Editorial: A resolution for the new year's elections

Filing for this spring's local elections ended last week, and while most of us are still basking in the holiday glow and fine-tuning plans for whatever New Year's celebrations we'll undertake (or sleep through), candidates are already busy gearing up for their campaigns.

As we've said many times before, local elections may deserve your attention even more than the glamorous races for president and governor.

For one thing, the work of local elected officials hits closer to home; almost everything they do affects you directly. For another, if you put any effort into it, you can actually get to know local candidates; you can likely catch up with them on the campaign trail where you usually can get them to talk with you, and even if you can't find them there, most of them will respond personally if you call or email. And for another, considering that fewer people are going to vote in, say, the park board race involving your neighborhood than in a national or statewide election, your vote is proportionately worth more.

So by all means, take this opportunity seriously. Take your obligation to democracy seriously.

The general election is April 7. A small handful of suburbs will have a primary election before then to narrow the field of candidates; that will be Feb. 24.

What's up for election? Mayors or village presidents in some suburbs. Village board or city council seats in all of them. Municipal clerks and treasurers in a rare few.

Also: seats on school, community college, park, library and township boards throughout the area as well as county regional boards of school trustees and other township offices.

We are committed to doing our part. We see coverage of local elections as one of our most important responsibilities. We see endorsing in as many of them as we can thoughtfully consider to be an important role that local newspapers play, too. You can count on us to do the best we can in this regard.

All that said, the challenges facing you the voter in evaluating local candidates have rarely been higher in the modern age.

Traditionally, local elections have been the terrain of local newspapers. Outside of high-profile metropolitan races like the contest for mayor of Chicago, radio doesn't really cover them. Neither does TV. You'd have to search high and low to find a nontraditional website that provides unbiased coverage; there are a lot of biased and vested interest websites out there but only a few that try to be fair and evenhanded.

But with so many local newspapers struggling, there are fewer to provide the local election coverage that for so long has been their specialty. And fewer still willing or able to devote the heavy resources needed to do so.

So that puts more of the responsibility on you, the voter. For democracy to work, you need to be an active participant.

Be proactive in evaluating the candidates. Grant incumbency some weight, but only some. Look for sincerity. Look for open-mindedness. Look for work ethic and intelligence. Look for candidates who can disagree without being disagreeable. Value independence but also collaboration. Be wary of single-issue candidates. Be wary of vested interests. Be wary of those who play to emotions rather than to common sense.

All of us who live in the suburbs are blessed. Governments aren't perfect here, but they're generally good. The elections offer us a chance to make them even better.