Endorsements: Barret, Hein, Typlin for Hainesville village board
The race for village trustee in Hainesville pits six candidates in a bid for three available board seats in a village that seems to be moving along very nicely, thank you. The budget is in fine shape. Police, village and other services, while at times challenging, are being managed effectively and proactively. And there are no burning controversies, whether on the board itself or among the candidates. The field features individuals whose sole interest in running appears to be a genuine interest in public service. Among the six, however, three do stand out - Kevin Barrett, the lone incumbent, who is an active and insightful trustee with a clear vision for the future and solid ideas about how to get there; Dena Hein, who was appointed in December to replace a retiring trustee and has quickly gained a solid foundation in the skills and knowledge a trustee needs; and Mark Typlin, an active committee member on various local initiatives who has been regularly attending board meetings for years and is intimately familiar both with the issues facing Hainesville and the work needed to address them. A fourth candidate, George Duberstein, also boasts exceptional credentials in business management and public service, but his wife already serves on the Hainesville village board, and, especially with so many other viable candidates in the field, the prospect of having two board members from the same household seems a dangerous and unnecessary concentration of influence. Newcomer Jacki Brunk makes a good case for the value of her background as a social worker, and challenger Michael Russell an even better case for the need for broader representation among neighborhoods and housing associations in town. On the whole, it's an attractive group of candidates seeking to serve on the Hainesville village board the next four years, but the best combination of experience, dedication and insight rests in the combination of Barret, Hein and Typlin. They are endorsed.