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GALA SUCCESS
The city of Lake Geneva has engaged itself in several gala celebrations, to celebrate the completion of the Riviera Pier Complex project, to celebrate the coming of Christmas, and now to celebrate the coming of the New Year. This last of the trio galas is still selling tickets for $75.00 a person, and is one hell of a deal, considering it includes a Celebrations prepared meal, snacks, and a spot to sit at the function. The person driving the forces focused to put on these galas is none other than mayor Charlene Klein. After her unlikely narrow defeat of Tom Hartz in the last election, held at the critical peak of the pandemic, she has gone on to manage a scene, not unlike those that face the Green Bay Packers every weekend of their football season.
Instead of injuries and errors in play by the players, she’s had to deal with the effects of the virus, from vaccinations, mandates, masks, and then the other players still in power who don’t agree with her in almost any way. Like with the Packers, the road to victory has been harried, shaky, and downright scary at times. When one considers that she’s not playing a game that the results will have little effect for or on, she’s playing with real lives, real critical relationships, and real limited funding.
Lake Geneva has enjoyed a rather critical place of occupation and operation during the entire period of the ever-evolving virus variants and their tie to political beliefs (by a very vocal minority) and scientific proof. The conservative Wisconsin leadership would not allow mandated masks during the duration of the pandemic, least up to the turn of 2022. That allowed for thousands and thousands of people to come to play in Lake Geneva because Illinois had severely limited mandates everywhere all the time.
Lake Geneva viral outbreak statistics in both hospitalizations and deaths did not climb for one very good reason. The locals didn’t come out to play with the visitors and therefore the spike in viral outbreaks was substantially limited. The visitors came, clumped together, and then went home, where statistics skyrocketed in every category but could not be ascribed to their gathering in Lake Geneva because nobody kept much of any records with respect to local travel of anyone. The city profited mightily from this odd unaccountable effect and the mayor, and city council, gently guided the whole thing along, assuring that the city would not go broke or go begging for funds.
Every source of revenue the city receives has climbed to record levels and the tax benefits the city is likely to receive will be much greater in the coming years as the skyrocketing property values return even more dividends to the city’s coffers.
Should the city be having all these gala events, even though the proceeds from all of them have gone and are going to charitable concerns that are terrific and in bad need of the money? In particular, should the coming of the New Year be so celebrated because the latest variant of the virus (Omicron) has proven itself to be much more communicable, although much milder than Delta, the previous variant that swept through the countryside? Times have really changed. Now, masking is likely not to be mandated because so many people have gotten the two vaccines and then the booster. The vaccinated really don’t need masking to be safe, even from the Omicron. Instead of politics, science stepped in and lessened the necessity of masking.
A strong portion of conservative Wisconsin will remain unvaccinated, and even though any sane person might think that those people would want to mask, well, think again. Anyone not intelligent enough or well informed enough to get vaccinated likely lacks the same qualities when it comes to considering their own safety. Charlene Klein is quietly and very effectively leading the city along to new heights of success and deserves the New Year’s gala in her honor, although the proceeds should still go to the handicapped park out on Edwards Boulevard. Thank you, Mayor Klein, and Happy New Year.
Great that property values have risen, that means higher property taxes that generally don’t result in lower property tax rates. What happens is the politicians look at it as MORE to SPEND. There is no such thing as a conservative politician. Politicians and money are married at the hip. Most politicians speak out two sides of their mouth. One side to get elected and then fail to SERVE their constituents while enriching themselves at the taxpayers trough and gleefully accepting bribes/campaign contributions to fill their pockets with.
Wisconsin needs to REMOVE the school tax from seniors 65 and older. Higher income taxes are needed on the wealthy and corporations. They use our resources, infrastructure and labor; acting as greedy LEACHES on our Society; all why paying a pittance of what they should be paying.