Endorsement: Lucassen for Round Lake Park village president

Ray McCarty says that if voters in Round Lake Park want to back the most qualified, most well-rounded and most experienced village president candidate, they should choose incumbent Linda Lucassen on April 4. Despite that assessment, McCarty is challenging the first-term mayor in next month's election. He offers voters an intriguing, but narrow, platform that focuses on the needs of the business community, especially in the village's small and struggling downtown. McCarty knows those struggles well - he's a longtime business owner and believes he knows how to reverse the downtown's fortunes. McCarty admits he has few thoughts about the rest of the community. His outlook is simple: attract new business and fix aging infrastructure downtown, and progress will spread out to other parts of the village. Lucassen has a more comprehensive view of what's best for Round Lake Park. She agrees downtown needs improving, but has taken on other community challenges during her four years in office. She helped start programs to make sure rental properties meet village code and to buy abandoned homes so that they don't drag down entire neighborhoods. She's launched efforts to help seniors and to teach residents about healthy lifestyles. And she's helped stabilize village finances while upgrading facilities and equipment at village hall and in the police department. We agree with McCarty's assessment: the most complete and qualified candidate is Lucassen, and she is endorsed.