Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin has announced East Aurora School District board member Dan Barreiro as his choice to be the new 1st Ward alderman.
The mayor announced his selection at Tuesday’s City Council Committee of the Whole meeting, choosing Barreiro, a 1st Ward resident since 1979, from a list of 11 candidates who applied for the job.
Barreiro’s appointment will be voted on by the full City Council at its next regularly scheduled meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 13, at Aurora City Hall, 44 E. Downer Place.
The 1st Ward seat was officially vacant as of Aug. 1 due to the resignation of Ald. Emmanuel Llamas.
Barreiro was a City Hall staffer for 35 years, beginning in 1986 as an intern, transitioning in 1988 to administrative assistant in the Mayor’s Office and retiring in 2021 as chief Community Services officer, a position he held for 15 years.
Throughout his time at City Hall, Barreiro held such other roles as assistant director of personnel, assistant finance director and assistant chief of staff.
Irvin pointed to both Barreiro’s experience in the community, in government and his “institutional knowledge” of the city government as a reason he chose him for the City Council seat.
“Dan and I have been on the other side of a lot of issues over the years,” Irvin said. “But I can tell you, I learned to respect this man, his commitment to the city, his commitment to the residents …”
Barreiro is the current vice president of the East Aurora School District Board of Education, first elected in 2017 and then reelected in 2021. His current term expires in 2025, and he said he would resign from the school board to assume the 1st Ward duties.
Barreiro has held positions on the boards of the Aurora East Educational Foundation, the East Aurora Alumni Association, El Centro Pan Americano, the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley, the Fox Valley Girl Scouts Council, the Fox Valley Park District, the Fox Valley Symphony, the Fox Valley United Way, the Salvation Army and Sci Tech.
He currently serves with the Knights of Columbus, the Three Fires Council of the Boys Scouts and Project Safe Aurora.
After graduating from East Aurora High School, Barreiro earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, with an emphasis in local government, and a master’s degree in public administration, with an emphasis in urban management, from Northern Illinois University.
Barreiro said after the mayor’s choice was announced that the “hardest” thing about taking the appointment would be leaving the East Aurora school board. He said “by serving on the council” he can do more “to support District 131.”
He said his time in the Finance Department allowed him to work on budgets, and his time in Community Services allowed him to work with people.
“Working here, I know the ins and outs,” he said.
Ald. Michael Saville, 6th Ward, said there were “many fine candidates” to choose from for the position, but called Barreiro “very qualified” and a “superb appointment.”
If confirmed by the City Council, Barreiro will serve in the position for the next eight months, but stand for election at the April 2025 city election. Whoever is elected then will serve two years – the rest of Llamas’ term – to April 2027.
slord@tribpub.com