Endorsement: Pierog for Democrats for Kane County Board chairman

With Chris Lauzen pulling out of the race for Kane County Board Chairman, a job he has held for two contentious terms, six-term county Treasurer David Rickert is assured a spot on the Republican ballot in November for the seat.

He'll face either Democrat Corinne Pierog, a two-time candidate for state senate and two-term member of the St. Charles Unit District 303 school board, or Greg Elsbree, a union representative for the Teamsters.

Pierog, 68, of Batavia, was recruited by county Democratic chairman Mark Guethle to run for the chairmanship.

Both candidates point to fiscal hawk Lauzen's extended tax rate freeze as having stunted the county's ability to provide adequate services to taxpayers.

Kane County historically has had a tug of war between the chairman and the elected department heads, notably the sheriff and coroner, over finances. This has been most acute during Lauzen's reign.

Pierog strongly recommends the county hire a professional administrator to take much of the politics out of county government and develop longer-term plans.

She also advocates stepped-up attention to a looming water shortage in the county the next two decades.

And she'd like to break down some of the silos that exist in the county by bringing mayors and township supervisors together regularly for ongoing conversation.

Elsbree, 57, of Aurora, is an earnest candidate, but his day job involves fighting for better contracts for union workers. While he says none of those contracts are with Kane County and that he would not walk a picket line for union workers in Kane County, it does make us wonder whether his mindset would make him the best watchdog for taxpayers, who probably don't want to stray too much from careful fiscal conservatism.

Pierog is endorsed.