The Aurora City Council Tuesday evening approved longtime city employee Dan Barreiro as the new 1st Ward alderman.
Barreiro, a City Hall staffer who retired after 35 years there, will fill the spot vacated by former Ald. Emmanuel Llamas. He resigned to care for his ailing father as of Aug. 1.
The city scheduled a formal swearing-in of Barreiro for 7 p.m. Aug. 20 at Two Brothers Roundhouse, 205 N. Broadway, which is in the 1st Ward. The public is invited to the ceremony, although an RSVP is required through the city’s website.
He will be sworn-in by 16th Circuit Court Judge Rey Cruz.
Barreiro is the current vice president of the East Aurora School District Board of Education, first elected to the board in 2017 and then reelected in 2021. His current term expires in 2025, and he will resign from the school board to assume the duties of 1st Ward alderman.
“This is a difficult decision for me since it requires me to step down from the East Aurora School Board,” said Barreiro, a graduate of East Aurora High School. “However, a school district’s success is also dependent on quality of life, public safety, economic development and other factors outside of its scope. A strong ward alderman can assist a school district with many of the external factors necessary for success.”
Mayor Richard Irvin appointed Barreiro at last week’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 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.
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.
The City Council vote to approve Barreiro was 10-1, with Ald. Patty Smith, 8th Ward, voting against the appointment. Smith made no comment before the vote, and after the meeting declined to say why she voted against the appointment.
“Every vote I make is for the best interest of Ward 8 and the city of Aurora,” she said. “I am very confident Mr. Barreiro and I will be able to work together on the City Council.”
When pressed further if she wanted to comment on why she voted no, Smith said, “No, I don’t.”
Barreiro will serve in the position for the next eight months, but stand for election in the April 2025 city election. Whoever is elected then will serve two years – the rest of Llamas’ term – to April 2027.
slord@tribpub.com
