Lakemoor needs Koehl's leadership, experience

The best way for the village of Lakemoor to escape its scandalous past might be, in a way, to go back even further.

Three men are running in April to take over the village's top job, and because of the current president's highly questionable conduct, the winner will have his work cut out for him. Even after two years, the village lives in the shadow of Virginia Povidas' involvement in a wide range of serious accounting and other financial problems.

For that reason, we endorse the candidate with the most experience: Robert Koehl. Koehl has been on the board for most of the past 16 years, including holding the village president post just before Povidas. He knows the village and its issues, and he knows how hard he will have to work to win back the trust of residents, business people and other local, county and state officials.

The other candidates in the race are current Trustee Ralph Brindise and newcomer Ryan "Todd" Weihofen, who impressed us with his energy and promises to make village government more transparent. We hope that Koehl, if elected, embraces those ideas. But most importantly, Koehl is a proven leader and a straight shooter, and those are the qualities Lakemoor and its residents need right now.