Most of us choose to live in Sarasota County because of its overall quality of life. But a high quality of life does not just happen on its own. It’s more than sunshine and beaches, as great as those are.

It is the result of a series of good and sometimes tough decisions that set the table for what makes a high quality of life for the most people.

That requires leadership.

Our quality of life is derived from many areas. We need good schools, nice parks and open spaces, enjoyable, safe, affordable communities in which to live, an efficient transportation network and economic opportunity for everyone.

To accomplish these things requires County Commission leadership that will:

- Keep taxes low by constantly digging into the budget to find savings and efficiencies and questioning each new expenditure. As a trained accountant who has run several successful businesses, I am exceptionally well-prepared to do that.

- Create, along with my fellow County Commissioners and county staff, a comprehensive solution to our transportation challenges. This means looking into the future and planning for those needs. We cannot operate with our head in the ground, or on the thinking of 30 years ago, when it comes to transportation needs. We must plan ahead, consider all viable alternatives, and then fund them. As someone who has built many miles of road in Sarasota County, I deeply understand this.

- Ensure that regulations are in the overall public interest, not just special interests such as developers, environmentalists and anti-growth people. There is thoughtful, workable middle ground that encompasses the need to maintain pleasing, aesthetic open spaces and planning for transportation while allowing opportunities that are economically workable.

- Enable our children and grandchildren to have economic opportunities here. An unbalanced approach to growth can mean that our children that go to college cannot return to find good jobs. That is wrong and has happened too often. Economic opportunity is a bedrock principle of our country’s and county’s success.

Sometimes these objective compete with each other. That requires strong, effective, experienced, successful leadership to help guide the County Commission on a path that is a win for all residents.

That is the type of leadership I showed in starting, running and selling several successful businesses and the type of leadership I will bring to the Sarasota County Commission.

Alan Maio is a Republican candidate for Sarasota County Commission District 4