Her first day on the job in Prospect Heights

Settling into her sunny new office at city hall Tuesday morning, Prospect Heights Mayor Dolly Vole beamed with excitement as she personalized her surroundings with files and documents.

Vole was sworn in Monday night, and on Tuesday morning she seemed ready to roll up her sleeves. She said the top two items on her to-do list are opening up communication with residents and initiating monthly financial statements.

Vole, 41, who was Ward 3 alderman the last two years, beat local developer Nick Helmer April 7 to be elected mayor. She will complete the 2-year unexpired term of Rodney Pace, who resigned for health reasons in September 2007, shortly after being re-elected.

Making good on a campaign promise, Vole scheduled her first town hall meeting with residents on June 22 to discuss the city's financial situation. At that meeting, Vole hopes to fulfill another pledge: getting residents to volunteer for city committees.

Vole said she wants to start a new economic development committee and establish a standing finance committee. Yet, her biggest challenge is likely improving employee morale after recent layoffs and budget cuts.

"I think solving morale is about communication," Vole said.

That means at times telling city staff and residents what they may not want to hear.

As an alderman, Vole voted against the city's 2009-10 budget, which included $6.4 million in general fund expenditures, because it used one-time drug seizure revenues to partially plug a projected $500,000 deficit.

She said she would have preferred that the city had laid off more employees.

"It's just a Band-Aid," Vole said. "I think you are just (delaying) the inevitable instead of finding a solution for it."

However, the city is not expected to lay off more employees for at least a year, when deficits start appearing again.

The roughly $300,000 in federal drug seizure revenue that fortuitously arrived in time for the 2009 budget, helped the city retain two police officers and keep the police station's front desk open to the public Monday through Friday.

Vole said residents will have to face the music sometime.

"We have a situation where those funds came in just at the right time," Vole said. "If they had not come in, we would have had to close the police station. It gives (residents) a false sense of security."

This year, the city won't hire any seasonal public works staff - while already being short two public works employees who retired and whose jobs remain unfilled. That means potholes may not get filled.

Vole said the city's financial situation could get a boost if plans for a Meijer store to replace the vacant Dominick's at the Prospect Crossing Shopping Center off Rand Road come to fruition.

Should Meijer open as proposed in January 2010, it could generate roughly $175,000 in yearly sales tax revenue for the city, she said.

"If those funds come in, we need to use those for the road program," Vole said. "That's our biggest concern in our community."