Endorsement: Cameron for Prospect Heights City Council from Ward 1

This endorsement is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.

In the race for Prospect Heights City Council from Ward 1, the community's only ward with a contest in the April 4 election, incumbent Michelle Cameron is challenged by a former alderman who has been away from the council for nearly a dozen years.

Challenger Richard Hamen's one term on the council ended in 2011. He remains impressively familiar with issues facing the city and Ward 1 and has some good ideas for promoting them.

But, Cameron, who is completing her first term, also demonstrates an intimate understanding of the challenges facing the city and the ward. Moreover, she offers special promise for being able to help add to the successes of a council that has made significant progress in recent years, both in confronting challenges the city faces with infrastructure, flooding and more and in operating as a successful, collaborative leadership team.

Hamen understands the needs of the city and ward and has some detailed ideas for meeting them. But Cameron's more recent experience, combined with ideas for addressing local issues that are equally detailed, if not more so, as those of the challenger give her a significant advantage in the campaign.

She gets our endorsement.