Election season in full swing in Naperville

OK. Here's a list of nearly 50 local residents, a little name game, if you will. What do these newsmakers have in common?

Tim Belgio, Jim Ensign, Suzanne Hart, Gerry Heide and Rich Janor.

John Polich, Mike Reilly, Kirsten Young, Andrew Schaffner and Ken Bochenski.

Jim Boyajian, Judith Brodhead, Jim DerKacy, Raj Durga and Bill Eagan.

Patti Gustin, Paul Hinterlong, Doug Krause, Kevin M. Lynch and Kamala Martinez.

Joe McElroy, Timothy Messer, Kenn Miller, Charles Schneider and Janet Trowbridge.

Susan Crotty, Michael Delciello, Jim Dennison, Steve Deutsch and Nancy Drapalik.

Lynn Hodak, Patti Mathewson, Jackie Romberg, Merle Siesken and Dave Weeks.

Michael Crockett, Dawn Desart, Doug Difusco, Eric Hepburn and Jerry Huang.

Yuming Huang, Donald Muscato, Cathy Piehl, Susan Rasmus and Mark Rising.

Michael Strick, Christine Vickers and Janey Wagner.

As a Daily Herald reader, you likely recognized these residents as candidates who have thrown their hats in the ring for the April 7 election to serve one of our local nonpartisan governing bodies.

Some of them are your friends, neighbors and business associates - maybe even family. Some live in your district; some don't. But every one of them, if elected, will have an impact on our quality of life in Naperville.

Some names may be more familiar than others. For instance, you'll find 10 incumbents who currently serve on the Naperville Park District board, Naperville City Council, Naperville Unit District 203 and Indian Prairie Unit District 204. Find 'em?

Three incumbents were appointed to fill unexpired terms and now are running for a full term. Some newcomers have a history of service on the city's boards and commissions. Others have children who attend our schools.

Some hopefuls are single. Some are empty-nesters. Many work in Naperville while others commute to Chicago. Some are home-based business owners.

Twelve of them live in ZIP code 60540. Four live in 60563. Thirteen live in 60564. Fourteen live in 60565. Two live in each of 60502 and 60504. And one lives in 60532.

The first nine candidates want to serve on the Naperville Park District. Do you know which one is running unopposed for the unexpired 2-year term?

The next 14 candidates hope to take a seat on the Naperville City Council. Eleven are running for four 4-year terms. Three are running to fill one 2-year unexpired term.

You'll also find 10 candidates running for District 203 and 15 residents vying for four seats on District 204.

Imagine springtime in Naperville when our yards are planted with campaign signs!

Already my doorbell has rung as hearty campaigners have gone door-to-door to enlist support.

I can't help but think how fortunate we are in Naperville with so many choices to fill 18 seats.

The forgotten man

I'm reading "The Forgotten Man" by Amity Shlaes, a columnist and economic historian who has appraised the Great Depression and the New Deal. I've found it challenging to open my mind to how an algebraic equation could make me think about that time period in a different way. But that's a whole other story of interest.

To digress, I'm always interested in the role of newspaper columnists.

And when Shlaes quoted another columnist, Pulitzer Prize-winning Walter Lippmann, I remembered that Lippmann is credited for framing the newspaper as the "bible of democracy," and a place for debate of political views.

Yet, back in his heyday in the 1930s and 40s, Lippmann contended the modern world was becoming too complicated for every citizen to follow public policy. Even now, I would have been insulted then!

When it comes to technological concepts such as Twitter and Facebook that take us all around the world to find friends, I can see how the younger generation doesn't take time for local newspapers. But the press is a vital democratic institution. Accountability to the public depends on an aggressive watchdog media.

Online information, e-mails and opinion blogs are terrific companions to the printed page, but without newspapers, where does the news legitimately begin?

Thomas Jefferson once said that if he had to "choose between government without newspapers, and newspapers without government," he'd choose newspapers.

Personally, I think talk about public policy and editorial pages are stimulating. Without it, representative democracy is inconceivable.

We, you and I, are the politics of our great nation and if we don't become engaged and ask the tough questions of the folks who want to serve us at every level of government, where will we be?

Whenever I read letters to the editor about partisanship on the national scene in our local papers, I wonder why so few people can name our elected officials, especially our school board members who approve budgets for about 75 percent of our local tax dollars.

Pay attention. Keep faith in America. Thanks for reading.

Stephanie Penick writes about Naperville on Tuesdays in Neighbor. Contact her at spennydh@aol.com.