Endorsements: Brodhead, Hinterlong, Krause, Krummen for Naperville council

If you want your faith restored in the merits of local democracy, sit down sometime with a group of candidates for Naperville City Council. A more collegial, engaging, thought-provoking — and yet independent — group of potential leaders is hard to imagine. And it shows. Blessed with solid, visionary leadership, Naperville is a lively community with the kind of financial stability, even in hard times, that most towns would envy. So, despite a raft of able challengers, it’s difficult to make a case against the incumbents seeking re-election April 9, and we won’t try. Judith Brodhead, Paul Hinterlong and Doug Krause are each very different individuals with very different backgrounds but still an obvious passion for and common sense approach to governing the city. But that still leaves eight candidates — all qualified to varying degrees — from whom to select one remaining board member. Our preference is John Krummen, an engineering consultant who has been active in a host of city projects over the years and who demonstrates a clear potential to work compatibly with the existing council. Candidates Kevin Coyne, Jeff Davis, Wayne Floegel and David Wentz also offer strong leadership skills with a varied background in local civic and city activities. Candidates Tom Glass, Bill Habel and Jo Malik are the most critical of Naperville’s status quo, and though they do identify some occasional legitimate flaws in city transparency or management, the facts simply don’t bear out the conclusion that Naperville government is not working. Indeed, overall, it seems to be working quite well and to keep it that way, we endorse Judith Brodhead, Paul Hinterlong, Doug Krause and John Krummen.