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Faces of 2007.

Article Excerpt
It's not unusual for the face - and faces - of our communities to change from year to year. It's as natural as snow in December.

But perhaps never in recent memory has it seemed that so many of the changes, especially in Naperville, have brought such an unpleasant chill, the likes of which threaten to cast a long spell of darkness on the city.

Oh, there were plenty of sunny spots, of course. Many of our sports teams soared. We could smile - even while shaking our heads - at the antics of our newly minted reality TV stars.

There was the teenage girl who collected valentines for our troops, and the Aurora guy who spent days riding a stationary bike - both for good causes.

We could celebrate superb artists and educators. We could applaud Lisle for earning a spot in a magazine's listing of the best places to live in America.

But always, it seemed, the darkness lurked like an unwelcome visitor.

There was the bitter dispute over a Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora. There was the expected departure of Naperville Park District's executive director and the unexpected departure of the city manager.

There was the perplexing mess that surrounds efforts to find a site for Metea Valley High School, and the even more perplexing legal mess that now threatens to overwhelm Naperville's city council.

The faces on these pages run the gamut, from the wonderful to, well, the ridiculous.

Some surely are worth celebrating. Others, surely, we soon hope to forget.

But, for better or worse, all of them made a difference in Naperville, Lisle or Aurora and earned their spot among our 50 Faces of 2007.

Peter Burchard

The longtime Naperville city manager stunned officials in early November when he announced he would step down Dec. 7 to pursue a position in the private sector. He stunned them again a short time later when he went public with a memo that was highly critical of Councilman Richard Furstenau. It was a shocking turn for someone who, during his 10-year tenure, was one of the city's biggest cheerleaders and helped lead one of the largest residential and commercial growth spurts in the city's 176-year history.

Richard Furstenau

The Naperville councilman was acquitted of battery charges against a police officer early in the year and then sued the city for violating his civil rights - all the while continuing to serve on the council. His lawsuit triggered a huge political firestorm that led, in part, to Burchard's...

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