Irvana Wilks was second female mayor to lead village

The village of Mount Prospect's 11th mayor, Irvana Wilks, was sworn into office in May 2005.

She won in the mayoral race that year in decisive and commanding fashion, garnering more than 50 percent of the vote in a three-way race over Scott Stassen, a board member of River Trails Elementary District 26, and Ernie Lasse, a local business owner.

With a 14-year tenure on the village board as trustee and prominent name recognition in the village, Wilks followed Gerald "Skip" Farley at the helm of Mount Prospect, who after four terms as mayor and 27 years of total service indicated he would be retiring and not seek re-election to a fifth term.

During her campaign, Wilks ran on a platform of "One Community" to promote diversity within the village; "Project Prosperity" to encourage feedback and participation from local businesses; and "Spirit of Public Service" to give residents more opportunities for civic involvement.

As part of her pledge to "keep Mount Prospect a safe, strong and vibrant community, both for businesses and residents," a dedicated Emergency Operation Center was built after several storms severely impacted the village throughout 2007. The center serves as a training facility and a potential location in case of a major police mobilization effort in the village.

Also in 2007, Wilks oversaw the beginning of the long-anticipated construction on Levee 37, which holds permanent flood-fighting pumps to protect 600 residents and dozens of businesses in Mount Prospect, as well as Prospect Heights, from flooding along 80 miles of the Des Plaines River.

Although completed in 2015 (two years after she retired), this project finally got underway during Wilks' time in office after many years of coordination between a complex network of government agencies at all levels.

In 2008, Wilks again ran for, and won, the village's top spot to continue her work on its major projects. These included the redevelopment of Randhurst Shopping Center into an open air "lifestyle center." The new "Randhurst Village," considered Wilks' greatest political legacy, opened in summer of 2010 with a new movie theater, hotel, dining, retail and office space.

The mall's previous major anchors, including Carson Pirie Scott and Costco, remained open during the redevelopment process and are part of the center as it stands today. The village's public-private partnership approach to the Randhurst project also led to success with development in its downtown.

While the above projects came to fruition under her tenure, Wilks fully credited their completion as a result of "being able to stand on other people's shoulders" like Farley for "getting the ball rolling."

Her other achievements included Myers Place, a supportive-learning development for people with mental illness. A new Community Connections Center provided library and educational services to residents on the south side of the village.

In 2011, the Mount Prospect Sister Cities Commission received the Illinois Sister Cities of the Year Award from the Illinois Municipal League for its collaboration with Sevres, France, - a Sister City partnership that still exists today.

In 2008, Mount Prospect was thrust into the national spotlight after Businessweek magazine named the village as the best place to raise kids. In addition, Mount Prospect also saw its brush with Hollywood, as hometown resident and local paint store employee Lee DeWyze was crowned winner of Season Nine of the hit music competition television reality show, "American Idol" in 2010.

Wilks' time as Mayor was also marked by some very difficult times, mostly due to the recession of 2008. During that downturn period, the village faced a budget crisis resulting in a 10-percent reduction of its workforce, a halt in housing activity, and a damper on downtown redevelopment, which had just finally started to flourish in the years prior to the crash.

Wilks credits her interest in public service, in part, to her experiences as a journalist and seeing how much work went into a job in public service. She studied journalism at the University of Kansas and did some reporting for a newspaper in Wichita prior to moving to Illinois with her husband, Alan, in 1969.

She officially came into public service in 1985 when then-Mayor Carolyn Krause, the only other woman to serve as mayor prior to Wilks, appointed her to the Mount Prospect District Development and Redevelopment Committee, where she served for five years. She also served on the Cook County Economic Development Advisory Committee for 15 years.

Wilks was also featured on a PBS documentary on the women's suffrage movement featuring Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Through her association with the League of Women Voters, she was approached to write a narrative about her interest in government, how she got in local government and her advice to people who have a desire to run for office as a supplement to the television special.

In addition, Wilks was active in the Friends of the Mount Prospect Library and Mount Prospect's Kiwanis Club, Historical Society, Women's Club, Lions Club, YMCA and United Way.

Irvana Wilks chose to step down in 2013 at the age of 67 after 25 years of total service, including two terms at the helm of Mount Prospect. She preceded the village's current mayor, Arlene Juracek, who ran unopposed in 2013.

While she described her retirement from public service as "bittersweet," Wilks was looking forward to finally getting back to her roots as a novel and poetry writer.