WHAT’S NORMAL
Advice to current and future Alderpersons, given by former Alderman Terry O’Neill, now a reporter for the Geneva Shore Report and city activist.
“Every ordinance or resolution that you approve is restricting, regulating or otherwise influences the life of someone or everyone who lives in the City of Lake Geneva or who visits it. Everything that you pass is a statement of your authority, control and influence over residents and visitors daily lives and freedoms. Remember, every ordinance, resolution, ban, regulation, permit, fee, tax or requirement that you pass further imposes, restricts and restrains and forces their compliance to your will. Every one of those restrictive ordinances is an attack on their freedom. Like waves crashing against an island of freedom, they slowly wash it away.
Also do not forget that every dollar that you spend has been taken away from someone and every dollar includes a little bit of his or her freedom with it. So say ‘NO!’ to extravagant spending and to freedom restricting ordinances, like the lighting ordinance that banned rope lights or the alcohol demerit system, which would have threatened many local people’s livelihoods. View ordinances are formed from the point of view of those on whom they are being imposed and not from the point of view of those imposing or benefiting from the ordinance, because it is life or rights of those who bear the burden of the ordinance who are being impaired or infringed. But even more important, do not continue on the path of relinquishing and restricting city council authority as previous city councils have done.
Like the requirement in the Lake Geneva City Employee Handbook that requires all Aldermanic requests for city information to be funneled through the City Administrator, or the Cemetery Ordinance which relinquishes some of the City Council’s financial authority to the comptroller and/or the City Administrator. Remember, as elected members of the City Council, you are the authority in the City of Lake Geneva and not the City Administrator or the Public Works Director.
It is time for the City Council to again start to lead city government and to stop being led by it.”
Yes, the Geneva Shore Report is right back to badgering Lake Geneva representative leadership about the snow shoveling.
At some point, probably not to be reached in the early part of 2015 simply because winter must begin to moderate soon, the pesky issue of shopkeepers in downtown Lake Geneva being forced to shovel their own walks and find unknown spaces lurking out their to put their sidewalk snow must be addressed. There is no real cost to taking better care of Lake Geneva’s small business owners. There is even less cost in acting like there is real care for these same businesses.
Oops, the store called Cobblestone is gone. No it isn’t. Just kidding. It moved from its location in the little shopping nook on Main Street over to the ground floor of the Bistro 220 building. Cobblestone should reopen in the next thirty days for those who loved the place. It’s going to be better than ever.
