FIVE MEN are competing for three seats on Key Biscayne's Village Council.
Oscar Sardiñas is giving it second try after running once before. We ask him what's different about this campaign, and how he sees the big issues of protecting against sea level rise and dealing with traffic issues on the Rickenbacker Causeway.
With special guest host Jan Dillow.
FIVE MEN are competing for three seats on Key Biscayne's Village Council.
Oscar Sardiñas is giving it second try after running once before. We ask him what's different about this campaign, and how he sees the big issues of protecting against sea level rise and dealing with traffic issues on the Rickenbacker Causeway.
With special guest host Jan Dillow.
again always be my friend live from Key Biscayne, Florida. This is antisocial radio program where we look at some of the insane things on social media, try to apply some logic and see if we can really make any progress with it. I'm Tony Winton.
Jan Dillow:And I'm Jan Dillow. filling in for Thom Mozloom.
Tony Winton:Well welcome Jan Dillow. Your first time live here on antisocial
Jan Dillow:is it's a little overwhelming to have the all of this going on in front of me.
Tony Winton:Okay, well, okay. We'll try to be very, you know, very calm and gentle. You know? Well, that's our plan for today. Nothing too exciting, I hope. Oh, well. It could be good. Yeah, the news, right. The news is always excited. Exactly. Exactly. Well, as we've been talking about on this program, we have something going on in the village of Key Biscayne, it happens every two years.
Jan Dillow:We kind of wake up, the entire village wakes up when there's an
Tony Winton:election. Yes, we're seeing signs on lawns all over the place and stickers on cars and people wearing strange T shirts that they would normally never wear.
Jan Dillow:Yeah. And waving to people in the morning in the morning and at night. Yes,
Tony Winton:yeah, that and having done that myself several years ago, that that, to me, is the oddest part of this running for Village Council. And
Jan Dillow:I love it, I have to say I love it. I just think it's such a throwback to the old days. And I think it's so important because like it makes politics it makes people feel like, you know, these are the guys that are going to be representing me they haven't you know, they're spending their time trying to, you know, make sure that they know that everybody knows who they are, when we have questions, we can go to them. I really love that part.
Tony Winton:As long as they don't get hit by passing traffic,
Jan Dillow:or bicycles. I ride my bicycle,
Tony Winton:there is actually physical hazard in running for office in this village. I'm gonna say that that's just I'm I'm amazed that we've had a streak a good positive streak as long as we have. But speaking of all that our guest today and we're going to have, this is the first of what we hope will be all of the village council candidates coming on our program. We have five people running for council this time around half the number of two years ago. I don't know why that is we're down 50%
Jan Dillow:We are down 50%. But you know, this way, we're going to hopefully be able to really hear what everybody has to say and get their their views out there. It's kind of hard when there were 10.
Tony Winton:So what that means is with this year we're going to have each candidate will get their own interview their own show. So this is the Oscar Sardinia Show.
Jan Dillow:Welcome, Oscar.
Oscar Sardiñas:Thanks so much. Funny, full disclosure. In the opening remarks, we talked about shirts, So full disclosure, I buttered the team up here earlier. So they're gonna go easy on me with shirts that I would probably no not wear at any other time. They talked about the signs of the lawns, I want to thank everybody out there for allowing me to do that because it is my six year olds favorite thing to do is to put up signs. She's constantly letting me know how many signs we have to put up in a day. As far as fun and loving the island and loving this whole process. You know, waving on the streets has actually become something very fun for me. And I want to give a shout out to everyone who honks their horns, just flicks me the lights says hello. And actually just points to me, I'd make it a make it a make it a process to make sure I get their eye contact and see them. And then I wanted to thank Tony, thanks for doing this and Jan for sitting in. I mean, if you're a little overwhelmed, you can only imagine how I feel right? I don't exactly do this every day. As a matter of fact, the last time was with Tony and Tom and that was an experience in itself.
Tony Winton:And that is you are actually the of the group of people that are running now we only have to Pete one incumbent Mr. London is one of your competitors. That's obviously a pro and then you're the only other person who actually has experienced running for office. So does it feel different this time around?
Oscar Sardiñas:You know, it absolutely does. I think Moreover, from the perspective of the other people running where they've spoken to me and kind of asked me how this works. Obviously I've got an opportunity to meet an enormous amount of people it started two years ago it has not stopped I've spent the last two years me As many people as I can and staying as involved as I possibly can, yeah, it's it's definitely a different run. The support is incredible. I think I think that that staying involved is key. I'm always curious to see that those people that run who have them really stay involved after the fact.
Tony Winton:But what's your assessment? Last year? We had 10 People running very contentious issue on the ballot. Yeah. Now we have five Yeah. What is your, you know, compare 2022 versus 2020? What is the what is the atmosphere? Like? What is the environment? So
Oscar Sardiñas:I think the atmosphere is completely different in the sense that there was one underlining subject that was probably taking hold, right, what was the main subject, which was the geo bond at that time, since then, that's grown into it splintered off into a million different things. And as you get more involved, you start to realize how much work there truly is to get done. And the amount of the amazing job that people are doing that the people the village are actually doing to focus on these details so that we can get to a place where there's some of this comes to fruition. From a fun standpoint, it's I kind of been looking forward to it, Tony, this has been fantastic. The people have been incredibly amazing and supportive. It's been great
Jan Dillow:when one question that I have about that is, so in since it's since the last time you ran, you know, there's been this pan, you know, the pandemic has changed a lot of things on the island, including we have a lot of new residents, have you? I mean, have you been able to talk to them to connect with them? I mean, I think it's interesting to see, I don't know how much they're going to affect the, you know, the election, but you know, we need to get them involved. We need, you know, all hands on deck in this community, I think as much as we can get.
Oscar Sardiñas:Yeah, look, I think inclusion is incredibly important. I think that we could probably do a better job of making sure people feel heard and are heard. Funny enough, though, when you sit down to with the village team, I had a meeting with Steve Williamson just the other day, and I had not realized just how far they've gone to really get into the community and ask the community have their feedback. And it's so incredibly important. And what it shows me is that not a single person on the team or on the Dyess is audacious enough to really think that they have all the answers. And we have an incredible pool of people living on this island, successful, smart, loving, caring people that have come here because they found this island paradise, which fortunately, or unfortunately, some of us have not done a good job of keeping it a secret. And so now we have close to what 15 To 16,000 people living on the island, of which I think there's about 7000 that are voters. I mean that that's huge. When I moved here in 84, we were 3200 people at best, and most of us are most of them were snowbirds that were here maybe a third of the year. It's a completely different landscape. It's incredible.
Tony Winton:Let's go to some of the issues that we're talking about on the ballot, because we did talk about resiliency and perhaps the most contentious one or where there's a difference of opinion, is this notion of raising the debt cap. That's there are two separate questions. The first question simply would double the debt cap. The second question, if approved by voters would allow the village council to just go out and do a referendum anytime it wanted to on exceeding a project. And they have they were recommended by the charter Review Commission. It's an independent body that comes up and basically makes these proposals periodically in Key Biscayne. How, what is your position on both of those?
Oscar Sardiñas:So I guess for me, it's about planning. I think it's important, I think, I think sending the right message is also important. I think it's important for this island to really take a leadership role in letting people know that we are conscious of sea level rise, we are conscious of resiliency projects, we are conscious that we need to prepare our island for future growth, possibly development, but mostly growth in every aspect of the way and running a government the way that we have on a 1% has served us well thus far. I think it's time to look at it again. I for one, do not necessarily think it's a premature type decision to make. I actually think that it's a it's a wise decision to make to prepare ourselves very similar to the message we sent with the geo bond to the world that we are serious that we want to make an investment in our home. I think that that opens up the possibility for negotiation with all powers that be whether they be local, state, federal, even universities to find funding to actually help us become possibly a beacon to the world on what it looks like to really dig down and invest in your home.
Tony Winton:What's your reaction to the comment or belief that the projects have not been sufficiently identified and quantified yet we don't know exactly how much we're going to see then on a on fixing the, you know, beaches or possibly raising roads or the pump stations, everything else we don't know all the details, therefore, it's too early you disagree with that?
Oscar Sardiñas:Yeah, I look, I think it's right, I think we have meaning. I think it's right that we still are not there yet. But I think we have a pretty good idea. We have a new manager that came in now a year and a half ago, he's had some time to get his bearings, pick the team, put the right people in the right place, potentially create a bit of a bit of a culture change in the organization, all of which are very difficult things to do, whether it be in the private sector or public sector, I think Stephens done a very good job thus far, I think the village is doing a great job. And I think we're set in a place today where we have the right people in the right place to do the right planning. Now, to say that the budget increase or the budget cap increase, or the debt cap increase, sorry, is premature. When does that line? Who How do you decide? Is it six months before we're trench ready? Is it a year? Is it two years? I mean, for all intensive purposes, a lot of these programs could take over the next decade to complete? And so why not prepare? Now? Why not get that off the plate? Get yourself ready. People practice when you talk about sports, when you talk about campaigning, when you talk about interviewing for a job? Are you telling me that you should start interviewing for a job a week before or six months before? Or is everything a preparation in life, and so I don't necessarily think it's premature. And furthermore, there are very few municipalities if any, that run on such a low debt cap. And so where's the audacity to think we have enough money today, and we can't move in the right direction. I'm all about progress. But I have always been an open minded skeptic. And I'm going to continue to do so and make sure that when that money is available to us, when we send the message to the world, that we're serious about doubling down in our environment, and our place in our home, and when we send the residents a clear message that we are here for the long haul. And we are not making decisions on short, middle, but rather long term. And we're going to be in a great place.
Jan Dillow:So do you think that any of the plans are ambitious, or that there are parts that you think that we should separate out? Or?
Oscar Sardiñas:Well, I think they're all ambitious, if you look at the vision plan, it's all incredibly ambitious. But I always believe that you need to have a long term vision to get through the baby steps to get there. And I think the key is to take one step at a time, I believe we're starting that now with the planning and design of the K eight basin, I believe that's going to be a good opportunity for us to get a real grander view of what this is going to look like, in short, middle to long term. And when you look at the capital improvement projects that are going on, and you look at the project management dashboard that Colleen has put together, I mean, it is substantial. I mean, it is huge. There are a ton of projects going on. And so we have to be very careful with what we prioritize. And I think I heard this line before. I'm all for digging once. It's a little bit easier said than done, because there are so many moving parts. But I think if we plan well, we'll be in a good place.
Tony Winton:You talked about capital projects. And there was a decision made in the budget process just last week involving a large capital project that's been on the books for a while here in Key Biscayne. And that is an expansion of the community center. It's a $15 million. That's the ballpark number they've been using project for the community center. It's been planned for years, there have been over the years complaints about it's such a popular facility, the village population has grown now over 15,000. It's bursting at the seams it at times. And so this was an idea to expand it. One idea that was the council was pursuing would increase it by about 70% interior space and add additional swimming pool and everything else. The council removed funding from the budget. Do you agree with that decision? I mean, the budget will be adopted. If you when you come on the council, the budget will be adopted? Do you agree with it? Do you think the council should is go in the wrong direction? Would you urge them to go the other way?
Oscar Sardiñas:So it's it's very difficult, Tony, for me to fully understand the reasons why that particular project was pushed back a bit. I have to imagine and believe that there are other priorities that are quite more important. When you look at the history of the community center, it was quite a contentious project in the first place. And actually the original plan was larger, not quite as large as they want the expansions. But it was quite larger than what the actual community center is. I think what's most important is that we learn a little bit from that, right? We learn a little bit from that so that the next time that we create these projects, and as we go into them, we're really planning for the far future with the optimism that we are going to be around for a long time that this island is going to survive and that we're going to ensure that it does. To answer your question, it's difficult for me to say if that will is the right thing to cut. Tony, at this point, I haven't delved into the full detail to find out, I do know that when you think about pieces that you have to cut or budget that you have to reduce in order to kind of run efficiently, there are large trenches, and there are small ones, and you can cut a lot of small ones that are that effect
Tony Winton:or manager did recommend it? I mean, he recommended proceeding with the next step in the process. He did,
Oscar Sardiñas:you did and I don't, I don't necessarily know that I disagree with that, as a matter of fact, from someone who might children use the Rec Center, and I do all the time, it certainly does need to be expanded, it's certainly there is a demand for it. When you look at the ass club and the programming that's put on there. It's remarkable. I mean, it is packed with kids from from two o'clock on for the remainder of the day. And and what that is causing is is damage, it's expedient DAB damage to our community center. Funny, I run a after school enrichment program. When I brought that up, one of the things the village said to me is, are you telling me that maybe 200 to 250 children are not going to be running in here at two o'clock in the afternoon destroying this place? Go for it. We love it. And it's and it was great. It was a way to kind of disperse and be able to now not have everything into the community center and allow the committee center to do what it was built to do. And it's been it's been great. Do I want it to be cut? No, I don't. But I also know that we have to be prudent. And we have to be careful. And we can't overspend and we have to earn the trust of our constituents.
Jan Dillow:One of the other things that's been very important to this community has been the things that have been going on in Virginia Key and the and the Rickenbacker. We've got a lot there with the homeless encampment closing of the of the kayak center. What is your view in terms of and and recently we've, you know, found out that there's going to be a mate, a show of the Magic Mike show that's going to be next to two masked? I mean, I think that that's I don't think we're there's anything we can do about it. But it is going to create a lot of traffic, like potentially from Wednesday through Sunday. Yeah.
Tony Winton:But will it be traffic from Key Biscayne? from Cuba skiing, seeing magic, Mike, that's really, that's really what I want to know. I think there's gonna be okay, because that's really no one's really talking about who's going to the show.
Jan Dillow:I'm wondering if there's going to be a lot more hot bodies on the on the beach. So we're so close. But my question is like, how do we deal with the city and the county County on some of these things? Or what, you know, what's your view? I mean, especially with this whole Magic Mike thing? I'm like, couldn't I just I mean, we can't do anything to stop it. But shouldn't they have just said, You're gonna have a lot of traffic hear from these days? Because, you know, we do need to get to the key.
Oscar Sardiñas:So a lot of parts in that question. The first thing I want to mention is I sat yesterday at the Miami commission meeting. And it was incredibly heartening, how many people came out, to speak against, not just the encampment, but the development of that Virginia Key Area. It truly is a jewel. I don't know if you all have been out there. But it's a phenomenal place. It's a wonderful place and a place that holds a lot of opportunity for the village to potentially develop more fields, open fields for kids, which definitely we need to require. And, you know, when you talk about the different stakeholders that are involved there, you have Miami, you have the county you have ourselves, I think what's happened over the last call it year is there's been this idea that Key Biscayne is not respected. I don't believe that I don't subscribe to that. As a matter of fact, I think we have quite the leadership and allowing to not only fully understand what's really happening, because if you ask me the encampment was more of a distraction than anything else for something else. But the idea that there are many people in this village that have been working that process to make sure that we are respectfully kept at the table in an area where we can, at the very least give our ideas what we think is going to be good for that area. And I
Tony Winton:will just go to jump in, you know, people keep looking at the city of Miami and it was an intense meeting. Yes, it was. And but but the result was was of course, that the there was a discussion about mostly about the Outdoor Center, when there's going to be some sort of attempt to the solution there. We'll see what pans out. Yeah, get some of the services resuming there and then moving away from this encampment. But on the encampment issue. I mean, there are people the consensus of talking to elected officials, no one thought that was a serious idea at the county level. No, at the city level, it was a kind of a red herring. 100% right. So so and the answer is now now it's it just collapsed under its own. Whatever it did, yeah. But but but the issue that I thought interesting, your comment is that there's this there was sort of like a false narrative. Yeah, that's what you were suggesting thing that we're that the Key Biscayne is not respected. Yeah, that people aren't listening. Isn't it true that the county almost immediately came out with the memo Mayor Levine Cava came out with a memo saying this is really not going to work for a dozen different reasons. 100%. I mean, I guess that's what I'm asked.
Oscar Sardiñas:And so when I hear this underlining narrative, and maybe I've been listening to the chats too much, or whatnot, you start to hear that we're not. And actually we are, and the only way to really solve these kinds of things. I like to take full accountability. And I think the village would gain from this is our what are we doing or failing to doing it not communicating? Well, what's really happening so that we can show that we are involved at any given moment, at the lack of information, and, and communication, people have the opportunity to create their own stories. We got to narrow that gap. You know, one of the conversations I had with Steve is about what more can we do to really communicate an engagement
Tony Winton:manager Williamson. Yeah, just just so our listeners, we know, some guy named Steve, although that might be an interesting conversation, too.
Oscar Sardiñas:Yeah, sorry about that. I'm, I tend to be quite casual in my, my dissertation, so to speak. But I think there's a real opportunity to engage. We mentioned I mentioned it earlier in our conversation today, the engagement with the people of Key Biscayne has to continue to go in the right direction, we have to continue to fill in the gaps of questions. And also, we need to hold our constituents a little more accountable and getting more involved. A lot of the information is available, if you just go out and get it, the idea that they look for simple list simplistic ways to find this information. We're chats. The problem with the chats is they always come with somebody's narrative, and they aren't necessarily factual. And so for me, it's it's about engagement. It's about communication. It's about letting people know what it is that we're doing. It's about letting them know every step of the way, this idea that we've been supposedly blindsided by different conversations that have happened, but with the county in Miami, you said it yourself, the county came right right out and said, This is not going to work. When plan Z came out, something similar happened, it took a little bit longer. But the county also came up and said, Okay, we get this and as a result, we now have a seat at the table. And arguably some people might say we're kind of leading the charge. Because the city, the county are seeing that we have great planners, we have a great team, and they've put together quite a fantastic actually first shot. And what that might look like we
Tony Winton:were going to ask you that we only have a couple of questions left. And that was our last one of the remaining questions. What is your evaluation of the prototype experimental initial Virginia, you know, we called it playin, K, the key was game, the village plan.
Oscar Sardiñas:So the most important thing is to remember the scope of the plan that was put together. When it was presented, it was very clearly stated, this was not a financial plan, that there were a lot of studies that still hadn't been done and that this was a blue sky. All bells and whistles type idea. Right? You got to stay in that scope. And the font the reason why I insist on saying that is during the presentation, there were many people that right after the presentation, were very angry that there was no financing in the project. And in my mind thought, but they just said in the spoke in the in scope of this, that there would be no conversation about that. This is simply taking the feedback. And it actually shows how much we went out into the community to just put a blue sky all bells and whistles what we would ideally love in a perfect world. And the only thing they may not have captured in that plan was the fact that I think that people excuse gain wanted more than one lane each way as a three way. Other than that express lane cones Breslin exactly Other than that, I believe they captured just about everything we could ever ask for. And the idea that after being presented to the city, and to the County, the county said, Wow, guys, this is actually a really good first start a starting point. I mean, I'm not one for patting myself on the back. But at the same time we need to be, we need to acknowledge where we are, we need to support our council. And the best way to do that. And the village is to give the feedback. And I don't need feedback through WhatsApp or social media, etc. I mean, go down, set up a meeting, tell them your concerns, send an email. Let us know what's going on. And I say us in hopes of but let the village know what it is we're looking for. We have an incredible opportunity to set ourselves up to win for the next 20 or 30 years. This is a positive, this is an opportunity for us to do it. And it's probably one of the reasons. One of the big reasons why I'm running because I feel like I could add value in the form of engagement in the form of communication in the form of interacting with people and definitely taking perspective without judgment and valuing perspective from whenever it comes just so that I can make them more informed decision, if that makes sense.
Jan Dillow:That makes total sense. We're giving everybody a two minute period to give their closing argument. seconds X 90 seconds. Sorry. All right.
Tony Winton:But that's the actual. That's correct. 90 seconds.
Jan Dillow:Okay. All right. So we'll give me a second to compose your thoughts. But why should we be voting for Oscar so demons?
Oscar Sardiñas:It's funny. I wrote, we wrote an article for the Islander and it started with I love this island. Look, I've been here since 84. for all intensive purposes, please save my life definitely saved the life of one of my family members who was in a terrible accident shortly after moving here. This is a community that came to our rescue. And it was the first time in my life I had ever seen something like that. My parents were wise enough to bring me here. And it's changed my life for the better. Another motivation is my kids, you know, I, I want to try to be the example and the invitation for them to understand that any one person can add value to any situation, I believe I can add that value. I'm a thoughtful thinker. I said, I was a open minded skeptic. I work well with people my entire life. I've helped people maximize their production, whether it be in the private sector, or the public sector, I've traveled the world. I've learned to love perspective, not judge perspective, regardless of whether or not I agree with it. My heart is with this island. And I want the people of Cuba skein to know that I can think of a single person that will work harder for them than myself. I'm in love with this place. I'm in love with the people. I love the opportunity that I've had to be able to run and serve. And I'm going to do the best that I possibly can. Furthermore, I have a lot of ideas and some that I will share throughout, throughout a hope in the debates will have those opportunities to share them. But my heart is in the good place. And I hope that I I would be honored to serve this island and the people in it and give them all the voice.
Tony Winton:Oscar Sardinas candidate for village council, thank you for joining us on Google and anti social, we'll be back right after this all right. And we are back on anti social I am Tony Winton. I'm Jan Dillo. And I wanted to say thank you, Jan for coming in. And being such a trooper at the very last minute for doing our show today. Tom had a worker emergency. And I believe he's in Washington, DC, and I'm sure he will regale us with his experiences in the nation's capitol when he gets back to our show on Saturday. But because we're doing an advanced, we're doing all these interviews with the candidates and getting them out there as quickly as we can.
Jan Dillow:Because we want everybody to know as much as they can about their candidate and
Tony Winton:tell our audience probably doesn't know you that well. You're You're our board of directors on 94th estate, which is the parent organization
Jan Dillow:of Key Biscayne independent. Yes, I am. My background is I was worked on in the financial markets for 25 to 30 years. And I have been I was pretty outspoken about the bond initiative a couple of years back, but I tried to do it from the perspective of the financial ideas, or the, you know, financial perspective. And, you know, I think one of the things that's really important for, you know, the, the council coming forward is, that's, that's interesting is we're going to have a very back rent group of kids, people with varied backgrounds, which I think is really a positive for us in the community. You know, there, there are people with, you know, logistics backgrounds with engineering backgrounds, I think that that's going to be you know, that's going to be a very big positive as we move into this next section,
Tony Winton:right and a smaller field like last time 10 People running was difficult. We not all of them came on this show. And we tried very hard to get everyone to come on all of the current candidates have said they will come on we booked for and Mr. Sardinas was the first person in but four of them booked and we'll be getting those shows out soon. I guess, you know, looking at your read of the mood just as someone you know, involved in the island. Does it seem does that mood seem different? 2022 versus would you agree that does from two years ago?
Jan Dillow:I mean, look, it was obviously you know, going to the mayor's race was very kind of very intense. And maybe I'm just looking at the vibe of the last couple of weeks, you know, since the primary things have seemed to calm down a little bit. I'm kind of hoping that that's the way it goes through the rest of the pier. but I don't, I'm a little bit skeptical. These, these things tend to heat up towards closer to the election time. So we'll see.
Tony Winton:And I guess we have to do just what's been on we ask this question in every show what's been on your social media feed? I can't avoid it. It's the queen. The passing of Queen Elizabeth the Second, it's just been completely dominating for me. What about you?
Jan Dillow:Yeah, well, absolutely. It has been an In fact, I'm going to, I have a British friend who's going to have like, you know, just one or two people, and we're going to watch the funeral next Monday. Just because, you know, she was such a she's so so I kind of like she and she, you know, she's been around, it's, you know, they I read something when she came into power, I think Stalin was still in power in Russia. I mean, it's crazy, the stuff that she has seen and that she evolved through. And, and her work ethic was just, you know, off the charts, like quizzing the Prime Minister's about things, you know, she was, obviously had a lot of things in her early years that made her the, you know, the person she was with, you know, her father becoming king without anybody expecting it. And then and, you know, just through everything, I think she showed a lot of elegance and an understanding of the people.
Tony Winton:Yeah, I have to say, coming from a, an Irish background. Myself, I've watching it with a kind of, I don't know what the right word is almost. It's from being kind of oddly fascinated, in a way this, that it gets so much attention here in the United States. This is obviously we had a revolution to not have a monarchy and the we have a provision in the Constitution that actually forbids the granting any titles of nobility. That's how much the founding leaders of our government did not want any kind of monarchical system in the United States. And yet, people as you say, recognize the amount of time that this specific person Queen Elizabeth, the second, you know, her circumstance of of having this responsibility thrust on her she didn't choose it, she she was born to this role, and then working as hard as she did over the decades and people recognizing her taking up that challenge and and doing it for so long. And so that that that's out there as well, but it is I find that the the fascination with the idea of monarchy here in the United States to just be as I said it system. I look at it, maybe the word is being used. Yeah, for me. Yeah.
Jan Dillow:No, I hear what you're saying. But I think that she like she had just an outsize role. I mean, whenever you talk about the queen, I think almost anywhere, people's first I mean, maybe not in Thailand, but you know, I think most people would originally think of Queen Elizabeth, you know, they just, there are many there are still queens and kings in the country in the in the world, but she sort of had the she she carried the mantle for royalty in general in some ways, I think.
Tony Winton:Well, I will, you know, we have the experience once of when I was a long time ago when she visited South Florida. And she came to Miami and visited a number of sites. I remember vividly a high school performance. That was just it was in her honor. And, you know, very different culturally from what perhaps he would be wouldn't be the kind of when did that happen? Yeah, that was that was that was shortly after I got here early 90s. Yeah, she visited some of the national parks and I've friends who were in the photo pool and all that other stuff. And so, you know, you think the time she came to Miami was certainly among the the world cities, people, people remember that experience, but
Jan Dillow:I will not even know that I knew Nelson Mandela. Yes.
Tony Winton:Well, I'm going to be interested in hearing from our listeners to the show if they have any tidbits on this, but I just find it to be a as I said, the word is fascinating from a news perspective. And I I, someone you ask, why is it fascinating? That's kind of like the deeper question, why is it fascinating and I don't really know. I agree. Well, that takes our time up for today on on antisocial. I want to thank Jan Dlo and our guest, Oscar Sardinas. for coming on. We'll have all of these candidates, and there'll be available on our normal podcast site and be safe everyone. will always be my friend