Incumbent Leon County District 4 Commissioner Brian Welch and local business owner and challenger Isaac Montilla both participated in a candidate forum Tuesday.
Hosted by WFSU Public Media, the Tallahassee Democrat, and the League of Women Voters of Tallahassee, the forum touched on dozens of topics. Here’s four of the most pressing issues the men discussed.
You can watch the full video of the hour-long forum here:
Party Affiliation
Welch is a Democrat. Montilla is a Republican. But both said their party affiliation doesn’t impact their ability to govern collaboratively at a local level.
“The sidewalks and the parks don't care what your political ideology is when you're trying to build them or repair them or fix them. This is a job about service,” Welch said.
In his first election, Welch received support from local progressives, and Montilla has been endorsed by local Republicans this time around. Now, Welch is distancing himself from them.
“I have no affiliation with the progressives, and I do not accept that logic, that I was elected by a progressive movement. I was elected by 22,000 voters in district four, a bipartisan movement,” he said.
Montilla embraced being supported by the local Republican Party.
“There's nothing else to take other than the fact that they're backing me. I'm the only conservative running in this election and just having a voice for the party and to be able to bridge the gap within our communities and working together to see us move forward in a positive way,” he said.
Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency
The two men have different opinions about whether Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency has been effective.
Blueprint funds infrastructure and economic development projects through a one-cent sales tax agreed to by members of the community. But, some of Blueprint’s projects, like $27 million in funding to Doak Campbell stadium renovations and the current airport gateway, have been controversial.
Welch said he believes Blueprint is a positive for Leon County.
“I think it's unquestionable that Blueprint has been a success. As we mentioned earlier, local governments don't have the money for capital outlay anymore to provide infrastructure, so local option sales taxes have become the mechanism by which we build roads and bridges and parks and quality of life improvements,” he said.
Montilla, however, doesn’t think Blueprint has done enough for those in District 4, the Northeast portion of Leon County that the two are competing to represent.
“I would say that it’s not, it’s not being effective in our side of town. And that’s what we’re running for, running to represent District Four. And we got a lot of problems in District Four. So how do we work together to help us move forward? And that’s what my focus is on,” he said.
As for the controversial funding for Florida State University’s football stadium, Welch pointed out he opposed it.
“Did I think those investments are worthwhile? Absolutely, they're worthwhile. It just becomes a question of, should that investment be borne by taxpayers? I offered a ten million compromise to FSU that was turned down in the meeting, and I offer a $15 million compromise to FSU that was turned down,” he said.
Montilla said the funding supporting the stadium was good for him as a local business owner, but he’s split on whether he would have supported it if he had the chance to vote on it as an elected official.
“Business-wise is right. It was that. It was a business decision, not my personal side. No, I didn't like it,” he said.
Northeast Park
One of the most hotly debated projects for District 4 was Blueprints funding for a Northeast Park. Welch advocated for it, but the project was scaled back from its original scale for cost-saving reasons.
When asked about the park, Welch stood by his advocacy, saying the cuts were due to the timing.
“I've tried to maintain the integrity of all the Blueprint projects, and unfortunately, the Northeast Park just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. It really has nothing to do with anything other than that,” he said.
Montilla was critical of the tone Welch took with some of his colleagues during the negotiations.
“I think that for the average district 4 constituent that works and is always busy, is not paying attention to what happens behind closed doors, the way that it was done was not done cordially,” he said.
Homelessness
The Florida Legislature passed a law last session that makes local governments liable if they allow people to sleep in streets, public buildings or public rights of way. The candidates were asked for their thoughts on that law and local homelessness issues.
In 2022, Welch unsuccessfully pushed for a local ordinance that would have banned public sleeping in local areas. He said the law plays undue pressure on local governments, but he stood by his support for the failed ordinance.
“I feel like we need to create a standard of living that is acceptable. We need to sort of put a line in the sand and say, ‘We're not going to let you sleep on the sidewalk because we love you more than that.’ And until we have the willingness to do that, we're going to continue to see those problems,” he said.
Montilla said it’s important for the county to continue to look to other areas for solutions on how to deal with homelessness.
“So for me is, how do we tap into other areas, learn what's working that can help us be move forward, move forward quicker in the most responsible, effective and cost effective way. The easy thing, sure, is to continue to put money in it, but we got to see results from it,” he said.
You can watch the full video of the hour-long forum here: