Krause's 26 years on Naperville council coming to close

The longest-serving member of Naperville's city council, Doug Krause, will step down in May after 26 years on the panel.

Krause ran for mayor and lost Tuesday instead of defending his council seat during an election cycle in which all eight council positions were expiring at once.

While he's not sure what he'll do or how he'll stay involved once the new leaders are sworn in May 3, Krause knows what he'll miss.

“Being the voice of the residents and taking care of any of the problems they've had,” he said. “I've helped thousands of residents.”

Be it with an electrical billing mistake or a sidewalk issue or any problem with city services, Krause said he's enjoyed serving his neighbors and residents as the city has grown.

Krause, 67, joined the council in 1989 after he said a water shortage issue threatened to unfairly restrict lawn watering by all residents south of 75th Street but not north of it.

He used to run The Good Stuff Company in downtown Naperville and has been involved with the sister cities commission, the finance advisory board and the public utilities advisory board, among other municipal groups.

Now a real estate broker, Krause will keep his name up on “For Sale” signs of properties he's selling, but the green and white “DOUG KRAUSE MAYOR” placards are coming down.

“I'll finish out my term and I have no idea what I'm going to be doing next,” Krause said.

He was hoping to win the four-way mayoral election, but came in second to Mayor-elect Steve Chirico.

“It's been an honor and a privilege to serve the residents of the city for 26 years,” Krause said.

During the campaign, he promoted his experience as the council's longest-tenured member at a time with a high potential for change.

Chirico will become mayor with four years on the council under his belt and all eight newly elected council members have previous experience on the council itself or on a city board or commission.

But only two members of the total group of nine — city council incumbents Paul Hinterlong and Judith Brodhead — were elected to keep the same positions they currently hold.

“With six new people on the council, they're actually losing a lot of history, not only with me, but a lot of the council members that have been on there,” Krause said.

So his advice for new council members including Patty Gustin, Rebecca Boyd-Obarski, Becky Anderson, Kevin Coyne, John Krummen and returning former council member Kevin Gallaher?

Do the reading. And be persistent.

“Make sure you read your packet and make sure you ask your questions,” Krause said. “And if you don't get your question answered, then ask it in a different way.”