For Village Council
OSCAR SARDIÑAS
Key Biscayne
PRIORITIES
I still believe, as I did four years ago, that together we can accomplish extraordinary things for our community and for generations to come. What's changed is that I now know how it gets done: by rolling up our sleeves and doing the work, on our infrastructure, our school, our parks, and the boards that put our neighbors' talents to work for the Village. I've spent four years on the Council, two as Vice Mayor, doing that work, and I'm ready to keep at it with both feet in.
Protect, maintain and renew our community's assets and infrastructure
Continue the diligent work already underway on stormwater, undergrounding and flood protection, and finish what we started, the right way, to protect our homes and our island for generations to come.
Build on real progress at our community school
Continue my work as Council liaison to the Education Advisory Board, alongside the PTSA, EESAC, KBK8 administration and Miami-Dade County Public Schools, to strengthen the student, faculty and community experience.
Deliver balanced field access: fair to athletes, open to residents
We've thoughtfully sought out exceptional people from among our own residents to guide us. Our athletic advisory board is a remarkable team that listens to our neighbors and brings back real solutions that work for our families. The goal is fair access for our young athletes, open fields for residents who simply want to enjoy the outdoors, and programs that keep building character, teamwork, kindness and community spirit.
Strengthen our advisory boards. Engage our island's exceptional talent.
Continue identifying talented neighbors and bringing them forward to serve, so residents have greater input and the Village benefits from the expertise already living here.
Ensure oversight and protect your tax dollars
Continue partnering with our incoming mayor to review budget practices, including asset depreciation and deferred-maintenance funding, so your tax dollars are protected and our assets are properly maintained.
Attend to and listen to our aging populations needs
Support special programming and events to help honor those who came before us and contributed to our remarkably rich history of community. Develop a planning framework for our aged residents to ensure their continued residency.
Expand and protect our parks and open spaces
Keep partnering with the City of Miami and others to gain new field space, and protect the green spaces that make this island what it is.
Continue my work engaging our island's youth
Exceptionalism runs deep on this island, and I look forward to continuing my work alongside our young people, supporting them as they pursue success and community service. As they go out into the world representing this incredible island, they'll do it as an exceptional, values-driven generation.
IDEAS I BELIEVE IN...
Education
Growing up on Key Biscayne has been a blessing for my family, and I'm compelled to give back so this island's future is as bright as its past. As the proud father of two daughters, I got involved right away through EESAC, the Educational Excellence School Advisory Committee, and was later appointed by the Village Council to the Education Advisory Board (EAB). Wanting every child to have the attention and enrichment they deserve, I co-founded the Key Biscayne Children & Education Foundation (KBCEF), which offers after-school enrichment courses and directs the funds it raises back to Key Biscayne K-8 Center to support a para-professional program aimed at reducing student-to-teacher ratios.
Since 2022, I've had the privilege of serving as the Council's liaison to the EAB, and that work has taken off. Over two years, we planned, served, collected data, and brought every stakeholder to the table: families, staff, our school administration, and Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The result is one detailed, unified plan to take our community school to the next level. The momentum we've built in such a short time is real, and I want to keep it going.
If re-elected, I will keep working alongside the EAB, PTSA, EESAC, our KBK8 administration, and the district to turn that plan into results for our students, teachers, and families.
Strengthen our advisory boards. Engage our island's exceptional talent
Everything we need to move this island forward already lives here, in our exceptional neighbors. Their skills, expertise, and knowledge can help bring our community together and show us how best to serve it. As a Council, we have a responsibility to listen actively, to reach out, and to seek those neighbors out and ask for their support, guidance, and service.
Our advisory boards make that possible, including the Village Athletic Advisory Board, the Educational Advisory Board, the Disability Advisory Board, the Sustainability Advisory Board, and the Arts and Public Places Board. Each is an opportunity to bring exceptional residents to the table to guide and support us, and to capture what matters most: the needs and wants of our neighbors, friends, and fellow residents. That's how we bring back real solutions that work for our families.
I'll keep working to find these neighbors, invite them in, and make sure every voice on this island is heard.
Strategic Budgeting & Island Priorities
Sound fiscal planning is one of the most important ways we care for this island, and I believe there is more work to do to continue to improve, enhance, and augment it. Our process is already incredibly transparent, and I look forward to working with our incoming mayor, Brett Moss, to build on that with heightened communication and more input from our community, so that we can best plan for our future together.
Just as important is staying on top of the maintenance of our core, current assets. When we take care of what we have, our budgeting process gets stronger. It helps us define and direct our strategic priorities as the island paradise we are.
That means prudent use of our budgeted revenue, real oversight, and a clear, concise vision plan that serves as our aspirational road map, so we move forward with confidence and avoid paralysis by analysis. I believe that plan should include further development of open green spaces and fields for our children and families to enjoy, best-in-class connectivity for the growing demands of information and work from home, well-planned and well-executed resiliency projects, cultural and community enrichment programs, and appropriate planning and zoning that make better use of our commercial and residential buildings. It's a future we can all be proud of, and one that can be a model for others.
Community
​My passion for community comes from the outpouring of love my family received during a frightening time, when neighbors we had known only a few years came to our aid. And, of course, my daughters are always watching. I want to be the best role model I can possibly be for them, and that means showing up for the community that showed up for us. It's why I believe so deeply in this island and its extraordinary residents, who always come together for the greater good, from our wonderful Green to the Community Center, where seniors and youth enrich each other's lives.
Now I want to build on that. I'm excited to embark on an initiative to optimize and expand our Community Center, using the data we're gathering and what we hear from our many different neighbors to shape more targeted programming in arts, health, education, and community life. Along with updates and upgrades to our facilities, our goal is greater and equal access for all.
Inclusion is a big part of that. I want to expand our inclusion programming and create more opportunities for our neighbors with unique abilities, so they can take part in everything the Center offers and feel that this island is fully theirs.
Building the best version of our home means making sure everyone is part of it. I want to keep engaging all the demographics of our island, from our neighbors with unique abilities to our elders, our young families, and the many cultures that make Key Biscayne what it is, so that all are heard, all have input, and all are engaged in building our community. When we listen across our differences, we grow in respect and togetherness, and we make our home the best version of itself.
Infrastructure & Environmental Resilience
We are a barrier island, and that brings unique challenges and a unique responsibility. Over the past several years, we've done the patient, essential work of collecting data and truly understanding our environment and ecosystem: what we're up against and what will protect us. That knowledge is the foundation for everything that comes next.
Now it's time to bring it all together. My focus is on culminating this work into a final, fully scoped and built-out solution that keeps our island strong and resilient, with the right timing, planning, execution, and oversight at every step, so we finish what we started, and finish it the right way. Opportunities such as undergrounding our utilities, raising our roads, beach renourishment, and more open green space all aim at the same goal: protecting our homes, our neighborhoods, and the island we love.
Resilience and connectivity go hand in hand. How our island connects to the mainland, including the Bear Cut Bridge, the Shoreline Project, and the Rickenbacker corridor, matters as much to our safety and our way of life as what happens within our shores, and I'll stay engaged on all three on behalf of my neighbors. Together, we can keep raising awareness of the threats we face and will continue to face, and make Key Biscayne a model of second-to-none planning and implementation.
