Economic development top priority for new Round Lake Beach administrator
Round Lake Beach has a new full-time village administrator for the first time in nearly three decades.
Mark Rooney has 25 years experience in suburban government, with stints in Highwood, Wheeling, North Chicago and Carpentersville.
He assumed full-time duty in Round Lake Beach on Oct. 4 and was sworn in Monday to succeed Dave Kilbane, who retired in April after 28 years.
Rooney returned to Illinois and his longtime home in Highwood after three years as town manager in Westerly, Rhode Island, a tourist town known for its beaches and a summer population of 52,000.
Round Lake Beach Mayor Scott R. Nickles said it was a hard decision but Rooney emerged from three highly qualified candidates.
"We made our decision based on some of the issues facing our village now and in the future," Nickles said.
"The future is our economic development and filling our empty voids," he said. The village doesn't have a lot of space for new development, making infill projects a key, he added.
Handling various intergovernmental agreements, continuing cooperation with surrounding communities and hiring a full-time finance director are other considerations moving forward, according to Nickles.
Rooney's annual base salary is $175,000, with a $6,000 annual car allowance. He must give the village six months' notice if he voluntarily resigns within the first three years and 60 days' notice after that. As an "at-will" employee, Rooney can be fired at any time with or without cause.
Rooney's team and leadership approach was cited as a factor in the choice. He noted the stability created by Kilbane and long-term former mayor Rich Hill.
"I want to build on the success the village has had," Rooney said. In the bigger picture, the Round Lake-area communities work together on regional decisions and understand the economies of scale, he added.
The village offered Rooney the job on Sept. 4. Days later, he resigned as Westerly town manager. He'd been hired there as interim manager in May 2018 and given the full-time job that August.
Rooney served in the Army for 31 years, including seven on active duty. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014. He was a staff assistant to the late Sen. Paul Simon before being hired as Highwood's first village administrator in 1996.
In 2003, Rooney was named assistant village manager in Wheeling serving three years before being named manager. He left in 2009 for a brief stint in North Chicago before being hired in Carpentersville.
He served seven years in Carpentersville before the village board in January 2018 voted to accept what it considered to be Rooney's "voluntary resignation," saying he had stopped reporting for work.
Rooney sued the village, claiming he was placed on involuntary leave and then fired without the severance and benefits he was owed. The parties settled in 2020 for $220,000.
Former Buffalo Grove Village Manager Bill Balling, who served as interim administrator in Round Lake Beach, said the village was looking for a highly experienced manager who understood state and county government and who had the experience to sustain and build activity along Rollins Road, its main business corridor.
"I think we're setting the table with the management structure we have in place," Balling said.
"We think we're getting the right person in place to mature the organization" and build on successes, he added.