Mary Haynes said, for her, the American Dream has never been about money.
“I don’t view success as money,” she said. “I see success as having influence. I have that.”
Haynes, 66, the Peoria City Clerk, has been in public service for 29 years. And, during that time she has been influential in making Peoria an example nationwide of transparent government. Haynes has been cited by many as one who works hard to make government work for the people.
As Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan works on a re-write of the state’s Freedom of Information Act, Haynes is involved.
“Clerks can deliver or hamper good government. There’s respect at the state level for what we do here in Peoria,” Haynes said.
“When I started in this job, that kind of respect wasn’t very apparent. That’s success.”
 
Freedom
Haynes said her desire to help others and be influential was not created in a vacuum.
She was born the youngest in a family of eight children. 
She married and had two kids.
A divorce when her children were 8-and-10-years-old left her a single parent with sole custody.
“I had to raise my kids, hold down a job and maintain my own home,” she said.
The need to be influential arose out of necessity.
She grew up wanting to be a housewife.
College and a career were not things her parents saw as options for their youngest daughter.
She saw that as her purpose in life for a time, but her horizons, she said, changed when she became a single parent.
“For me, the American Dream is about having the freedom to be who I choose to be. My parents gave me a set of values and I have the freedom to live those values,” Haynes said.  
Empowerment was a commodity Haynes needed in her own life to raise her children and make it in a world that was then dominated by men.
“The other part of the American Dream is to find your purpose in life and live it. I live a life of empowerment,” Haynes said.
“I’ve been very lucky in my life, but I also had my eye on the right things.”
Those things included her children.
She said they turned out very well despite a life that was not always easy.
“Many years ago, I had a moment that I cherish. I was talking to my kids and apologized for not giving them more,” she said.
“They threw their arms around me and said, ‘You did good.’”

Proactive
“The American Dream, to me, was never about the size of the bank account or the house,” Haynes said.
“It was always about the amount of love in the house.”
That, she said, was the case for her at home as a child, in her marriage and when raising her children.
That definition, she said, was instilled in her early on.
But, a broken marriage made that definition harder to live up to.
So, the direction her life took changed.
“Sometimes challenges take you down a different road,” she said.
Her road led to public office — a road, she said, her parents never could have imagined for her.
“My parents were much more passive people than I. They lived a life of faith and just took what came,” Haynes said.
“I have a big proactive streak in me. It’s just a part of who I am. I once asked my mother if I was adopted. I didn’t exactly fit into the family mold.”
She laughed.
That proactive streak led her to seek out her own place in city hall.
Haynes said as she started a career in public service, many people helped her.
“I’ve used the word luck to describe how I got here. But, I’m being taught to understand that God had a role for me,” Haynes said.
“Some people came into my life at just the right time. That was more providence, than luck, I now understand.”
 
Not an easy road
Her road to the American Dream has not always been an easy one,” Haynes said.
“It was tough. I’ve had several city managers who would have preferred to see me go,” she said.
“At least one mayor wanted to close my office. I’ve had to work many hard hours and be away from my kids. But, I’m still here.”
Haynes said she has come to the realization she probably worked harder and more hours than she needed to.
“But, there has been a payoff. Now, I can reach more people and do more good,” she said.
“I’m blessed to be known. That opens doors. Being elected, I have more freedom to take on projects I think will benefit the people than I could as an appointed official. I just thank the citizens who placed their support in me. It’s a privilege to serve. That’s something I never forget.”