Endorsement: Poynton, Rzeznik, Ernst in Lake Zurich

The Lake Zurich village board faces many important issues, but none so critical as the downtown redevelopment plan stalled by a weak economy. All of the candidates for three village board seats are strong and offer thoughtful ideas, many similar, on downtown and other community issues.

We like the mix of experience and perspective incumbents Tom Poynton and Dana Rzeznik and newcomer Mark Ernst bring to the table. They are endorsed.

They favor use of multiple developers, instead of one master developer, and have ideas for the board to consider to adjust the plan to help jump-start the project. They also support using incentives to attract and retain business. We think newcomer Jenny Talley and former mayor and trustee John Tolomei are solid candidates with good ideas for downtown and the community.

Tolomei, in particular, offers previous government experience, including with the downtown plan. However, we believe the fresh perspective Ernst will bring to the board makes him a better addition at this time.