Front Page
THREE STRIKES, HOILAND…
AND YOU’RE OUT!
Everyone knows there’s an election coming. In last week’s newspaper edition of the Geneva Shore Report, a letter to the editor indicated just how upset the people were who worked tirelessly and voluntarily to allow all the candidates for office a chance to speak to the public and answer some questions from the audience of gathered voters. Mr. Hoiland at first sent in a list of demands regarding questions and his willingness to answer or not answer them. That didn’t sit well with the committee putting on the event, since none of the small-town sort of get-out-the-vote meetings are truly contentious, unlike national debates or discussions.
Mr. Hoiland chose not to show up for the meeting. There are only two mayoral candidates, so that was quite a statement, not that his competition could not stand up and deliver brilliantly, which he did, thank the tattered gods of politics. But Mr. Hoiland is an American and therefore entitled to show up if he feels like it or to be afraid and cower away. He chose to cower, and sometimes, well, that’s okay, particularly when the only damage is truly to himself.
The committee will survive, and Mr. Hoiland’s opponent, Todd Krause, is likely to thrive all the more. However, this action, although definitive in a social sense, is not one of the three ‘strikes’ the GSR is bringing up on the front page of this edition of the newspaper. No, it’s milk toast compared to what follows:
Strike One!
Mr. Hoiland was confronted by one of the city council members about some of his statements and conduct as a city council member himself (he’s also running for his own council seat at the same time as he’s running for mayor, which is a strange twist in political rulings in Wisconsin). Mr. Hoiland didn’t like what the elder woman, who’s a council person still serving, had to say, so he pushed and then shouldered her out of the way. The woman went to the police and filed assault charges against Mr. Hoiland, as allowed by Wisconsin criminal codes.
Strike Two!
Mr. Hoiland went about his way, walking through Lake Geneva neighborhoods to distribute political brochures and papers, trying to get the attention of the electorate. At one home, he stopped at the main solid door, which was open, but the clear glass protective door was closed. It was unlocked, and nobody was home. Mr. Hoiland opened the door and tossed his stuff onto the living room floor of the home. The resident returned home to find the stuff and accessed his doorbell camera to discover what had taken place. He called the police, and now Mr. Hoiland has his second contact with the police department, as well as earning his second strike with the GSR.
Strike Three!
Mr. Hoiland went over to the water department of the City of Lake Geneva and interviewed the head of that department. He encouraged and then accepted the man’s willingness to make a video supporting Mr. Hoiland for the position of mayor in the city. This act violated the ordinance in effect in Lake Geneva against just such actions by candidates serving in superior positions, or even inferior positions, while running for office. Lake Geneva City employees are not allowed to show formal favoritism to any candidate, particularly not on city time.
Mr. Hoiland might act out, as these three instances allege, as a private citizen and receive either mild reprimands or gentle punishments. None of what he apparently did rises to high crimes, but it does give rise to receiving a judgment by the electorate about appropriate behavior for a man trying to be elected as the city’s mayor, or even to a renewal of his city council role. Private citizens act in many ways that are not always appropriate, but the measure for such actions by a person working to represent the entire city should be held to a much higher level. Mr. Hoiland and the employee, the alleged participants in the third strike accusation written here, have to appear before the Personnel Committee for a hearing about their actions.
Maybe the most humorous or sad part of the story is that Mr. Hoiland is chairman of the committee he’s supposed to appear in front of. That committee is supposed to meet a few days before the election. What’s the likelihood it will meet at all? The current mayor running against him could fire Mr. Hoiland from that committee immediately, but Todd Krause is a class act and is not likely to do that, as he wants the election to be as fair as possible. Another reason, besides the ‘three strikes and you’re out’ stuff, is that the GSR is so heavily backing Mr. Krause. Krause has class.
