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THE ‘GOOD OLD BOYS ARE BACK!
They never really went anywhere, except into a public form of hiding. Where do they hide and ‘who are those guys, anyway?’ Oh, how about Jim Conners, former mayor, and Tim Horn? They hide away on the police and fire commission, laying in wait. Then, there’s Frank Marcella, squirreled away on the zoning appeals commission. The developers are not hidden away, except in plain sight; Pollard, Shodeen, Wolf, Keefe, and more. Dennis Jordan, former city administrator is out there floating around but not connected directly to the city in any way. Cindy Flower, one of the few female members of the ‘club’ is retiring from being a city alderperson but will certainly remain around and involved.
Dan Draper, the city attorney, is the most flagrantly placed and expressively powerful member of the club. Rich Hedlund, a current alderperson, is also entirely visible as a part-time member, although not visible when he doesn’t show up (like he did on Thursday night when a special council meeting had to be canceled because he was deep in St. Patrick’s Day celebration at the Pub). On St. Patrick’s Day last week, Mr. Draper called a city council meeting over the possibility of reinstating the impact fees for new developments.
Here’s what happens when you play at government with those guys. The meeting was called for six o’clock. Three of Lake Geneva’s biggest developers showed up to be able to talk about why the ‘study,’ was required by the state in order to attempt a reinstatement of the fees. Only five of the alderpersons came. The city attorney ‘ruled,’ or advised, that there were not enough alderpersons there to have a quorum (majority) since only five council members were present. Of course, unless something financial is going to be voted upon, the quorum necessary isn’t five alderpersons, it’s six. But there was nothing on the agenda about any financial decisions or voting to be done. The whole raft of five alderpersons present, along with the mayor, went along with Dan Draper’s charade.
What was the charade? Five alderpersons present for the meeting was, and remains, a quorum. Instead of having this hastily called meeting on this vital subject, the meeting was immediately canceled. Why did these guys, this passel of aging Lake Geneva residents, citizens, and decision-makers, not want a meeting about impact fees? Because they were, and will likely remain, totally stalling. There’s an election coming up in a little over three weeks. Although there’s one more city council meeting to be held before that election (on the 28th of March) it is a real toss-up whether this canceled emergency meeting that was never held, will be brought up and the ‘study’ initiated as planned. Lake Geneva’s property developers are extremely powerful.
The only thing that keeps them in check at all, and from turning Lake Geneva into some cheap bawdy and ridiculous playground for Chicago visitors, is the public knowing about what they are up to before they get approval to be up to it. There is a movement afoot to replace the elected position of city attorney with an attorney service dedicated to providing the necessary legal advice and counsel the city needs on an irregular basis. This kind of service is the norm in small communities across the land. Usually, the legal advice and counsel is better, more objective, and cheaper in expense, as well. Support that movement when it comes up. Lake Geneva’s residents, citizens, taxpayers, and visitors all deserve better legal representation.
