Vote Early, Vote Often

Early voting has just began as absentee ballots hit mailboxes, the future of District IV and Key West is already being decided. My name is Steven Nekhaila, and I am running to be the next Key West District IV City Commissioner. I know your time is valuable and I just wanted to say thank you for visiting this page to learn a little bit more about me, I will keep it short and concise.

As a lifelong resident, local business owner, and father, I want what is best for our community. The working class and small businesses in this town have been sidelined and currently have zero representation in City Hall. I want to prioritize the needs of our largest and most important demographic, by giving you a voice and the respect that you deserve.

As commissioner, I want to lower rent by pushing for smart urban planning & development in order to increase the supply of housing on the island. By legalizing accessory dwellings, encouraging multi-family homes, and zoning for mixed use commercial/residential, we can tackle the complex issue of the housing crises/worker shortage. I want to keep our taxes low through sound financial stewardship of the cities $200MM million dollar annual budget, with inflation as high as it is we must prioritize spending as to not raise taxes.

Being a business owner in Key West I understand that the cost of doing business is rising as fast as the cost of living, if not faster. We live in tourist dependent community many miles from mainland resources which means its expensive and unpredictable to do business here. We need a City government that understands your needs and makes it easy to do business by staying politically neutral and being a good steward of our commercial and residential taxes.

Given that our electric bills have gone up 50-100% over the few months, we must work on localizing our energy infrastructure through incentivizing solar adoption. With power costs rising as fast as rents, we must give streamlined permitting for solar energy and batteries, issue tax credits for adoption, and organize group buys. We can take our back our power, literally.

I hope to earn your vote this election, whether your vote by mail or in person, my name is on the ballot for Key West District IV. I look forward to serving you, and am always open to hear your suggestions and concerns.