LITTLE GEMS
With the new audio and visual equipment installed by Smart Spaces, city meetings are viewable with a lot more ease.
The upgrade was well overdue as the equipment was very outdated. With the new technology installed, one would think that the cable channel 25 which covers Lake Geneva city government would have been automatically included. Unfortunately, it was not. The public and many city officials were and still are very disappointed by this. The AV equipment was installed and up and running in September 2024 and here we are well into January 2025 and still no Channel 25 access.
City officials reached out to Smart Spaces to find out what would need to be done and what the cost would be. The additional equipment needed to make this possible is an additional $40,000.00. This purchase took time, as all city purchases do, along with needing approval from the sitting city council members. The approval came, and the plan was to have access to the channel by December 2024. That did not happen due to the components needed were not available in November as expected. This important gear needed has been delayed as it has to be custom made.
Mayor Krause reassured the public at last week’s city council meeting that the part will be ready soon and the government access channel is expected to be available by the end of February 2025. Never forget that the public has a paid-for vested interest in seeing and hearing what is going on in these city meetings, and the leaders of the city most definitely do not. Several city councils have been asked by mayors in the past to cancel all meetings of the whole wherein the public can come in to talk to the leaders without having the subject they might be interested in on any agenda. Almost all leaders of all governmental bodies, once in office, want as little public input as they can get. Mayor Krause and most of the current composition of the Lake Geneva City Council are not built that way, but there’s no telling what the election will bring when the next looming election occurs.
Person of the Week
Joe, the genius at the counter at Best Buy.
