Surprising Stuff
The most interesting town hall meeting took place in Town of Linn on Monday night.
A hundred people showed up to watch the battle between Chris Jones, one of the board members, and Jim Weiss, board chairman, play out. It seems that Ms. Jones is attempting to oust Mr. Weiss and replace him with, yes you guessed it, herself. Jim is not only board chairman in Town of Linn, but the city administrator in Williams Bay. Ms. Jones brought charges of conflict of interest against Weiss, even though he’s never had to make a decision on anything that might be a conflict of interest between the two communities (he’s required and also pledged to recuse himself if such a territorial dispute were to arise).
There’s also the matter of the city attorney (the one dying of cancer) who didn’t inform Jim, or anybody else, that his legal license had been suspended while he continued to be the Town of Linn city attorney matter. Jim Weiss didn’t find out for several months that the attorney’s license had been suspended (for failure to complete continuing education courses and because he failed to reply to someone’s complaint about his conduct in a case).
Two citizens stepped forward to demand Jim’s resignation because of an ongoing sheriff’s investigation into the attorney’s conduct. Ten citizens stood up to speak in favor of keeping Weiss. The Geneva Shore Report also spoke in favor of retaining the expertise of this local civic leader. The crowd was overwhelming in favor of retaining him, as well. The Town of Linn appointed a new city attorney (one who’s not suspended) and a new police chief at the same meeting. As one citizen reported upon leaving the meeting, “there’s no need to turn on the television to watch what’s going on in national politics, because the local stuff is wilder and more interesting.”
Town of Linn Meeting
Town of Linn Chief of Police
Monday night James Bushey was sworn in as the new Town of Linn Police Chief . He says he his very humble and proud to have been chosen as Chief of Police, and that he is eager to carry on the legacy that former/honorary Chief Cates. Congratulations Police Chief James Bushey and the Town of Linn.
Where’s the beef?
Should the Geneva Inn be annexed by the City of Lake Geneva, thereby leaving Town of Linn sitting there out in the cold, the liquor license currently possessed by that business would transfer, too. Say what? Those licenses go for around three hundred thousand dollars now, because the number any community may have is limited by the State of Wisconsin. So, if the Geneva Inn gets annexed, then Town of Linn loses one of its licenses, and Lake Geneva picks up an extra license. This happened to Town of Lyon when the Red Geranium Restaurant (on Highway 50 behind Walgreens) was annexed by the City of Lake Geneva a few years ago. No money changed hands, no deals were made, and no consideration of lost or gained value was discussed. It’s time for Town of Linn to demand a return should the Geneva Inn disappear into the City of Lake Geneva fold. Three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) sounds like a fair value for the liquor license. And fair is fair.
