Bruno wins Geneva 1st Ward seat

In the only contested race for a Geneva City Council seat, Mike Bruno was elected 1st Ward alderman Tuesday night.

He will replace Alderman Sam Hill, who did not run.

“There was enough of the electorate that actually understood my message. And it was not sound bites. You had to think about it,” said Bruno, who defeated Zac Ploppert. “I’m looking forward to being part of a well-run city, and I’m looking forward to bringing my various expertises ... to that body.”

Alderman Don Cummings was elected to fulfill the remaining two years of the term of former alderman Bob Piper; and Richard Marks, Dawn Vogelsberg and Ron Singer were re-elected to 4-year terms in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th wards, respectively.

Bruno had 370 votes to Ploppert’s 318, according to unofficial vote totals, with all four precincts reporting.

The 5th Ward seat of the late Alderman Ralph Dantino remains open. A replacement will be appointed in May.

Ploppert and Bruno differed, in particular, on their approaches to preservation of historic buildings in the historic district in their ward. Ploppert felt regulations on changes to building’s exteriors were too onerous for homeowners. Bruno, who served 11 years on the Historic Preservation Commission, disputed that buildings could not be preserved economically, and said that preservation contributed to the ambience of the downtown that makes it successful.