Front Page
HARTZ BUYS A CHUNK OF HILLMOOR
David Winger is the Parks Director for the City of Lake Geneva. He was hired in July 2025 as the city’s first-ever dedicated parks director to oversee parks and recreation programs. Not much has changed since he came aboard, so maybe it’s time for the public to put some serious questions to him.
“Meet the Parks Director” event is scheduled for February 17, 2026, at the Lake Geneva Public Library. Enjoy coffee and conversation in the lobby of the library. The event starts at 10:30 a.m. Free coffee, donuts, and conversation. Bring your ideas and suggestions to share and hear all about upcoming news regarding the Lake Geneva parks. Go there and open up on this director as he’s not brand new anymore. His addition to the city at high pay reminds everyone of how the “Park” over at Hillmoor has turned out so far.
The parks commission is little different from this director in that it works away, but its work does not seem to have much in the way of physical manifestations. Meanwhile, Tom Hartz of Simple Restaurant and his Simple Bakery next door (plus, the Simple Apothecary next door to that), plunked down $750,000 for that chunk of land right across Edwards Boulevard from the Fairfield Hotel. Somehow, that multi-acre plot, overlooking almost all of the Hillmoor property, was appraised at a mere $683,000. Amazing, with a multi-million-dollar hotel right across the street. That was not Tom’s doing; he’s not to be faulted when the city accepts an appraisal work about a million less than the property is really worth.
Tom Hartz was a city council member for years in Lake Geneva, probably best known for voting to support the development of the Mirabal Hummel property located on the south side of Lake Geneva. That property didn’t make it as a commercial venture mostly because of overwhelming local citizen and property owner protests, not to mention the Geneva Shore Report, too. Then Tom left his job as mayor and wanted to purchase the run-down theater and refurbish it.
The Geneva Shore Report fought against that because the editorial staff felt that Tom was too close to being mayor to be involved with the purchase. The Geneva Shore Report was wrong. Tom would have been perfect in place of the people who did get the grant from the city, and then properly went after violating just about every tenet of the deal it signed with the city, and using the many thousands they got.
Today, that ‘theater’ is little more than a bar, only sort of looking like the wonderful old theater it was. Tom would have done a better job, and we hate to make this apology to him, but it is more than justified that he receives it, and in public on the front page. We are sorry that we got you wrong, Tom, and will try to do better in the future, as well as look forward to seeing what great things you are going to do with the property you just bought adjacent to the Hillmoor tract.
Tom’s already volunteered to develop steps down to the north side of the Hillmoor property so people will be able to access from and to the north of there. Nice gesture, Tom, and we all will appreciate what you do.
