Endorsements: Koch, Schultz, Williams for Vernon Hills village board

Four candidates are running for three seats on the Vernon Hills village board, and the decision for voters is a fairly easy one. We endorse Thom Koch, James Schultz and Barbara Williams. Each is an incumbent trustee with solid experience and a strong sense of the challenges facing the village. The fourth candidate, contractor Ted Sindemann, campaigns on the notion that the village board could use a fresh face. We’re sympathetic to that argument, particularly given the longevity of service by so many of the village’s elected officials, and Sindemann is likable enough. But a fresh face just to have a fresh face doesn’t mean much without the fresh ideas to go with it, and Sindemann doesn’t express them except in the vaguest of terms. It doesn’t make sense to turn out effective trustees for that. Vernon Hills is a diverse community with a lot going for it. Today it has a high school, a library, a post office — and leadership at village hall played a big part in those things happening. When stores move out, the village has been adroit at attracting good replacements. Koch, Schultz and Williams can take bows as part of the team that’s produced that kind of relentless progress. The biggest single challenge facing Vernon Hills today is the future of Westfield Hawthorn Shoppingtown, and it’s clear Koch, Schultz, Williams (and the village board as a whole) have a vision for it that makes sense. We heartily support all three.