Burns, Simonian at odds on many things

The two men running for Geneva mayor - incumbent Kevin Burns and Alderman Tom Simonian - can't agree on whether Geneva is a "brand" or an "identity."

Burns stresses he is out to protect the "Geneva brand:" an attractive and vibrant small city, especially known for its historic downtown shopping and residential district.

"Geneva is not broken. Geneva is strong and the facts support that. To protect the Geneva brand requires someone who knows how to do the job," he said.

Simonian contends Burns hasn't placed residents' or business owners' interests first in years.

Issues

The two disagree about the reasons for the growth in the city's spending. They disagree about whether the city should charge a places for eating tax. They disagree about whether a city employee should negotiate contracts with unionized employees. They disagree whether to ask Delnor Hospital to give the city some money, in lieu of the property taxes it doesn't pay on the hospital building.

They disagree about the value of having the mayor attend ribbon-cuttings.

• Simonian wants union negotiation duties turned over to a committee or a hired person because a city worker in charge of negotiations also benefits from the results, Simonian said.

Geneva usually offers the same insurance and other benefits to its nonunion employees as it does its unionized employees. An administrator represents the city.

Burns said having a committee negotiate the contracts would be risky because it would not have knowledge of labor law.

• Regarding the hospital: "All we wanted to do was have a conversation with Delnor. That was it," Simonian said, speaking of the idea proposed in February 2016. He and Alderman Richard Marks wanted to see if Geneva could work out a deal similar to what Winfield has with Central DuPage Hospital. After some wrangling, CDH agreed to give $900,000 a year, for five years, to the village. Winfield said it needed the money for roads and emergency services provided to the hospital.

In that 2016 meeting, Burns called the agreement a "Pyrrhic victory" that damaged the relationship between CDH and Winfield.

"The hostage situation that took place, respectfully, in Winfield, will come to a close in four years," Burns said. He said Delnor pays more than $1 million a year in property taxes on the rest of its campus, gives "substantial funding" to local civic organizations, and pays utility fees.

He also said other large nonprofits, such as the Northern Illinois Food Bank headquarters, would think twice about investing in a Geneva facility if they thought they would have to make payments in lieu of taxes.

• Burns questions Simonian's commitment to the environment after Simonian asked whether the city could stop mid-contract on required improvements to its sewage treatment plant, given the changes happening now at the federal Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration. The city is borrowing $12 million for the work, which will reduce phosphorus pollution discharged into the Fox River. The work has not begun.

"Illinois was the last in the country to adopt this particular EPA standard, and they went kicking and screaming. So it's not like Geneva is on the forefront of this," Simonian said.

"There has been a lot of discussion about what might happen at the federal level, but I am not personally comfortable to roll the dice," Burns said.

• "While he (Burns) is cutting ribbons ... there is a lot of other work that needs to be done," Simonian said. "It is not his fault. Career politicians turn into ribbon-cutters and ceremonial folks."

He said Burns was a good mayor his first two terms, but then diverted his attention to running unsuccessfully for a Congressional seat and for Kane County Board chairman.

"I thank our current mayor for his service to the community," Simonian said, before pledging to serve just two terms, and that he would not seek a higher office.

Burns said he started ceremonies recognizing schoolchildren's art contest winners, high school sports teams, Scout troops and more at council meetings to improve relations with residents. And attending a business opening shows the owner the city cares, he said.