Geneva Mayor Burns tops Simonian en route to fifth term
Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns won a fifth term handily, according to unofficial returns Tuesday.
He had 3,913 votes to Tom Simonian's 2,409, with all 19 precincts reporting.
Simonian waged an aggressive campaign, giving himself $75,000 to unseat Burns, mayor since 2001.
In mailers, videos and social media posts, Simonian said Burns was not representing the interests of taxpayers. He accused Burns of putting city employees' first. He pointed out Burns had been endorsed by Geneva Township Democrats and queried whether Burns was really a Republican. The race was nonpartisan.
He criticized Burns over growth in city spending since 2010, criticized him over Burns' support of the 2 percent places for eating tax, and said Burns spent too much time on ceremonial duties such as ribbon-cuttings.
Burns in turn sent out a mailer accusing Simonian of embracing positions akin to that of President Trump.
Burns criticized Simonian's push to ask Delnor Hospital to give the city money to pay for services provided to the hospital building, for which the hospital does not pay property taxes. He noted the hospital does pay taxes on the rest of the campus and said seeking payment risked damaging the city's good relationship with Delnor and would potentially discourage other large nonprofits from developing facilities in Geneva.
Burns pointed out that Simonian had voted in favor of several of the budgets he was criticizing. And the places for eating tax, expected to raise about $1.25 million annually, was a good idea because the majority of people dining in Geneva don't live in Geneva, Burns said.
He acknowledged, however, that he and other city officials probably should have consulted first with restaurant owners before enacting the tax.