Sari Lindroos-Valimaki wants Manatee County to open its books on road money before another dollar gets spent.

The Democratic candidate for County Commission District 1 told Your Observer that her first priority would be a full accounting of transportation funds to restart stalled projects on Lorraine Road and Lena Road, two corridors that cut through Lakewood Ranch.

"We are already playing catch-up, and people are dealing with the consequences every day," Lindroos-Valimaki said in the Oct. 15 Q&A.

The Lorraine Road corridor between State Road 70 and State Road 64 carries an estimated $85.2 million price tag, but only $11 million has been budgeted for design and land acquisition, according to a Sept. 22 Your Observer report. No additional funding is budgeted through the county's current five-year plan. The $32 million Lena Road project is moving, but construction funding has not been secured. Clark Davis, Manatee County's interim public works director, said Lena Road improvements could be finished by 2030 if funding is secured.

Lindroos-Valimaki, a cybersecurity professional who lost to Republican George Kruse in the 2024 at-large District 7 race, said the county has maxed out its local gas taxes and faces legal and fiscal constraints on other revenue streams.

A developer-backed nonprofit called Freedom Housing Alliance sued after the commission approved an impact-fee increase to the state maximum in June 2025. More than $14 million in collected fees sits in escrow while the case plays out, the Bradenton Herald first reported. Lindroos-Valimaki said she supports defending that increase and giving voters a clear explanation of what renewing the county's half-cent infrastructure sales tax, which expires Dec. 31, 2031, would fund.

She also opposes Amendment 3, the ballot measure that would expand the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes from about $50,000 to $250,000 by 2028. The Florida Association of Counties projects Manatee County would lose $498.65 million in revenue over five years if the amendment passes, according to the Bradenton Herald. Manatee County has been under a hiring freeze for non-safety positions since January in anticipation of the potential revenue hit, county spokesperson Casey Zempel confirmed to Suncoast Searchlight.

Lindroos-Valimaki told Your Observer that reducing the property-tax base would make funding infrastructure and essential services harder.

Beyond roads, she called for dedicated stormwater funding, saying the county is leaving state and federal matching dollars on the table. She also said she wants stricter review of farmland conversions and expanded use of conservation easements through the county's Environmental Lands Program.

Lindroos-Valimaki faces Republican Elizabeth "Liz" Arnold and write-in candidate Jack D. May Jr. in the Nov. 3 general election. Arnold won a six-candidate Republican primary on Aug. 18 with 3,401 votes, according to Pulse of Manatee.