Endorsement for Park Ridge alderman: Melidosian

Park Ridge voters will elect aldermen from four wards on April 2, but only one of those wards will feature a contest.

In the Fifth Ward, incumbent Charles "Charlie" Melidosian is facing competition from former Alderman Salvatore "Sal" Raspanti, a man who served on the mayor's advisory panel that two years ago recommended Melidosian be appointed to finish out the late Alderman Dan Knight's term.

This is a tough call. Both candidates are civic-minded, collaborative and experienced. Both strike us as exercising good judgment.

Raspanti's service to the community extends beyond his term as Fourth Ward alderman from 2011 to 2013. He'd been a member of the planning and zoning commission before that and before that, a member of the park board, which included a stint as board president.

He's energetic and focused, and with his retirement from a demanding private-sector executive position a year ago, we sense he is free to devote himself full-throttle to elective office.

That said, we're persuaded by Melidosian's argument, "If it's not broken, I don't know why we'd want to fix it."

We endorse his candidacy.

The city is running smoothly these days. The finances are in order. Even though aldermen don't always see eye to eye, the council works relatively well together, and Park Ridge is progressing.

Melidosian has been part of that. He seems methodical in his approach to problem solving and as the council's liaison to the library, he's helped to foster a stronger working relationship.

They're both good candidates. We think the citizens of the Fifth Ward and Park Ridge win either way. But we advocate a philosophy that you stick with what's working: That's Melidosian.