The Aurora City Council on Tuesday approved the appointments of new leadership for the city’s Finance and Public Works departments.
The two appointees — Stacy Peterson, the new Chief Financial Officer and City Treasurer, and Jason Bauer, the new Director of Public Works and City Engineer — are the latest to be picked by Mayor John Laesch for top city leadership positions since he took office in May. Unlike other department heads Laesch has appointed, both Peterson and Bauer already worked for Aurora.
Since first being hired by the city in 1999, Peterson has served as an accountant, accounting supervisor, assistant director of finance for budgeting and most recently as director of financial operations, her resume shows. She also briefly served as the interim Chief Financial Officer and City Treasurer from March 2017 to January 2018.
Peterson is filling the vacancy left by former Chief Financial Officer and City Treasurer Chris Minick, who departed earlier this month after serving in the role since 2021.
In her new role, Peterson will lead the Finance Department and its nearly 50 employees across various divisions, including accounting and payroll, budget, purchasing, revenue and collections, the city’s motor vehicle parking administration and water billing, according to a recent city news release announcing her appointment.
Laesch previously told The Beacon-News that Peterson has earned the job and that she will help keep budget and accounting procedures consistent across the department’s change in leadership, especially since she helped create some of those procedures.
Also because of her efforts, the city now has a streamlined budgeting process, efficient budget forecasting and a yearly public budget document, the city news release said. Plus, the news release noted that Aurora has received the Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for 26 consecutive years, which includes years under her leadership.
Peterson said in the news release that she is honored to be selected for the role and looks forward to working with Laesch, along with his administration and City Council, to “continue to secure fiscal responsibility and ethical governance.”
In addition to her role with the city, Peterson is also an active member of both the Government Finance Officers Association and the Illinois Government Finance Officers Association, plus serves on the board of the Aurora Policemen Credit Union, the news release said.
As for Bauer, he was appointed to be the director of Public Works and city engineer after serving in the role as an interim for months.
The former director of Public Works and city engineer, Ken Schroth, left the city in March. Schroth’s LinkedIn profile and the Panama City Beach, Florida, municipal website list him as that city’s assistant utilities director.
Bauer has worked at the city for over 10 years and started as a professional engineer in 2014, according to his resume. He became the assistant director of Public Works and assistant city engineer in June 2018, which he held until he became the interim director earlier this year.
As assistant director and assistant city engineer, Bauer helped in daily operations and led efforts to put in place the city’s annual capital improvement plan, according to the city’s news release about his appointment.
Plus, he both developed and worked to put in place the city’s lead service line replacement program, and he serves on the state Lead Service Line Replacement Advisory Board, officials said in the news release.
In his new role, Bauer will oversee the Public Works Department and its nearly 200 employees across various divisions, including engineering, street maintenance, water production, water and sewer maintenance, downtown services and electrical maintenance, the news release said.
Bauer said in the news release that he is honored to have been chosen by Laesch and City Council for the job. Their confidence and support reflects not only on him but also on the entire department he now officially leads, he said.
“I am proud to be part of such a hardworking and committed team, and I look forward to doing everything I can to support their efforts as they continue delivering exceptional service to our residents and advancing the vision set forth by the mayor and City Council,” Bauer said, according to the release.
The appointments of both Bauer and Peterson come soon after the Aurora City Council made exceptions to a rule requiring all department heads to live within the city or move there within one year of being appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council.
Now, that rule does not apply to department heads that are required to have a professional license or are required to have specialized training or knowledge. The roles filled by Bauer and Peterson are covered by this exception, and a city spokesperson previously confirmed that neither live within city limits.
City officials have said that the change allows the city to be more competitive and have more flexibility to hire candidates based on qualifications, character and commitment, rather than being limited by where they live.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
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