Now that last week’s primary elections are history, perhaps we’ll get some relief from the name-calling, finger-pointing and partisan bickering that punctuated the months leading up to Aug. 7.

Well, don’t hold your breath. In fact, now that voters have selected their parties’ candidates for the Nov. 6 general election, expect the mudslinging and character asassinations to intensify. Yep, expect the next three months to be ugly.

One bright spot in last week’s election was the overwhelming approval of Proposition 1 by Sunset Hills voters.

Prop 1, a permanent extension of the city’s existing half-cent, sales tax, received nearly 74 precent of the vote, according to unofficial results. A simple majority was required for approval.

We believe much of the credit for passage of the sales-tax extension goes to a unified Board of Aldermen.

As Mayor Bill Nolan told the Call, “Every member of the Board of Aldermen was supporting the passage (of Prop 1) …”

Another major factor in the passage of Prop 1 was the excellent work done by the city’s Capital Improvement Committee, which was chaired by Ward 3 Alderman Stephen Webb.

The committee, which met seven times over a five-week period, identified nearly 100 potential projects and items totaling roughly $7.8 million in a five-year plan outlining the city’s capital-improvement needs.

The capital-improvement plan, the first in the city’s history, was unanimously approved July 24 by the Board of Aldermen.

Since the April election, the professionalism of the Sunset Hills Board of Aldermen has increased tenfold.

As the November election approaches, look to the Call for the most comprehensive coverage of the races and issues that impact our readers.

With our in-depth coverage, we’ll cut through the campaign rhetoric and provide readers with the plain, unvarnished truth on where the candidates stand on the issues.

While some misguided souls question the relevance of newspaper endorsements, we believe we have an obligation to endorse both candidates and ballot issues as outlined in our statement of purpose:

“We dedicate ourselves to the public, holding its welfare in the highest regard and standing firmly in opposition to any who would oppose it.”

Rest assured, we will never abdicate our responsibility to our readers.