Two candidates with government experience are vying for the position of Kane County Board chairman in the Nov. 6 general election. Republican candidate Chris Lauzen has spent 20 years serving Illinois as a state senator, while Democratic candidate Sue Klinkhamer served the city of St. Charles as mayor from 1997 to 2005 and as alderman from 1989 to 1997. The candidates’ priorities for the top Kane County Board post differ. Lauzen would focus on freezing the property tax levy for the county, strengthening the county’s ethics ordinance and providing competent administration through innovation and austerity. Klinkhamer would look to bring on a county administrator and to cut county expenses from the top. Such cuts could include lowering the chairman’s salary by 25 percent and re-evaluating whether part-time County Board members should continue to receive the benefits that they currently get. In this race, we endorse Lauzen. The Aurora resident has built a solid reputation as a legislator who responds to constituent concerns, and we hope that he would be able to transfer those same skills to government at the county level. Should he win the chairman’s seat, we also would expect Lauzen to help the county avoid unnecessary lawsuits where taxpayer money is used to fund legal representation.