Endorsements for Mayor of Arlington Heights & Library Board of Trustees

One of my beliefs is that local government is more important than national government. Sure, the recent Presidential election was sexy and sucked up all the media attention for the better part of two years and I can't say I was immune to writing about it. I'm almost embarrassed for you to do a search for "Barack Obama" on Little Merry Sunshine. The number of posts with that tag is astounding. But no matter how exciting the national elections may be, the fact is that you get more bang for your vote with local elections. If you've got a problem with snow removal service, for example, President Obama can't help you, but picking up the phone and calling the mayor will get something done. If you've got kids (or plan to) then your local library and school boards will have a direct impact on shaping your child's life. Yes, it's sexy to vote for the president, but it's imperative that you vote in local elections. Your day-to-day life depends on it.

In that spirit, Little Merry Sunshine is pleased to endorse the following candidates for elected office in Arlington Heights.

For the 2-year term on the Arlington Heights Library Board of Trustees, Deborah A. Nelson, is strongly endorsed and easily the candidate of choice. Frankly, this was a no-brainer. Deborah was appointed by the Board of Library Trustees to fill the seat of retiring trustee, Jim Bertucci, in April 2008. At that time, not knowing any of the board members, she applied for the position and went through an interview process where she competed against other highly qualified applicants. Deborah's 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector including customer service, strategic planning, public relations, and fund raising, lay the perfect foundation for a dedicated library trustee. Community service and volunteerism are a part of Deborah's make up going back to her days in the Service Over Self club at John Hersey High School. Now she pays those lessons forward to a new generation by teaching the Character Counts! program at Patton Elementary School and founding the Random Acts of Kindness Club of Arlington Heights. As part of the Library Board of Trustees, Deborah is serving on the Board's Long Range Planning Committee, is the Board's liaison to the North Suburban Library System, and was part of the unanimous vote for a 0% tax levy. Deborah's commitment, character, experience, and integrity make her the ideal Library Board Trustee and I strongly encourage you to vote for her on April 7th.

For the office of Village President (aka Mayor), Little Merry Sunshine endorses Mayor Arlene Mulder. Although I have not always agreed with all of Mayor Mulder's decisions and would like to see more transparency in village government, continuing her leadership just makes good sense. After attending the Mayoral Forum sponsored by the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce and researching both candidates on my own, I came to the decision that Arlington Heights continues to need the leadership, vision, and commitment of Mayor Mulder. In addition to being the Village President, Mayor Mulder serves on a number of boards and committees, locally, statewide, and nationally. She also works across party lines to bring money into the Village. In spite of the lack of pay, Mayor Mulder treats her position as a full-time job. As the 7th largest town in the Chicago Area and the 12th largest town in Illinois, Arlington Heights needs a mayor with this kind of dedication. Mayor Mulder is also highly accessible to residents and this is part of what makes Arlington Heights a great place to live.

Although I am not making endorsements in the other races, I encourage you to educate yourself on the candidates and vote on April 7th. To do that, visit the Daily Herald's Election 2009 section. There, you can choose each of the races from a pull-down menu and read biographies of each candidate, and all stories, letters to the editor, and endorsements related to the races. To find your polling place, visit the Cook County Election Department at voterinfonet.com.

I Love Facebook!

For the 3rd or 4th time in as many months, I have reconnected with a long lost childhood friend through Facebook. And I don't mean that we found each other on Facebook, sent a friend request and now are Facebook Friends (TM). Yes, we've done that, but we've gone further and had real conversations and become part of each others lives again.

First, it was Laurie. We were good friends in high and on the cheerleading squad together. It turns out she's living back in the area and her sister owns Grand Cru Wine Merchants, a wine shop about a mile from my house.

Next, it was Paul. We've known each other since we were 6. The first thing he said to me when we reconnected was "do you still hate me for throwing that baseball through your sliding glass door"? For about a month in 1982 after my house burned down, we were back door neighbors. We chat a couple of times a week now after not speaking since high school. And, for the record, I don't hate him. I don't think I hated him then. But it's fun to laugh about that door, especially since no one got hurt. He now lives in California.

Tonight, it was Jeff. Again, Jeff and I have known each other since we were 6. We had fun catching up tonight and sharing all kinds of crazy memories (none of which I'm going to share here - sorry!). I think we both even learned a few things that we didn't know. Jeff is living in Lake Villa.

How did we find and reconnect with long lost friends before the Internet and Facebook? Thanks Al Gore.