New, veteran Fox Valley town leaders ready to take the reins

For several northern Fox Valley village leaders re-elected to office Tuesday, life likely won’t change much.

“I don’t think it will be much more work,” said West Dundee President-elect Chris Nelson, who has been a village trustee.

And South Elgin President Jim Hansen, who is starting his fourth term, said the tasks ahead are the ones he has had for several years.

“We still have to maintain our budget,” he said, and look for opportunities to bring business to town, especially since the recession caused growth to slow.

But the new guy in the club, East Dundee President-elect Lael Miller, knows it means some major changes.

He will have to integrate the day-to-day operations of the village into his daily life, he said.

“It will be a large part of my everyday activities,” said Miller, who plans to have monthly or bimonthly coffee meetings where residents can visit with him.

He also said he expects people to call him — especially since he handed out his phone number and email address to more than 1,500 households when he campaigned door-to-door.

Hampshire President Jeff Magnussen, starting his third term, can advise Miller about that.

“Whenever the phone (at home) rings, that’s it,” he said, adding that his wife and four children know he has to answer.

And he praised his wife for picking up the slack on family responsibilities so he can work on village issues, such as economic development and getting unfinished subdivisions built out.

“You have to have a good support staff at home,” Magnussen said.