GENEVA – Two Geneva mayoral forums scheduled this month will feature incumbent Mayor Kevin Burns and challenger Tom Simonian, who are facing off in the April 6 general election.

The Geneva Chamber of Commerce is hosting a members-only Zoom event from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Questions should be received via email by noon on Tuesday before at RCHIONE@GENEVACHAMBER.COM. Registration is required at www.genevachamber.com.

The Central Kane County League of Women Voters and the Geneva Chamber are co-sponsoring a mayoral forum at 7 p.m. March 18 in at the Geneva Public Library, but League Voter Service Chair Patti Lackman said it will be closed to the public.

Instead, the forum will be recorded and posted online after the event on the League and Chamber’s websites at my.lwv.org/illinois and www.genevachamber.com and via other social media, Lackman said.

Questions for the candidates can be submitted via email at info@lwvckc.org.

The Chamber’s members-only forum will feature Simonian talking for the first half-hour and Burns talking for the second half-hour, Chamber President Paula Schmidt said.

“It is an informational session so people can listen to the candidates,” Schmidt said. “We don’t want the contention. We want to hear what they have to say and not (have them) talk over each other.”

This is the first time the Chamber is participating in an election, she said.

Members may also submit questions through the chat box function on the Zoom if there is enough time, Schmidt said.

Simonian, a former 5th Ward Alderman, lost to Burns in 2017 in a failed bid for mayor. He also lost for alderman in 2019 to incumbent Craig Maladra.