Campaign 2024 - Dr. Isaac Montilla, Candidate Leon County Commissioner, District 4

Preston's visit with Dr. Isaac Montilla, Candidate Leon County Commissioner, District 4.

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Coming up next my visit with doctorIsaac Montia. He is running for Leon
County Commission District four against incumbent BrianWelch. In the days subsequent to our
interview, understanding that these interviews werenot aired in any way, shape or
form before July one, but inthe days after my interview with doctor Montia,

(00:25):
he received a letter which was forwardedto me from the Tallahassee Professional Firefighters
Union and signed by its president,Joey Davis. And it's dated June twelfth,
and I'm simply going to read thevery beginning of this note. After
much deliberation and thoughtful input from manyin our association, at our meeting on
June eleventh, the Tallahassee Professional Firefightersdecided not to endorse in the race for

(00:50):
Leon County Commission District four. There'ssome other words in there, but the
long and the short of it isthe Firefighters Union is not endorsing a candidate
in this race. So with thatstated, rolling tape, as they say,
now, you and I met afew months ago, but you obviously
made a decision before that to enterinto a political race. Now, before

(01:15):
we talk about what went into thatdecision, let's get people that do not
know who doctor Isaac Montia is.Who are you? Well, first of
all, thank you for announcing mylast name correctly. I try to pronounce
it. That was that was perfectmantilla like tortilla. So who am I?
I was born in New York inthe Bronx. I lived there for

(01:38):
a few years. From there,we moved to Los Angeles, California,
and then from California we moved didyou escape California listen? Uh, Actually,
I'm thinking about it right now.I was like, well, maybe
that's actually my favorite in my inour favor as a family, that we
can see opportunity before it happens,right, I think that's where we were

(01:59):
laying. Actually a side note onthat is that actually my dad was in
ministry, okay, and that's whywe moved around a lot. So we
were in New York and then wewent over to California. From California,
we went over to Orlando, Florida, and so my dad would travel and
he'd preach. And so that's alittle bit of a side note that not
a lot of people know as I'mrunning in this race, is that,

(02:21):
yeah, I have a lot ofmy background is in ministry, and that's
what There's a lot that I learnedin that process, and that's why.
Sure there's the good old saying there'sa political aspect in church as well,
you know, but in all ofit, I'm reminded through grace and mercy
and that were imperfect people, right, And that for me and my faith

(02:43):
in the way that I view itis that I got to a point in
my life that I was viewing Godthrough the imperfect people that caused me to
veer away. And then I startedviewing God for who he is and his
goodness. That allowed me to say, wait a second, and there's more
to God in this this thing thatpeople paint him out to be, and
he is true through through the Bible. Anyway, that's a side note.

(03:05):
Well, I used to say Iwas a vocational minister for twenty years and
I used to tell people that ministry'dbe awesome if it weren't for all the
Christians there. And that's what you'retalking about. It's full of people,
and people aren't perfect and we allfall short, and sadly people form judgments
based on our imperfections, not God'sperfection. And so yeah, so how'd
you end up becoming a doctor.Okay, So that that's so the whole

(03:30):
thing about being a doctor. Sowhen I was younger, part of the
ministry story there is. And mydad was pursuing the medical profession in Dominican
Republic. So my dad was bornin Dominican Republic. My mom was born
in Brooklyn, New York. Somy mom went to Haiti. My dad
went to Haiti because we as Dominicansshare the island. They went over to
Haiti to do to do uh,to do ministry there, to just help

(03:53):
out the people, the locals there, and they fell in love and the
rest is history. So but mydad left the medical profession of medical route
to pursue ministry. So it wasalways in conversation that the idea of being
becoming a doctor was always there,right, and so he gave it.

(04:15):
He told me his story and he'dalways is part of his story in terms
of where he where he's how farhe's come. But he pursued ministry.
Fast forward. Growing up, wekept on hearing the idea of a doctor
or of a doctor, of adoctor looked into it, and and the
more that I looked into I said, you know what, I want to
be more of the holistic, moreof a holistic route, give the work

(04:36):
with people and power individuals to makethe best decision for themselves given the education
piece, walk, you know,hold her hand through the process. And
what I love about that that correlateswith what I'm doing today is the idea
understanding that there's a lot of goodthings happen when you're proactive, spiritually,
spiritually, relationally. I mean youyou go through the line and you know

(05:00):
the all aspects of your life,and you realize that more the more proactive
we are, the better that wecan be long term. So I love
the idea of being a holistic doctor. Right, I'm a chiropractor that focuses
on being proactive. Let's take careof the problem now. But how do
we how do we forecast the futureand be better prepared for it? So
yeah, so I fell in lovewith it the more that I saw.
It was in college that a friendof mine, one of my best friends,

(05:21):
is like, hey, maybe youshould look into being a chiropractor.
And before all that, a chiropractorI helped me. I had a car
accident and then I went from lowback pain. It actually created more digestive
issues later on, there's neurology that'sinvolved with all that I found out.
Personally, I start getting adjusted,I started getting better. I say,
there's more to this, and sothe more that I dug into it,

(05:42):
the better I felt. What wouldbe a bigger surprise if I were talking
to the younger version of you thatyou are doctor Isaac Mantiya Noe or that
you're running for office. That's it, brother, that is it right there,
that I am running for office.That would I would have laughed had
you told me that. Heck,I would have laughed if you would have
told me that five years ago.I've never had I've never been driven to

(06:09):
take a political seat whatsoever. Thisis the first time that I've ever said,
you know what, I think weneed more accountability. I don't think.
I know there's a difference between Ithink. I try to work with
my kids. So I have fourkids, but a little bit of my
story is I'm married, I havefour kids fifteen, eleven, nine,
and six, and so there's alot of correlation that comes along that you

(06:30):
learn through those different ages that helpingequip you to lead in different ways.
So back to your statement, Iwould have never thought even four years ago.
Four years ago, I would havenot thought that I would be in
this seat right now talking to youabout this great opportunity of running to represent
a certain piece of the pie,as I like to say, of Tellhassee.
Let's take that apart for just asecond, because I've talked to more

(06:55):
than a few people running for officein doing this show. I'm in the
twenty third year, down about eightthousand interviews all right now. Out of
those, a percentage of them arepeople running for office. Sometimes it's federal
office, sometimes it's a state office, sometimes it's a local commission seat.
The one thing that's so unique forevery single one of them is what was

(07:18):
the straw that broke the camel's back? Because to me, it's it's it's
a calling if you're going to runfor office, and it's not for the
faint of heart. I said toanother candidate, it's not for sissies.
Anybody that runs, whether I agreewith him or disagree with them, I

(07:39):
respect them because this is not forthe faint of heart. It just isn't.
That said. What led to you, Isaac having the conversation with your
wife, your family, yourself sayingI'm going to do this? What what
got that going? So I'll giveyou a little back story on that about

(08:00):
was it. Yeah, the lastelection cycle, the previous commissioner had a
few run ins with everything else goingon, everybody remembers twenty twenty was a
little I call it hyper sensitive.There's a lot of emotions that was all
over the place, and it cloudeda lot of judgment, right, and
so sometimes it even clouded judgment asense of it didn't represent really who the

(08:22):
person really was. Is just thatthat season they were led by so many
things circumstances that it really obscured thesituation how to press judgement, A lot
of pressures from all over the place. So part of that it brings us
to this story. So the previouscommissioner, there's certain things that were done,
certain ways. That was that washe was just in a different position.

(08:46):
I was one of those people thatunfortunately did not get clarification. And
it wasn't that I just didit gclarification of certain questions that I asked.
So I'm really involved in my community. How did I build my practice?
People say, hey, listen,how was it or how is it that
you built your name? I builtmy name on serving. That's just my
background. My businesses have been solelypurposed. I moved to Tallahassee thirteen years

(09:11):
ago, not knowing as a singleperson, and so what I thought,
I told myself was I'm going tobuild. Sure it's a profitable business.
It is a business, but howmuch of this can we turn around and
invest in our community? Ok?And so in twenty twenty, we did
this thing called tap into our Tab, which what I would do is I
would take my own money and Iwould go to local businesses and I would
invest in that business. And thenwhat I would do is I would invite,

(09:35):
through social media means, the communityto come in to tap into that
tab. So either tap into someof it, all of it, or
leave it untouched and let someone else, bless somebody else to come in.
So the whole plane, how thatworked. What do you mean in regards
to what the tab? Yeah?Yeah, So I go into your business?
Okay, pressing you have you havea The first place that we opened

(09:56):
it was a barbecue joint here inTallahassee. It's no Better's barbecue, one
of the best barbecues I've ever had. I walked up and I said,
here's one hundred dollars. I wantyou to open a tab. And then
I did a call to action onsocial media. Hey, I just opened
one hundred dollars tab to this business. They're struggling, that can use some
extra support. I've already paid theway for you to come in and say,

(10:18):
hey, meal and have a meal. It's on me. If you
can afford to, don't tap intothe tab. Come and spend your own
money and let that. Let's seehow far that tab can go untapped.
And so what it did is itpumps so much money back into the economy
to these local businesses during that season. So you did that for different businesses.
I did that for different businesses.So I started getting more and more

(10:41):
in touch and grounded with the community, especially with the hospitality community in Tallahassee,
and I realized the greatest need.So why do I say that,
let me let me rewind just alittle bit. When when that happened,
there was going back to the initialstatement that I made. Certain things were
happening in the tallahasse area until interms of local politics, we weren't getting

(11:03):
clear answers. So I took itupon myself as a community leader to reach
out and try to get answers.I didn't get answers. So give you
an example of what you were tryingto get an answer to. So some
of the some of the questions Iwas trying to figure out is what direction
was our community heading towards. Oneof them being the mass mandate. One

(11:26):
of them was being you know,open opened, more open doors in terms
of all COVID related accommodated and arewe shutting it down? What are we
doing? Yeah? All that,Yeah, I just want to clarity.
I just want to know what directionbecause a lot of the patients I can
being plugged, having a pulse inthe community. They were asking me questions

(11:46):
because it pertained to their health.Sure, mentally, it affected people mentally,
emotionally, all of it, right, all of that was being affected.
So I was just trying to getclarification. Didn't get clear answer.
I got treated a certain way.So I went on social media and I
actually posted about my concerns in myinteraction with the then and get it with

(12:07):
that commissioner at the time, right, they didn't know it was going to
spread like wildfire. It did.I was just voicing what my interaction was
so that was election year, alocal election year. So what happened then
we rallied with the current incumbent andat that time, at that time,

(12:30):
people were asking me if I wouldconsider putting my name in a hat.
And as a small business owner thatI am, I have a couple clinics.
The name of my clinics are VerityHealth Center. I was trying to
figure out how to just get throughtwenty twenty as much as my colleagues were,
and so we were trying to figureout how we're going to make it,
How do we make payroll? Howis this going to work? In

(12:52):
twenty twenty when we were we gothit really hard financially. And even though
we got hit financially, I wasstill going around happening to our tabs because
one thing I've learned growing up isthat when you serve, it doesn't always
look pretty, but by golly,the rewards are phenomenal when you do it
with the right heart and mind.And so that's what we were doing.

(13:13):
So when my name was being tossedthe idea, I said, no,
the best the other option is justthere's somebody else running. Why don't we
just support the person running, whichis a current incumbent, and so I
said, yeah, we we'll justget we'll support them. And let's be
clear for people listening, it maynot be clear that you're talking about commissioner
Brian Welch. That's district that's right, all right, Brian Welch, District

(13:35):
four. And so we said,hey, we'll just we'll support them,
we'll come behind them and uh andthen uh and it's it's the other option
that we have right now, rightwell, we did that. He won.
If you don't know, you knownow, hopefully you know by now.
Which is interesting enough, preston realquick, is that I actually ask
people around the community if they knowwho their commissioner is. And a lot
of people tell me this, theydon't know who their commissioner is. District

(13:58):
for residents aren't sure who their districtfor a rep is. That's correct.
Interesting and so so so he won, and I had a conversation with him
on the phone and one of theone of the few things that I did
I did discuss with them were oneis one of the greatest opportunities for our
community is for our community to bemourned, to know of what's going in

(14:20):
our community. And we talked aboutthat. What does that look like social
media? Be connected with our community. Let us know what's going on right
in terms of updates, if there'sprojects going on, so on and so
forth. The other one is Isaid, you know, I think it
would be really good for to havebetter representation, to be boots on the

(14:41):
ground, be present, right,caring. What are the needs having a
poulse, a consistent polse in ourcommunity? And three is I said,
hey, we need all of usto be together, I think more than
any anytime, especially during that seasonand moving forward. One thing I've learned
is that being in isolation is detrimentmental being in community is much more powerful.

(15:03):
How can we come together? Howcan we move forward? So?
How and how can we or asa leader, can you represent our community
right? You're going to sit arounda table and reach across and work alongside
with other people to make sure thatthat Tallahassee as a whole is as healthy
as it can be. Those arethe top three things that the conversation that
I had with him over the phone. How'd that go? Well? Fast

(15:28):
forward? I think his aid isdoing a great job on the connecting and
and forming the community. But whatwas the reaction to your thoughts at the
time, at the time, cordialcourse, Yes, it was great.
It was great. So I've knownBrian off and on, you know,
And this is what I also wantto make sure I put this in there,
is that this opportunity is not againstBrian. Right. I think when

(15:50):
you run into politics, people tryto pin you against someone. Well,
but hang on, now, letme challenge that. Please come on,
but not from a personal level.But if you you know, if you
are putting yourself against an incumbent,you are saying I can do this job
better, more effectively and differently thanyou. Correct. So when you so

(16:15):
in that statement, sure one cansay, hey, you are representing the
idea, right that I am goingagainst him. And what I'm saying is,
hey, I'm I'm soliciting the ideathat I feel that I can lead
in that seat in a in amore effective manner, in a better way,

(16:37):
not trying to sound politically correct.And I'm saying that because as it
continues to ramp up. Right,one of the things that I've been running
this race on is is who Iam. Right, I am a guy
that really looks for opportunity to succeedforward right, I don't. I don't
take ls of as losses. Itake them as lessons, right. So
for me and as you bring itup, yeah, this is when someone's

(17:02):
going to vote for me, isvoting with the idea that I'm going to
be a bridge between all involved inthe community. That's developers, that's community,
that's Hays, that's community, anybodypart of the community. Is it
is. I'm looking at representing everybodypart of that community. I'm not going
to select who what direction I wantto represent more of, right, community,

(17:25):
we all make first responders, weall make part of that community,
right. And I think today ifyou look at if you look at least
in our district, there's opportunity forthat. I just hung out with I
think Station Bradfordville, the band Yeahyeah, the fire with the Fire Department
of Bannerman, right, and wewere all just hanging out this past week

(17:45):
and I provided an event in ourin in one of our business at Verity
North and Bannerman Crossing, which we'vebeen doing for years to doing events and
creating opportunity for people to come together. And one of the firefighters looked at
me in the eye and said,Isaac, I just want you to know
that our station supports you. We'vebeen working together, not just during the

(18:07):
election season. We want you toknow that you are supported by us,
and that means the world and me. Because when you're running right as an
incumbent, sure you're looking for endorsements. I think he recently got endorsed by
the bigger branch right the Union.That doesn't phaze me one bit, because
why doesn't it bother me. Itdoesn't bother me because my heart's been plugged
into the community for the last thirteenyears. My heart is for the community

(18:32):
that I represent, that I live, that I play in, that I
go on date nights with that youknow that our children go to school in
right, that I volunteer in,that I help coaching. So for me,
running in this race is not justsimply saying, hey, you know
what, who's going to give methe most money so I can pay attention
to them the most. You know, the reporting just came out a couple
days ago, right, and it'sall public records. Go on there,

(18:57):
find out who is contributing, who'scontribute to both through our campaigns. Find
out and see if there is therepossibly is an invested interest, maybe not
that's for you to decide as someonewho should be educated. I was told
when I'm running this race, andthese are vague numbers, you know,
eighty twenty twenty percent are really areplugged into local politics. Eighty percent vote

(19:18):
on name recognition. Right. Well, to me, we just broke one
of the big one of the greatestthings that we did as the first time
candidate. In eight months, wejust raised over one hundred thousand dollars.
Three or four thousand dollars of thosedollars are family. They tell you that
when you run in the first peopleto believe in you is your family.

(19:38):
Right. Go. If you lookat everyone who's contributed, they have an
invested it for sure. Community.How do we move our community forward?
So, as the first time candidate, when people are looking at these numbers,
they're saying, wait a second,this guy is representing us as a
whole. I got a family.I got a family. Most contribution you

(20:00):
can give per per contribution is onethousand dollars, right, So an individual
entity can give up to one thousanddollars. Had a family of six and
a small was they lived under wasunder eleven hundred dollars, sorry, eleven
hundred square feet, and they cameto me and said, we want to
give you maximum contribution because I knowthat you will also represent us. It

(20:22):
wasn't you're just going to represent us, You will also represent us, Right,
So why do I say that?And what why is that important in
terms of this election race? BecauseI'm running with the understanding that it's about
we, not me that for anybodyto be for you to be an elected
officials, for you to be ina in a in a in a in

(20:45):
a servant role, public servant roleas we like to describe it. You
you got to represent your community,right, not pick and choose on who
you're going to represent, but tobe able to navigate, to be you
know, to be a leader oryou know. They say, well,
not everybody's gonna like you, Andmy response to that is, I'm okay
if I'm not liked for the rightreasons, if I'm going to be representing

(21:08):
my community, if I'm going toif I'm going to be working diligently on
being abridged in my community, ifI'm going to be working on you know,
bringing certain uh you know, privatesector principles into that public seat to
be proactive, right, I'm okay, because my interest is going to be
everybody part of the community. Doa little compare and contrast for me,

(21:33):
contrast as needed, your ideas onwhat really matters from a commissioner's standpoint,
someone who's serving to represent a district. What was in your mind as you
started and where it is now aftervisiting with and talking to endless numbers of
people. How has that list adjustedchanged or has it? Yeah? As

(22:00):
you know again, you know,faith plays a big role in how I
do this or you know. Andwhy I say that is because you know,
some people are like, oh,this guy is I've been told this
along the way that this guy,you know, he's an They call me
evangelical candidate is what they call me. Right, And much like I do
in my other my other jobs ormy businesses that I own, I tell

(22:22):
everybody this and not everybody believes inthe same thing that I do, and
I tell them this, my faithholds me accountable to how well I lead
and care for my community. Soone of the things that really led to
feel at peace as you run thiscourse or as you run this race,
is there's a scripture that I reallybeen quoting a lot which is be wise

(22:48):
as a serpent, but gentle asa dove. But I'll tell you it's
things sometimes, right, It's thingsthat I've had meetings with people that are
quote unquote respect in the community,and they ext and the truth right in
front of your face. Right,it's and and it stinks, and it
stings every so often. Right.But but I'm reminded that I'm not running

(23:08):
for their approval, right, I'mrunning because I had a conviction that there's
more to be done. Uh,there's better representation that could happen. And
you know, and I said thisbefore in terms of me against sim and
what have you. What I'm askingBrian is she just passed the baton.
That's what it is. Because beforehim, somebody paved the way, and

(23:29):
somebody before that paved the way.Certain ways were done something, certain certain
approaches were taken. And and rightnow, sure after four years, come
up to four years, we're notwe're not moving in direction that we should
be moving. That we're not movingin the direction that I see us unified.
I don't see us unified. Ihad a patient come the other day

(23:51):
and said she just moved in.By the way, there's a lot of
people relocating to tell ahassee I seeit in my practice. And a patient
came out and said, I feellike weich is a here. I feel
like everybody's on your own. Everybody'sisolated. This came out of a person,
you know, a person in myoffice that just was we were just
just having a conversation about So thisis saying, hey, I just I

(24:12):
just pass the baton. Help.Once I take this baton, I want
to move in disdirection that's going tobring us more closer together, being done
in a more effective manner, efficientmanner, and to see good results.
No one's personally he doesn't want topass the Baton's right for reelection, that's

(24:34):
right, he doesn't want to passthe baton. So let's circle back to
the priorities. What what in yourmind is what like, you know,
you got a whiteboard somewhere, oryou got a sticky notes somewhere, or
you've got a to do lists somewhere. What's on that list of things that
need attention from your perspective, froma district for perspective, and what have

(24:55):
you learned from others that that arein the district that needs attention. So
the first one, I made apost about this not so long ago.
Is the word heard. There's alot of people in the different parts of
our district that don't feel heard.Why do you think that is? Is
it the three minute rule? Isit the sense that these meetings are held?
We get it. These are parttime jobs sort of kind of.

(25:19):
So I'm sorry to intrupt you,but I'm gonna say this. You could
say part time job with a salaryof what eighty nine thousand dollars eighty eight
thousand dollars. Oh, look,I hear you, and I think most
people will agree with you on that. But the question still becomes, these
meetings are at a time where alot of people aren't going to go to

(25:41):
them. They're just they're not accessibleto most people to be heard. Yeah,
So how do you break that downto where people feel heard? I
like so as a practitioner, Icall myself an old school with the new
school, and I think that oneway that we can and allow our community
to be heard is I want tobring I want to bring back the town

(26:03):
hall meeting for just you or forthe entire commission. Well, I think
one of the opportunities is you dowhat you can in your community and see
the progress and bring it to thetable and see what's been working. So,
you know, I attend to someof these forums here locally, and
one of the things that urged methe most is that there are people that

(26:23):
I've been sitting there, including theincumbent, that there was a lot of
I think we should, I thinkwe should, and not enough of this
is what we've been doing. Thisis what we've been doing, this is
what I found to be working.And so what I find in this process

(26:45):
is this is that in our community. My first goal is I want our
community to be heard. Town hallmeetings is a good way for them to
be to feel that way right whatit is and what it is it's not
let's make sure and well understand thistoo. Is at least people in the
community that I've been talking to.When you go to these city hall meetings,

(27:07):
oftentimes decision has been made already,so you're going in there and oftentimes
you might feel like the box hasbeen checked. My minds have been made
up. Yep, the minds havebeen The minds have been made up.
So before we get to that point, how do we how do we work
together right so that you have abetter pulse in the community. And again
I went back to the understanding weI would love to implement the town hall

(27:30):
meeting and again have a clear description, differentiation of what it is and what
it's not. And those are theopportunities that are going to be uh that
are going to be extended to thecommunity for them to be heard. So
you go to a local public schoolauditorium, Let's say you open the doors
in District four for the District fourresidents. They want to show up to

(27:51):
just share, share, share,but with the understanding of how do we
as you share, what are solutions? Run of my biggest pippees in life
is to attend a pointless meeting.And even as I'm as you mentioned before,
I'm meeting so many people through thecommunity, even after my meeting,
I'll ended with okay, so justbird's eye view and I highlight what we

(28:18):
just talked about. Okay, what'sthe effect? Right? What do we
say? The same thing as myoffice is sure, let's bring concerns to
the table. How do we bringsolutions? What are we going to do
about it? What are we goingto do about it? All? Right?
So you started yourself talking about kindof the catalyst for you was COVID,
Yes, and trying to get somedirection from the county on what what

(28:41):
are we doing? Correct and notfeeling as though you're getting clear definitions and
communication correct. All right? Thatmatches up then with what you just shared
that you're hearing from people in generalthat they just feel like they're not heard,
and that's probably universal at every levelof government, city, county,
state. We don't feel like ourvoice is heard, all right? What's

(29:03):
number two? Number two is havinga better plan for infrastructure. And actually
this morning, as I told you, I had a good meeting with just
trying to get a better understanding graspof what the plan looks like for better
for better infrastructure. I think,you know, I think that the idea
of growth becomes the villain right withoutunderstanding. And so as I'm doing homework

(29:29):
and I'm still gathering information, youknow, I tell people that I'm running
on GSI right, which is yougather, then you study, and then
you implement, right, and sothe idea is understanding, Okay, what
are what are our resources? Arethere truly ways? What does it look
like in a foreseeable future for usto be better prepared for growth? Because
there is there is you know,I'm a guy that understands pattern, right,

(29:51):
I see pattern again, same thing. Well, most business people do,
or they don't survive in business.So you have to you have to
be able to understand mar forces.That's that's exactly right. So so for
me is to be able to see, Okay, how do we better,
how do we better prepare for thegrowth that is happening? Right? And
again, growth becomes a villain.And I think that oftentimes growth becomes a

(30:15):
villain because there's some misunderstanding, right, whether it be cutting down too many
trees or whether it be you know, broadened discs. It's it's understanding what
does it look like if things don'tget done efficiently, incorrect, in a
correct manner, a responsible manner.And so I'm really big on understanding that
we can do better on responsible growthand focusing on infrastructure and having a plan,

(30:38):
a better plan set in place ofwhat that will look like in the
near future. Responsible growth sounds tome like balancing. That's exactly right.
What are we balancing? We're balancingunderstanding and communication between and between from developers

(31:00):
to community to hoas having and likeI said before, having everybody in the
community better be well informed and prepared. If we're going to do X,
Y and Z, what are therepercussions of doing X, Y and Z.
Who's going to be negative impacted bythat? Or who's gonna be positive
impacted by that? Right? Whyare we doing that? I think that
there is a lot of I thinkthat there is opportunity for knowledge and growth

(31:25):
in these areas because what happens isthis, and this is something that I
know to be true, is thatthe more that people understand, the better
we can function as a community.The less people understand. We're emotional beings.
We're going to be driven by whatwe feel. So if something's not
right and you feel any ounce ofwrong being done towards you, you will

(31:45):
be defensive and you'll be less receptiveto understand anything. Yeah. I find
that people when they sense a lackof transparency and a process in whatever happens,
they're resists didn't because there's a senseof insider work of not really knowing,

(32:07):
Okay, well, why has thisdecision been really made? And as
we know, this community has ahistory of having issues like that, not
so much in the county, butcertainly in the city and the city is
part of the county. That's right, it's it's it's a bigger picture,
and you know it's it's it's neatas I'm as I'm running in this race.

(32:27):
You know, I did a visionboard before I came to Tallahassee,
and I excuse me, and Iremember, I remember putting different pieces of
that big picture, and in Tallahasseewas right in the middle, you know,
grow a family. You know,there was a lot of give and
serve part of my vision board,and right in the middle of Tallahassee,

(32:49):
I just put my town right.What would I do to care for my
city, for this city right?Working together, that's another opportunity that I
feel that that could happen. Youknow, a current commissioner, I think
it was last year, made astatement and he said that I believe that
we operate in silos, is whathe's This is from the city commission right,

(33:09):
city commission or a county commissioner.No city commissioner said this, I
believe last year. I read itthrough an article and he said, I
believe that we operated in silos.And I think that that transpired intentionally or
can be transpired. It can actuallycome across even subconsciously, right, because
sometimes we get stuck in, youknow, and we neglect the things that

(33:30):
are of value around us because we'rejust go, go, go go,
and don't have time to sit downand say, okay, wait a second.
We got to be intentional with howwe're communicating. We got to be
intentional with who we're communicating with.We got to be in there's intentionality aspect
to it. So too much ofwhat you mentioned earlier. I'm being on
the first one, which is accountability. Right, Accountability, That's one of

(33:52):
the things that I'm running on.Accountability. I'm running on strong community.
How do we build? You know, everything I'm speaking of today is falls
under accountability and strong community? Right. I believe that these are really key
components and responsible growth. Right.So are the top three things that I'm
running on. And all of thosefunnel right through those those three main and

(34:14):
again the idea of how do howdo we do this in a more proactive
manner? Right? So, sothat caught my attention was, Hey,
I feel like I can again leadin this direction. We we we decided
to run after last summer. Itook about a month month and I have
to talk to my wife, totalk to my team. One of the

(34:37):
things that I'm really keen on isbeing present. Talked about in intentionality.
I feel like a leader of thecommunity should be physically present, meaning you
are there, not just when youhave to make not when you have to
cut a ribbon, or not whenyou have to just show up to a

(35:00):
a meeting, right a board meeting. I think it goes between that and
when I was evaluating, Hey,can I run for this opportunity? Can
I take advantage of the opportunity.Can I afford, meaning time wise,
to be able to be physically present? Because if I would not be able
to be physically present, I wouldnot run for the seat. And I

(35:21):
think there's something to be said abouthuman interaction and I'm big on that.
I'm big on loyalty, I'm bigon friendships. I'm big on relationships.
I'm a really relational person. Amatter of fact, my friends can tell
you, don't text him, callhim. I'm still that guy. I'll
get in my truck and I runand I'll drive down and I'll do friend
checks. I'll call my friend.Hey, I'm just calling to see how

(35:44):
you're doing. You can ask myclose friends or even some friends that I
haven't spoken to you a while.I'm big on relationships, not to be
perfect. I'm big on again,hey, how are we here for each
other? And so fast forward thatafter this, that's when I decided to
run and say, okay, canI Can I run? If I run,

(36:06):
what would thou look like? Andone of the big things was again
being physically being, being physically present? Can I hear? And I suspected
that because as a small business owner, so just to recap so you can
run your clinics and serve in thiscapacity. Is your contention? That's exactly
right. Okay, that's exactly right. So structure, processes and procedures.

(36:27):
I'm really big on them, Socan I be Can I be present?
What would that take? Sure?My went to my team and I asked
them, I'm thinking about running.Would I have your support in the offices.
Yes, I got phenomena doctors,I got phenomenal staff, right,
so yes, my family, yes, right. We thought about it,

(36:47):
we prayed about it, and thenwhen we had a file. When we
filed, we had about was ittwelve days? I forgot the timeframe,
but there was about window where wehad to show some sort of financial support
contributions was again in this game whereeverybody listening out there, contribution plays a

(37:09):
big role on how your message isgoing to be you know, displayed.
Right that they say that when electioncomes around, that's when you start getting
flyers about this and that and whathave you, and it's all attention attention
grabbing, and how do we stiremotion inside you do? I liked I
love to operate on facts, rightthat if I'm going to dispute anything to
you President, as we're discussing this, you can go and check on the

(37:31):
things that I've been saying, Right, how does that align right with what
I'm saying? And so we hadabout a short window to do some fundraising
and so within I think it waslike twelve days, I'm not too sure
exactly in the days, but ashort window of opportunity before the before the
quarter ended, we had raised Ithink like we had raised around twenty nine

(37:53):
thousand dollars, right, And thatmade a big statement saying, Okay,
yeah, we can have the supportthat we need to run this race.
And again, it hasn't been prettyright because there's there's a lot of things
that come into play as you're havingmeeting after meeting after meeting after meeting,
and so there is the understanding thatagain, how are you consistent? And

(38:17):
one thing that I am telling community, our community as I'm meeting new members
and what have you, is sayingthis, ask me the same question next
week and see if I give youthe same answer, Because what I'm thinking,
I find out about a lot oftimes when people run in a race,
they say what you want to hear, and then what happens is when

(38:39):
you sidetrack from that, you catchthem, You catch them in something that
was not truth. What it mightnot come across this truth put politics on
any level breeds political wind socks.Yes, which way is the wind blowing?
And that's the answer you'll get atthe given time. But you know
what I found through this is thatcosts a lot of energy spent that doesn't

(39:02):
need to be sent spent in thatdirection. Well, it's no different than
telling a lie in in the Inthis regard, you have to remember the
lie. Yes, the truth isalways easy. And I'm not suggesting any
any individual candidate anywhere is lying.I'm merely pointing out that when you are
political windsock and you're answering to thecrowd that you're there in front of,

(39:23):
instead of just speaking where you areon whatever the issue might be. You
have to remember what you said becausethe next time you're somewhere else, you're
going to have to figure that out. Whereas if you're just speaking the truth
of what you think, you don'tever have to worry where you were what
you said too. It's just thetruth, you know what. So as

(39:43):
a studying part of this process ofunderstanding, you know, it's it's it's
you find things that you know theincumbent has said in conversation with you know
that with so we got Welch andthen we got the loads. The loads
was before Welch. Right For thosethat out there that I don't know,
Brian Deloe's longtime commissioner in District four, which I will tell you that even

(40:05):
afterwards, got a chance to sitwith Brian Delowe's and we had an amaze
I mean ever since. He's asmart guy, oh smart, but not
only but he has a heart.He got he has a heart. I
think again, going back to whatI said before, the season was rough
for a lot of people, right, and it's not an excuse. And
the beautiful part about him, eveneven uh and even speaking with him,

(40:29):
is hearing his redemptive story. Well, and I was going to say,
I think Brian looks back and Ihaven't spent any time with him. I
spent a lot of time with himwhen he was serving as a commissioner,
but I would I would think thathe probably regrets. Brian delse yes,
I think he probably regrets not beingin a better place when he served then

(40:49):
he ended up getting to later inhis life. Let's let's do this.
What's the best part of the campaignprocess for you? What have you enjoyed
the most? The thing, thepart that I've been enjoyed the most is
is the platform I'm running on.Is knowing that running does not define me,

(41:17):
that this role is not going todefine me. Is knowing that I'm
in this for the understanding of thewe aspect of all this, right,
how do we? It's the wepart? And so having these meetings with
people that oftentimes I've talked to allthe candidates and what having they feel certain

(41:37):
pressures, but I don't. Idon't feel I don't have the pressure.
I don't have the pressure because myfive year plan never was part of being
county commissioner. Right, So there'sthis this part of me that I'm running
on that I get up and I'mlike, God, you're good. Like

(41:59):
this is I'm meeting more people.I love that. It's a platform that
we part. I'm listening to people. There's some people that are you know,
that have been in support of theincumbent. I don't have a problem
with that, right, And Ithink and I also want to take a
side road really quick, is foreveryone listening out there, know who you're
voting for. Right. You know, there's a lot of things that uh,

(42:22):
there's a lot of statements that Ihear in One that stands out the
most is that I hear, especiallyin the local politics, Oh they're a
nice person. Right, there's alot of nice people preston that I know
that I would not allow to runmy businesses. Being nice is a moral
thing. Being qualified to lead isa whole different statement. Right is knowing

(42:46):
to decipher between emotions, learning,learning to stand on what's what needs,
what's very important for the community.It's knowing to say, hey, we
could do this. It's knowing tolead your community in the right direction.
Right. So going back to that, the question is that I'm energized by

(43:07):
understanding that there's a lot of peoplethat are in support of us coming together
stronger. I'm energized knowing, asI'm meaning more people that they understand the
importance right of community of a leaderthat's going to represent them right in all
aspects. I think, you know, I think that his role is great.

(43:30):
You know I say this. Ihave respect he's a teacher. I
have respect for teachers. Teachers investedin me, and that's what helped me
improve my life, right. Itchanged the trajectory of my life. Right.
So at the same time, Ialso believe to be true that there's
ways to be done, to besaid, to lead in our community in

(43:53):
a more effective way. So Ilove the process of meeting people and sitting
down and having a cop of coffeeat any given time to listen to be
heard. But then I love theopportunity to even I have a I have
a a little book that I walkaround with and I can show you page
after page of all these diagrams ofproblem solving and solutions that excites me of

(44:16):
the opportunity. What's the worst,what's the worst? I would I would
go back to what I said earlierabout being wise as a serpent but gentle
as a dove. The wise partjust when you think you have your meeting

(44:37):
with somebody who's connected in the areathat might have the best interest, and
then takes a side road just likeoof. So I would say that's the
worst. It's the and I willsay this because it is what it is.
But the worst is playing the politicalgame. I don't like it.

(45:00):
I don't like the political game because, as anybody's out there listening, I
don't care who you are. Imean, I care who you are in
terms of who you as a person, but in terms of I don't care
what level rank. I think there'svery important that everybody needs to listen to
what I'm about to say that it'svery important. I'm gonna say it over
and over as we play. Aspeople play games, and I'm not saying
everyone does. Other people are payingfor it. The community ends up paying

(45:23):
for it when things aren't done withthe right intentions and with the community in
mind, and we hurt more andwe don't move forward together. Right.
So it's for me, I'm findingthat it's a value to keep everybody in
mind and to put it into action. How do we move forward from here?

(45:47):
One of the things that I loveto say is, oftentimes we get
We've always heard the expression of thecup is half full or half empty,
right, We've heard that over andover. To me, both matter right
because it's an emotional perspective. Butthe problem oftentimes can be is that you

(46:07):
can be really positive or you canbe really negative. What I like to
focus on is the fact that thecup there's a cup and there's water in
it. There's a two truth.So we can take the two truths and
say, Okay, how do wedigest this and how do we move forward?
The progress it looks better. AndI will also say this because no

(46:28):
leader can tell you to have allthe answers, and I'm not claning to
have all the answers. But whatI am saying is that we've been plugged
into the community to have the rightresources to tap into. Right. I'm
far from perfect, where all ofus are far from perfect, but it's
understanding that we're gonna mess up.We're not perfect, but by God,

(46:50):
there's things that we can do toimprove that. Right. To move forward,
how would somebody learn more, getin touch, reach out to you
so you can reach out to usthrough our We have social media platforms.
The two big social media platforms thatwe have our Facebook as well as Instagram.
You have a website, Yeah,we have a website and it's it's

(47:12):
uh, we not me dash leondot com. Okay, so we not
me dash leon dot com. Andit's funny because of course any candidate's running,
they always tell you you have toput your name so everybody can remember
your name, remember your name,And that's been I guess back to one
of your questions, that's kind ofbeen one of my struggles because I don't
like the attention, right, Idon't like the attention, and so I've

(47:37):
had to as I was thinking aboutwhat can we run on we not meet
him about? Because again it representsall of us, but I have to
have my name on it, right, just telling me. So, my
email is Mantilla at we not Meetdash leon dot com. So that way
is attached to what this campaign does. This campaign is about we. Is

(48:00):
that the same handle that you're usingon social media? We not me?
We not me as well? Correct? And then so we do a hashtag
on social media, is we notme? The number four for District four?
Right, Leon. So we notme for Leon is what we run
on in terms of the handle andhow you can get a hold of us
also, and so so if youtype in we not Me number four Leon

(48:22):
Facebook platforms, you'll see all ofthe all of the things that we we've
been doing in the community. Andas we're wrapping up, Preston again,
thank you for having me here.This has been phenomenal. Just also knowing
your heart that we we think alot alike in a lot of ways.
I am excited because there's so muchopportunity that I feel like also people in

(48:49):
our community don't know we actually have. Right. One of the things the
safe bed is always well you knowthen company is doing all he can.
Right, That's a that's a reallya common statement. But there's more that
can be done. And I thinkthe more that can be done is again
it's having a pulse in the communitymore often than not. And as I'm

(49:10):
a business owner, I'm a familyman. You know. One of the
things that they tell you about socialmedia is they want you to clean up
yourself. I'm letting it all out, pressing like this is all this is
because I have nothing to hide.I'm transparent, right, and so they
tell you, hey, you gotto be careful on what you said in
the past on social media and certainissues and what have you. And what

(49:32):
I told them was, you canhave my password, you can have my
password. Who I've been in thelast thirteen years, who I am,
Who's allowed me to have a communitysupport to know that the interest in mind.
They say it's a non partisan raceis what they're calling. It is
what they say here in Leon County, right. But for somebody who does
have conservative values myself, there's certainways that you can you can work with

(49:58):
everybody in the community. Absolutely,there's ways you can do that right,
ways you can do that. AndI'm loud and proud in the aspect of
I will always put people in frontof this whole process, people first,
because every person matters, again,from HOA groups to the people that make

(50:19):
up the HOA, to the communitiesthat make up the HUA, to the
developers too. There's a way thatI have a vision for that. And
I started to say this earlier asI'm studying all this and some of the
interviews. Was mentioned before, isthat the incumbent kept on making these statements
of the community is ready for freshideas. That's what he said in an

(50:42):
interview over and over and over andanybody listening. If you see any fresh
ideas and you love what you see, then you vote the same. That's
what I'm running on. If youknow what you're voting for them, vote
the same. If you don't seefresh ideas, but you see a pattern.
You can follow us on social mediaand you see different ways of how

(51:04):
we've been implemented in the community.There's more where that came from. There's
more where that came from. Andone thing I will also add about the
education system, which you know,there's been a lot of push in different
directions, and I think one ofthe biggest ways and important ways to even
as a commission that I feel likecan have an impact is to invest in

(51:24):
the younger generation. I believe thatif you help the younger generation connect the
dots of what's going on in yourcommunity and how you bring them alongside.
You know. One of the thingsthat I'm looking at doing, and this
is the first time I'm actually makingthis known and we're working to some of
the logistics, is when I takeseat, I would love to hold a

(51:46):
one to two week camp in NortheastTallahassee that we will also offer scholarships for
that's going to highlight the importance ofour community. And there's ways that we're
working through that as well. Right, And that's something that I want to
put on as a commissioner, rightbecause again it's getting those involved from a

(52:07):
young age to see the value ofwhat community looks like. So for me,
starts a young generation. For me, it takes you know, you
listen in the older generation, hey, what are some things that we don't
want to repeat? Right? Andthen in the middle generation I call it,
I'm you know, young and middleand then the older generation. But

(52:28):
the middle is just saying, hey, how do we come alongside you?
Because I have a list of thingsthat there is now there is a difference
between need and want. I wantto make sure I'm clear on that,
right, how do you decipher betweenneed and want? And today is understanding
this my background, my background,I came from nothing, and by God's
grace, I'm in a different positionin my life where I can't afford a

(52:51):
stake right. And so for me, not only can I sympathize and empathize
for right a less represented community inour community, but I can also do
it from all range of the spectrumthere, right from the from that aspect
to that from both ends. Ican empathize and sympathize with our community,

(53:13):
and there's a way that you cando that you can help and provide hope
within our community. Thanks for thetime, Absolutely appreciate it. Absolutely