Former Mt. Prospect mayor Carolyn Krause honored

Former Illinois Rep. Carolyn Krause was honored Tuesday night in Mount Prospect in recognition of her recent retirement after 35 years of public service.

The League of Women Voters of the Arlington Heights- Mount Prospect-Buffalo Grove Area joined with the village of Mount Prospect to sponsor the celebration.

An evening reception in the Mount Prospect village hall was followed by recognition of Krause during the village board meeting and a program for interested citizens during which Krause discussed unfinished business and current events in Springfield.

Mount Prospect Mayor Irvana Wilks read a proclamation honoring the 42-year resident of the village and three-term mayor.

"Carolyn never forgot the citizens who elected her," Wilks said.

Arlington Heights village President Arlene Mulder also presented a proclamation, which called Krause "a wonderful friend to the village of Arlington Heights" and "our small giant in the General Assembly," alluding to Krause's legendary diminutive stature.

Krause received the accolades humbly and said she felt lucky she was able to serve the public so long. In addition to her 12 years as mayor, she served 16 years in the Illinois House as the 66th District representative.

In her remarks at the reception, however, Krause lamented the fact state representatives are elected for 2-year terms because they only get about eight to nine months at the beginning of their term to concentrate on public policy.

After that, they are circulating petitions and starting to work toward getting re-elected, she said.

"You are always working toward the next campaign, and you don't have time to do the kind of planning that you can do in local government," Krause explained.

Nevertheless, she said she has no regrets and considers her time in public service "an honor and a privilege" and feels she saw real progress on several fronts during her tenure.

"I realize that the state of Illinois is facing some challenges now, but I hope that with the new governor, Illinois will become the great state that it should be," Krause said.