After serving as the mayor of Roselle from 1993 to 2017, totaling 24 years, Gayle Smolinski has traded the gavel for a quieter life in Sun City, bringing a lifetime of public service experience with her.
Smolinski’s path to leadership actually began in the newsroom. “I graduated from Bowling Green University with a degree in journalism and public relations,” she noted. Initially, her career focused on writing, but her ambitions soon evolved. “I did do some writing, but I became interested in helping my community,” she said, marking the start of her public service journey.
That interest triggered a decades-long career. Building on her community aspirations, Smolinski first entered public service in 1986 as an appointed trustee for the Roselle Village Board. She won her first election as a Trustee in 1989 and, by 1993, had ascended to the mayor’s office, a position she would successfully defend five more times.
However, her mayoral debut was far from decisive.
“The first time I was elected, it was a contentious race, I only won by fifty votes,” Smolinski recalled.
She credits her early victory to classic retail politics.
“I went door-to-door when I ran for both trustee and mayor so I could talk to the people,” she said.
In a move representative of her cooperative leadership, Smolinski reached out to her opponent immediately after her narrow win.
“I recognized my opponent’s valuable business background, so after I was elected, I asked her to help me,” she said.
The decision paid dividends for the village.
“Her advice and leadership proved invaluable. We became great friends,” Smolinski said.
Smolinski’s leadership was grounded in respect and trust.
“I treated everyone on the board with respect and worked to cultivate trust among us,” she said.
A mother of three, Smolinski pointed out the role’s flexibility, which let her put family first, a nurturing approach she later infused into the workplace.
“The job fit my schedule and enabled me to be there for my daughters,” Smolinski explained. “I extended that same care to my office, encouraging trust and respect so we could truly work as a team.”
Smolinski’s leadership resounded far beyond Roselle’s borders. During her tenure, she headed two of the region’s most influential coalitions, serving as President of both the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference.
Considering her time leading these organizations – which represented 270 and 36 municipalities, respectively – Smolinski noted that the scale of the groups enabled considerable legislative leverage.
“In both groups, we worked on legislation,” Smolinski said. “Mayor Daley saw that Chicago and the suburbs shared challenges. Working together, we accomplished more.”
What kept her motivated to stay in office? Smolinski said, “I wanted to see the finish of our downtown renovation. We have new restaurants and concerts downtown, similar to what Huntley has.”
The Tax Increment Financing (TIF) acted as a stimulus for Downtown Revitalization. The developments that combined retail and residential units, such as Park Street Crossing and Gateway Commons, have resulted in low commercial and residential vacancy rates.
A key part of this revitalization involved tackling longstanding infrastructure issues. Smolinski recalled the issues of the first Village Hall, a converted 1922 schoolhouse that had gotten increasingly impractical for modern operations.
“It was not a suitable space to conduct business,” Smolinski said, noting that the older structure lacked basic handicap accessibility.
Smolinski wanted municipal offices to remain in the existing village complex, along with fire and police. The nearby solution came with a challenge: a resident in her nineties who was determined to remain in her home.
“An idea came to me one day as I was looking across the street at an empty lot,” Smolinski explained. After striking a deal with the woman and her son, the Village undertook the massive task of moving her entire house, complete with all her belongings, to the lot across the street.
The arrangement allowed the woman to remain in her home until her death, while the Village acquired the original site for its own needs. Today, that 1920s house has been preserved as a museum, remaining a permanent fixture of the village complex.
Seeing her projects come to fruition, Smolinski retired. She was honored by the House of Representatives in Springfield for her service. At her retirement dinner, the Village Hall was renamed the Smolinski Municipal Center. The building serves as a tribute to Smolinski’s 31 years of public service, including her time as a Village Trustee from 1986.
Smolinski remains active as a Neighborhood Representative and Neighborhood Watch volunteer.
“It was nice to move where I wasn’t called ‘mayor,’” she said, “but a few Sun City residents from Roselle found me.”
