Endorsement: Hinds for DuPage County clerk
If the race for DuPage County Clerk were just about fire in the belly, enthusiasm and shaking up the staid status quo, Democrat Jean Kaczmarek would be a good choice:
A longtime political activist, she notes that DuPage is the only county in Illinois with an election commission, and that the clerk's office ought to run elections.
She may have a good point, but that's not the job description today. And, Hinds, the deputy clerk who has worked in the office for 18 years, knows his stuff. Elections aside, he says he has overseen implementation of new laws that affect "vital records, property taxes, tax sale redemptions, economic interest statements and marriage licenses."
Because of computerization and other modernization, Hinds notes that the clerk's office operates with fewer employees than 20 years ago. He is York Township Republican chairman and has been a township trustee since 1993, an office he says he'll resign if elected clerk.
Hinds is endorsed, but we encourage Kaczmarek in her watchdog efforts, and suggest the county take to heart the idea of looking hard at whether there is overlap or duplication between the election commission and clerk's office.