The League of Women Voters of Central Kane County has announced a series of upcoming Mayor and City Council candidate forums in St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia. The organization also announced two forums featuring the candidates who are in contested races for Library Board and School Board in the cities of Batavia and St. Charles.

The forums will feature candidates on the April 1, 2025 Illinois Consolidated Election ballot.

All of the forums will be live, in-person, and open to the public. They will also be live-streamed and available for later viewing on the websites of the League of Women Voters of Central Kane County (lwvckcil.com) and the Illinois Voter Guide (illinoisvoterguide.org).

Candidates will be allowed time at the beginning and at the end of their respective segments for opening and closing statements. During each segment, candidates will respond to audience questions submitted during registration and throughout the event. Audience members’ questions will be reviewed by trained LWV members for appropriateness prior to asking. 

Key forum information

St. Charles Mayor and City Council Candidate Forum: Held at 6PM on Wednesday, January 29 at the St. Charles Public Library, located at 1 S. 6^th Avenue in St. Charles. The following candidates were extended invitations to participate: 

• Mayor: Clint Hull, Lora A. Vitek 

• City Council: Ronald Silkaitis, Robert Kasper, Ryan S. Bongard, Angela Churchill, Vicki Spellman, Paul D. Lencioni, Carolyn Waibel, Steven Weber, Lauren Duddles 

Batavia Mayor and City Council Candidate Forum: Held at 6:30PM on Tuesday, February 4 at Batavia City Hall, located at 100 N. Island Avenue in Batavia. The following candidates were extended invitations to participate: 

• Mayor: Thomas M. Connelly, Jeffery D. Schielke

• City Council: Doug Eldrenkamp, Dustin Pieper, James Fahrenbach, Garran DeWain Sparks, Matthew Anderson, Kate Cuneo

Geneva Mayor and City Council Candidate Forum: Held at 12PM on Sunday, February 9 at the Geneva Public Library, located at 227 S 7^th St. in Geneva. The following candidates were extended invitations to participate: 

• Mayor: Kevin Burns, Karsten Pawlik

• City Council: Lee W. Eysturlid, Larry Furnish, Kevin J. Ziegler, Amy Mayer, Erin M. DiSilvestro, Patrice Bertheau, Jeff Palmquist, Kim Edwards

The Batavia Library Board and School Board Candidate Forum: Held at 6:30PM on Thursday, January 30 at Batavia City Hall, located at 100 N. Island Avenue in Batavia. The following candidates were invited to participate: 

• Batavia Library Board: Christy Ford, Christopher Lowe, Marianne Fasano, Kathryn L. Hubbard, Jennifer Sutton

• Batavia School Board District 101: Lacey “Aerin” Einstein-Curtis, Kristin Gehrels, Katherine “Katy” Swiecicki, Craig S. Meadows, Aaron Kilburg, Rose McNaul

The St. Charles Library Board and School Board Candidate Forum: Held at 6PM on Monday, February 3 at the St. Charles Public Library, located at 1 S. 6^th Avenue in St. Charles. The following candidates were invited to participate: 

• St. Charles Library Board: Jane S. Shelton, Robert T. Gephart, Barbara Diepenbrock, Joseph Gay

• St. Charles School Board District 303: Heidi J. Fairgrieve, Aaron White, Jenna Hancock, Elias Palacios, Kimberly Rich, Thomas Lentz, Antonietta Berton-Nicklaus, Katherine (Kate) Bell

“The decisions we make and the officers we choose through local elections can have a profound effect on the health of our schools, businesses, and community,” said Patti Lackman, Voter Service Chair of the League of Women Voters of Central Kane County. “These forums are a great opportunity for voters to see and ask questions of their candidates. We encourage every candidate invited to these forums to participate fully.”

The League of Women Voters provides these forums as a service to the public. It is a non-partisan organization that does support or endorse candidates or political parties.

Nonpartisan information about voting in Illinois can be found here.

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