Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley reflects on past 20 years

Although he may have just marked his 20th anniversary as the mayor of Crystal Lake, Aaron Shepley insists the celebration is less about him and more about fellow council members and the city staff who do the “real work.”

“This is not about me,” said Shepley, 55, who has lived in Crystal Lake since 1972, when his family moved from Cary.

“The most important thing that our City Council does collectively is that we provide the support necessary for the full-time professionals in our city who do virtually everything that make the city run,” Shepley said. “In today’s day and age, you have officials who want to take credit for the sun coming up in the morning and setting at night. ... it’s just not like that. The city staff are doing the real work every day.”

Before being elected mayor, Shepley, who is vice president and senior associate general counsel at Northwestern Medicine, served two years as a council member.

A hard-fought, and ultimately victorious, battle against a development that he and his neighbors believed would have been a detriment to their community, sealed his decision to get involved in local government.

“At the time, we experienced the process of being in front of City Council firsthand, and we did not like the way things were being handled,” he said. “You have two choices, you can be part of the problem or you can be part of the solution.”

Part of the solution

In the years that followed, Shepley said he has seen Crystal Lake prosper and become a place where people want to raise their families and businesses want to open their doors.

During his tenure, the city made it through the recession of 2008 without ever having to use property taxes to pay for city services.

The city also welcomed high-end retailers such as Steinhafels Furniture, which took over the old Kmart building; Mariano’s, which replaced the site formerly occupied by Sears; and Ulta Beauty.

The city felt the pinch of losing retailers when the economy slumped in 2008, but not any differently than other community, Shepley said.

“It would be virtually impossible to put a number on [how much was lost] because of the way the economy went in 2008,” he said. “There has been a slow build since then. We were kind of in the depths of the Great Recession and it has been growing at a pretty steady rate since.

“Not skyrocketing, none of us has any way of telling the impact of online retailing and competition from other communities. We can only say this – the resale tax revenue that has been generated in this community continues to grow and continues to help us meet our financial needs.”

As for the noticeable loss of many large retailers such as Kmart, Sears and Sports Authority, Shepley said this is not a reflection of the city, rather the regional and nationwide wave.

“It is not that Crystal Lake was not an appealing place to have a business, it is because of the company on a national level [wasn’t doing well],” he said. “When Sears announces the closing of 100 stores, there is nothing any local community, including Crystal Lake, can do with that, and that has been a lot of what we experienced, especially with the big-box retailers. There is little, if anything, that a local community can do to prevent that. It is not a statement about the local community, it is a statement about the company.”

Not all decisions came without some frowns.

In the early 2000s, the approval of a Hooters drew some eye raising. Shepley voted to approve it, saying that it is not his, nor the council’s place, to judge the character of the business. He said at the time there was “some discussion.”

The Hooters, which now is the site of Chick-fil-A, claimed it was a “family-friendly establishment,” Shepley recalled. “That is not really for the City Council to determine. Whether they are or are not is beyond our control as long as they are placing it in an area that is appropriately zoned, and they were. It was a complete non-issue.”

Shepley worked with staff in the decades-long development of Three Oaks Recreation Center, which he described as “an absolute jewel,” the construction of a new municipal complex and the addition of a second Metra train station at Pingree Road.

He is most proud of the professionalism and congenial relationships among his fellow council members in a time when there seems to be “negative discourse” among governing bodies at the local and national levels.

The City Council has at least four other long-term members, including Bret Hopkins, who has just been elected to a third term.

Hopkins said he agrees that it is the city staff under the direction of Crystal Lake City Manager Gary Mayerhofer that make the city shine, but he also said Shepley “is too humble to talk about his leadership abilities.”

“[Shepley] certainly creates an atmosphere of collaboration and teamwork within the members of the council, something I feel is typically missing in local politics,” Hopkins said.

“Aaron encourages discussion on each topic that is presented during meetings in an open and honest forum,” he said. “While we may not all agree on certain positions and our votes may be divided, at the end of the day, we all walk out as a team.”

Mayerhofer described Shepley as “an excellent mayor and parliamentarian.”

Mayerhofer said Shepley has been effective running meetings and his “legal expertise” has benefited the city.

“It’s easy to see he is dedicated to this community where he chose to raise his family,” Mayerhofer said.

He added Shepley has been supportive in capital improvements of water, sewer and roads, as well as instrumental in the comeback of residential development, noting the Woodlore Estates Development.

Looking forward

For Shepley’s, who was elected in April to another four-year-term, his outlook for Crystal Lake includes reducing the number of vacant storefronts – especially along Route 14.

Like with the new businesses that have already opened their doors in Crystal Lake, Shepley said city staff and community development continue “actively courting and pursuing” different establishments.

When attracting new businesses staff identifies what is a “good cultural fit” for the city then delivers, Shepley said.

“When [businesses] decided to pursue Crystal Lake ... we made it a very seamless process for them,” he said, adding that the word gets out. “I believe they are sharing their experiences with other establishments who may be considering Crystal Lake. It’s become a snowball effect.”

He also looks forward to figuring out a plan to create a walking path around the Three Oaks lake.

The beat of his own drum

When Shepley turned 40, he decided he wanted to learn to play the drums, so Regan, his wife of 28 years, bought him a drum set for Christmas. He went on to take lessons among a bunch of 8-year-old children, he recalled with a laugh.

He then turned this hobby into a well-known drumline. Along with Hopkins and Tom Kundmann, he founded Strikers, and they have marched hundreds of miles in local parades, performed on TV and donated about $50,000 in college scholarships. They even were invited to perform on “America’s Got Talent.”

Strikers also has spun off into five educational programs involving more than 100 students.

Those programs are:

• Crystal Lake Allstars: Percussionists from local high schools that perform a various events during the late fall.

• Convergence Winter Guard: Competitive color guard unit made up of students from local high schools. They now are three-time champions in their ranking.

• Girls On The Drum: Female-only percussion group from grade school to middle school students.

• Crystal Lake Thunder: Competitive WGI drumline that competes at the national level. Last year, they made it to the WGI finals in Dayton, Ohio.

• Kingpins: Special needs drumline in cooperation with NISRA.  The Kingpins will be in the Crystal Lake Independence Day Parade this year.

Shepley, with his all-in personality, also turned his hobby of photography, which began when he took photos of his own children’s sporting activities, into a local business, Aaron Shepley Action & Sports Photography.

No regrets

“My general attitude has always been if you like where you are now, then you have to accept the path that you took to get here,” he said. “I believe that we are in a very good position now. We weathered some pretty heavy-duty storms [in] the recession, that was a big challenge for us. We have gotten to a point where we can all be proud.”