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Endorsement: Jackson for Glendale Heights village president

There was a time when politics in Glendale Heights was as down and dirty as it gets, where contests were so heated that on one occasion they sparked an Election Night brawl outside one losing candidate's house.

That all seems a long time ago now, and at least part of the credit must go to longtime Mayor Linda Jackson, who has brought quiet stability to village government since first being elected in 2001.

But Jackson is not without her critics, including Ed Pope, who is running against her for the second time on a platform that suggests that "stability" may have turned into "inertia."

Pope, a former trustee, says Jackson has been in office too long, that village government has become a good old boys club and that too many residents are excluded from the process. If elected, he says he'll create a multicultural panel to involve more residents, reinstate programs and events that once pulled the community closer together, and work to revive economic development efforts.

Jackson says she's worked to give residents multiple ways to communicate with the village, including hosting monthly Saturday morning coffees. She says she is a consensus-builder and the board and administration are working hand-in-hand to improve the village. The village has worked hard and effectively, she says, to bring new businesses to town, including several restaurants and a developer with plans for the village's vacant Dominick's.

Glendale Heights is not perfect, but it has become a much better and more peaceful place under Jackson's quiet leadership. Jackson is endorsed.

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