City officials say 11 people are being considered to fill a vacancy in the Aurora City Council.
Courtesy of the city of Aurora
Eleven people are being considered to fill the Ward 1 vacancy on the Aurora City Council.
They include former Ward 1 alderman Tina Bohman.
Mayor Richard Irvin has interviewed the nine men and two women. He will announce finalists by the end of the week and make a recommendation at the city council committee-of-the-whole meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The mayor appoints replacements with the consent of the council.
The replacement will serve until the end of April.
Emanuel Llamas, who was re-elected to the post in April 2023, quit the council on July 2. He said it was due to increasing family responsibilities. However, several critics, including Alderman John Laesch, contended that Llamas had been living in Ward 6 for nearly a year.
The applicants for the council seat are:
• Steve Banks, who the city describes as a neighborhood group leader.
• East Aurora District 131 school board member Dan Barreiro, who worked for the city. He is the husband of Kane County Circuit Court Clerk Theresa Barreiro.
• Bohman, a retired Aurora city worker who was an alderman from 2013 to 2019.
• Donnell Collins, retired photojournalist and educator who served on the Kane County board.
• Bishop Jeffrey Donelson, senior pastor of Everlasting Word Church.
• David Givens, a financial services worker.
• Ray Hull, retired city worker and former District 131 school board member. He lost the race for alderman-at-large in 2021. He was one of the people saying Llamas didn’t live in Ward 1.
• John Kunkel, a retired sales worker.
• Guadalupe Magana, who works in customer service.
• Hector Martinez, a construction superintendent.
• Hugo Saltijeral, executive director of Valley Sheltered Workshop. Saltijeral has already said he is running in the spring to fill out the remainder of Llamas’ term, which expires in 2027.