Carolyn Krause: Mount Prospect's first woman mayor

With her election as Mount Prospect's ninth mayor in 1977, a 38-year-old attorney by the name of Carolyn Krause achieved her first of three historical feats for the village. She was the first woman to ever be elected to Mount Prospect's top post.

Eight years later, she became the village's first mayor to be elected to a third term. To this day, she is the only mayor in Mount Prospect's history who has gone on to earn a seat in the Illinois General Assembly, serving as the 56th District's Representative for 16 years.

Originally appointed by her mayoral predecessor, Robert Teichert, to the village's Zoning Board of Appeals in 1971, Krause would eventually rise to chairman of that board. Despite being defeated in the 1975 Trustee race, she would eventually run, and win, the mayoral seat in 1977 against two veteran trustees to replace the retiring Teichert.

She ran on a slate pledging more citizen involvement in government, wanting to see Mount Prospect lower its property taxes, re-evaluate its zoning policies, and give its residents a greater voice in governmental decisions.

She also vowed to return the village to its tradition of keeping spending strictly in line with revenue. Krause's low-key approach and willingness to listen to residents was just what the village needed to heal its wounds after several decades of turbulence and conflict between citizens and government officials.

Believing the village grew too fast during the 1970s, Krause in her first year as mayor proposed a moratorium on the rezoning of village land.

"We should annex only what will benefit the community," she said in a 1979 newspaper interview. With a philosophy that the village was entering a "maturing" stage, capturing 300 acres owned by Northern Illinois Gas as a storage facility was the only annexation under Krause's watch, if only to complete an initiative started by Teichert.

Krause was particularly adamant not to allow the construction of any more multifamily units - which were embraced by the mayors before her - due to the strain they imposed on the village's public services.

Under her leadership, an ordinance was passed in 1983, broadening the village's power to order owners of these properties to maintain their lands and buildings, another controversy that surrounded these types of developments.

Shortly thereafter, Mount Prospect suffered through a deep recession, along with the rest of the country, from 1982 to 1984, when unemployment in the village peaked at 8.4 percent.

During that time, Krause lived up to her original pledge to live within their means and village services remained intact. She and the board also went looking for new sources of revenue.

Rauenhorst Corporation of Minneapolis (which later changed its name to OPUS), proposed an attractive, well-landscaped light industrial park, and the Kensington Business Center was born with a strategic purpose to lower the tax burden on village residents.

Krause and her team then went on to overhaul Randhurst Mall and Mount Prospect Plaza, and instituted a facade and streetscape program to give the downtown area a facelift.

The results were dramatic, with the village receiving national recognition in community development excellence for its facade improvement program. Mount Prospect also established a Tax Increment Finance district for its downtown area to continue its redevelopment over a 20-year period.

During her administration, Mount Prospect's property tax rate dropped 30 percent. Prior to Krause taking office, Mount Prospect took 19.8 percent of an average homeowner's tax bill.

By 1985, the time of her election to a record third term, the village's share dropped to 13.8 percent, with assessed value in the village nearly doubling to $535 million during that same time period.

With the blessing of voters, a new public works building (which still stands today on the western border) was built. The village also continued to receive accolades as a five-time "Tree City USA" recipient during the 1980s.

In addition, the fire department was recognized as one of the top five in the state of Illinois and won international accreditation.

Krause's style of leadership clearly resonated with village residents, who re-elected her in 1981 by a sweeping margin of nearly 7-1 over political newcomer and assistant Cook County public defender Vito Colucci. The 1985 election came and went with Krause running uncontested.

Even after election to her post as State Representative in 1989, she continued to work on behalf of her hometown, securing state funding to the tune of $1 million for the stabilization of the banks along Weller Creek.

At an event in recognition of Krause's retirement after 35 years of public service, then Mount Prospect Mayor Irvana Wilks read a proclamation attesting that the 42-year resident of the village "never forgot the citizens who elected her."

Arlene Mulder, president of Arlington Heights, a village which Krause represented in her state post, also presented a proclamation at that event describing Krause as "a wonderful friend to the Village of Arlington Heights" and "our small giant in the General Assembly," alluding to Krause's legendary diminutive stature.