Mundelein girl is mayor for a day

With her blond hair, glasses and fingernail polish - plus the fact that shes only 9 - no one would confuse Jessica Marvin with Mundelein Mayor Kenneth Kessler.

But for one special night in late April, Jessica joined Kessler on the village board dais and helped him oversee an official board meeting.

Honorary mayor for the day, Jessica banged a gavel to begin the April 27 board meeting and led the room in the Pledge of Allegiance.

With posters commemorating the village's centennial in front of her and behind her, Jessica sat in the mayor's customary seat between the trustees and other officials. She listened to trustees debate the evening's business and heard from residents who addressed the panel.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime (experience)," recalled Jessica, a fourth-grader at Fremont Intermediate School.

Kessler was impressed with the youngster's performance.

"She put her head up, talked into the microphone, looked at the audience and was not shy at all," he said.

Jessica got to be honorary mayor by winning a random drawing tied into a centennial event earlier in the year.

The fun started in the afternoon when Kessler visited Fremont Intermediary School near Mundelein and spoke with students.

After school, Jessica and Kessler went to village hall, went through the mayor's in-box and handled the business of the day.

The exercise concluded that night when the board gathered.

Jessica had guidance from Kessler and a script for certain situations at the meeting.

"She did very well," Kessler said. "We had a lot of fun."

Jessica said being mayor for a day might inspire her to go into politics when she grows up. She's already setting her sights on higher office.

"If you're president, you get to run the whole entire United States," she said.