Endorsement: Arnet, Gaeta, Mills for Hoffman Estates village board

The candidates for Hoffman Estates village trustee represent a wide array of experience, from a pair of political neophytes to a 25-year veteran.

Four candidates are seeking three seats on the board: Karen Mills, Michael Gaeta and Karen Arnet make up a slate backed by Village President Bill McLeod, who is running unopposed. The other candidate is Nicholas Waryas, an independent.

Mills has been a trustee for 25 years and before that was a member of the plan commission. She has a firm grasp of the issues and during her tenure has been a part of boards that ushered in economic progress for the village.

She is noncommittal on the controversial notion of a residential tax increment financing district at the northwest corner of routes 59 and 72, saying there aren't enough facts available on which to judge it. "I want to give it a chance," she says.

McLeod opposes the plan, and officials from Unit Districts 220 and 300, who would have to teach kids in the development without getting the tax benefit for years, are concerned about student projections and finances.

Michael Gaeta has served one 4-year term on the board but was on the planning and zoning board for five years before that. He, too, is on the fence on the TIF idea.

Waryas has said he opposes it.

Arnet has never run for office and does not have the commission experience of her running mates, yet she has 14 years of experience volunteering with the police and fire department, heading up the police academy alumni association, assisting with Shop With a Cop and doing traffic control for the Northwest FourthFest.

Waryas declined to participate in a joint editorial board interview with the other candidates, and he declined to address many of the topics on our candidate questionnaire. His unwillingness to face his opposition in a discussion of the issues among a group of candidates give us little confidence he would stand up for himself as a trustee when it counts.

But he simply hasn't given us enough information with which to assess his candidacy.

Mills and Gaeta are endorsed. Despite her lack of government experience and firm knowledge of the issues, Arnet's heart is in the right place, and she has been a good contributor to the village. Arnet, too is endorsed.