Street name switched to honor retired Gurnee boss
James Hayner recently received a parting honor upon his retirement as village administrator that assures he’ll be long remembered in his hometown.
North Avenue east of O’Plaine Road has been renamed Hayner Avenue. It’s a fitting tribute, because North is the street that leads to the Gurnee village hall parking lot.
“I’m truly honored to have a street named after me,” Hayner, 58, said after village trustees approved the honor at a meeting last month. “When I was in high school, if you would have told them I was going to have a street named after me, they probably wouldn’t have believed it.”
Hayner, a lifelong Gurnee resident, started his village career in 1977 and rose to administrator in 1988. His retirement officially started after the close of business Friday.
Patrick Muetz, 34, who rose up the ranks since he was hired by Gurnee in 2004, starts as village administrator Tuesday.
Similar to when Hayner’s retirement was announced in April, Mayor Kristina Kovarik became emotional at his final village board meeting. She said the renaming of North to Hayner Avenue will be a way to forever remember his service to the village.
“We obviously wish you the best of luck,” Kovarik told Hayner. “I don’t think anybody loves Gurnee more than you do. You’ve been much more than a village administrator to all of us.”
Kudos also came to Hayner from the Illinois House of Representatives.
In part, a resolution passed in November noted Hayner’s numerous professional and civic achievements and how he “spent decades improving the lives of those around him, as well as overseeing the evolution of his hometown.”
Hayner was known for his encyclopedic knowledge of the village. He often would provide quick, accurate responses to elected officials’ questions at board meetings for everything from the age of sewer pipes to when a subdivision was built.
Lake County Board member Steve Carlson of Gurnee was among the well-wishers who dropped by village hall for Hayner’s final meeting.
“You’ve never been anything but a gentleman and you were honorable,” Carlson told Hayner.