2024 Mayor Candidate: Brad Belt

BradBeltHeadshot-9272-scaled Kiawah is a unique and special place. That is why Laura and I bought a home here, as I suspect is true for most everyone. And, we all want to preserve what makes Kiawah so special. That is why I first ran for Town Council and why I am now running for Mayor.

It was after becoming a full-time resident and semi-retiring during the pandemic that I began delving into the weeds on Kiawah governance issues, reviewing the development agreements, restrictive covenants, Town ordinances, and relevant statutes. What I learned was that in too many instances, insufficient attention was being paid to legal and contractual requirements.

In a series of (overly lengthy) posts on iKiawah, I strove to raise community awareness about the complexity of various development and governance issues, including the original Andell West annexation plan, the clear-cutting of the Cape, and the proposed consolidation and upzoning of the Beachwalker parcels.

It was out of concern with the Town’s approach to addressing these and related matters that I subsequently decided to run for Council. In announcing my candidacy at that time, I said that I was committed to:

ensuring proactive, transparent and inclusive governance
promoting responsible development
preserving and protecting our unique natural environment

I remain committed to these objectives. While we have made progress in achieving them, more work needs to be done. As I indicated in announcing my candidacy for Mayor, [ Candidacy for Mayor Announcement ] too many of our citizens lack faith and confidence that our governing institutions consistently act in their best interests. That has to change.

It is imperative that you believe that our Town administration is working for you and making a difference. There is good intent; we need consistently better outcomes.

I believe our Town administration must be more:

open and transparent about administrative actions, welcoming of comments and constructive criticism, and responsive to questions and concerns
disciplined and rigorous in implementing and enforcing our laws and regulations
customer-centric and focused on promoting the health, safety and welfare of its citizens

It is because of the vital role that the Mayor can play in achieving these objectives that I decided to run for Mayor. In our form of government it is the Mayor who is statutorily responsible for managing Town staff, implementing policies, and ensuring the faithful execution of our laws, not the Council.

As I am now fully retired, I would intend to embrace the role of Mayor as the chief administrative officer for the Town, working closely with our staff to ensure that we are singularly focused on best serving our constituents.

Apart from my tenure on the Council (and other engagements on and around Kiawah), I believe my leadership experience in the private, public and non-profit sectors is uniquely well suited to serving as Mayor at this critical juncture. There are three aspects of my background that are particularly relevant.

First, I have both a legal and business background. I have structured and negotiated numerous complex transactions as both a lawyer and as a principal, involving major companies and public agencies, as well as leading private equity firms, investment banks and law firms.

Second, in addition to private sector executive roles, I have significant public sector experience and successfully led a federal agency, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, through a period of transition. I implemented new policies leading to measurable improvements in both employee engagement and customer satisfaction, which resulted in the PBGC receiving the Optimas Award for Managing Change. You can read more about this award here.

Third, I have served on numerous for-profit, non-profit and public collegial bodies working with disparate stakeholders to balance competing interests and build consensus around solutions benefitting the greater good.

I haven’t created a personal website, but if anyone is interested in learning more about my professional career, you can get a bit more information on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradley-belt/. And, if for some (unfathomable) reason, someone is interested in articles I’ve written, speeches given, or media appearances, you can do a Google exact search for “Bradley D. Belt.”

We are at an inflection point. The end of primary development on the Kiawah is in sight, but we aren't there yet. We still need to navigate development proposals for the Beachwalker parcels from South Street Partners, development of East and West Beach by the Resort, the integration of Andell West into Freshfields with Riverstone, and the construction of Seafields and MUSC around Freshfields.

We must collaborate with KICA on public safety, beach management, resiliency, and traffic mitigation issues.

We need to proactively engage with other local government leaders on issues of regional interest that directly impact life on Kiawah.

But, in order to deal effectively with the big picture issues, we need to do a better job of basic blocking and tackling, managing day to day matters. As a Town administration, we need to be better informed, more engaged and responsive to the community, and more focused on getting the details right. The rest will follow. We need both a bold strategic vision and sound tactical implementation.

That is why I am running for Mayor. With your help, I am confident that we can preserve and protect what is so unique and special about Kiawah.