Introducing Key Biscayne United

Village of Key Biscayne
For many on Key Biscayne, the 2020 and 2022 local elections were troubling. Norms were broken, with candidates and supporters escalating from friendly waves at Crandon and Harbor to hurling false accusations via megaphone. Sober candidate mailers turned into scandalous hit pieces. On WhatsApp, some candidates suggested unincorporating our village, disbanding police and fire departments, and slashing village staff and programs. Well-intentioned initiatives like infrastructure funding and zoning updates were mischaracterized as corrupt schemes.

Many Key Biscayne residents wondered if this was due to the divisive influence of national politics, social media, or individual resentments. However, surveys show we are overwhelmingly unified in our village government and community satisfaction. Despite this, a sense of disunity persists, particularly if you spend any time on local social media. Key Biscayne United (KBU) aims to counter this with true information, educated perspectives, and thoughtful vision.

KBU doesn’t think everything in Key Biscayne is perfect but believes improvements need thoughtful planning and dedicated execution, not fear mongering. KBU is a passionate group of residents, determined to preserve our community’s unity. We seek to provide accurate information on Village staff performance, budget efficiency, and resident satisfaction. We want to ensure the mayor and council members are qualified to address our top priorities: traffic, infrastructure, and safety.

We formed KBU as a political committee because it is required by law. While Florida law allows those involved in politics to hide behind not-for-profits and shroud political contributions in a web of political committees making it impossible to figure out who is behind political speech, we will not play those games. We will only accept contributions from individuals and all contributions will be reported and available on the Key Biscayne Village website for the public to see. We believe in transparency.

As a political committee, KBU intends to take positions on issues, endorse candidates, and try to influence Key Biscayne’s political direction. We have no conflicts of interest; our goal is to protect and enhance our community’s unity. We oppose those who use distortion and division, as they threaten our unity and progress. Key Biscayne United invites all residents to join us. Learn more and volunteer at www.KBUnited.org.

Steve Powel, Key Biscayne homeowner
Matt Bramson, Key Biscayne condo owner