OUR PLACE
The Tammi Carstensen story.
Harbor Shores, the hotel set right up from the Lake Geneva municipal pier, had its best month in the month of December 2021. It was the best ever! That’s saying something, given these times of the pandemic, weird weather, and even weirder politics. The story of Harbor Shores, and its continued success is really the story of Tammi Carstensen running it. She’s done so for sixteen years straight. And she’s done it with class and efficiency. The Business Improvement District meetings are held there every month. Harbor Shores provides the space for free, in which to hold the meetings. It provides complimentary ice water, pens, note pads, and even napkins. Coffee is provided free in the nearby outside hall. Not only is that classy, on Tammi’s part, but it’s also really good business. Tammi makes the feel of the place warm, pleasant, and entertaining. Nice work all around.
The investigation of Business Improvement District funds moves into high gear.
The forensic audit requested by the BID board is being ordered up and paid for by the BID itself. Meanwhile, a police detective is being assigned the case in order to add an element of law enforcement to the effort. According to the two top officers of the current BID board, money has gone missing over the years. Now, the truth of that is about to be discovered. There are a lot of present and former political players still involved with the city government in Lake Geneva who’ve had a piece of that BID action, whether by being directly involved with the finances or simply on the side, being paid for services and products supplied for BID functions.
Now, will the BID really proceed with the forensic audit as they have threatened to do when the cost is likely to be in the tens of thousands? Will the police, (LGPD) be forced to send it on to the sheriffs, to really dig in and examine all the records? Will the comptroller keep her job or resign because of the pressure and reputational hint of the allegations? When the big library scandal-hit ten years back, the audit did find almost a hundred thousand in missing or false credit card charges. The city’s insurance company paid that money back, one person was investigated but nothing came of it except that the city withdrew itself from issuing credit cards to its department heads and others.
The more interesting story is the one about how successful the BID is currently being in collecting revenue, creating and working on new projects, and expanding its sphere of influence to reach out and bring in other businesses in the area that profit from what the BID does but don’t currently belong or pay dues into.
Person of the Week
Spyro Condos, Business Improvement District President, fights for what’s right in downtown Lake Geneva.
