Endorsements: Manzo, Tiesenga, Yusuf for Oak Brook village trustee
Oak Brook voters will choose among five candidates running for three trustee seats on April 2.
All three incumbents have chosen to run for re-election, so the race boils down to whether the newcomers offer sufficient reason to replace one or more of them. Our verdict is no.
The incumbents are Asif Yusuf, 56, who has been on the board 12 of the last 16 years; Michael Manzo, 52, who has been on the board eight years; and Edward N. Tiesenga, 59, who has been on the board four years.
The challengers are Leo Danielides, 54, and Marilyn Krafthefer, 76.
The incumbents vary in their length of experience and in their views on issues in the village, meaning that issues that come up will be subject to rigorous examination.
For example, Manzo and Yusuf in December voted in favor of a controversial $100 million 22-story, 90-unit condo building that will be the village's tallest structure, while Tiesenga voted against it. In the end, the village president broke a tie to OK the project.
Village staff and the plan commission favored the project, which met opposition over issues such as height, traffic and drainage that proponents felt were adequately resolved in negotiations.
Manzo and Tiesenga are especially good at marshaling their arguments for and against the project.
Looking ahead to the financial challenges the village faces, Manzo joins incumbent village president in being adamantly against a restaurant tax, while Tiesenga, who has written on the municipal pension issue for the Journal of the DuPage County Bar Association, thinks it should be considered as the village deals with growing payments to underfunded pensions. Yusuf says the tax isn't needed now, but is less adamant in his position.
The incumbents have had to take tough votes. The challengers both have admirable records of service in the community, but their positions on the issues naturally are fuzzier and less informed.
Danielides, a senior director of sales and marketing who has been active with Little League, believes the biggest issue Oak Brook faces is a declining positive perception of what has been seen as an elite community.
Krafthefer, a volunteer with many community groups, agrees addressing pension funding is key. She also is concerned about a lack of civility among board members and micromanaging of staff.
Her daughter is village attorney, splitting the duty with others at the firm where she works. Krafthefer says she would recuse herself from any matters related to the firm.
Four years ago, we endorsed Manzo, a small-business owner and former school board member, Tiesenga, an attorney who grew up in Oak Brook, and Yusuf, who is involved in real estate and farming. We now do so again.