Juan Llera, a Cuban native and longtime Key West resident, recently announced his candidacy for the District IV seat on the Key West City Commission.
A 20-year combat Navy veteran, Llera served the nation with pride and honor and now seeks to continue his legacy of service through local government, states a press release announcing his campaign.
Following his military career, Llera served with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and was later assigned as a task force officer to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) Miami field division, where he conducted federal criminal investigations for over a decade.
Llera holds associate and bachelor’s degrees from Saint Leo University, is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Leadership Program and has completed hundreds of hours in leadership development courses across the private sector, state and national levels.
Llera has served two terms as president of the Key West Military Affairs Committee. He said he would fight for the residents of Key West with integrity, transparency and a commitment to community values.
“I continue to hear candidates speak about fiscal responsibility, transparency and accountability. I couldn’t agree more,” Llera said. “However, we need to go back to the basics, starting with a set of core values and building from there to reestablish crucial respect and trust in our city government.”
His campaign will focus on three principles:
- Commitment to the community and the voice of residents.
- To be consistently open, honest, ethical and genuine.
- Courage to fight for what is right, and demand transparency and accountability from all levels of government.
“Juan Llera is ready to serve with honor, experience and a deep love for the island, its culture, history and natural resources,” the campaign announcement states.
Llera’s campaign website will be launched soon and will be added to this story at keysweekly.com.
Llera will face at least one other candidate in the District IV race, as business owner Sarah Compton filed her campaign paperwork last month.
Commissioner Lissette Carey, who currently represents District IV, has not said whether she intends to seek reelection following a recall attempt earlier this year to remove her from office. The citizen-led recall initiative failed because the petitions in support of it were not all signed within a state-mandated timeline. State law required that Supervisor of Elections Sherri Hodies invalidate the petitions.
