In Today’s Economic Environment, It Really Is All About The Money

Some elected officials don’t get it, but I do. It’s simple. The number one concern of voters is taxes. Geneva residents don’t want to be forced out of their homes by higher taxes. It’s all about how YOUR money is budgeted and how local government spends it. 

When you hear the words “full disclosure & transparency,” do you think of:

• The city checkbook being published online for just two weeks inside a 200+ page document.
• The city failing to reconcile their monthly checkbook for more than a year
• An elected official claiming 11 years of balanced budgets when reserve funds were used 3 of the last 5 years to pay expenses.
• Increasing city taxes on every Geneva homeowner just so “new construction’ can be captured
• A candidate not contributing any of his own money to his various campaigns for more than 11 years.
• A candidate filing his quarterly campaign disclosure reports late, twice
• A city employee stealing $24,000 over an eight year period of time without being detected

My opponent believes this is full disclosure and transparency, but I don’t.

When an incumbent runs for re-election, their record is fair game and the above pretty well sums up my opponent’s record. 

Here’s what I believe full disclosure should be.

Despite quarterly campaign reports not being due until April 15th, I filed mine last night. Why? Because I want every Genevan to see my campaign finance records for themselves before Election Day. I want the voters of Geneva to know that my top four contributors are all Geneva residents.

The highest individual contribution I received was for $350.00 and my campaign received one PAC contribution of $500. We accepted no contributions from any companies or corporations.

My wife and I loaned the campaign $3,000 from our personal funds. No one was paid for working on my campaign; I didn’t hire any political consultants. To date, I have spent a total of $5,005.35, the vast majority of which went towards lawn signs, brochures and postcards to Geneva residents.  Click here for my quarterly report.

Our volunteers have walked more than 5,000 houses and mailed out more than 5,900 postcards. We ran our campaign like a city should be run with reasonable attention to detail and a focus on staying within our budget.

For the first time in 12 years, Geneva residents have a choice for Mayor. There is a real difference between my opponent and myself. Please visit my website to see my plan for Building Geneva’s Future Together.

Election Day is Tuesday, April 9th. If you haven’t already voted early, please vote on April 9.

I have enjoyed every minute of the last six weeks and hope I have earned your vote next Tuesday.

Bob McQuillan

Candidate for Mayor of Geneva

630-205-1683

Geneva's mayoral candidates welcome comments and questions from the public. Commenters: Please provide your full name, either via the username or by including your full name at the end of your comment. Anonymous comments will be omitted or deleted. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Geneva Patch Editor Rick Nagel at rickn@patch.com.