a lot
of issues, not the least ofwhich is elections, because
that's how they're staying inpower. They become corrupt, and
then they stay in power by bymaking sure that the elections
(14:50):
are rigged. So there's, there'scertainly some things, I think,
more more oversight and moreauditing, until we can get the
bad actors. Out of those seats.
Tony Winton (15:01):
What about the surf side rules? Now that a lot of
you're seeing it statewide, Iguess there's going to be a
special session condo
Jan Dillow (15:09):
fees. Well,
Vicki Lopez (15:10):
I don't know that there'll be a special session. I
know there's been a call for it,but that's a number one
priority, at least for me. Soyou remember that it was the
year before I got elected, theypassed this law that, you know,
obviously mandated milestoneinspections and reserves. And
then the first year that I getelected, then we bring in a
little more clarity andtransparency to the bill,
because nobody knew what it whatit was all about, because it was
(15:32):
passed so quickly during aspecial session right after
Surfside tragedy. So I thinkwhat we're looking at now is,
how do you balance the safety ofbuildings? For instance, two
months ago, we had to evacuate19 buildings in Broward County
and two in Jensen beach becausethey were not safe for people to
live in. So we can't have wecertainly can't have people
(15:54):
dying or buildings collapsing.
But we also have to understandwe can't put people out on the
street. So I think one of thethings that I'm looking at is,
how do we identify, first,where's the issue? Because
really, the vast majority ofcondominiums are here in
Broward, Miami, Broward and PalmBeach County, and the vast
majority of the very oldbuildings are here. So we have
to determine there will be datathat will be collected. So at
(16:15):
the end of the year, wheneveryone is completed, or should
have completed, their structuralintegrity reserve studies, we're
going to know first of all, whatare the increases in condo fees,
which are different, becausethose can be budgeted. That's
what the CERs is a prospectivebudget tool. The Milestone
inspections that happen at 30years and above every 10 years
thereafter, is where you'reseeing the big special
(16:36):
assessments. And why? Becauseit's being done in very old
buildings who weren't maintainedover the years. And
Tony Winton (16:43):
that's the question, right? So do you think
there's the possibility ofeasing some of these
requirements, as some arecalling for, or perhaps some
kind of financial assistance, alow interest loan program? What
I
Vicki Lopez (16:55):
think the financial assistance is probably more in
line with it, although I'malready hearing pushback from
some members that are saying,Why would my constituents, you
know, were there no condos? Whywould my constituents have to
bail out yours? And I was like,Oh my gosh. I mean, at this
juncture, we've got to look at,you know, we're Floridians.
We've got a Florida problem. AndI think the financial just like
(17:17):
Miami Dade has the interest freeloan. If you make up to 140%
area median income, up to$50,000 I think we could
probably do that for for thosethat truly demonstrate need,
which would be our retirees,people on very fixed incomes. I
mean, we've got to do something,and at some juncture, we've got
to start asking ourselves, whatdo we do with these old
buildings? Because actually, thereal estate market reflects that
(17:40):
no one wants to buy a condo inan old building. They want new
amenities. They want the newbills and bells and whistles,
and so at some juncture, you'reprobably going to see a lot of
condo terminations. Well, we're
Tony Winton (17:49):
waiting for this rule, right? Yeah, the third DC.
Well, there the Biscayne 21
Vicki Lopez (17:54):
issue is really going to going to give us some
some indication, becausedevelopers have cooled to the
notion of getting involved incondo terminations, but at some
juncture, the the amount ofmoney that it will cost to bring
the building up to code is, ismore than anyone. Yeah, let's,
Jan Dillow (18:11):
I think we, I think we need to go back and talk
about what the building 21 is.
It's a condominium, yeah, thisgame 21 was, yes, you can
probably do it better than I,but it's a condominium that an
older condominium that alreadythey didn't they already start
to So,
Vicki Lopez (18:25):
yes, so Biscayne 21 was a 60 year old building on on
probably the most prime realestate in my district, on the
has two unobstructed views ofthe bay on the end of 21st on
the water, and a Land Trustbegan to buy up many of those
units, and we're offeringbetween market to two times
(18:46):
market rate, right? So by thetime the developer was contacted
by the condo board, the landtrust already owned almost 90
93% of them, right? So they soldthem to the to the developer.
The developer, there were 10other people that were holdouts,
and those are the ones that suedthe developer. And then the
lower courts here determinedthat the the other owners had a
(19:08):
right to sell, and that they hadto sell because the building had
already, you know, they weremajority owners. And then the 10
owners actually then appealed tothe Third Circuit District Court
of Appeals, and theirs were theThird District Court of Appeals
sided with them, so the buildingis an eyesore in my district
right now. It is a shell. It hasa crane in the middle of the
parking lot, and they can't doanything with it until the third
(19:30):
DCA decides whether or not itwill meet en banc, meaning all
of them will meet to determinewhether that's a good whether
they should proceed with thatoriginal opinion of the three
member court. So I think, look,you know, I studied at the FIU
metropolitan center. They havebeen studying these old
(19:51):
buildings Since 2017 and theyare telling me that there is a
huge problem. Because what I didnot know was in the late 70s,
early 80s, apartment buildings.
Were converted intocondominiums, and those are not
really suitable for condoliving. And so now we're going
to see the effects of the of noone having taken care of these
buildings. And now at this endof the of the spectrum, which
would be the 3040, 5060, yearsthat they're in bad shape. And
(20:14):
now, what do we do? So it's aconundrum, for sure, but we have
to make sure that we not we keeppeople safe, but we don't throw
them out of their homes. Andthat's going to be my, my big
task. As the only member of theFlorida House of 120 of us, I'm
probably the only person whoreally understands this, to the
extent that I do.
Jan Dillow (20:33):
So you, you're on in I think you're in favor of
supporting making it easier fordevelopers to replace these
older condos definitely,
Vicki Lopez (20:41):
if the board decides right, because you can
there, the declaration documentsof each condominium actually
determine how you wouldterminate a condo. Right? It's
kind of like a corporation. Ittells you how you will do it.
And so in some cases it's 100%approval. In some cases it is
80% but in some cases, becausein statute, there's what's known
(21:03):
as an economic waste provision.
If, if the cost to bring thebuilding up to speed is, you
know, to code and to make allthe repairs is more than what
the building is worth, then youcan exercise 80% which is what
that's that's the provision thatwe're gonna all be seeing with
Biscayne 21 it
Jan Dillow (21:22):
does seem like it's going to be a big issue if
you've got people that you knowwant to live there, and maybe
they don't make that income cutoff, because the fees, along
with insurance, are really,really, really,
Vicki Lopez (21:35):
they can be very high, especially when you're
living in an illusionary worldwhere your condo fee may have
been $500 all these years, butthat's because nobody's doing
any work on your building.
There's
Tony Winton (21:44):
so much deferred maintenance. Yeah, sure. Which
is the tragedy of Surfside?
Which
Vicki Lopez (21:48):
is because, my God, 98 people would be actually
Tony. 98 people would still bealive today if Miami Dade would
not have been recertifyingbuildings at 40 years, but
rather, at 30 years, because thebuilding collapsed around 38 and
a half.
Tony Winton (22:03):
We're almost out of time. So, yeah, I did want to
give you, and it's more of ageneral political question.
You're running in it. You know,you're running for re election.
It's a Democrat leaningdistrict, not anymore. Well,
it's
Vicki Lopez (22:14):
not. Republicans are now outnumbered. Registered
Republicans now outnumber theDemocrats. But guess who
outnumbers us? The NPA, well,that's,
Tony Winton (22:22):
I was gonna say it's, we've got this big swing.
But the question is, in thisdistrict, we're also in a
presidential election year yourand we'll give you a chance to
do your closing argument. Butthe larger political situation,
the way people feel about thenational presidential election,
how do you how does that come upin your conversations with
voters?
Vicki Lopez (22:43):
So what's happening with voters is almost
unprecedented. I have DemocratHispanics voting for me. I have,
obviously the Republicans arevoting for me, and most of the
MPAs in my in my district areleaning right. I think it has to
do with the economy, theeconomy, the economy. I don't
think anyone's worried aboutanything else. That's certainly
what's happening. I am actuallyclosing the gap this year, this
(23:05):
time last election, I wasprobably trailing the Democrat
opponent by 4000 votes. I'm nowat 125 votes, and we will
probably close that gap tonight.
Apparently, that we, theRepublicans have come out to
vote in unprecedented ways. I'venever seen anything like it.
They just flipped Miami Dade toa red today. So that's it's a
(23:27):
phenomenon. I can't understandit, except to tell you that I
know what the voters are sayingat the door, and for many of
them, I think in my case, theyjust know me as a person who's
common sense and who reallycares about her community and
who's worked super hard and hasdemonstrated it for the last two
years. So, you know, I alwayssay I am knocking on doors
(23:50):
respectfully asking people fortheir vote because I want I've
considered this an honor and aprivilege to represent District
113, it is vast, it is diverse,and what goes on in Key Biscayne
has nothing to do with what goeson in Little Havana and what
goes on in edgeworter hasnothing to do with what goes on
in North Grove. So I have madeit a point to get into the
community and to really get toknow my not only my
(24:13):
constituents, but what thoseissues are, and have really
brought home unprecedentedmoney, as well as made in this
case. Now that we're talking tothe Key Biscayne independent, I
have made ki biscane a name foritself in the Florida House.
Prior to my election, nobodyeven knew where Key Biscayne was
much less that it was in theMiami Dade County. And I think
(24:34):
that a lot has to do with thefact that I'm in the majority
party one and that I'm movinginto leadership. So I have a
voice in every room now, and Iintend to use that voice, should
I be re elected, and whenelected, to really kind of beef
up what I've already startedabout Kiva scan, which was,
remember, there's micromobility, there's flooding,
(24:57):
there's the traffic. Tech,there's the state park. There
are so many things that no oneever spoke about, and so I'm
really grateful for thisopportunity to talk to my
voters, obviously through thekeep us gain independent
podcast, but also just gratefulto have such incredible support
this year. It's it's been reallyunprecedented. Vicky
Tony Winton (25:18):
Lopez, State Representative, thank you for
being our guest on anti social.
Thank you, and we'll be in We'llbe back after this. You
Jan Dillow (25:43):
now we're back.
Well,
Tony Winton (25:45):
we have as representative, Lopez leaves the
studio. Our next guest has comein. Her opponent,
Jan Dillow (25:50):
yes. Welcome. Jackie Kellogg, Hi. Thanks
Jackie Kellogg (25:54):
for having me.
Tony Winton (25:54):
Welcome to anti social and to our studios here
at W, L, R, N, I
Jackie Kellogg (25:58):
don't know why you say anti social. You guys
are very social. Well, we'reopposed
Tony Winton (26:02):
to the craziness on social media. Got it. That is
why that's the social that's it.
Got
Jan Dillow (26:08):
it. Got it.
Especially, you know, some ofthe chats get pretty crazy, as
I'm sure that you have seen,
Tony Winton (26:14):
yes, that's actually how, how the program
got its name. It was in responseto some of the crazy chat. You
Jackie Kellogg (26:19):
know what? I don't know why I love chats.
Jan Dillow (26:23):
You do? I do? Are you a frequent contributor?
Jackie Kellogg (26:27):
Um, some. Every once in a while, I feel very
passionate about something, andI contribute, and then I always
feel like, Oh, I didn't getenough thumbs up. Maybe that
wasn't a I don't know. That's
Jan Dillow (26:39):
the thing with us, right? Like, if you do is right,
you're like, Hey, did anybodylike what I said?
Jackie Kellogg (26:44):
But I'm very conscious of never replying at
like, one o'clock in themorning. Some people do,
Tony Winton (26:51):
well, we have, exactly we have, we were talking
about earlier, about just howhectic it's been this week in
the news business, so it'scertainly contributing. Yeah, to
some of the traffic on thechats. But today the topic is
this House race, right? TheFlorida House representatives,
district 113, yes. And I guesswe'll start by asking you.
(27:18):
Jackie gross. Kellogg, this isbe your first foray into
elective office, if you aresuccessful, correct? Tell our
voters why you think you arequalified.
Jackie Kellogg (27:28):
Well, primarily, I've been in it. I've lived in
Miami since 1975 as you know, Igrew up on Key Biscayne, and I
raised my children here, andI've been very involved with the
community ever since, for a fewdecades, I've been involved with
politics, either getting behinda candidate or an issue, and for
(27:49):
whatever reason, this particulartime, I was asked for several
people to by several people tojump into this race. And I begin
to see really how important itis, because we we're facing a
lot of issues right now that Ithink we need better
representation in Tallahassee,and that's what I've been doing.
I enjoy listening to people Icare about, people I care about
(28:12):
our community, and I want totranslate the voices and take
those voices to Tallahassee.
Jan Dillow (28:18):
Are there any particular areas that you think
that you can or that you want tofocus on when you when you get
there, if you well at this
Jackie Kellogg (28:27):
point, you know a lot has to do with bringing
back some balance toTallahassee, the Democrats are
in a super minority position,and so there's a lot. There are
quite a few, I'd say, 14 racesthat Democrats have a pretty
good shot of winning, and it'sjust a question of really
bringing back democracy, becausehaving a super majority, either
(28:50):
Republican or Democrat, is notdemocracy. In this particular
case, I think you've seen thispast few years, in this past
year, even just a few months, acouple of the things that we've
been hit pretty hard withspeculation of turning our parks
into golf courses, losing $32million in cultural funding from
(29:14):
one day to the next, when manyinstitutions were counting on
that our you know some closepeople close to us on Key
Biscayne City Theater might beout of business because of that.
We've lost ballet. We've lostscience education. That's what
I'm tied to, environmentalscience. And so this is so
(29:34):
crucial and important to ourcommunity. So I would like to be
a voice in Tallahassee that has,you know, their ears on the
pulse. And in addition, I wouldsay that I am a defender and
protector. I mean, I played onefor 20 years playing soccer.
That's how I'm wired, andthat's, that's how I feel.
(29:55):
That's what is motivating me toto get up every day and knock on
doors and. Talk to people in
Tony Winton (30:01):
terms of getting to Tallahassee, though, assuming
you're you're successful, excuseme, you would be in a minority
party position, whether it's asuper majority or not. You know
that does, that does, kind ofdoes, does put an obligation on
you to be able to work with amuch larger group of people who
are opposed to you or opposed tosome of your ideas anyway, 100%
(30:22):
I
Jackie Kellogg (30:22):
mean, I think as a freshman legislator, you're in
a position where you're, you'relistening quite a bit and
seeing, you know, bringingissues to your bringing issues
from your constituency to tallhousing, and talking about them
as much as you can, and buildingthose relationships. Because
there's, think there's plenty ofbipartisan when you're talking
about environmental issues,which Republicans seem to care
(30:45):
about, especially when you'rewhen it's election time, it
seems suddenly everybody caresabout fisca in day and coral
restoration and water quality.
So let's make sure that getsdone, because we are looking at
building a lot on very poorinfrastructure in Miami, and I
can tell you that is givingpeople pause and stress, but I
(31:06):
think that we have thecapability at this moment in
time and moving forward in abetter direction with
resiliency. So
Jan Dillow (31:17):
that's one of the things that you think you can
work together with them on. Iwanted to ask you also, like,
there in this election inparticular, there have been
abortion and the pro lifesegment have been it's been a
very, very active area withamendment four. I'm wondering
(31:38):
what your position is on that.
Jackie Kellogg (31:41):
Oh, I mean, I'm 100% pro choice. I think that
the way that the amendment isbroken down, maybe there's room
for misinterpretation, as I'veseen in commercials. I'm sure
you have as well. But what thisdoes is it restores reproductive
(32:02):
rights. And this seems to bewhat the Republicans wanted to
bring it back to the States. Andfrom my understanding, the
majority of Floridians,something like 68% want
reproductive rights. So it willbe very interesting if some way
or another, Governor DeSantis isable to maneuver this to
(32:26):
maintain a six week abortion banwith no exceptions. Yeah, right
now I
Jan Dillow (32:31):
think on amendment four, it's pretty it's pretty
much touch and go. It's rightaround 60%
Tony Winton (32:36):
last polling I saw is about 60% is where it's at,
and that is the threshold.
Jackie Kellogg (32:40):
Well, I, you know, I've lived here my whole
life. I have many Republicanfriends, and many have taken the
literature. You might have heardof the post it notes, yeah, you
know. And then I'll take thatand because they know this is,
this is very important, and mostimportant we need to stress,
right? There are women, andwe've seen this now in Texas,
(33:04):
that very much wanted to have achild to be pregnant, and
they've not only suffered amiscarriage, and, you know, had
high risk of losing their lives,many have now lost the ability
to have other children, right?
So it feels to me, right, likesomehow another women's health
(33:26):
issue. It's a women's healthissue. And sometimes when I'm
dealing with something verystressful, some comedy comes
into my mind. I think about, forexample, you know, I remember
Jerry Seinfeld saying somethingto the effect, I want a doctor
that's at the top of theirclass, you know, right? Where do
(33:47):
all these doctors go that are atthe bottom of their class,
right? Well, I'm going to tellyou, they're going to come
start. They're going to startcoming to states like Florida,
because who would want, right?
You work so hard as a doctor,you go to the top schools, you
graduate the top of the class tobe faced with prison, losing
(34:09):
your license to practicemedicine, and that is going to
affect women's health care withwith cancer, not, you know, with
IVF, with general healthoverall. So these are these.
That's the whole picture withreproductive rights and
Tony Winton (34:26):
and your your rival was in the studio here, and she
is also voting for amendmentfour.
Jackie Kellogg (34:31):
That's great, but she's also been very silent
up until two weeks ago, when theflyers started arriving to
Democrats that look like they'recoming from Planned Parenthood.
So I say you have to be Abby,you have to be loud and an
advocate all the way.
Jan Dillow (34:49):
Another thing that's going to be really big, and, I
mean, should be really big,Vicky is kind of known as the
condo queen. Do you you live ina condo? Right? I do. Yeah. So
what? Are your thoughts on thecondo situation and the higher
income, the higher fees that areassociated with it, and and you
(35:09):
know, if there's any, do youhave any thoughts about possible
condo relief?
Jackie Kellogg (35:15):
There's, there's so much discussion on that, but
there is a lot of panic and alot of stress. And I will tell
you that I have spoken and it'sprimarily from people, say, 75
years and older, that havealready budgeted, say, the next
10 or 20 years of their lives tolive in this condo, that are now
having to make extraordinarydecisions selling their condo
(35:38):
because it's really a condocrisis now selling their condo
at at a lower price than it wastwo two years ago, for example,
and then making this adjustmentbecause they are no they're not
going to be able to continueliving in Miami. And so there's
there's stress there. There isstress on the volunteer condo
(36:02):
presidents. If I don't complywith everything, am I looking at
prison time? My husband's alawyer, and he's thinking about
like, I don't think I want to bea condo president anymore,
right? So fortunately, in placeslike keep his game, you know, we
have a good team of reference,right? For there's a president
of the presidents of condoassociation that's sharing
(36:24):
information and empowering condopresidents and boards how to
deal and mitigate with thechanges. But there are other
areas. For example, when I knockon doors in Little Havana, I see
I see a lot of empty apartments.
I see many eviction notices Isee boarded up condos. These are
historical buildings, so clearlythe majority of the owners have
(36:46):
decided to sell, and they'regoing to be torn down. And
that's why this is a verydeveloper friendly bill, and I
think that's why we're going tobe seeing condos are situated in
a, in a in a valuable realestate space that are going to
be torn down with somethingbuilt that is larger, more
(37:07):
people living in it, and withoutreally concern of traffic and
noise, which is something thatmany residents care about in
these stories aboutneighborhoods, live local.
There's, it's all, yeah, there'slive local. But again, it's,
it's somewhat connected, becauseyou're just seeing a lot of say,
(37:31):
I'm walking around all overLittle Havana, Shenandoah, the
roads. And if the concern iseither about property insurance
or that my community ischanging, losing its historical
integrity, and they want to bepart of the process, they want
to have a voice and input. Thismorning, I was at City Hall,
(37:53):
and, you know, congrats, it feltlike he Biscayne. We had, gosh,
it must have been at least 40residents of coral gate. They
all had T shirts made, and theywere taking a stand for their
neighborhood. They don't wantmonstrosity built on the site
where the Sears building used tobe. And I, and again, I
understand about we need to haveaffordable housing, but you have
(38:17):
to have local input in thatprocess, because, because you're
that, I mean, that's the natureof our that's the nature of
Miami, and that's the nature ofall of our neighborhoods. And
going back to Key Biscayne, Imean, that's how we became the
village of Key Biscayne. We tooka stand and to say that we want
input in the in the zoning and,you know, and how we how our tax
(38:41):
money is spent, etc, and modelfor so many, exactly, and so
that, that is the stress that Iam feeling and seeing as I knock
on doors
Tony Winton (38:57):
in terms of, though The actual or hearing is perhaps
financial relief for people whoare in condominiums being faced
with large deferred maintenancebills. To be sure, the work
should have been done to makethe building safe, and the
regulations post Surfside arenow requiring that, but it's
causing the strain on top ofproperty insurance and a top on
(39:19):
top of, you know, coming out ofa pandemic and all the economic
strains that caused. Do youthink that that there is some
relief that's in order?
Jackie Kellogg (39:28):
I think there's talk of relief in order as
there's pushback to thislegislation, but it's not going
to come in time for by January,for example, right? Because the
assessments are coming down andpeople need to pay or sell. It's
not coming down fast enough, andI think it's again, it's
(39:49):
extremely stressful on seniorsand young families. So then
that's what I'm seeing, andwe're talking about areas again,
like. A Little Havana. This isthe heart of our workforce. And
I'm not really sure where these,where all of these people are
going, and I'm not sure if thatwas really considered in this
(40:13):
plan to, you know, make condoreform. I understand that in the
27 years of, you know,Republicans in power in
Tallahassee that, that now itseems, because of suicide, that
okay, we need to remedy thissituation with the condos, but
(40:35):
we also need to remedy and dealwith climate crisis and
infrastructure. And I don'tthink that we should be building
and almost doubling theoccupancy of Miami Dade without
properly addressing theinfrastructure first. And I say
most people agree with me whenwe have this conversation,
Jan Dillow (40:56):
one of the things just to change quickly. There's
been a lot of negative ads,particularly against you. I
don't think that you've doneany. I haven't seen a lot anyway
of you against Vicky, but my youknow, I guess what I want to do
is give you the chance to say,what are your thoughts on
(41:19):
transgender sport. I mean,you've been, one of the things
that you've done is you were thehead of a PT, Coral Gables, PTA,
but in keep us gain, you werevery, very active in in sports
and getting kids involved insports. So, you know, just, I
wanted to give you theopportunity. One of
Tony Winton (41:39):
the flyers here that, I mean, my mailbox is, oh,
full of them, full of them everyday.
Jackie Kellogg (41:44):
Do you know that each one is about $10,000 Yeah,
well, so each one of thoseflyers is estimated at $10,000
Jan Dillow (41:51):
to send to someone, yes. So in my condo, there's,
like, probably
Jackie Kellogg (41:55):
getting, yeah, it's 20, $30,000 a day. So when
I'm looking at a friend who'strying to raise to matching
grants for urban paradise,killed $150 and he's $150,000
and he's overwhelmed with thatambition. I'm looking at these
flowers. I'm like, something iswrong here? Yeah,
Jan Dillow (42:13):
I totally
Tony Winton (42:16):
make you responsible for the entire US
economy and the problems ofinflation. Well, exactly,
Jackie Kellogg (42:21):
I'm being pegged with federal government issues
or characters or electedofficials in the federal
government, because, again,Republicans have had the
majority in Tallahassee for 27years, and so the problems we're
facing, they should takeresponsibility for. And since
(42:41):
I'm a new candidate and I don'thave, you know, a history of
legislation, etc, just gonnathrow all this crazy town at me.
Tony Winton (42:51):
But do you feel you got support from the rest of the
Democratic Party? I mean, youhave some prominent Democrats
who are not supporting you,
Jackie Kellogg (42:59):
so Nikki freed is supporting me. Is awesome.
Tony Winton (43:04):
Deborah Gilbert, okay,
Jackie Kellogg (43:05):
so he's a in an I'm just saying it's funny when
people ask me this, becausesuddenly I feel like, am I
defending Miami Gardens orsomething? He's in a non part.
He's in a non partisan position,right as a commission, as well
as the mayor and everybody else.
So I don't, I really don't knowhim. I do know Eileen Higgins. I
do know Daniela Levine Cava.
(43:29):
They're, they're pleasant, thelevel of stress that they're
dealing with, I can onlyimagine, as this election moves
forward, right they have. So I'mnot going to guess. I'm not
going to, you know, guess onthat. And honestly, if I spend
time on that, that just stressand energy that I don't I don't
want to use, but I have enjoyed,and it really, it's been a
(43:50):
privilege getting to meet peoplelike Debbie mercel Powell and
Nikki freed and watching ourMiami Dade Democrat Party get
behind this movement, because,again, we are looking at
flipping, you know, five to sixseats. That's what's needed,
probably seven, because there'sa Democrat in there. That's not
(44:11):
really a Democrat, but that'swhat's going to bring us back to
balance, and that's what's goingto bring back democracy and and
protect district 113, from crazyideas like turning Bill backs
into a golf course and a pickupball court.
Tony Winton (44:25):
All right, we're at the end of the time, so it is
time for your closing argument.
Please tell our listeners whyyou should be their choice for
district 113,
Unknown (44:36):
well,
Jackie Kellogg (44:37):
I would say that again, I've lived in this
district since 1975 and I've hadthe privilege of raising my
three children here, I have beena person that has also been
asked to step forward withissues in our community for
either advocating for publicschools, for the infrastructure
repairs needed, parks, spaces,artificial turf. Grass, mangrove
(45:02):
restorations, climate changeresiliency. I've been PTA
present for Coral Gables SeniorHigh. I have worked with
students through an entire rangeof socioeconomic situations. I
support with all my heart areour students and our and our
(45:24):
residents in Miami, Dade, whoare working very hard to to live
and to build a future in thiscity, and that's what I feel a
representative should do. I haveenjoyed meeting residents
throughout Shenandoah, theroads, Little Havana. Many of
them know me. They remember mefrom different either from being
(45:45):
PTA president at Coral Gables inU high or my my position is
central region coordinator fromMiami, Dade County Council. So
I've had an opportunity to workwith many families and to solve
their problems and to meet theirexpectations, and also to
introduce them to the beauty andthe bounty of our District,
(46:05):
which includes Biscayne.
Biscayne Bay, our sea grassbeds, our mangroves, our arts,
our culture and our sports. Sothese are things that it's in my
DNA and what I want to fightfor. And you know, I'm going to
give it my best shot.
Tony Winton (46:22):
Jackie, gross.
Kellogg, candidate for StateHouse District 113, thank you
for being our guest on antiSocial. We will be back right
after this. YouSS Tony and we are back on anti
(47:01):
social. I'm Tony Winton and I'mJan Dillo. Well, our guest is
getting ready to exit ourwonderful studio hero with our
partners at WLRN, and we paidrent today we did in the form of
empanadas. That's right, bringthem empanadas. You know, maybe
we should ask them to be asponsor. Oh, that's, you know,
(47:22):
since we
Jan Dillow (47:26):
are empanada guy with them, I thought you were
talking about W, L, R, M, like,I
Tony Winton (47:30):
think they've got their own stuff. They've got
their own but I'm talking aboutjust, you know, our empanadas.
Guy, yeah, absolutely, I agree.
That was a hint, if you'relistening. Anybody from
empanadas, okay, well, Jan, wehave, as I said, just a few days
left to go really in thiselection, although I should
remind everyone that earlyvoting has started. We have
we're putting some statstogether on mail balloting in
(47:54):
our little area, Key Biscayne,and how that compares to the
rest of Dade County. I will saythat so far, the Democratic
Party folks have been a littlebit of a lead, but it is
evaporating rapidly.
Jan Dillow (48:10):
Well, Vicky was saying that it has, yeah, as of,
I
Tony Winton (48:13):
mean, she's looking at, maybe her like, you can
count it different ways, interms of, like, what districts I
was looking at a county widefigure, and it got as of midday
today, it was very close indeed.
So she's correct about that.
Jan Dillow (48:25):
So it started out with more Democrats. Started out
Tony Winton (48:27):
with Democratic more democratic people known to
be Democrats, because you don'tknow how people voted, right?
Just know what partyaffiliations they were, and how
many people of those people havevoted. So that's when they say,
are they, as a Democrat, morelikely to vote for a Democrat?
Yeah, probably. So, yeah. So youcan make that that inference.
And so far, the Democrats havebeen leading, but that is now
(48:51):
ended, and now as early votinghas people are still returning
their mail ballots. But as earlyvoting has started, the numbers
have gotten closer, and now theRepublicans are leading in some
split places over the Democrats,and that's, that's the trend.
Jan Dillow (49:08):
We will find out soon enough. And then,
Tony Winton (49:11):
of course, people wait to vote on Election Day.
The whole point is, I, I, I'm aevangelist for mail voting.
Because why would you want towait in line anyway? Well, from
Jan Dillow (49:22):
what I understand, the people that I know that do
really want, I mean, that reallywant to vote on election day,
they said there's no linesanymore. Everybody's already
voted. So I mean, and that'swhat they even said, because
there was voting, they werevoting in the community center
in Cuba. Scan,
Tony Winton (49:36):
I will, I will, yeah, I will only tell you that
that is not what the electionsdepartment thinks. The elections
department is worried aboutlines and they're worried about
election day problems. That'swhy they have been because the
because of a change in statelaw, the number of people who
are eligible to vote by mailradically was reduced. They made
(49:57):
everyone reset and reset your.
Right? That had a dramaticeffect on the number of people
who voted by mail, and so thatthat consequently puts more
pressure on the other two legsof the system, the early voting
and the in person voting onElection Day, and they the
election supervisor, ChristinaWhite was actually saying a
couple of weeks ago that she wasworried about potential problems
(50:19):
on election day because of theextra load that is being
transferred from mail voting tolater in the process. That's all
I'm saying. Maybe it won'thappen. Hopefully not.
Jan Dillow (50:33):
Well, I think I'm going to vote early. I think I'm
going to go do it tomorrow.
Okay. Well,
Tony Winton (50:37):
and you have your choice. You can, most people, I
guess, and keep us can use thehistoric garage location,
Jan Dillow (50:43):
yeah, yeah. It's very convenient, really, for us,
that that is, in fact, the case.
And what about you?
Tony Winton (50:50):
I voted by mail.
Yes, I mail came in, I had aglass of wine. Voted all done.
Jan Dillow (50:57):
You know, the one thing that's really good about
that, too, is if you voteearlier, you vote by mail, you
can check it and just make surethat it's been received. That is
correct, and you don't miss. Imean, you don't, you get a
receipt when you vote in person,but it's good to know that your
votes actually there and isbeing counted. You could go
online,
Tony Winton (51:16):
and I already have checked it's already been not
only received, it has beencounted, which is why Florida
kind of doesn't have the sameproblems other states. Do we
talk about the election night? Ithink the like the presidential
election, I doubt there'll be ananswer that night. No, no, I
doubt it. I think we'll bewaiting a day or two, and that,
of course, makes it more evenmore tense, right?
Jan Dillow (51:36):
Yeah, there's going to be a lot of drama, but
there'll be a lot of otherstates, other things that are
decided. You know, potentially,yes, the Senate will be done,
and
Tony Winton (51:45):
our three council seats in Key Biscayne, yeah,
that's true. And you will be,you'll be, we're planning a
election night broadcast. Wehaven't gotten the exact details
out, but we'll get that out toyou seen and and the idea, I
hope, would be that will begiving you live results as
they're happening in KeyBiscayne, and if history is any
guide, everything will be overby 830 it's just one precinct.
Jan Dillow (52:10):
Okay, yeah, it's true,
Tony Winton (52:13):
yeah. So we don't have to worry about all doing
all this extra fancy math.
That's for us, relativelystraightforward, although we
will be reporting, of course, onthis race we just talked about
today, and then and the StateSenate and all the other
contests that are matter to us.
Jan Dillow (52:28):
Yep, well, I think it's time to wrap it up. What do
you think? And we will do thatby reminding you that we are a
not for profit, and the way weget business done is through
donations, subscriptions andgrants. So if you know of
anybody, if you yourself, arewilling to step up and be a
(52:53):
donor, for a matching donor fora give Miami Day, which is going
to be November 21 I believe,please let us know we are always
looking for people that will domatching. And please, you know,
hit that donate button whenyou're looking at all the
stories that we put out on adaily basis. And
Tony Winton (53:10):
our fundraising period has is we put a note out
just the other day that it is,it has started. And we really do
count on your support at the endof every year, and we're
grateful for it, and we want tokeep bringing you the kind of
interviews we just did thatyou're not going to hear other
places about local politics,local issues that are important
to
Jan Dillow (53:32):
you. I'm Dan Dillo.
Tony Winton (53:33):
I'm Tony Winton.
Smooth sailing. Everybodyitching your head. You back
home.
Unknown (53:43):
And then the next day, you say, you wanna go for a
ride. And when my baby, mylovely
The views expressed in the following program are
those of the host and guests anddo not necessarily represent
those of the Key BiscayneIndependent or Miami Fourth
Estate. Portions were prerecorded. She will
Unknown (00:20):
she will always be my
Tony Winton (00:40):
friend. Live from Miami, Florida. This is anti
social, the podcast andsometimes a radio program where
we bring you current events withmaybe just a little bit of
calmness, you know, andtranquility, a little bit too
much. Yeah,
Jan Dillow (00:55):
we try.
Tony Winton (00:56):
I'm Jan Dillow, Tony Winton, and well, you know,
we're here in political season.
It's, you know what the goodnews about it is. Here we are on
october 24 as we're recordingthe show. It's really only a
couple of weeks, I
Jan Dillow (01:08):
know, less than two, right? Yeah, yeah. It's, well,
it's been, it's gonna be a longtwo weeks, I think, for us and
for our guests. And
Tony Winton (01:19):
you know, what's worse? I mean, just so much this
particular day, the last 48hours for us in the Key Biscayne
Independent, been very busy,because we had not one but two
council meetings this week inKey Biscayne. We had not one but
two criminal sentencings goingon in in state court today. And
of course, we have this podcastsay so it's like this is like a
(01:40):
48 hours of incredible newsintensity. What I don't
understand is, is that normalfor like, village councils to,
like, schedule extra meetings asthey're in a lame duck scenario?
It
Jan Dillow (01:51):
seems weird, right?
Yeah,
Tony Winton (01:53):
I think it's a little weird, like, you know.
And they actually talked aboutlast night having another
meeting before they're out ofoffice, having to do with the
Richard Nixon helipad inBiscayne Bay, and whether or not
that connects to the Big Digstormwater project.
Jan Dillow (02:10):
Our story said it was the last, it was the last
one for Allison. They
Tony Winton (02:15):
theoretically could keep meeting until actually
there's the new one is sworn in,right? I'm not encouraging it.
No, okay,
Jan Dillow (02:24):
maybe it would be a distraction from what else is
going on, though. Well,
Tony Winton (02:28):
we have our guests here today, two very interesting
guests wrapping up the season,though, for
Jan Dillow (02:33):
us, Vicky Lopez and Jackie Kellogg, right?
Tony Winton (02:37):
And they are the candidates Republican and
Democrat for House District 113which covers key, Biscayne and
much of coastal Miami. And wedid flip a coin, and then we
threw the coin flip away, justto accommodate people's
schedules. But so, but that wayit worked out is representative
Lopez is going to go first so,and she's been on the program
before. So welcome back. Thank
Vicki Lopez (02:58):
you so much. Tony, thank you, Jen.
Tony Winton (03:01):
Well, there's been a lot of angst in this race.
It's drawn a lot of how should Isay there's been a lot lot of
attention paid to it. And Iguess I wanted to start off with
something that just came outtoday, and I'm sure you're
already aware of it. This is astory that comes from a another
publication. It's in the sameorganization we are in the
(03:24):
Jacksonville tributary, and ithas to deal with your connection
to this company called buspatrol and legislation in 2023,
House Bill 741, which you wereone of, I want to say, about a
dozen co sponsors of iteventually passed on a
bipartisan basis in Tallahassee,and it has to do with the fact
(03:49):
that your son, I guess, laterbecame Vice President of
Government Affairs for thiscompany. And what they do is
it's kind of like red lightcameras, but for school busses.
If you've never heard of thistechnology, right, someone
blasts past the school bus, andthen it captures the that's what
that's what the business is. Andthe legislation allowed school
districts to implement thisprogram and set up rules on how
(04:11):
it worked. And so this storygoes into quite a bit quite
detail, but we wanted to haveyou come on the show and and
have the opportunity to addressit
Vicki Lopez (04:20):
Sure. So, you know, it's interesting. I think the
reporter from the Jacksonvilletributary who wrote the article
doesn't really understand whatco sponsor means. I must co
sponsor a great deal of billsthat really just say I agree.
You know, I support this bill. Ihave no access to whether or not
it gets heard or whether or notit moves through committee, it's
(04:42):
simply an act of sort ofsupport. So the reporter is
saying that somehow my supportprior to my son actually even
working for the company, was anissue, and then once my son
became Vice President ofGovernment Relations, there was
a second tweak to the originalbill, of which I co sponsored.
As well, because I co sponsoredthe first bill. And for me, it's
all been about child safety,pedestrian safety. We've had
(05:06):
deaths occur across the country,and some here in Florida, and
it's an issue. And we know it'san issue because the first day,
14,000 people were going arounda school bus. So for me, it's
really, I'm kind of accustomedto it. It's a it's part of the
political world that we live in.
People want to subscribe somesort of, you know, suspect, full
(05:27):
kind of activities. It's reallynot at all. I don't inure any
benefit. My son didn't inure anybenefit because the bill was not
specific to a vendor, specificto a region. It
Tony Winton (05:41):
just authorized school districts to, yeah, and
anybody
Vicki Lopez (05:44):
could apply for that. And and have, across the
state, there are several vendorswho have already, you know, been
awarded that bike school boards.
And so the school boardsactually are the ones that are
charged with the responsibility,if they choose to move forward,
to determine their own ways inwhich they would contract with a
company. So for me, it's really,I just see it as yet, a hit
piece in a campaign. And, youknow, honestly, I'm, I'm
(06:07):
accustomed to it, you know, thisis part of the, I think this is
part of what you will see if yourun for office. It's
Jan Dillow (06:16):
very long and involved history of 30 years for
you, yeah,
Vicki Lopez (06:20):
and that history is old, and honestly, you know, I
have to tell you, it's one ofthe things that worries me most,
because if my history continuesto be brought up 30 years later,
what does that say for thepeople that have come home from
prison and who really believethey're going to get a second
chance? In reality, they maynot, and I'm hearing from a lot
of them just recently aroundthis and, you know, it is
(06:44):
troublesome. It'll be somethingthat I'll be talking about,
quite frankly, in the months tocome, whether or not someone can
ever escape their past,especially when they're doing
well. And so, you know, the Ithink it bears the question,
Does second chances really, youknow, really exist for people
that
Jan Dillow (07:02):
kind of brings up the whole idea of, like, felon,
felons voting right in Florida,yes,
Vicki Lopez (07:07):
exactly. I mean, you know, for so many people who
have come out of prison andstill have their felony, they
are not, you know, able to vote.
They've made it so onerous thethe process, and the only time
it was really quite acceptablewas under Governor Crist, when
he automatically restoredpeople's civil rights if you
applied for them. And so this isa much more complicated issue
(07:30):
that really is highlighted inthis article, but it's it's been
part of my past two years ago,when I ran people said the same
thing. You talked about it onthis program 100% and listen, I
actually told my story on theHouse floor, because we had two
people who were falselyincarcerated for 40 years who
were asking for, you know,financial claims. And I remember
(07:52):
looking straight up at that atthe gallery and telling them my
story and why it was soimportant for me that they be
there, because they had, infact, been, you know,
incarcerated falsely. And it wasjust a moment in time where
everybody just froze on thefloor. Because, you know, it's
real, it's a real story. I'vetold it 1000 times, and it's, it
(08:13):
doesn't surprise me that itwould come back out again. I
mean, it is, it is politics, youknow. And I'm, I'm pretty
accustomed to this by now. What
Jan Dillow (08:23):
with the Republican committee that allowed that?
Isn't it? A Republican committeebasically the governor and other
officials that decide whether ornot people will be able to vote
again or have had their rightsrestored?
Vicki Lopez (08:39):
Well, it's, it's two ways. It could be the
legislature who could rememberthat they interpreted the
amendment that gave ex felonsthe right to vote, and so then
they put in certain hoops andbounds that people had to go
through, such as paying all oftheir fees and actually going
through all of their probation.
So that's one place, and theother place, of course, is the
(09:00):
governor and the Cabinetcertainly sit as the the
authority to restore civilrights, and they could it. Could
certainly change their rules.
There it's but it's been doneover the last four different
governors have had fourdifferent ways of doing it.
Tony Winton (09:15):
You mentioned the campaign, and I do want to talk
a little bit more about that,because we have, you know, we
had an incident that involvedour publication. There was an ad
that was sponsored by the, Iguess it was the house Campaign
Committee, and it mentioned thisour publication, which we
complained about because it wasinaccurate. I never got a
(09:35):
response to that complaint fromMr. Perez, Representative Perez,
so that's, was the chair of thatorganization. Could you address
that? Yeah, so
Vicki Lopez (09:45):
I found out from actually, one of your former
reporters, John Pacenti, thatwhat they had quoted was
incorrect. And I said, then itshouldn't have been used. It's
very simple. I mean, it shouldbe that if you've got something
to say about someone and theirviewpoints. That you accurately
cite your source. And so Ilearned it wasn't, and told
(10:05):
them, I don't think you shouldbe using, you know, sources that
are already telling you theydidn't. They that's not them.
So, yeah, unfortunately,
Tony Winton (10:14):
all right, let's, there are a lot of big issues
going on the state, so let's tryand get to that. Yeah,
Jan Dillow (10:20):
there's, there's a couple of things that like that
are going on in the state, andthings that are also specific to
you. So we want to talk a littlebit about your voting record.
It's my understanding onabortion, that you've voted or
that you voted against the sixweek abortion ban, but I believe
you're on record as supportingthe 15 week is that true? I am
Vicki Lopez (10:39):
I? Am I? When I ran for office, the legislature had
already moved to 15 weeks. And Isaid, I'm good with 15 weeks as
long as it has exceptions, andthose exceptions must be rape,
incest, human trafficking, and,of course, the mother's life,
Jan Dillow (10:52):
okay. And so how are you going to be voting on
amendment four? I'm
Vicki Lopez (10:55):
going to vote yes on amendment four.
Unfortunately, they have left usno choice. I think that 15
weeks, and I can tell you this,I spoke to a physician who heads
one of the largest OBGYNpractices in Florida, who is
personally pro life, but yethe's talking to me as a
physician, and he said, 15 weeksis good. Vicky, trust me, it's
enough time for a woman to doall the things that she must do,
(11:17):
and then to make her personaldecision with her physician. So
as long as, as long as thatworked in my, in my book, for a
physician, I was good with it.
Tony Winton (11:28):
What do you think about how it's going to play out
in that this in the state,though, because obviously the
governor, the rest of yourparty, very different position.
Vicki Lopez (11:35):
Yeah, they do have a very different position. And I
don't know it looks, it lookslike it had a real high
percentage. I think it waspassing the bar, but just
recently, the polls show thatit's now down to 60% I think a
lot of that has to do with notonly misinformation, but
disinformation that is beingspread out there. And one of
(11:56):
them is that somehow parentalconsent is being removed and it
is not. And that is so very,very clear is
Tony Winton (12:03):
that in the actual text of the Yes, it is, yes, it
is.
Vicki Lopez (12:06):
So it appears to me that there has been on both
sides. You know, it'sinteresting. If you watch the
commercials that are playing,you know, you'll, you'll see one
for, one against, and neither ofthem do this issue any justice I
believe. I believe that there'sscare tactics on one side,
there's scare tactics on theother, there's disinformation,
(12:26):
misinformation. And I would justsuggest that all the voters do
their own research. You know,don't listen to what everyone
else is saying. Look at theamendment language and decide
for yourself. If that'ssomething that you can live
with. You
Tony Winton (12:40):
are you were talking before the show. I guess
you're getting dubbed as thecondo queen. I didn't that was
your words. You said, No,
Vicki Lopez (12:46):
that is actually Florida politics words, I might
add, they coined that, and it'sstuck.
Tony Winton (12:51):
Okay, well, I'm not using it but, but you have
obviously been attached to a lotof legislation here, and we were
just, we had a story todayinvolving and the key biscuit
independent. You can read abouta criminal case that maybe will
get resolved tomorrow. I don'tknow. There might be a depending
on what happens. And then we'vehad yet a word of another set of
charges involving the hammocksthat the Miami state attorney is
(13:13):
prosecuting, looking back atthat and what happened there,
what needs to be done in thearea of condos. And of course,
we have the whole financialaspect as well, right?
Vicki Lopez (13:22):
So there are many issues about condos that I will
be working on when I'm elected,not the least of which is, do we
have enough controls in place?
As as we all know, the stateattorney doesn't have a lot of
money. She barely has money tohire competent people and keep
them. But I do believe that thehammocks case in particular, I
(13:42):
have not yet seen, and now thenew condo case in the in the
Aventura area is beginning tolet us know that we need more, I
think, more regulation. And Ihate saying that, because I'm
not, you know, I'm a person ofless regulation. However, we
have to pledge to condo ownersand to Hoa owners, which are
(14:05):
which are two different things.
By the way, the hammocks is ahomeowners association, and
condos are run by condoassociations. But nonetheless,
all of them deserve to know thatthey are their their assets are
being safeguarded, and theircondo boards are acting on their
behalf and not on their own. SoI think giving more more
jurisdiction to to theDepartment of Business and
(14:28):
Professional Regulation toconduct random audits, I mean,
somebody's got to start lookinginto this. Now, we made a lot of
progress in condo 3.0 by puttingin criminal penalties on a lot
of issues, not the least ofwhich is elections, because
that's how they're staying inpower. They become corrupt, and
then they stay in power by bymaking sure that the elections
(14:50):
are rigged. So there's, there'scertainly some things, I think,
more more oversight and moreauditing, until we can get the
bad actors. Out of those seats.
Tony Winton (15:01):
What about the surf side rules? Now that a lot of
you're seeing it statewide, Iguess there's going to be a
special session condo
Jan Dillow (15:09):
fees. Well,
Vicki Lopez (15:10):
I don't know that there'll be a special session. I
know there's been a call for it,but that's a number one
priority, at least for me. Soyou remember that it was the
year before I got elected, theypassed this law that, you know,
obviously mandated milestoneinspections and reserves. And
then the first year that I getelected, then we bring in a
little more clarity andtransparency to the bill,
because nobody knew what it whatit was all about, because it was
(15:32):
passed so quickly during aspecial session right after
Surfside tragedy. So I thinkwhat we're looking at now is,
how do you balance the safety ofbuildings? For instance, two
months ago, we had to evacuate19 buildings in Broward County
and two in Jensen beach becausethey were not safe for people to
live in. So we can't have wecertainly can't have people
(15:54):
dying or buildings collapsing.
But we also have to understandwe can't put people out on the
street. So I think one of thethings that I'm looking at is,
how do we identify, first,where's the issue? Because
really, the vast majority ofcondominiums are here in
Broward, Miami, Broward and PalmBeach County, and the vast
majority of the very oldbuildings are here. So we have
to determine there will be datathat will be collected. So at
(16:15):
the end of the year, wheneveryone is completed, or should
have completed, their structuralintegrity reserve studies, we're
going to know first of all, whatare the increases in condo fees,
which are different, becausethose can be budgeted. That's
what the CERs is a prospectivebudget tool. The Milestone
inspections that happen at 30years and above every 10 years
thereafter, is where you'reseeing the big special
(16:36):
assessments. And why? Becauseit's being done in very old
buildings who weren't maintainedover the years. And
Tony Winton (16:43):
that's the question, right? So do you think
there's the possibility ofeasing some of these
requirements, as some arecalling for, or perhaps some
kind of financial assistance, alow interest loan program? What
I
Vicki Lopez (16:55):
think the financial assistance is probably more in
line with it, although I'malready hearing pushback from
some members that are saying,Why would my constituents, you
know, were there no condos? Whywould my constituents have to
bail out yours? And I was like,Oh my gosh. I mean, at this
juncture, we've got to look at,you know, we're Floridians.
We've got a Florida problem. AndI think the financial just like
(17:17):
Miami Dade has the interest freeloan. If you make up to 140%
area median income, up to$50,000 I think we could
probably do that for for thosethat truly demonstrate need,
which would be our retirees,people on very fixed incomes. I
mean, we've got to do something,and at some juncture, we've got
to start asking ourselves, whatdo we do with these old
buildings? Because actually, thereal estate market reflects that
(17:40):
no one wants to buy a condo inan old building. They want new
amenities. They want the newbills and bells and whistles,
and so at some juncture, you'reprobably going to see a lot of
condo terminations. Well, we're
Tony Winton (17:49):
waiting for this rule, right? Yeah, the third DC.
Well, there the Biscayne 21
Vicki Lopez (17:54):
issue is really going to going to give us some
some indication, becausedevelopers have cooled to the
notion of getting involved incondo terminations, but at some
juncture, the the amount ofmoney that it will cost to bring
the building up to code is, ismore than anyone. Yeah, let's,
Jan Dillow (18:11):
I think we, I think we need to go back and talk
about what the building 21 is.
It's a condominium, yeah, thisgame 21 was, yes, you can
probably do it better than I,but it's a condominium that an
older condominium that alreadythey didn't they already start
to So,
Vicki Lopez (18:25):
yes, so Biscayne 21 was a 60 year old building on on
probably the most prime realestate in my district, on the
has two unobstructed views ofthe bay on the end of 21st on
the water, and a Land Trustbegan to buy up many of those
units, and we're offeringbetween market to two times
(18:46):
market rate, right? So by thetime the developer was contacted
by the condo board, the landtrust already owned almost 90
93% of them, right? So they soldthem to the to the developer.
The developer, there were 10other people that were holdouts,
and those are the ones that suedthe developer. And then the
lower courts here determinedthat the the other owners had a
(19:08):
right to sell, and that they hadto sell because the building had
already, you know, they weremajority owners. And then the 10
owners actually then appealed tothe Third Circuit District Court
of Appeals, and theirs were theThird District Court of Appeals
sided with them, so the buildingis an eyesore in my district
right now. It is a shell. It hasa crane in the middle of the
parking lot, and they can't doanything with it until the third
(19:30):
DCA decides whether or not itwill meet en banc, meaning all
of them will meet to determinewhether that's a good whether
they should proceed with thatoriginal opinion of the three
member court. So I think, look,you know, I studied at the FIU
metropolitan center. They havebeen studying these old
(19:51):
buildings Since 2017 and theyare telling me that there is a
huge problem. Because what I didnot know was in the late 70s,
early 80s, apartment buildings.
Were converted intocondominiums, and those are not
really suitable for condoliving. And so now we're going
to see the effects of the of noone having taken care of these
buildings. And now at this endof the of the spectrum, which
would be the 3040, 5060, yearsthat they're in bad shape. And
(20:14):
now, what do we do? So it's aconundrum, for sure, but we have
to make sure that we not we keeppeople safe, but we don't throw
them out of their homes. Andthat's going to be my, my big
task. As the only member of theFlorida House of 120 of us, I'm
probably the only person whoreally understands this, to the
extent that I do.
Jan Dillow (20:33):
So you, you're on in I think you're in favor of
supporting making it easier fordevelopers to replace these
older condos definitely,
Vicki Lopez (20:41):
if the board decides right, because you can
there, the declaration documentsof each condominium actually
determine how you wouldterminate a condo. Right? It's
kind of like a corporation. Ittells you how you will do it.
And so in some cases it's 100%approval. In some cases it is
80% but in some cases, becausein statute, there's what's known
(21:03):
as an economic waste provision.
If, if the cost to bring thebuilding up to speed is, you
know, to code and to make allthe repairs is more than what
the building is worth, then youcan exercise 80% which is what
that's that's the provision thatwe're gonna all be seeing with
Biscayne 21 it
Jan Dillow (21:22):
does seem like it's going to be a big issue if
you've got people that you knowwant to live there, and maybe
they don't make that income cutoff, because the fees, along
with insurance, are really,really, really,
Vicki Lopez (21:35):
they can be very high, especially when you're
living in an illusionary worldwhere your condo fee may have
been $500 all these years, butthat's because nobody's doing
any work on your building.
There's
Tony Winton (21:44):
so much deferred maintenance. Yeah, sure. Which
is the tragedy of Surfside?
Which
Vicki Lopez (21:48):
is because, my God, 98 people would be actually
Tony. 98 people would still bealive today if Miami Dade would
not have been recertifyingbuildings at 40 years, but
rather, at 30 years, because thebuilding collapsed around 38 and
a half.
Tony Winton (22:03):
We're almost out of time. So, yeah, I did want to
give you, and it's more of ageneral political question.
You're running in it. You know,you're running for re election.
It's a Democrat leaningdistrict, not anymore. Well,
it's
Vicki Lopez (22:14):
not. Republicans are now outnumbered. Registered
Republicans now outnumber theDemocrats. But guess who
outnumbers us? The NPA, well,that's,
Tony Winton (22:22):
I was gonna say it's, we've got this big swing.
But the question is, in thisdistrict, we're also in a
presidential election year yourand we'll give you a chance to
do your closing argument. Butthe larger political situation,
the way people feel about thenational presidential election,
how do you how does that come upin your conversations with
voters?
Vicki Lopez (22:43):
So what's happening with voters is almost
unprecedented. I have DemocratHispanics voting for me. I have,
obviously the Republicans arevoting for me, and most of the
MPAs in my in my district areleaning right. I think it has to
do with the economy, theeconomy, the economy. I don't
think anyone's worried aboutanything else. That's certainly
what's happening. I am actuallyclosing the gap this year, this
(23:05):
time last election, I wasprobably trailing the Democrat
opponent by 4000 votes. I'm nowat 125 votes, and we will
probably close that gap tonight.
Apparently, that we, theRepublicans have come out to
vote in unprecedented ways. I'venever seen anything like it.
They just flipped Miami Dade toa red today. So that's it's a
(23:27):
phenomenon. I can't understandit, except to tell you that I
know what the voters are sayingat the door, and for many of
them, I think in my case, theyjust know me as a person who's
common sense and who reallycares about her community and
who's worked super hard and hasdemonstrated it for the last two
years. So, you know, I alwayssay I am knocking on doors
(23:50):
respectfully asking people fortheir vote because I want I've
considered this an honor and aprivilege to represent District
113, it is vast, it is diverse,and what goes on in Key Biscayne
has nothing to do with what goeson in Little Havana and what
goes on in edgeworter hasnothing to do with what goes on
in North Grove. So I have madeit a point to get into the
community and to really get toknow my not only my
(24:13):
constituents, but what thoseissues are, and have really
brought home unprecedentedmoney, as well as made in this
case. Now that we're talking tothe Key Biscayne independent, I
have made ki biscane a name foritself in the Florida House.
Prior to my election, nobodyeven knew where Key Biscayne was
much less that it was in theMiami Dade County. And I think
(24:34):
that a lot has to do with thefact that I'm in the majority
party one and that I'm movinginto leadership. So I have a
voice in every room now, and Iintend to use that voice, should
I be re elected, and whenelected, to really kind of beef
up what I've already startedabout Kiva scan, which was,
remember, there's micromobility, there's flooding,
(24:57):
there's the traffic. Tech,there's the state park. There
are so many things that no oneever spoke about, and so I'm
really grateful for thisopportunity to talk to my
voters, obviously through thekeep us gain independent
podcast, but also just gratefulto have such incredible support
this year. It's it's been reallyunprecedented. Vicky
Tony Winton (25:18):
Lopez, State Representative, thank you for
being our guest on anti social.
Thank you, and we'll be in We'llbe back after this. You
Jan Dillow (25:43):
now we're back.
Well,
Tony Winton (25:45):
we have as representative, Lopez leaves the
studio. Our next guest has comein. Her opponent,
Jan Dillow (25:50):
yes. Welcome. Jackie Kellogg, Hi. Thanks
Jackie Kellogg (25:54):
for having me.
Tony Winton (25:54):
Welcome to anti social and to our studios here
at W, L, R, N, I
Jackie Kellogg (25:58):
don't know why you say anti social. You guys
are very social. Well, we'reopposed
Tony Winton (26:02):
to the craziness on social media. Got it. That is
why that's the social that's it.
Got
Jan Dillow (26:08):
it. Got it.
Especially, you know, some ofthe chats get pretty crazy, as
I'm sure that you have seen,
Tony Winton (26:14):
yes, that's actually how, how the program
got its name. It was in responseto some of the crazy chat. You
Jackie Kellogg (26:19):
know what? I don't know why I love chats.
Jan Dillow (26:23):
You do? I do? Are you a frequent contributor?
Jackie Kellogg (26:27):
Um, some. Every once in a while, I feel very
passionate about something, andI contribute, and then I always
feel like, Oh, I didn't getenough thumbs up. Maybe that
wasn't a I don't know. That's
Jan Dillow (26:39):
the thing with us, right? Like, if you do is right,
you're like, Hey, did anybodylike what I said?
Jackie Kellogg (26:44):
But I'm very conscious of never replying at
like, one o'clock in themorning. Some people do,
Tony Winton (26:51):
well, we have, exactly we have, we were talking
about earlier, about just howhectic it's been this week in
the news business, so it'scertainly contributing. Yeah, to
some of the traffic on thechats. But today the topic is
this House race, right? TheFlorida House representatives,
district 113, yes. And I guesswe'll start by asking you.
(27:18):
Jackie gross. Kellogg, this isbe your first foray into
elective office, if you aresuccessful, correct? Tell our
voters why you think you arequalified.
Jackie Kellogg (27:28):
Well, primarily, I've been in it. I've lived in
Miami since 1975 as you know, Igrew up on Key Biscayne, and I
raised my children here, andI've been very involved with the
community ever since, for a fewdecades, I've been involved with
politics, either getting behinda candidate or an issue, and for
(27:49):
whatever reason, this particulartime, I was asked for several
people to by several people tojump into this race. And I begin
to see really how important itis, because we we're facing a
lot of issues right now that Ithink we need better
representation in Tallahassee,and that's what I've been doing.
I enjoy listening to people Icare about, people I care about
(28:12):
our community, and I want totranslate the voices and take
those voices to Tallahassee.
Jan Dillow (28:18):
Are there any particular areas that you think
that you can or that you want tofocus on when you when you get
there, if you well at this
Jackie Kellogg (28:27):
point, you know a lot has to do with bringing
back some balance toTallahassee, the Democrats are
in a super minority position,and so there's a lot. There are
quite a few, I'd say, 14 racesthat Democrats have a pretty
good shot of winning, and it'sjust a question of really
bringing back democracy, becausehaving a super majority, either
(28:50):
Republican or Democrat, is notdemocracy. In this particular
case, I think you've seen thispast few years, in this past
year, even just a few months, acouple of the things that we've
been hit pretty hard withspeculation of turning our parks
into golf courses, losing $32million in cultural funding from
(29:14):
one day to the next, when manyinstitutions were counting on
that our you know some closepeople close to us on Key
Biscayne City Theater might beout of business because of that.
We've lost ballet. We've lostscience education. That's what
I'm tied to, environmentalscience. And so this is so
(29:34):
crucial and important to ourcommunity. So I would like to be
a voice in Tallahassee that has,you know, their ears on the
pulse. And in addition, I wouldsay that I am a defender and
protector. I mean, I played onefor 20 years playing soccer.
That's how I'm wired, andthat's, that's how I feel.
(29:55):
That's what is motivating me toto get up every day and knock on
doors and. Talk to people in
Tony Winton (30:01):
terms of getting to Tallahassee, though, assuming
you're you're successful, excuseme, you would be in a minority
party position, whether it's asuper majority or not. You know
that does, that does, kind ofdoes, does put an obligation on
you to be able to work with amuch larger group of people who
are opposed to you or opposed tosome of your ideas anyway, 100%
(30:22):
I
Jackie Kellogg (30:22):
mean, I think as a freshman legislator, you're in
a position where you're, you'relistening quite a bit and
seeing, you know, bringingissues to your bringing issues
from your constituency to tallhousing, and talking about them
as much as you can, and buildingthose relationships. Because
there's, think there's plenty ofbipartisan when you're talking
about environmental issues,which Republicans seem to care
(30:45):
about, especially when you'rewhen it's election time, it
seems suddenly everybody caresabout fisca in day and coral
restoration and water quality.
So let's make sure that getsdone, because we are looking at
building a lot on very poorinfrastructure in Miami, and I
can tell you that is givingpeople pause and stress, but I
(31:06):
think that we have thecapability at this moment in
time and moving forward in abetter direction with
resiliency. So
Jan Dillow (31:17):
that's one of the things that you think you can
work together with them on. Iwanted to ask you also, like,
there in this election inparticular, there have been
abortion and the pro lifesegment have been it's been a
very, very active area withamendment four. I'm wondering
(31:38):
what your position is on that.
Jackie Kellogg (31:41):
Oh, I mean, I'm 100% pro choice. I think that
the way that the amendment isbroken down, maybe there's room
for misinterpretation, as I'veseen in commercials. I'm sure
you have as well. But what thisdoes is it restores reproductive
(32:02):
rights. And this seems to bewhat the Republicans wanted to
bring it back to the States. Andfrom my understanding, the
majority of Floridians,something like 68% want
reproductive rights. So it willbe very interesting if some way
or another, Governor DeSantis isable to maneuver this to
(32:26):
maintain a six week abortion banwith no exceptions. Yeah, right
now I
Jan Dillow (32:31):
think on amendment four, it's pretty it's pretty
much touch and go. It's rightaround 60%
Tony Winton (32:36):
last polling I saw is about 60% is where it's at,
and that is the threshold.
Jackie Kellogg (32:40):
Well, I, you know, I've lived here my whole
life. I have many Republicanfriends, and many have taken the
literature. You might have heardof the post it notes, yeah, you
know. And then I'll take thatand because they know this is,
this is very important, and mostimportant we need to stress,
right? There are women, andwe've seen this now in Texas,
(33:04):
that very much wanted to have achild to be pregnant, and
they've not only suffered amiscarriage, and, you know, had
high risk of losing their lives,many have now lost the ability
to have other children, right?
So it feels to me, right, likesomehow another women's health
(33:26):
issue. It's a women's healthissue. And sometimes when I'm
dealing with something verystressful, some comedy comes
into my mind. I think about, forexample, you know, I remember
Jerry Seinfeld saying somethingto the effect, I want a doctor
that's at the top of theirclass, you know, right? Where do
(33:47):
all these doctors go that are atthe bottom of their class,
right? Well, I'm going to tellyou, they're going to come
start. They're going to startcoming to states like Florida,
because who would want, right?
You work so hard as a doctor,you go to the top schools, you
graduate the top of the class tobe faced with prison, losing
(34:09):
your license to practicemedicine, and that is going to
affect women's health care withwith cancer, not, you know, with
IVF, with general healthoverall. So these are these.
That's the whole picture withreproductive rights and
Tony Winton (34:26):
and your your rival was in the studio here, and she
is also voting for amendmentfour.
Jackie Kellogg (34:31):
That's great, but she's also been very silent
up until two weeks ago, when theflyers started arriving to
Democrats that look like they'recoming from Planned Parenthood.
So I say you have to be Abby,you have to be loud and an
advocate all the way.
Jan Dillow (34:49):
Another thing that's going to be really big, and, I
mean, should be really big,Vicky is kind of known as the
condo queen. Do you you live ina condo? Right? I do. Yeah. So
what? Are your thoughts on thecondo situation and the higher
income, the higher fees that areassociated with it, and and you
(35:09):
know, if there's any, do youhave any thoughts about possible
condo relief?
Jackie Kellogg (35:15):
There's, there's so much discussion on that, but
there is a lot of panic and alot of stress. And I will tell
you that I have spoken and it'sprimarily from people, say, 75
years and older, that havealready budgeted, say, the next
10 or 20 years of their lives tolive in this condo, that are now
having to make extraordinarydecisions selling their condo
(35:38):
because it's really a condocrisis now selling their condo
at at a lower price than it wastwo two years ago, for example,
and then making this adjustmentbecause they are no they're not
going to be able to continueliving in Miami. And so there's
there's stress there. There isstress on the volunteer condo
(36:02):
presidents. If I don't complywith everything, am I looking at
prison time? My husband's alawyer, and he's thinking about
like, I don't think I want to bea condo president anymore,
right? So fortunately, in placeslike keep his game, you know, we
have a good team of reference,right? For there's a president
of the presidents of condoassociation that's sharing
(36:24):
information and empowering condopresidents and boards how to
deal and mitigate with thechanges. But there are other
areas. For example, when I knockon doors in Little Havana, I see
I see a lot of empty apartments.
I see many eviction notices Isee boarded up condos. These are
historical buildings, so clearlythe majority of the owners have
(36:46):
decided to sell, and they'regoing to be torn down. And
that's why this is a verydeveloper friendly bill, and I
think that's why we're going tobe seeing condos are situated in
a, in a in a valuable realestate space that are going to
be torn down with somethingbuilt that is larger, more
(37:07):
people living in it, and withoutreally concern of traffic and
noise, which is something thatmany residents care about in
these stories aboutneighborhoods, live local.
There's, it's all, yeah, there'slive local. But again, it's,
it's somewhat connected, becauseyou're just seeing a lot of say,
(37:31):
I'm walking around all overLittle Havana, Shenandoah, the
roads. And if the concern iseither about property insurance
or that my community ischanging, losing its historical
integrity, and they want to bepart of the process, they want
to have a voice and input. Thismorning, I was at City Hall,
(37:53):
and, you know, congrats, it feltlike he Biscayne. We had, gosh,
it must have been at least 40residents of coral gate. They
all had T shirts made, and theywere taking a stand for their
neighborhood. They don't wantmonstrosity built on the site
where the Sears building used tobe. And I, and again, I
understand about we need to haveaffordable housing, but you have
(38:17):
to have local input in thatprocess, because, because you're
that, I mean, that's the natureof our that's the nature of
Miami, and that's the nature ofall of our neighborhoods. And
going back to Key Biscayne, Imean, that's how we became the
village of Key Biscayne. We tooka stand and to say that we want
input in the in the zoning and,you know, and how we how our tax
(38:41):
money is spent, etc, and modelfor so many, exactly, and so
that, that is the stress that Iam feeling and seeing as I knock
on doors
Tony Winton (38:57):
in terms of, though The actual or hearing is perhaps
financial relief for people whoare in condominiums being faced
with large deferred maintenancebills. To be sure, the work
should have been done to makethe building safe, and the
regulations post Surfside arenow requiring that, but it's
causing the strain on top ofproperty insurance and a top on
(39:19):
top of, you know, coming out ofa pandemic and all the economic
strains that caused. Do youthink that that there is some
relief that's in order?
Jackie Kellogg (39:28):
I think there's talk of relief in order as
there's pushback to thislegislation, but it's not going
to come in time for by January,for example, right? Because the
assessments are coming down andpeople need to pay or sell. It's
not coming down fast enough, andI think it's again, it's
(39:49):
extremely stressful on seniorsand young families. So then
that's what I'm seeing, andwe're talking about areas again,
like. A Little Havana. This isthe heart of our workforce. And
I'm not really sure where these,where all of these people are
going, and I'm not sure if thatwas really considered in this
(40:13):
plan to, you know, make condoreform. I understand that in the
27 years of, you know,Republicans in power in
Tallahassee that, that now itseems, because of suicide, that
okay, we need to remedy thissituation with the condos, but
(40:35):
we also need to remedy and dealwith climate crisis and
infrastructure. And I don'tthink that we should be building
and almost doubling theoccupancy of Miami Dade without
properly addressing theinfrastructure first. And I say
most people agree with me whenwe have this conversation,
Jan Dillow (40:56):
one of the things just to change quickly. There's
been a lot of negative ads,particularly against you. I
don't think that you've doneany. I haven't seen a lot anyway
of you against Vicky, but my youknow, I guess what I want to do
is give you the chance to say,what are your thoughts on
(41:19):
transgender sport. I mean,you've been, one of the things
that you've done is you were thehead of a PT, Coral Gables, PTA,
but in keep us gain, you werevery, very active in in sports
and getting kids involved insports. So, you know, just, I
wanted to give you theopportunity. One of
Tony Winton (41:39):
the flyers here that, I mean, my mailbox is, oh,
full of them, full of them everyday.
Jackie Kellogg (41:44):
Do you know that each one is about $10,000 Yeah,
well, so each one of thoseflyers is estimated at $10,000
Jan Dillow (41:51):
to send to someone, yes. So in my condo, there's,
like, probably
Jackie Kellogg (41:55):
getting, yeah, it's 20, $30,000 a day. So when
I'm looking at a friend who'strying to raise to matching
grants for urban paradise,killed $150 and he's $150,000
and he's overwhelmed with thatambition. I'm looking at these
flowers. I'm like, something iswrong here? Yeah,
Jan Dillow (42:13):
I totally
Tony Winton (42:16):
make you responsible for the entire US
economy and the problems ofinflation. Well, exactly,
Jackie Kellogg (42:21):
I'm being pegged with federal government issues
or characters or electedofficials in the federal
government, because, again,Republicans have had the
majority in Tallahassee for 27years, and so the problems we're
facing, they should takeresponsibility for. And since
(42:41):
I'm a new candidate and I don'thave, you know, a history of
legislation, etc, just gonnathrow all this crazy town at me.
Tony Winton (42:51):
But do you feel you got support from the rest of the
Democratic Party? I mean, youhave some prominent Democrats
who are not supporting you,
Jackie Kellogg (42:59):
so Nikki freed is supporting me. Is awesome.
Tony Winton (43:04):
Deborah Gilbert, okay,
Jackie Kellogg (43:05):
so he's a in an I'm just saying it's funny when
people ask me this, becausesuddenly I feel like, am I
defending Miami Gardens orsomething? He's in a non part.
He's in a non partisan position,right as a commission, as well
as the mayor and everybody else.
So I don't, I really don't knowhim. I do know Eileen Higgins. I
do know Daniela Levine Cava.
(43:29):
They're, they're pleasant, thelevel of stress that they're
dealing with, I can onlyimagine, as this election moves
forward, right they have. So I'mnot going to guess. I'm not
going to, you know, guess onthat. And honestly, if I spend
time on that, that just stressand energy that I don't I don't
want to use, but I have enjoyed,and it really, it's been a
(43:50):
privilege getting to meet peoplelike Debbie mercel Powell and
Nikki freed and watching ourMiami Dade Democrat Party get
behind this movement, because,again, we are looking at
flipping, you know, five to sixseats. That's what's needed,
probably seven, because there'sa Democrat in there. That's not
(44:11):
really a Democrat, but that'swhat's going to bring us back to
balance, and that's what's goingto bring back democracy and and
protect district 113, from crazyideas like turning Bill backs
into a golf course and a pickupball court.
Tony Winton (44:25):
All right, we're at the end of the time, so it is
time for your closing argument.
Please tell our listeners whyyou should be their choice for
district 113,
Unknown (44:36):
well,
Jackie Kellogg (44:37):
I would say that again, I've lived in this
district since 1975 and I've hadthe privilege of raising my
three children here, I have beena person that has also been
asked to step forward withissues in our community for
either advocating for publicschools, for the infrastructure
repairs needed, parks, spaces,artificial turf. Grass, mangrove
(45:02):
restorations, climate changeresiliency. I've been PTA
present for Coral Gables SeniorHigh. I have worked with
students through an entire rangeof socioeconomic situations. I
support with all my heart areour students and our and our
(45:24):
residents in Miami, Dade, whoare working very hard to to live
and to build a future in thiscity, and that's what I feel a
representative should do. I haveenjoyed meeting residents
throughout Shenandoah, theroads, Little Havana. Many of
them know me. They remember mefrom different either from being
(45:45):
PTA president at Coral Gables inU high or my my position is
central region coordinator fromMiami, Dade County Council. So
I've had an opportunity to workwith many families and to solve
their problems and to meet theirexpectations, and also to
introduce them to the beauty andthe bounty of our District,
(46:05):
which includes Biscayne.
Biscayne Bay, our sea grassbeds, our mangroves, our arts,
our culture and our sports. Sothese are things that it's in my
DNA and what I want to fightfor. And you know, I'm going to
give it my best shot.
Tony Winton (46:22):
Jackie, gross.
Kellogg, candidate for StateHouse District 113, thank you
for being our guest on antiSocial. We will be back right
after this. YouSS Tony and we are back on anti
(47:01):
social. I'm Tony Winton and I'mJan Dillo. Well, our guest is
getting ready to exit ourwonderful studio hero with our
partners at WLRN, and we paidrent today we did in the form of
empanadas. That's right, bringthem empanadas. You know, maybe
we should ask them to be asponsor. Oh, that's, you know,
(47:22):
since we
Jan Dillow (47:26):
are empanada guy with them, I thought you were
talking about W, L, R, M, like,I
Tony Winton (47:30):
think they've got their own stuff. They've got
their own but I'm talking aboutjust, you know, our empanadas.
Guy, yeah, absolutely, I agree.
That was a hint, if you'relistening. Anybody from
empanadas, okay, well, Jan, wehave, as I said, just a few days
left to go really in thiselection, although I should
remind everyone that earlyvoting has started. We have
we're putting some statstogether on mail balloting in
(47:54):
our little area, Key Biscayne,and how that compares to the
rest of Dade County. I will saythat so far, the Democratic
Party folks have been a littlebit of a lead, but it is
evaporating rapidly.
Jan Dillow (48:10):
Well, Vicky was saying that it has, yeah, as of,
I
Tony Winton (48:13):
mean, she's looking at, maybe her like, you can
count it different ways, interms of, like, what districts I
was looking at a county widefigure, and it got as of midday
today, it was very close indeed.
So she's correct about that.
Jan Dillow (48:25):
So it started out with more Democrats. Started out
Tony Winton (48:27):
with Democratic more democratic people known to
be Democrats, because you don'tknow how people voted, right?
Just know what partyaffiliations they were, and how
many people of those people havevoted. So that's when they say,
are they, as a Democrat, morelikely to vote for a Democrat?
Yeah, probably. So, yeah. So youcan make that that inference.
And so far, the Democrats havebeen leading, but that is now
(48:51):
ended, and now as early votinghas people are still returning
their mail ballots. But as earlyvoting has started, the numbers
have gotten closer, and now theRepublicans are leading in some
split places over the Democrats,and that's, that's the trend.
Jan Dillow (49:08):
We will find out soon enough. And then,
Tony Winton (49:11):
of course, people wait to vote on Election Day.
The whole point is, I, I, I'm aevangelist for mail voting.
Because why would you want towait in line anyway? Well, from
Jan Dillow (49:22):
what I understand, the people that I know that do
really want, I mean, that reallywant to vote on election day,
they said there's no linesanymore. Everybody's already
voted. So I mean, and that'swhat they even said, because
there was voting, they werevoting in the community center
in Cuba. Scan,
Tony Winton (49:36):
I will, I will, yeah, I will only tell you that
that is not what the electionsdepartment thinks. The elections
department is worried aboutlines and they're worried about
election day problems. That'swhy they have been because the
because of a change in statelaw, the number of people who
are eligible to vote by mailradically was reduced. They made
(49:57):
everyone reset and reset your.
Right? That had a dramaticeffect on the number of people
who voted by mail, and so thatthat consequently puts more
pressure on the other two legsof the system, the early voting
and the in person voting onElection Day, and they the
election supervisor, ChristinaWhite was actually saying a
couple of weeks ago that she wasworried about potential problems
(50:19):
on election day because of theextra load that is being
transferred from mail voting tolater in the process. That's all
I'm saying. Maybe it won'thappen. Hopefully not.
Jan Dillow (50:33):
Well, I think I'm going to vote early. I think I'm
going to go do it tomorrow.
Okay. Well,
Tony Winton (50:37):
and you have your choice. You can, most people, I
guess, and keep us can use thehistoric garage location,
Jan Dillow (50:43):
yeah, yeah. It's very convenient, really, for us,
that that is, in fact, the case.
And what about you?
Tony Winton (50:50):
I voted by mail.
Yes, I mail came in, I had aglass of wine. Voted all done.
Jan Dillow (50:57):
You know, the one thing that's really good about
that, too, is if you voteearlier, you vote by mail, you
can check it and just make surethat it's been received. That is
correct, and you don't miss. Imean, you don't, you get a
receipt when you vote in person,but it's good to know that your
votes actually there and isbeing counted. You could go
online,
Tony Winton (51:16):
and I already have checked it's already been not
only received, it has beencounted, which is why Florida
kind of doesn't have the sameproblems other states. Do we
talk about the election night? Ithink the like the presidential
election, I doubt there'll be ananswer that night. No, no, I
doubt it. I think we'll bewaiting a day or two, and that,
of course, makes it more evenmore tense, right?
Jan Dillow (51:36):
Yeah, there's going to be a lot of drama, but
there'll be a lot of otherstates, other things that are
decided. You know, potentially,yes, the Senate will be done,
and
Tony Winton (51:45):
our three council seats in Key Biscayne, yeah,
that's true. And you will be,you'll be, we're planning a
election night broadcast. Wehaven't gotten the exact details
out, but we'll get that out toyou seen and and the idea, I
hope, would be that will begiving you live results as
they're happening in KeyBiscayne, and if history is any
guide, everything will be overby 830 it's just one precinct.
Jan Dillow (52:10):
Okay, yeah, it's true,
Tony Winton (52:13):
yeah. So we don't have to worry about all doing
all this extra fancy math.
That's for us, relativelystraightforward, although we
will be reporting, of course, onthis race we just talked about
today, and then and the StateSenate and all the other
contests that are matter to us.
Jan Dillow (52:28):
Yep, well, I think it's time to wrap it up. What do
you think? And we will do thatby reminding you that we are a
not for profit, and the way weget business done is through
donations, subscriptions andgrants. So if you know of
anybody, if you yourself, arewilling to step up and be a
(52:53):
donor, for a matching donor fora give Miami Day, which is going
to be November 21 I believe,please let us know we are always
looking for people that will domatching. And please, you know,
hit that donate button whenyou're looking at all the
stories that we put out on adaily basis. And
Tony Winton (53:10):
our fundraising period has is we put a note out
just the other day that it is,it has started. And we really do
count on your support at the endof every year, and we're
grateful for it, and we want tokeep bringing you the kind of
interviews we just did thatyou're not going to hear other
places about local politics,local issues that are important
to
Jan Dillow (53:32):
you. I'm Dan Dillo.
Tony Winton (53:33):
I'm Tony Winton.
Smooth sailing. Everybodyitching your head. You back
home.
Unknown (53:43):
And then the next day, you say, you wanna go for a
ride. And when my baby, mylovely
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