Complaints filed against Lake Geneva mayor dismissed
Complaints filed against Lake Geneva Mayor Todd Krause by a former political opponent have been dismissed.
On May 22, the Lake Geneva City Council’s Personnel Committee voted 3-1 to dismiss the complaints filed by Alder Joel Hoiland, who cast the dissenting vote.
Hoiland challenged Krause during the April 7 election. Krause won the mayoral race, but in the District 3 race, Hoiland defeated Peg Esposito.
Members of the Lake Geneva City Council’s Personnel Committee dismissed several complaints against Mayor Todd Krause, left, which were filed by Alderman Joel Hoiland, right, on May 22. Krause and Hoiland faced each in the mayoral race during the April 7 spring election.
The complaints included the following allegations:
That Krause used his city-issued email address, mayor@lakegeneva.gov, as his primary contact for his campaign website, which could have given the impression that he was using municipal resources for campaign-related communication.
That Krause posted a photos of himself in the City Council chambers and with a group of students outside City Hall on his campaign website and social media platforms, which could have indicated he was using city property for campaign reasons.
That there is a video which shows Krause using a phone while driving a vehicle.
That photos posted on social media show Krause struck a snowbank while driving and received assistance from two police officers. The complaint stated that the incident happened in Bloomfield and no citations were issued.
Hoiland said one of the reasons that he filed the grievances was because City Administrator Dave De Angelis filed a complaint against him related to a campaign video that was filmed at a public works facility.
Hoiland said he has never seen the video and there is no documentation that the video was used.
The Personnel Committee on May 4 voted to censure Hoiland for that incident. The censure officially was issued May 22.
“It’s not my desire to censure the mayor. None of these things are necessarily against the law,” Hoiland said. “Selective enforcement, that’s what this is about. I wanted to compare and contrast because there’s significant contrast between how I’ve been treated and the way other people have been treated.”
Krause’s rebuttals
Krause said the photograph of him in the council chambers was taken by a professional photographer for an article that was published in the “At the Lake” magazine. He said several city-related photos and videos have been taken in the council chambers.
He said the photo of him with the students was taken in a public area during a tour of City Hall that was sponsored by Lake Geneva Business Improvement District officials.
Krause said the photo was taken by one of the students and was published on his private Facebook account, which he uses to post both general and campaign information.
He said the photographs of him striking a snowbank occurred while he was driving on an icy road, and a town of Bloomfield and town of Linn police officer arrived on the scene to assist him.
“I didn’t realize the mayor going into a snowbank would become such a hot topic, but apparently it was,” Krause said. “Regardless of whether you’re the mayor or not, you’re still entitled to those rights of public service in case of an incident like this.”
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