By Jason Crane
Stacey Peterson was sworn in to serve as the City’s new chief financial officer (CFO) and City treasurer at the Tuesday, Aug. 12 City Council meeting along with Jason Bauer to serve as the City’s new director of Public Works and City engineer.
Peterson, was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the departure of former CFO Chris Minick.
Peterson, a 26-year veteran of City Hall, initially began her tenure with the City in 1999 as a staff accountant. She served 11 years as an accounting supervisor in the Finance Department, before being named the assistant director of Finance for Budgeting in 2013. Following a brief stint as the Interim CFO and City treasurer from 2017 through 2018, Peterson served as the City’s director of Financial Operations before this appointment.
•Jason Bauer, served as the interim director of Public Works and interim City engineer since March. He was appointed to fill the role following the departure of former director of Public Works, Ken Schroth.
Bauer is an 11-year veteran of City Hall, initially beginning his tenure in Aurora in 2014 as a professional engineer. After less than a year in the role, Bauer was promoted, becoming an engineering coordinator with the City from 2015-2018.
From 2018 through March of 2025, Bauer served as the assistant director of Public Works and assistant City engineer, aiding in the execution of daily operations, leading the implementation of the City’s annual capital improvement plan, while also developing and executing the City’s lead service line replacement program.
Bauer is an active member of the State of Illinois’ Lead Service Line Replacement Advisory Board, which works to provide the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency with recommendations on best practices for lead service line replacement efforts across the State.
•Representatives from Mutual Ground were honored for 50 years of service. The domestic abuse treatment center opened its doors August 15, 1975 in Aurora.