Charlie has said the January date will help ease his successor through the difficult budget season. So, who should be the next Village manager?

In my opinion, there is only one choice -- Paul Schofield. With the Village engineer leaving in November and the manager leaving in January, this choice makes the most sense.

Critical to the budget work that will be continuing for the next few years, continuity will be the key to success. Mr. Schofield is the one person on the Village staff that can provide this.

I think the one of the biggest things Mr. Schofield will bring is cooperation among the staff. Many times in the past few years, a silo mentality has crept into the Village senior staff. Everyone is worried about thier turf. No interaction between the key staff members.

The end result has been that decisions have been made with common sense apparently kicked to the curb. I don't want to detail what I consider to be some inane decisions, but suffice it to say many things could have worked out better.

While your at it Village Council ... promote Jim Barnes to Community Services Director, Mr. Schofield's current position when you make Mr. Schofield the Village Manager. What he has been able to do with some limited resources at the Leisure Services Department has been incredible. We need to keep people like this.

By the way Mr. Schofield, when you get that promotion I know you will do the right things for the residents of the Village.

And you know, I'll be watching.