Geneva's Tom Simonian reflects on loss, staying involved
Tom Simonian says he has no regrets about running to become mayor of Geneva, even though he lost with 37 percent of the vote.
When he started thinking about the campaign last August, he figured his odds of defeating Mayor Kevin Burns were closer to zero.
According to the Kane County clerk's office, 38 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the mayoral election. Simonian said he thinks people came out to vote in the Geneva library referendum "and then just voted for name recognition" on the mayoral question. Turnout was lower in 2013, when Burns ran against Geneva TaxFACTS co-founder Bob McQuillan and there were no referendums.
But "that isn't an excuse," Simonian said.
Simonian remains a 5th Ward alderman through April, when his term expires.
He had lent his campaign committee $75,000, but it did not spend all of that, he said Thursday. He could not provide an exact number, as he was still adding up bills for a quarterly report due to the state board of elections by April 17.
Simonian said he will keep an eye on city business, but it's too early to say if he would run for city office again. The next municipal election is in 2019.
He said he will attend city council meetings when the council discusses matters he is concerned about if he thinks aldermen aren't doing what is good for constituents.
"My voice will be heard from the podium instead of the dais," Simonian said.