Editorial: You could be a part of the solution

Tired of high taxes? Not happy with how the pandemic has been managed in your town? Reeling from the ever-changing school calendar?

You're not alone. Most of us are just plain worn out by 2020 and all that COVID-19 has wrought.

Do you have ideas for how to make things better? Here is your chance to make a difference.

While we're also weary from the overtime presidential campaign, this is no time to shrink away from politics. It's time to jump into the fray.

In 10 short days, the filing period begins for people interested in running for the hundreds of suburban positions that will be up for grabs in the April 6 election. In some towns, you can run for mayor. Everywhere you can run for village trustee (or city councilman or alderman), for school board, community college trustee, a variety of township positions, park boards and library boards.

If you're interested in running, inquire with your local election authority. If you haven't run before, stop by elections.il.gov for a look at the Illinois State Board of Elections website that contains a guide for how to become a candidate, a calendar of important dates, financial disclosure rules and a lot more.

Why this public service announcement? Because these are the elected positions that affect all of us directly. They decide what your tax bill looks like, they affect local policy and to a degree how children are taught.

We expect there will be no shortage of parents who will be running for school boards, given the level of anxiety that in-home schooling and hybrid schedules has created. Some of those people will run largely because they are angry, but some have solid ideas on how to move forward. Are you one of them?

Some suburban mayors have stated that they will not enforce Gov. J.B. Pritzker's rules on business operations that began in March when the pandemic took hold. Do you have a better approach? You get the idea.

What has us concerned is a suburban trend toward fewer races in which voters have a choice. In 2009, for instance, only 43.4% of the total races in suburban Cook County had more candidates than seats. That percentage dropped steadily until 2017 when the number hit 30%.

In DuPage County, the percentage dropped from 45.4% in 2009 to 31.1% in 2019. In Kane County, it actually dipped below 30% by 2017.

But across the board in 2019, we saw improvement in those stats.

We hope that intense interest at the top of the ballot last month marks a renewed interest in local participation.

Be a part of the solution. Run.