QuickStory: Who 'Won' Wednesday Night's TaxFACTS/Patch Candidate's Forum?

I'll have to read Ted Schnell's live blog on Geneva Patch and watch the video on the TaxFACTS website, but here are some quick impressions of the candidates and their performances in Wednesday night's forum at Williamsburg Elementary School.

Like an NFL referee, I reserve the right to change my call "upon further review."

1st Ward—Zachary Ploppert and Mike Bruno

I was surprised and impressed by how well Zach presented himself and his point of view. For such a young man, he had command of the material, spoke confidently and wasn't rattled by any of the questions or follow-ups thrown his way.

He's taken a hard-line stance on "no new taxes," but he defended that position well and consistently throughout.

Mike was excellent, too, but I'm not sure a short-answer forum is best suited to his cerebral and nuanced approach to problem-solving.

Perhaps a candidate's forum is a little bit like the stock market, where success is measured against expectations. I had come thinking that Ploppert might have needed a few more years of seasoning before being ready for a City Council role. I left thinking we have two very good and worthy candidates to replace the outstanding Sam Hill.

Edge: Zachary Ploppert

Geneva School Board: Eight Great Candidates for Four Seats

First impression: Wow. All eight of these people are terrific. The good news is we're going to have an excellent School Board after the April 9 election, no matter who comes out on top at the ballot box.

Impressions:

Mark Grosso—Didn't miss a step. The School Board president handled himself with same easy-going good nature he's known for at School Board meetings. Well prepared, highlighted key achievements. He'll be very hard to beat.

David Lamb—I came in not knowing much about David other than what he wrote in his Patch candidate questionnaire (we'll start running those this week) and brief conversations after GHS band concerts. Liked his financial expertise (senior VP, Nuveen Investments) and opening statement that described his growing up in a big family, where he learned to appreciate quality education and the value of a dollar.

Bill Wilson—Another incumbent, emphasized his longtime roots in Geneva, School Board experience and professional expertise (senior project manager, Shales McNutt Construction.) He played a key role in the teachers union contract negotiations, and I thought he did a nice job explaining the process in his answers and closing statement.

Dan Garrett—Dan answered all the questions honestly, directly and intelligently. He's another candidate with a strong background in finance (VP of bond portfolio management, credit analysis and performance measurement software), which could be helpful to a district wrestling with debt. Dan and Fred Dresser struck me as the two most fiscally conservative—but again, I'll need further review.

Robert Cabeen—Robert's credentials and life experience are super impressive, with a history that includes military service, a pilot for UAL and an instructor and simulator operator for the FAA. Robert emphasized his ability to make good decisions in tough circumstances. He surprised me by taking a stronger position than I expected on the forum's theme of "fiscal responsibility."

Jeff DiOrio—The youngest candidate of the group. Very articulate. I didn't know much about Jeff prior to the forum, but I liked what I saw and heard Wednesday. He's a high school math teacher in Naperville, and he's a new homeowner and new parent in Geneva. So he understands the pain of the property tax bite but also the importance of quality education—a formidable combination.

Fred Dresser—Fred is another candidate with loads of real-world experience. He's retired from the auto/truck industry after 40-plus years. Once again, my impression was that his primary focus as a School Board member would be belt-tightening, but in his closing, he said the reason he's running is to ensure we continue the tradition of providing a quality education to the children in School District 304.

Leslie Juby—In her opening and closing, Leslie highlighted her involvement in the community and experience serving on the School Board. (She fell just a few votes short of re-election two years ago.) She has a command of the issues, she's not afraid to speak her mind and, as she noted, she's the only female candidate of the eight. I asked each candidate to name one School Board vote he or she disagreed with. Leslie said the demolition of Coultrap.

Edge: I think the incumbents have an advantage to begin with—in name recognition, familiarity with the issues and public approval of their handling of the extremely difficult teacher-contract negotiations—and I didn't see Grosso or Wilson losing any ground Wednesday night. Among the rest, I'm not sure who "won." Cabeen and Juby have a little edge in name recognition, but Lamb, Garrett, DiOrio and Dresser (in that order) all gained ground simply by introducing themselves to so many potential voters in a public setting.

Mayor—Kevin R. Burns vs. Robert (Bob) McQuillan

Again, I'm guilty of measuring performance against expectations. I thought that in a TaxFACTS forum on fiscal responsibility, Bob might have a good opportunity to score points Wednesday night.

My impression was that he tried too hard and came off as a bit too aggressive. Understandable, when there's just one forum and you're running against a three-term incumbent.

Kevin was aggressive, too, but he managed to temper that with statesmanship, polish and experience in public speaking. 

It's late, so if I have the numbers wrong on this, correct me with a comment. But I think one of Bob's campaign promises was to cut spending across the board by 5 percent in each city department. Burns countered that the city has cut 30 percent of its spending in the past four years, for an average of more than 7 percent.

Burns passed another fiscal responsiblity litmus test in response to a question on the tax levy. Burns said he would favor a zero percent levy increase plus the value of new development.

In his closing, McQuillan likened the discussion to two heavyweight fighters going toe-to-toe. There was no knockout Wednesday night on either side, but I think Burns won most rounds on points.

Edge: Kevin Burns

The Forum Itself

The only performance of the night that I felt was really bad was my own. I strayed from the script, threw in too many followup questions and let the thing go waaaaay too long.

But the forum itself accomplished most of what we'd hoped it would. It was very well attended, voters got to know the candidates a little better and the candidates themselves did a great job of separating their positions from those of their opponents.

Big kudos to TaxFACTS members Chris Bourdage and Dick Graff for organizing the event. It takes a lot of time, energy and organizational skills to put together a candidates forum, and they did it simply because there might not have been one otherwise. Well done.