Longtime Gurnee mayor announces she will not run for a fifth term
Longtime Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik has announced she will not seek another term in the spring.
Kovarik has served as mayor since 2005 and was a village trustee for six years before that.
She made the announcement at the end of the village board meeting Monday night, saying the decision will give her more time to spend with her family.
"As you serve, there's great sacrifice that you make in your life to accommodate mayoral duties and responsibilities," Kovarik said, reading from prepared remarks. "I have family and a small business besides a full-time job, and, as you serve a community, that takes away time from all those things but mostly family."
Kovarik works for Guaranteed Rate as a product development manager and previously worked for PNC Bank and Washington Mutual in mortgage lending.
Kovarik said it has been a wonderful honor to lead the village these past 15½ years.
"Gurnee is a remarkable place. It is a small town with many big city attributes we are fortunately blessed with, particularly talented residents and business owners," Kovarik said. "They care deeply about this community and will ensure a very bright future."
Kovarik thanked her fellow trustees and members of the village staff, calling them the best in the state,
"Together we accomplished so much," Kovarik said. "We are financially strong, a safe community and economically viable."
Kovarik also thanked residents and said she wanted them to know she left nothing on the table.
"Every term I have given 100 percent energy and effort to this position to ensure that Gurnee is the best place to live, work and play," Kovarik said. "It is my promise that I will continue with that same energy and effort until the end of my term, May 3, 2021."
When she finished her written remarks, Kovarik joked she had to tell herself that "there was no crying in politics" to get through it. The people in attendance, mostly village staff members and elected officials, gave her a round of applause.