Our Place

The Business Improvement District (the BID) continues to consider BID owned and city regulated advertising banners. Amazingly, the Bid voted unanimously to take over the seven public banner locations (poles on Main, Broad and Geneva Streets) from the city, if the city will allow it. Also, amazingly, Bridget, BID’S Director just back from maternity leave, said she would not discuss the placement of private businesses upon the banners because the subject was all high drama. She also said the bid would have the current ordinance done away with, the one that basically prevents private businesses from being set against one another to get the favored banner locations. Why is this issue being pushed so hard? Because there are a few very favored business owners who want to take over those banner locations, and some of them have seats on that BID board, or so it would seem.

The Lake Geneva City Council blows it!
The issue of Hillmoor and paying Mr. Slavney’s company (Vandewalle & Associates) will not go away. The $29,000, no doubt promised to Mr. Slavney, who, in full conflict of interest, works for developers trying to develop in Lake Geneva, while he sits advising the plan commission that recommends everything about any development they might want to submit. Mr. Slavney is getting paid by the City of Lake Geneva and the developers at the same time. That this conflict of interest remains in force and is supported by the mayor, the city council, and the city attorney, makes it all the more objectionable. It’s unconscionable.

Doug Skates, the City of Lake Geneva’s worst city council member in memory, praised and lied about the development of Hillmoor, joined in by Mayor Hartz, who also lied about nearly everything, recreating Richard Nixon’s “Silent Majority” that really agrees with the shady developer, and now equally shady elected officials backing them. The vote was nearly unanimous, in going along with the straw charade of how the opposition, 70 citizens sitting in front of that poorly performing council, wanted a park that would cost the city much money to take care of in the future. None of the opposition ever put forth the idea of a park in any public or private forum. Slavney, and the consultants get their $29,000 for doing nothing except supporting the coming developers of Hillmoor. Only alderpersons Halvorson and Dunn voted against this bad idea.

All this council lacked for this exercise was a good supply of Sharpie pens. The first step in Hillmoor going down was thus completed, but the battle is a long way from being over.

Lake Geneva City Council

Tom Hartz beats down the property owners of downtown Lake Geneva.
The mayor’s little scheme to make the pursuit of liquor licenses in Lake Geneva more equitable (by having a high school like point system for qualification), passed handily at the last council meeting. The mayor was able to hide the fact that the point system he devised will allow the transfer of liquor license ownership from property owners to business owners, of which most business owners in Lake Geneva do not own the property they lease to run their businesses. The idea is not nearly as bad as the subterfuge the mayor used to get the measure passed.

Mayor Hartz and Liquor Licenses