Endorsements: Buettner, Cecola, Croll for Barrington Hills trustee

In keeping with what is becoming something of a tradition in otherwise bucolic Barrington Hills, voters are being treated to a feisty race for the village board in the April 2 election.

Three trustee seats are up for election, and cameras seem to be a campaign focus one way or another.

Self-styled citizens advocate Linda Cools and unsuccessful 2017 village president candidate Louis Iacovelli are running campaigns built around calls for better transparency.

Both want village board meetings livestreamed, something Cools has been doing on her own in the absence of the local government doing it.

While dismissing livestreaming as too expensive, especially considering the low audience audio recordings of the meetings generate, incumbents Brian Cecola and Bryan Croll are in favor of investigating whether cameras should be installed at town entrances as a law enforcement tool.

Cools and Iacovelli oppose that idea, but zoning board member Debra Buettner, the fifth candidate in the race, says she's open to it.

Particularly in a community as sprawling as Barrington Hills, the possibility ought to at least be explored.

We did not endorse Cecola and Croll when they first ran in 2015, but they have delivered on their campaign promises. Spending has been cut as has the village property tax levy, and the village website has been improved.

We endorse them for re-election. Buettner is a potentially good teammate with sound judgment and experience. She wins our endorsement, too.

Meanwhile, one more thing: The idea of livestreaming the board meetings is a good one and there would be ways to do so affordably. No matter who's elected, we encourage the board to pursue it.