Endorsement: Tim Hoeft for Huntley village president

Chuck Sass was elected village president in Huntley in 2001, soon after Del Webb started building houses in Sun City.

In the intervening years, Huntley has grown from a hamlet to a village of 27,000. It has a full interchange on I-90 and room to grow its industrial tax base.

No one has ever challenged Sass for his seat - until now.

Tim Hoeft, 41, who owns an excavating business in town and whom Sass appointed to the zoning board of appeals 10 years ago and the plan commission in 2013, has been a village trustee for the past six years.

Hoeft is quick to point out that he's known Sass since Hoeft's family moved to town when he was 5 years old. And he has only nice things to say about him and his tenure.

Sass had been undecided about running for another term but figured he still had some things to do. For Hoeft, the time is right to take this on while his family is still young.

With Hoeft, we're impressed by a couple of things. First, his desire to use technology to improve communications with residents through livestreaming meetings and to use tech to make the village run more efficiently.

Second, Hoeft shows a clear desire to research things thoroughly before making decisions. When the village board was considering whether to allow recreational marijuana sales, Hoeft stopped by a couple of towns in Colorado - the first state to allow recreational pot sales - during a family vacation to talk to officials about the risk versus reward. Huntley trustees unanimously voted no.

Hoeft's attention to detail and forward thinking makes him the candidate for the job today. He is endorsed.