Toronto needs a mayor who will govern for the good of both the downtown core and the suburbs, not one who will pit them against each other.

A mayor who has a vision for the future of the city beyond telling us what’s wrong with everyone else who’s running for the job.

A mayor who understands that he or she works for the taxpayers of Toronto — the vast majority of whom don’t have time to hang around City Hall, either as protesters or lobbyists.

A mayor who realizes taxpayers aren’t made of money, who works to deliver city services as efficiently as possible, while keeping tax hikes as low as possible.

A mayor who shows up for work on time, builds the political alliances at City Hall necessary to get things done and who, in his or her capacity as the chief magistrate of Toronto, obeys the law and serves as a role model for its citizens.

A mayor who appreciates that representing the citizens of Toronto means listening to them and understanding what they want, not ignoring them and lecturing them about what they should want.

Municipal government is the level of government that most impacts on people in their daily lives.

It determines the quality of the roads they drive on, the efficiency of public transit, the reliability of the city’s water and sewer systems, the response times for police, fire and paramedics, the cleanliness of the taxis, the availability of recreational activities, the upkeep of city arenas and parks.

A good mayor understands he or she is the CEO of Toronto, chosen by its citizens to manage it in the present and prepare it for the future.

To keep the city and its services in a state of good repair and to ensure its transportation infrastructure — meaning both public transit and roads — are used to get people where they’re going as quickly and as safely as humanly possible.

A good mayor is humble enough to know that he or she is not a miracle worker.

That when confronting major problems facing Toronto that have built up over decades, such as traffic congestion and gridlock, the job is to bring in sensible public infrastructure projects on budget and on time, year after year.

It’s not to pretend a quick fix is possible, either by adding a couple more subway stops in Scarborough, or canceling it and building an LRT line.

For the next seven-and-a-half months, we’re going to be hearing a lot from the men and women who want to be our mayor, leading up to the municipal election on Oct. 27.

Judge for yourself who is most up to the job, given the job description we’ve provided above.

And then, most important of all, given the traditionally low voter turnout in municipal elections, be sure to vote. Because elections matter.