THE COMPLETE EMASCULATION
OF THE LAKE USE COMMITTEE
Two months ago, the Lake Use Committee met, and were confounded when a member of the public stood up and told them that they needed to become more authoritarian and take over all operations around the lake effecting the quality of Geneva Lake and the people and property that live around it. This person went on to point out that there was no other agency or organization charged with that responsibility. And the Lake Use Committee’s form of organization (two representatives from each community living around the lake, one appointed and one elected) was unique, and offered a true opportunity for the committee to overcome the problems encountered when each portion of the lake was controlled, ruled and 
administered by each small community, according to how much lake front that community owned or controlled. That speech did not fall on deaf ears. Mr. Chuck “death to environmentalism” Coleman heard that message. Jim Weiss felt the reverberations from the potential effects of that speech, and Mayor Jim “there’s not one chance in the world” Connors of Lake Geneva definitely, and definitively, heard that speech. And those men acted. They decided that a man like Sparky Lundberg, current head of the committee, was way too wildly environmental to hold the reins. So they decided to change the rules. They made sure that future leaders would be elected, and not appointed. Then they made sure that nothing dealing with the shore might be discussed, much less acted upon, by changing the committee rules so that the group can only consider stuff that happens on the water. Those waters of Geneva Lake, like the waters of Babylon, written by Don McClean: “By the waters, the waters of Babylon, we lay down and wept, and wept…”
The waters of Geneva Lake are patrolled by more than eight boats. Some are police department boats from the local communities, some are manned by firemen, some by DNR officials and some by fish and game personnel. The waters of Geneva Lake are also regulated by the Geneva Lake Environmental Association, chaired by a great leader named Ted Peters. There’s plenty of regulation and enforcement of the waters of Geneva Lake. Those little communities around the lake, however, do not want to lose any of their individual power to control what happens on the land adjoining the water, or near the lake. Each little fiefdom wants to protect its own interest, which is often totally in opposition to the good of the lake as a whole. The man who gave that classic speech, wanting small people to act big, underestimated the ability of small people to act small. There is no way (tiny in size, but huge in revenue) Town of Linn is going to surrender any power at all, or even listen to what a committee like the Lake Use Committee might conclude. There is no way that Fontana or Williams Bay is giving anything away, as they only control a tiny amount of the lake front. And the hugely imposing City of Lake Geneva is certainly not ceding any ground, or water. At that same meeting where the gentlemen spoke in quiet but resounding tones, Mr. Coleman and one of his “conservation” minions, wanted the committee to be limited to only hearing comments about things put on the agenda by members of the committee.
Liberty is not first lost by taking guns from the citizenry.
It is first lost by taking the tongues from the citizenry.
The Grandest Person of the Week
Peter Jurgens, Geneva Bay Construction. A class act. This man and his company do most of the constructive work you see happening in and around downtown Lake Geneva. His work is quality and his prices are very southern Wisconsin, which is why his outfit does most of the work! Also, a great guy married to a classy beautiful woman. He’s lucky and Lake Geneva is lucky to have him.
