Newest Glencoe Trustee: 'It's More or Less in My Blood'

A willingness for public service is an apple that does not fall far from the tree for Glencoe's newest trustee.

His mother was the president of the Iowa City school board, and his brother, Matt, is that city's current mayor.

“It's more or less in my blood,” said Andrew Hayek, who ran unopposed in Tuesday's election for the lone open seat on the Glencoe Board of Trustees. “I want to raise my hand and help.”

Hayek has lived in Glencoe for just a year, but at 37, he said he represents a lot of the young couples who buy a home and settle in the town with school-age children. The new trustee and his wife have three children, the oldest of whom is 6 and attends kindergarten at the Glencoe South School.

“I have a vested interest because of my children in the long-term viability of Glencoe,” Hayek said.

The area is familiar to him. His sister has lived in Glencoe for 10 years, and Hayek said he had lived here once before.

“We hope he brings other young people out to participate,” said Lewis Ting, co-chairman of the Glencoe Caucus, which nominated Hayek for the position in December.

“I think he is very articulate, a very methodical thinker," Ting added. "Why I wanted him to be a trustee is his broader business background. If the economy will continue to struggle, we need someone skilled in the means of trimming the fat—saving.”

Hayek grew up in Iowa City but went to Yale University in Connecticut. He is the chief executive officer and president of Surgical Care Affiliates, a for-profit health care company that partners with doctors and nonprofit health centers to manage surgery centers and hospitals. The company is based in Birmingham, AL, but Hayek works out of a small office in Deerfield.

The job requires him to be out of Glencoe for about 100 days a year, but Hayek doesn't expect it would interfere with his volunteer duties as a Glencoe trustee.

He said he would first like to use the position to preserve Glencoe's already high standard of living, but he worried about the number of empty storefronts downtown and at Hubbard Woods Plaza.

“We need to do everything we can to be friendly to business and build up commercial revenues,” said Hayek, who expects his business acumen will be of good use during the economic recovery.

Hayek has never served in public office before, but he sits on the boards of several health care organizations. Ting said he wanted Hayek as a trustee because he felt the need for a businessman on a board where attorneys are more common.

“He'll bring a perspective that we don't have,” said board president Scott Feldman. “He'll lower the average age of the board significantly.”

The next-youngest trustee is Joseph Keefe at 52. While Hayek may bring some generational diversity to the board, the departure of two-term trustee Ellen Shubart will leave the board without any women.

Trustees Bruce Cowans and Joel Solomon ran unopposed for their current seats and both will serve another term. They were elected to the board in 2007.