Village of Grayslake leadership will be seeing a change next year, with four-term Mayor Rhett Taylor announcing last week he will not run again and endorse Trustee Elizabeth Davies for the office.
Taylor, who first came to elected office as a trustee in 2001 and was elected mayor in 2009, will serve until April 2025. He plans to retire from politics. With nearly 24 years of involvement in local government, Taylor reflected on the state in which he’s left the village.
“I feel I’ve achieved my objectives that I had when I ran for office,” he said. “While this is a unique opportunity, and I’ve loved every day, it’s not intended for one person to be mayor in perpetuity.”
Taylor highlighted several projects and achievements. The village has kept balanced budgets and remained debt-free, invested in the Village Center to create a “vibrant” downtown business district, expanded open spaces with the additions of Gelatin Park and the Center Street Nature Walk, opened the Central Range to economic development, and worked with the business community to attract investment and retain businesses in the community, according to a news release.
He is especially proud of the work on the water system, establishing a fully redundant system so, “the town will never be without fresh water.”
Prior to running for trustee, Taylor said he used to watch Village Board meetings in the 1990s. Seeing the factionalism on the board, he felt he could get involved and, “help smooth some of the tensions and bring some professionalism to the way the board was conducted.”
After several years as a trustee, then-Mayor Tim Perry asked him to run for mayor. Today, Taylor is taking a similar path with his endorsement of Davies. She’s been a trustee since 2014, and has served as an alternate director for the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency, giving her a “deep understanding of our water system,” the release said.
“She’ll make a great mayor,” Taylor said. “She’s very experienced, and she comes in with a lot of knowledge about how the village works.”
Davies also, “appreciates the culture” of keeping a balanced budget and debt-free status, he said. As a high school teacher, wife and mother of three, she understands what younger families in town are looking for, he said.
After decades as a local leader, returning to being a private citizen will “certainly be a change,” Taylor said. But he looks forward to spending more time with family, playing piano and working through a stack of books on his nightstand.
He didn’t expect any more politics in his future, but if the village needed something, he said he “would be open to helping out.”
“I grew up here, I’ve been committed to the town. I’ve told my colleagues that I’m certainly around if they ever want an opinion or have a cup of coffee,” Taylor said.
For Grayslake’s future, he noted the data center that was looking at the Central Range and the potential revenue stream it would bring. When the state makes improvements around Route 83, the village will be able to do more streetscaping, extending the work it has done downtown.
He also highlighted the importance of working on Grayslake’s downtown.
“Many, many towns wish they had a downtown and a history like Grayslake does. You can’t create a downtown. You can’t create history. But you can protect, preserve and enhance it,” Taylor said.
The mayoral election will be April 1. Potential candidates have to drop off candidate packets between Nov. 12 and 18.
