Opinion

We need fewer offices, better coverage

Posted July 09, 2017 1:00 am

Your June 29 editorial ("Good candidates needed") decries the gap between the demand for elected officials and the supply of qualified candidates. I recruit good people to run for office, and I share your frustration. But part of the problem is the number of elected offices. Reducing the number of offices would make it easier to recruit candidates. Merging the Cook County recorder into the county clerk's office is a good start.

So is the decision by Wheeling Township voters to abolish their highway commissioner. Let's eliminate the lieutenant governor.

And let's stop electing judges. I'm a lawyer, and even I don't know 90 percent of the candidates.

The other solution is to stop demonizing government. The media (including the Daily Herald) give far more attention to political controversies than they do to the good work done by government officials. Even your editorial undercuts its message by focusing on two elected officials who didn't do their jobs. People would be more motivated to run for office if the media publicized the good work elected officials do and didn't treat every politically manufactured "scandal" as news.

Matt Flamm

Palatine

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