Living Here
Nothing is free.
That includes possible grant money to the City of Lake Geneva”s Police Department and Joint 1 School District to entice them to increase school security. The estimated $300,000 cost is for personnel, equipment, and installation for the first year, with some additional money for the following year, but then the burden of maintaining the cost of that system will become the responsibility of the City of Lake Geneva and the local school district. What will that maintenance cost be and should residents who will have to pay those maintenance costs to be involved or by-passed in the decision-making process?
So, although the initial grant comes from other taxpayers, the maintenance of the system will be paid by the local resident taxpayers. Unlike costly projects that require borrowing and public approval, projects funded by grants do not need public approval. The question that arises is should residents be involved, informed or be required to approve governmental actions, or should they be excluded from the decisions their government is making, especially decisions that affect them, their children and their taxes? The system of grants is intended to control, guide and direct the actions of people and communities by the use of enticements into doing things that they would not do on their own without the enticement. Businesses, charities, and non-profits have done this for years, where they offer matching funds (two for one), or free products with a maintenance or user fee. The system is quite successful with people, groups and communities. But is that the best way for a government to act, or would it be better to keep residents included and informed of their pending actions and their intentions?
Screaming down in yellow burning flames.
The plan commission voted unanimously to deny Roger Wolfe (with Mike Keefe right behind him) the right to build a super-high-density housing project near East Townline Road and Joshua Blvd. The housing project was bitterly opposed by everyone in the area and a lot of those people showed up on Monday night to complain about the potential traffic nightmare the development would bring to the area. The plan commission, unbelievably led by Doug Skates, voted the plan down. Doug is turning into a good guy and the transformation of this man is going down much harder on the editorial staff of the Geneva Shore Report than it is on him. Nice work plan commission. Nice work Doug and Slavney too!
New Tree Crop in Lake Geneva?
