When an elected board willfully decides that it can’t trust the electorate with a decision as simple as whether it should have the ability to elect the board’s chair, we’re left wondering why, as should voters.

The discussion about how the McHenry County Board chairman is selected has gone on for a couple years now. Currently, the chairman is not elected by voters, but by fellow County Board members. The Northwest Herald’s Editorial Board, state Rep. Jack Franks and others have said that voters should decide via a referendum whether they should elect the County Board chairman at-large.

Is it the most pressing issue in county government? No. Is it an issue that voters deserve to be able to decide? Of course it is.