Endorsement: For Schaumburg village president, Tom Dailly

Just stop and think of what Schaumburg was decades ago and what it's become today - transformed from a shadow bedroom community surrounding a mall into the thriving, ambitious centerpiece of the Northwest suburbs.

This is the path Schaumburg has pursued under the 32 years of leadership by Village President Al Larson.

Larson is retiring from office, but who wouldn't want that to continue to be Schaumburg's direction?

Three men are running in the April 2 election to replace him - Trustee Tom Dailly; Nafees Rahman, deputy director of accounting in the Illinois Secretary of State's office; and Olde Schaumburg Centre Commissioner Matthew Steward, a native of the village who has long dreamed of running for mayor.

The clear choice here is Dailly.

Studious, experienced, dedicated, with seriousness of purpose - Dailly is all that.

While we wish he'd crack a smile now and then, that is about the only criticism we have of the longtime public servant.

No one outside of Larson has a better understanding of Schaumburg's challenges and opportunities. No one outside of Larson has a better vision of Schaumburg's future.

Dailly would continue Schaumburg's direction of "Progress Through Thoughtful Planning."

Rahman is a capable and earnest candidate, and his call for greater inclusion is a necessary one municipal leaders should heed.

But for the most part, he strikes us as a candidate in search of issues. His call to cut spending by 5 percent seems both arbitrary and unnecessary. His flippant dismissal of Larson's endorsement of Dailly as a way of "making sure the sunshine stays out of village government" strikes us as thin and cynical campaign rhetoric that suggests corruption that no one has alleged and evidence doesn't support.

As for Steward, we love his enthusiasm and his obvious devotion to Schaumburg. But even he concedes his campaign is a "long shot" and given his relative lack of previous village service, we wonder why he didn't run for trustee rather than village president.

Dailly's long record of service and his solid judgment make him, far and away, the best candidate. We endorse him for Schaumburg village president.