What is it exactly that a small-town mayor does every day?

Having already made breakfast for his 93-year-old mother before he and his wife left for work, Tom Hyde arrives at his part-time job about 7:30 a.m.

"It's something that, until you do it, you never would have guessed what it involves," Hyde says of his job. "I never would have guessed what life is like as a mayor."

Hyde, 60, is mayor of the far Northwest suburb of Island Lake - a self-professed "small town" (pop. 8,153) with rural roots, an overwhelmingly white mix of blue-collar workers and commuters, and a profile not all that different from Wasilla, Alaska, where Sarah Palin used to be mayor.

Palin left her mayoral post in 2002, was elected governor of Alaska (a state with a population of Memphis), and is now the Republican Party's nominee for vice president of the United States.

Hyde, who doesn't plan to seek re-election next spring, doesn't see himself on the national ticket for 2012. But he doesn't begrudge Palin her shot.

"It's nice to see somebody who spent the quality time she had in office get recognized," Hyde says. "It's a unique trip from Alaska to the White House. I give her an awful lot of credit for stepping out and taking that on."

Whether you are the leader of the free world or mayor of a small town, the process of governing includes some similarities. "Just on a much different scale," Hyde says.

While the president started a recent morning (hopefully) by getting caught up on the depressing news about unemployment and the economy, approaching hurricanes, Libya and the usual updates from Iraq and Afghanistan, Hyde was in his office, preparing for a visit from an architectural firm.

"Our village hall is an old school we purchased from the Wauconda school district," Hyde says, sitting is a small, almost claustrophobic room that used to be the principal's office. "I open the drawers and there is no more space."

By 8:30, he and a couple of trustees are chatting with architects about everything from a new police station to a better storage closet for kick balls. Then Hyde needs to talk to folks about the prospect of putting in sidewalks for the residents of Sheltering Oaks Inc. Immediate Care center. And there's the problem with that pond that isn't draining, the hang-up with a contract with the township, some checks to sign, and a few preparations for the weekend.

"Sometimes the little things cause the most stress," says Hyde, who retired from the corporate management world in 2003 after 34 years with General Motors, and makes about $13,000 a year as mayor. "Everything falls back into this office. It's not unusual to get 75 to 100 e-mails a day."

The former mayor didn't even have a computer in his office. When Hyde and his wife Sharon built their home here 33 years ago, Island Lake was barely on the map - a point driven home to him during a Christmas shopping trip to Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg.

"Woodfield wouldn't accept my check because they didn't know where Island Lake was," Hyde remembers. "I told them it was near Wauconda, Crystal Lake - unfortunately, that didn't do much good either."

Now Island Lake gets lots of attention. The story of a man arrested this spring after he wore a "threatening" T-shirt to a village board meeting made national news. (Those charges were dismissed.) Heated debates rage about development and conservation. Bloggers, many of whom make pit bull hockey moms look tame, rip Hyde and other village officials. Even Hyde's wife and their kids have been targets of unflattering comments.

"It's not so easy," admits Hyde, who has had three heart attacks and a quadruple-bypass surgery.

Palin's rise might inspire people to get involved in their own communities, figures Hyde, who says he first became a trustee because he wanted to "make things better."

"I think it's great for America," John Ponio, a trustee and frequent Hyde critic, says of Palin's ascension. "I think anyone in America has the possibility to be president of the United States. It's up to the voters to decide on her."

While Palin has brought attention to small-town mayors, she won't get Hyde's vote.

"I personally am an Obama supporter," Hyde says, noting Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama also got his political start on the community level.

"Few people really step forward and get involved," says Hyde. "It's good work."