Who remembers Brookfield circa 2003? We do. The village manager’s office was amateur hour and board members spent more time politicking against each other at the board table than governing. As a result, the village had trouble getting basic things, like restaurant health inspections and financial audits, done.
Voters this year are faced with a clear choice – to elect leaders who have experience, dedication and knowledge or folks whose intentions are honorable but whose basic understanding of the job in front of them is sorely lacking.
That’s why the Landmark is endorsing Kit Ketchmark for village president; Michael Garvey, Nicole Gilhooley and Edward Cote for trustee; and Brigid Weber for clerk.
Yes, it’s PEP’s entire slate of candidates, something we don’t often do. But their opponents from the Common Sense Party have demonstrated a combination of both unfamiliarity with what’s actually going on at the board level and an unwillingness to find out.
It’s not enough to want to change the direction of government. You need to demonstrate to voters that you have an actual plan for governing.
After weathering a difficult couple of years during the economic downturn, Brookfield’s village government has clearly focused on the village’s future. The reorganization of the building department into the Community and Economic Development Department, the hiring of that department’s director and a planner, the rail corridor rezoning and a nascent comprehensive planning process under way and the village’s first real combined public infrastructure improvement plan in decades are building blocks to a bright future.
That officials haven’t solved every problem – hello, gravel alleys – doesn’t diminish the framework this administration has established. Now is not the time to derail that plan.
