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LAKE GENEVA POLICE COMMISSION ROCKS
The City of Lake Geneva won a very quiet but very important battle against those (think commission chair Jim Conners – former mayor, and ‘Better Call Saul,’ the developer from Delavan) with very little faith in the current talent within their very own police department. Last week’s Police and Fire Commission meeting addressed the process of hiring a new police chief when the historically great Chief, Mike Rasmussen, retires in September.
Lieutenant Ed Gritzner Lake Geneva Police Department
Originally, the committee was divided on promoting within the department, even with all the wonderful and exceptional talent Lake Geneva is known to have. The two ‘outsider’ commissioners were pushing for looking for outside candidates and posting the position to other sites around the country, hoping to find some candidate supposedly better than the four inside officers already submitting applications. Jim Connors and Chuck Saul’s pushing and determination to look outside the Lake Geneva’s Police Department for a new chief (presuming for whatever reason that they probably already had someone in mind or simply wanted someone more amenable to control) is extremely unsettling, even after the vote went against them. What’s their ulterior motive because there sure as heck seems to be one?
Do they have a ‘friend’ they want to hand the job to? Are they looking to diminish the morale of the current department?
Since the commission was not in agreement as to promote from inside or hire from outside the department, the commission asked for a letter of intent from the current staff from anyone interested in the chief’s position. The commission received four letters from Lieutenant Ed Gritzner, Lieutenant Bridgett Way, Detective Kaitlin Tiets, and Seth Keller. With the four letters returned to their hands the commissioner’s decision had to be made on whether to open the position up for outside applicants.
Jim Connors and Chuck Saul stated they supported outside applicants and that the public and citizens want and deserve that also. That no referendum or petitions were distributed or sought, how is it possible for the commission to have an understanding of what the ‘public’ wants? The issue has never been on the docket for public discussion or consideration either. Commissioner Speedo Condos, a driving force in wanting to stay inside for this promotion, commissioner Jay Fairbanks, and finally commissioner Len Jegerski voted to keep the promotion inside. Commander Len Jegerski was the most surprising vote. His local vote ended any outside search. Len’s the leader of the American Legion and hasn’t always been favorably written about in the Geneva Shore Report. That all changed with the commander’s vote!
The Chief’s position is an extremely vital one, as the current police department, under the most capable hands of Mike Rasmussen, has handled the police function for the entire community as if the department is a throwback to earlier service and protection times. The community needs to thank the three commissioners who stood tall, as the GSR does. The manner in which the police department has handled enforcement and other services for the community (other services like the blood drive going on as this GSR issue is being distributed), has promoted and supported tourism, taken the community handily through the worst ravages of the pandemic, and has made the entire residential community (the real ‘owners’ of Lake Geneva) proud, satisfied and even happy.
Mayor Charlene Klein has her hands full in working to replace Jim Conners and ‘Better Call Saul’ as quickly as she is able. What they revealed about themselves in this controversy is important for her to consider and act upon. Lake Geneva, Geneva Lake, and the communities that surround it need local representation that is truly local and thinking ‘inside the wire’ while carefully considering the world outside that same wire. Which of the four candidates will get the promotion is anybody’s guess right now since all four are so distinguished in their own right. The GSR has had most contact with Lieutenant Gritzner and Lieutenant Way, and that contact has always been fantastic. The newspaper will endeavor to get to know more about the detectives as this matter of selection becomes imminent.
