Main Street Journal: Feature Article: Candidate Profile: Dr. Rolando Toyos and County Commission Position 5 (The Swing Seat)

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Candidate Profile: Dr. Rolando Toyos and County Commission Position 5 (The Swing Seat)
By: Michael Roy Hollihan

Dr. Rolando Toyos is one phenomenally energetic man. He wastes little time, and packs all his time with activity. From childhood onwards, he’s been driven to better himself and his community.

His parents were immigrants to America, having escaped Cuba and Castro. Toyos grew up on the West Coast, earning letters in three varsity sports, attending the University of California Berkeley, Stanford University, and then finally earning a medical degree from the University of Illinois.

Dr. Toyos developed his skills as an ophthalmologist at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago before moving to Jackson, Tennessee. He eventually found himself with nine clinics throughout West Tennessee and a growing reputation.

But it was in his move to Memphis that Rolando Toyos found true connection. He eventually settled in Hickory Hills, a neighborhood that has become a driving passion.

It would seem almost fitting then that the political balance of the Shelby County Commission, the governing body that affects every resident in the county, could fall on his shoulders August 4. Toyos seems prepared. As he likes to say, “If you want something done, give it to someone who is busy.”

For Toyos, interest in politics goes all the way back to his days at Berkeley. He saw the campus radicals there and was pushed into a different direction. “I’m definitely a conservative Republican. At the time, Reagan was running for his second term. I actually got to hear him speak. I was more moved by him and what he was saying in terms of smaller government [with] less control of our lives. That was my first time to vote. I related to him.”

When he settled down in Memphis, he naturally connected with the Shelby County Republican Party. The friends he made quickly recognized his ambitions and potential appeal, and suggested he run for County Commissioner.

Which led him to District Five.

Toyos moved from his original Midtown home more than a year ago and began to get to know the Hickory Ridge area. He became confident he had something to contribute.

“I thought about it. I wondered why did that district come to their mind for that race? It clicked to me just like it clicked to them. That it was a very diverse district, the people in East Memphis and the people in Hickory Hills. You have Hispanics, African-Americans, Whites, Koreans, with a diverse socioeconomic background. They saw it was a group of people I could easily relate to.”

“They were under-represented. There was nothing going on the political level to help their neighborhoods on the County Commission. They needed somebody. They needed somebody that cared about their neighborhood, cared about the people of their neighborhood, cared about crime and education. Taking down empty buildings that were an attraction for more crime.”

When asked about the man who already represents the district, Commissioner Steve Mulroy, Toyos is clear: “My problem is, he’s been in the County Commission seat four years and his neighborhood is dying. His district is dying.”

“We have all these issues like crime, education, consolidation, all these real issues that are going on right now. And then, if you look at our district, we’ve got abandoned buildings, we’ve got abandoned storefronts, we’ve got abandoned malls. We’ve got a neighborhood that’s dying; people are moving out and no new businesses are moving in.”

He points out the dilapidated and dangerous Marina Cove apartment complex. “You’ve got a building there that’s been condemned. It’s sitting there, no new business is going to be created with that huge building complex sitting there. Has he done anything to get anything done? No. All of a sudden, this race comes up, I bring this up as an issue, and now this is an issue for him. But he had four years to deal with this.”

“To me, that would be my number one priority in my district. And then as soon as you get your district together, you get some economic growth; you get Hickory Ridge Mall a thriving mall again.”

On the third rail of local politics, consolidation, he takes a somewhat controversial approach. “I’m open-minded.”

“I’m totally in a mindset with Mark Luttrell (the Republican candidate for Shelby County Mayor). The Charter Commission hasn’t even come up with their recommendations on how we do this and people are already up in arms about consolidation. I’m open to it. I want the most efficient government you can possibly have that will ease [the] taxpayer burden, not borrow to continue to run its day-to-day operations. If the Charter Commission comes back and they have a plan to create a more efficient government that will lower costs, I’m all for it. But to already decide on it before it’s already out, that’s not prudent.”

Turning around the Fifth District is what he sees as his contribution to his community. “These are real issues that are happening in this district and in this county. So, before we go out there chasing windmills [like Mulroy's anti-discrimination policy] let’s deal with the real problems. Let’s clean up the neighborhoods. Let’s take down a Marina Cove and plow it down and create some green space, where people can walk and exercise, and kids can play.”

“You want to see a revitalization of that neighborhood? That’s the first thing that we would take care of. I’ve made that my Number One project to do once I get in office.”

He’d also like to see Memphis apply a Good Samaritan Law to doctors doing volunteer work for The MED. “One of my ideas to get more people seen, get more doctors involved, is to expand the GSL for physicians. If you expand the GSL, you’d see a lot of physicians getting involved with The MED. But I think a lot of physicians are scared.”

As for finding funds to keep The MED running, he has another suggestion. “Right here in town, we’ve got a perfect example of that. St. Jude has really shown that, if you have the right story, and you package it right, and you get that story out there, you’ll get money to fund your projects from the citizens of this country and the world, if they know what you’re doing and they know they’re helping people.”

“That’s something The MED has do to. What’s their story? They’re saving lives. They’re saving lives that otherwise wouldn’t be saved, from disaster, from accidents. They’re doing this great work. Package that great work, tell that story to people and they’ll flock to that story, open their pockets and donate. You don’t have to go far to see that’s obviously worked for St. Jude very well.”

He admits he doesn’t yet have all the information he needs to lay out a plan. He needs the access that being a Commissioner brings. He needs to be on our County Commission.

As a recent Commercial Appeal article argued, the county’s Democrats are motivated. They believe they’ll sweep every County office. The same kind of leadership that’s taken Memphis to where it is, is poised to grasp the reins of Shelby County and head it off into the same twilight. A Toyos victory in District Five would just keep the balance tipped to Republicans. It would be a change from another cookie-cutter progressive Democrat, a liberal white academic, to a conservative Republican, a businessman and a man of Hispanic heritage to match his district.

The biggest obstacle to election victory now is simple name recognition. At this point, Toyos is an unknown quantity outside medical circles. It takes money and campaign organization to correct that, and Toyos is behind schedule to gain traction in either area. What he lacks in organization and fundraising he makes up for in motivation and drive. What he needs are energized Republican voters who don’t want to see a one-party County.

Dr. Rolando Toyos has good ideas that could benefit Shelby County, if only the voters know who he is when they step into the voting booth next month. Can he make that happen? That’s up to you.

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