Simonian spends 6 times more than Burns in unsuccessful bid

Tom Simonian spent $39,414 in his bid to become Geneva's next mayor, according to disclosure records.

He spent $16,922 during the last quarter of 2016, and $22,492 in the first quarter of 2017, according to the quarterly report his committee filed Saturday with the state board of elections.

Records show Simonian loaned his campaign $79,744.

He received in-kind contributions of $3,437 in audiovisual equipment rental, room rental, and food and beverages for a Feb. 23 reception at El Molcajete Restaurant. The contributions came from Beth and Larry Gies.

Mayor Kevin Burns received $6,850 in contributions. He spent $6,271 and donated the remainder to Suicide Prevention Services, according to his committee's final report.

The Illinois Association of Realtors' political action fund spent $12,035 in March to send out mailers advocating his re-election.

Quarterly reports were due Monday.

• Second Ward Alderman Richard Marks spent more than $6,200 for print materials and newspaper and Facebook advertising. He loaned himself more than $6,432.

He received about $582 in in-kind contributions from Fagans Inc., which is owned by Joe Stanton, who was Simonian's campaign manager. Marks was treasurer of Simonian's campaign.

• Citizens for the Geneva Library, which advocated in favor of building a new library, received $2,807 in money and $10,947 in in-kind contributions, according to its report. The largest donation came from Christine Lazaris and Devon Moose of St. Charles, who gave $1,000. Lazaris is director of the Geneva Library; Moose is her husband.

Those in-kind donations came from StudioGC Architecture and Interiors of Chicago. The library hired StudioGC to conduct focus groups in 2015 about what residents wanted in a new library, and to come up with the concept for a new building. StudioGC hired graphics and campaign experts to persuade voters to approve borrowing up to $21.8 million for a new library.