Editorial: Time to put aside politics and be ready to govern

The end of a long local election season comes as a welcome relief for campaign-weary suburbanites - remember, we also had a state and national election in November - and signals a new focus for members of park, library, school, township and municipal bodies. It's time to govern.

Candidates who won seats in last week's election and soon will be sworn into office, as well as current board members in the middle of their terms, now must put aside the campaign mindset of the last four months. The time for rhetoric, criticizing opponents and making campaign promises is over. Now, elected officials must get down to the business of working as part of a team and leading their community.

That means listening, really listening, to competing viewpoints from fellow board members and from constituents, studying data and researching issues and working with others to make the best decisions that solve important problems and benefit the community.

Running for office is the exciting part of the process. Winning and sitting in the big chair for the next two to four years and facing difficult issues and sometimes unhappy residents, that's the hard part. That's when candidates are called upon to be statesmen.

Elected officials will almost certainly be tested quickly as there is no shortage of issues facing all levels of local government, many stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and how to recover from it. That's likely to include determining how to help struggling business communities, whether and how to proceed with traditional summer festivals and other events and, of course, the transition to full in-person learning for schools.

But COVID is not the only issue, and candidates who focused campaigns on the pandemic will find they'll have to bone up on a host of other needs, from infrastructure and budget shortfalls to downtown redevelopment and more, that will come before their board for discussion and decision.

That can sound like a daunting task, but it's also an opportunity to make a difference.

Those who decided to put themselves and their ideas in the public forum and run for elected office often told us they felt a need to give back for all they have received or believed they had unique skills and abilities to solve problems. The spirit of contributing showed itself in the more than 1,000 candidates on ballots in races - some with more than 10 candidates - across the suburbs who debated issues to improve their communities. We are hopeful the incumbents who were reelected April 6 are re-energized to the challenges that are ahead and that newcomers who take seats will be the new blood that comes armed with new ideas. We are hopeful that powerful mix will forge fresh, constructive and cost-effective local government bodies.