Endorsements: Guess, Kolodziej, Richmond in South Elgin
Incumbent trustees Lisa Guess, Mike Kolodziej and Scott Richmond and former Trustee William DiFulvio are running for three seats on the South Elgin village board. South Elgin is the small suburb to the bigger city's south where development has been desirably slow and steady and where park land and open space are given some priority. The village has its own Randall Road and McLean Boulevard corridors for shopping, and it's had its housing developments, such as out west at Silver Glen and Randall roads and the River's Edge development that's partially devoted to affordable housing. A proposed medical marijuana dispensary and taxi and ride-sharing regulations have been issues the village board has tackled recently. All the candidates are well-versed in the village's doings and have their own finer priorities. Lisa Guess, an administrative assistant and trustee for 11 years, is a lifelong South Elgin resident. She is interested in connecting the Illinois Prairie Path with the village's downtown. Kolodziej is a teacher in the Glenbard system and a 16-year South Elgin trustee who wants the police department to do more stings to ensure establishments don't sell liquor to people under 21. Richmond is a lawyer appointed to fill a term on the village board last year after he served on it from 2005 to 2013. He'd like the village to think of the environment as it expands its public works facilities and by distributing village documents electronically. DiFulvio was a trustee from 2001 to 2013, ruled off the ballot in 2013 because of a lack of page numbering on petitions. Once on the village's park board, most recently he has been on the park district's "FUNdation," which DiFulvio will passionately tell you is working on a playground designed to be accessible to children and adults of all abilities. All four candidates have given many years of service to South Elgin and accomplished a lot for the village. We see no reason to remove any of the incumbents in this election, so Guess, Kolodziej and Richmond are endorsed.