The accomplishments of Arlene Juracek, Mount Prospect's 12th mayor
Mount Prospect's current mayor is Arlene Juracek. She has presided over the Centennial year and celebration, working closely with the appointed Centennial Commission to deliver a memorable recognition of this milestone.
She was first elected mayor in 2013 and is now in her second term. She is the village's 12th mayor.
A native of Chicago, Juracek is a retired Exelon executive who ascended to the position of vice president of energy acquisition after a nearly 35-year career. After retirement, Juracek turned her energies to village government when she was elected to the village board in 2007. She was elected mayor in 2013 after her predecessor, Irvana Wilks, chose not to run for a third term. She was re-elected in 2017, running unopposed both times.
Juracek ran for the village's top post on a platform of facilitating a vibrant commercial and business economy in all areas of the village; providing an affordable community that provides the level of services that residents expect; continuing to apply fiscal discipline to village operations and capital investments; and enhancing public safety operations.
The village has seen robust commercial and industrial growth and redevelopment during her five-year tenure at Mount Prospect's helm. Nonetheless, the village has also encountered challenges including the establishment of a business along Northwest Highway which offended the sensibilities of some residents, the death of a local resident at a pedestrian/bicycle crossing, the financial challenges of Springfield-based solutions to Illinois' budget woes, a lawsuit by Northwest Suburban High School District 214 over the establishment of a tax increment financing district (TIF) in Mount Prospect's downtown.
She presided over the hiring of a new village manager, Michael Cassady, as well as the annexation of several parcels of formerly unincorporated land to the south of the village, including the long-sought United Airlines parcel.
"Our job as elected officials and residents alike is to ensure we continue to foster the community spirit, neighborhood engagement and business support that make our village one of the best places to raise a family, start a successful business and enjoy a vibrant and affordable quality of life," she wrote in the Centennial supplement to the Mount Prospect Chamber of Commerce's annual Community Profile/Business Directory released in late 2016.
"Our vision is to represent the best of suburban communities - thriving, proud, diverse and connected - having a rich heritage, strong values and a timeless, yet contemporary, atmosphere," she continued. "Further recognizing that social, demographic and economic changes are the rule, rather than the exception, and that a static set of strategies is self-defeating, our mission was deliberately crafted to call for adaptive leadership and leading-edge service delivery. This is the cornerstone of our future."
A graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology with a bachelor's degree in mechanical/aerospace engineering, Juracek also earned a master's degree in management from Northwestern University. Before serving as Mount Prospect's mayor, she served as the acting director of the Illinois Power Agency, responsible for power and energy procurement and planning for Illinois' two major electric utilities, ComEd and Ameren.
Juracek's leadership abilities are widely recognized. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, a member of the Illinois Finance Authority board, chair of the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission and vice chair of the Northwest Municipal Conference.
Closer to home, Juracek served on the board and later as president of the Mount Prospect Historical Society and she is still active in planning that organization's annual spring dinner fundraiser. She is also an active member of the Garden Club of Mount Prospect and supports the Timber Lake Playhouse in Mount Carroll, Illinois, near the 66-acre hardwood tree farm she and her husband, Ed, manage.
The Juraceks have been residents of Mount Prospect since 1977 and they raised three children in the village.