ST. CHARLES – Six of the nine candidates running in contested races for St. Charles alderman spent Thursday night fielding questions from a few dozen residents gathered at a forum sponsored by the Concerned Coalition for Sensible Spending of St. Charles.

The candidates – Justin Osborne and Ron Silkaitis for the 1st Ward; Art Lemke for the 2nd Ward; Mario VanDerHeyden for the 3rd Ward; and incumbent Maureen Lewis and Kim Malay for the 5th Ward – crowded around a table at Bridges Montessori Academy on Howard Street.

Incumbents Jon Monken of the 1st Ward, Cliff Carrignan of the 2nd Ward and Bill Turner of the 3rd Ward were not in attendance.