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MAYOR CHARLENE KLEIN GOES ‘ALL IN’

The primary elections are coming, in Lake Geneva, for the position of mayor.  The 15^th of February is the big day, but there is plenty of early voting going on, which started on the 1^st.  The three candidates are the current mayor, running for re-election Charlene Klein, a former alderperson from the time of Jim Conners named Todd Krause, and then a rather from ‘left-field’ candidate named Dennis Loeser.

There is little question at this point, if you are reading this, that the Geneva Shore Report has supported, and continues to support, the mayoral leadership of Charlene Klein.  She’s done a great job during a difficult time period, plus she’s added warmth and confidence to city leadership and employees across the board.  She spends tons of time at her office in the city municipal building, which is so uncommon it almost boggles the mind.

Through the last twelve years of the GSR’s existence, staff members have almost never found anybody occupying that office.  It is a great pleasure to walk into the building and see her invitingly open door past the main office counter to the west.  The hall there dead ends in her office.  The buck stops there.  The two top-vote receivers will move on to the main elections in April.  The third will drop out.  Absentee ballots are sent out by the city clerk to those who’ve registered requests for them from the Lake Geneva municipal building, and that was starting on Tuesday the 2nd. They may also be requested and picked up from the municipal offices by the 11^th of February and they must be returned to the city offices (the only polling place in the city is at the municipal offices) by the next Thursday). The last day to get an absentee ballot is the 10^th of February.  That’s also the last day you can simply stand at the counter, fill out the ballot and give it to the clerk, if you so choose.

The poll for the ‘in person’ actual voting is open from 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, the 15^th of February, and closes at 8:00 p.m. that same day. Read carefully all that is written here.  It sounds complex to understand and adhere to the rules, but in reality, the whole process is pretty simple.  Either go in and get an absentee ballot, fill it out at the counter or take it home and either drop it off or make sure it’s in the dropbox or arrives at the city hall by the end of election day (postmarks do not matter, in this case), otherwise, given that you are a registered voter in Lake Geneva, just show up sometime during the morning, afternoon or early evening of the 15^th and cast your vote.

These rules are not the same for those that will be applied during the main election which does not take place until April.  This election. if a primary election to decide which two winning candidates, will be on the ballot in the coming main election next April.  You only get to vote for one person: either Charlene Klein, Todd Krause, or Dennis Loeser.  The only dropbox, should you decide to deposit an absentee ballot, is located right out at the edge of Geneva Street where it passes by the municipal building.  Ordinarily, that big yellow box is used for the payment of parking fines.

That the Geneva Shore Report is recommending Charlene Klein for re-election should surprise no one, and the insert in this issue, about her attributes, and why the city should ‘stay the course’ and keep here, is not paid for by her or any other person or organization.  It’s paid for by the publisher of the GSR as a public service.