Work ahead with our local elections

In Carpentersville, current Village President Bill Sarto will be seeking re-election against Trustee Ed Ritter. In Wheeling so far, the race for the top leadership job will have at least four candidates, including a newcomer to local government. In Aurora, Mayor Thomas Weisner already has agreed to some debates with his challenger, Richard Irvin. In Hanover Park, any story about the upcoming elections produces hundreds of comments on our Web site.

Yes, another election season is upon us. And it's refreshing that the stench from all the ongoing Illinois political corruption investigations has not killed activity at the local level closest to us.

All these competitive contests, and the interest in them from suburbanites in each of these communities, is a hopeful, positive sign about the health of our local democracies.

Perhaps, the lousy economy is spurring more interest from more of us in running for municipal office. Let's hope there is as much interest in the other local offices out there, especially in our local school boards. After all, it is the school board members who oversee the very keys to our future. They also control the biggest portion of our property tax bills. So, if you're someone who wants to ensure your tax dollars are well and efficiently spent, that is the place to be.

There also are, of course, the park districts, the libraries, the townships and the fire protection districts.

Filing to run for the vast majority of these offices begins in about 10 days. That still leaves plenty of time for anyone who hasn't begun yet to get out and collect the signatures for a run for local office.

And while we keep a critical eye on our local officeholders in this space, we also understand the often thankless, but critically important work they do.

It's time more of us made the time to pay more attention to those running for office and already running our local governments.

It does seem the flagging economy has prompted more average citizens to turn out at their local government meetings lately to voice their concerns about spending and tax levies. That is a wonderful development we applaud.

But more of us still have more work to do. Even if you are not ready to run for your local school or municipal board, you should be getting ready to do your own research and homework on the candidates who are willing to make that commitment.

Each of us has a responsibility to cast educated votes in our local elections. If the saga that envelopes Illinois and Gov. Rod Blagojevich has taught us anything, it is that we have to investigate the people who seek to represent us. We do indeed get the government and the leadership we choose and so we all ought to have learned it's up to each of us. We must do our best to fully vet candidates. No one should rely on anyone else to do that hard work for them.

Get ready to run or to run out to the candidate forums. Check out the campaign literature and read everything else you can find. It's up to us.