Hanover Park appoints Courtney Sage as new village manager
Hanover Park has found its new village manager in Courtney Sage, the deputy manager who’s been serving in the role on an interim basis since her predecessor, Juliana Maller, retired in January.
Sage came out on top in the search process the village board commissioned from the consulting firm MGT.
“We are pleased to present Courtney Sage to the community as our new village manager,” Mayor Rod Craig said in a statement. “In her role as deputy/interim, she has demonstrated a real love and passion for serving the people of Hanover Park. We look forward to many years of collaboration, communication and assistance to the people of our home town.”
The unanimous board vote was greeted by applause from the audience at a meeting Thursday, Aug. 6.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the residents of the village of Hanover Park, as well as to continue working alongside our dedicated staff, mayor and village board,” Sage said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to advance the village's strategic goals and supporting the continued growth and success of our village.”
Sage became Hanover Park’s deputy village manager in October 2024 after seven years in Cary, where she rose to the position of assistant village administrator. Before Cary, she had been a planner with Coles County Regional Planning in Charleston, Illinois.
In Hanover Park, she will oversee the village’s approximately 220 full-time employees.
Trustees’ approval included an initial contract through May 1, 2029, with a starting salary of $230,000. Sage will also receive a monthly $600 car allowance and an annual contribution of $9,500 to an IRS deferred compensation plan, with the remainder of 2026 to be prorated.
Maller, who retired on Jan. 2, had worked for Hanover Park for nearly 13 years. Her 36-year career in municipal management had also included administrative roles in Skokie, West Chicago and Park Ridge.
Though Maller hadn’t lived in Hanover Park, trustees removed what was considered an outdated residency requirement for the position in June 2025 in anticipation of the search for her successor.
Officials felt the immediate accessibility enabled by current technology made the old requirement for that single position unnecessary.