The Aides Behind Tallahassee and Leon County’s Newly Elected Officials

After new City and County Commissioners were elected in November, there are three new aides who will help them navigate the local government bureaucracy. They are Kyle Frost, Chauncy E. Haynes and Kristellys Estanga.

Kyle Frost is County Commissioner Brian Welch’s aide. Frost also serves on the Killearn Lakes Homeowners Association board and the Big Bend Cares Board of Directors. He previously chaired the Leon County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. Formerly, Frost was a software engineer and electronic data interchange analyst for Capital Health Plan. He grew up in Killearn Lakes and graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and government.

Frost said he thinks one of the challenges of his new position will be managing Welch’s schedule, as Welch is still a full-time teacher. Frost said he wants to make sure Welch’s time “is spread evenly and fairly throughout his constituencies.”

Chauncy E. Haynes is the aide for County Commissioner Carolyn Cummings. Haynes has lived in Tallahassee since 1993. He owns Haynes & Associates, a political consulting firm that has also worked with Kevin Alvarez, Nina Moody, Andy Thomas and a number of other state, circuit and local candidates since 2000. Haynes has also worked as a project manager for the Leon County School Board. He is currently a national and regional officer for the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

Haynes said he wanted to serve as Cummings’ Chief of Staff because, “Along with a grave respect for Commissioner Cummings, I have a great interest in governmental policy.”

The aide for City Commissioner Jack Porter is Kristellys Estanga. Estanga has experience with government administration as well as a number of progressive political campaigns. She formerly worked as Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith’s aide, and she has worked for Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign as well as Andrew Gillum’s gubernatorial campaign. Estanga is also the co-founder of Brown Girls Can, a political organization aiming “to have proportionate representation in the power structure of campaigns,” according to its Facebook page.

City and County Commissioner aides are responsible for many administrative duties of the commissions, including scheduling commissioner engagements, researching and briefing commissioners on agenda issues and interacting directly with constituents.