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Endorsements: Carroll, Curtis, Guethle for North Aurora

North Aurora is a well-run village that should only get better. It operates in the black and has a AA+ bond rating from Standard & Poor's.

It smartly manages its money. It features a pro business climate. It welcomed 21 new businesses in 2014 and more are on the way, including a new Marriott Fairfield Inn and Suites. As the town works to complete its Comprehensive and Strategic Plan to address everything from land use, development and transportation to the environment and community facilities, incumbents Mark Guethle, Laura Curtis and Mark Carroll deserve to be part of its execution to keep the village moving onward and upward.

Challengers Anise Hesson and Allen Cavender are also running. Guethle, a trustee from 2003 to 2005 and 2009 to the present, is chairman of the development committee. Curtis is finishing her first term. Carroll was appointed to the board last May to replace Ryan Lambert, who stepped down when he became chief of the fire protection district. Hesson has not held elected office, and her civic involvement includes the North Aurora Mothers Club and the police pension board. Cavender, who has lived in the village more than 20 years, ran for trustee two years ago.

The incumbents all favor cleaning up the downtown and better utilizing the riverfront. The village board recently approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Fox Valley Park District and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for the state to pay up to $500,000 to study the possible removal of the dam in the Fox River.

“I would like to see our riverfront become more of a destination and focal point for our residents,” Carroll said. “The river is one of our greatest assets ... and I think it is underutilized.”

Curtis favors addressing the riverfront but not removing the dam. There has been talk of bringing a convention center to the village. With the board on solid financial footing with its budget and more new businesses on the horizon, we see no reason to upset the apple cart. Guethle, Curtis and Carroll are endorsed.

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