Kenilworth taps Niles administrator to take over at village hall

Kenilworth has a new village manager.

Katarzyna “Kathy” Thake, currently the assistant village manager in Niles, is officially set to start in Kenilworth on Aug. 26, taking over from Acting Village Manager Dawn Wucki-Rossbach. The village board unanimously authorized Thake’s appointment at their July 15 meeting.

Kenilworth Village President Cecily Kaz said Thake was one of 25 applicants for the job, which was most recently held by former village manager Patrick Brennan. Brennan left Kenilworth in April to become village manager for Northfield.

“She was a very impressive candidate from the start,” Kaz said, touting Thake’s experience in community customer service, policy development and human resource management.

Thake has more than 17 years experience in municipal governance, starting in 2007 with Niles and becoming that village’s deputy village manager in 2022.

“It’s clear that Kathy is very well versed in economic development tactics, tax increment financing, financial planning, grant fundings and managing capital improvement projects, all things that we have going on here,” Kaz said, adding that Thake also evinced interest in developing the village’s small staff, as well as working on the village’s interest in direct engagement with residents.

Information included in the board’s agenda package indicated that Thake had project management experience in Niles’ village hall and emergency operations center remodeling project, and helped the village achieve National Register of Historic Places designation for the Leaning Tower.

Thake’s employment agreement runs from Aug. 26 until next May, with the option for a further four years and provides her with an annual base salary of $185,000, with bonus and benefits adjustments based on a yearly performance review. Brennan, who was village manager for 12 years, had a base salary of $172,090 at the time he left, according to Kenilworth documents.

Thake will also be eligible for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, and will receive the same disability, health and life insurance and pension, as provided for other administrative staff. She will also accrue up to seven days of paid time off this year and will accrue more paid time off in 2025.

Kenilworth began the search for Brennan’s successor after he alerted village officials in late February of his pending move. They subsequently hired Wucki-Rossbach in April, through Northbrook-based GovTempsUSA. They also hired Northbrook-based GovHR, which, like GovTempsUSA, is a subsidiary of Florida-based MGT Consulting Group, to undertake their search for a permanent village manager. 

Wucki-Rossbach will work with Thake between now and Aug. 26 and will serve as a consultant during a final stage of the transition, until Aug. 31, according to a report in the July 15 agenda.

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