Burns wins fourth term in Geneva

Saying he was looking forward to continuing the work he started, Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns handily won a fourth term Tuesday against challenger Bob McQuillan.

“I’m very honored that the electorate took the time to examine the issues beyond just campaign slogans, rhetoric, etc.,” Burns said.

Burns had 2,114 votes to McQuillan’s 1,401 in unofficial tallies, with all 19 precincts reporting.

McQuillan, however, said Tuesday night that Burns should look past his victory and take a message from the campaign.

“There are some things that need to change,” McQuillan said.

“I ran what I thought was an excellent campaign. I ran what I thought was a clean campaign. I brought up the facts. I brought up the truth,” McQuillan said.

He bemoaned the low voter turnout. “If people are complaining about their taxes, this is the election in which to vote.”

Burns said he was “looking forward to continuing the good work we’ve done together, the city council and staff.”

During the campaign, he accused McQuillan of attacking and planning to get rid of the city’s administrators.

McQuillan, in turn, had accused Burns of fudging facts when talking about the city’s financial status to present a rosier picture. He said the city had not presented a balanced budget in three of the last five years, and criticized the city’s raising the property tax levy, when the value of property had dropped.

Burns talked about how the mayor has to deal with more than budgets and said McQuillan was thinking only about the money. The mayor, Burns said, is an ambassador for the town.

In addition, the two candidates disagreed over whether the mayor should keep set office hours, with McQuillan promising to do so to be more available to the citizenry. Burns countered that anybody can reach him at any time, as his cellphone number is published on the city website and he responds personally to email.