The business community should pay close attention to the alarming County Charter amendment that will appear on the ballot to create single-member districts. It looks innocuous at first, but when you peel back the layers and figure out what this really does, it is dangerous and troublesome for our future.

There are five elected commissioners in Sarasota County. Each commissioner must reside in a district but are elected by the entire county. Residents currently vote for 3 or 2 commissioners every two years.

The amendment would mean that voters, who now vote for five county commissioners, would only vote for one county commissioner. Voters would give up their voice on 80% of the commission, electing only one every four years.