Three Terms and They’re Out–Apathy, Corruption, and the Slow Death of Small-Town Politics

“Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it’s important.”
former U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy

In Lake Geneva local politicians only stick around for at most three two-year terms UNLESS they are in it for the money. A recent Mayor when asked why he was running stated “because it was good for my business.” It takes some Alderpersons three terms to figure out Eugene McCarthy’s truism and some only one.

Of the four city council members up for reelection this year, two have had enough. Shari Straube after three terms is not running again and fast learner Peg Esposito, through only having one term is hanging it up. She is smart and wise, after all life is short and getting shorter. Alderman Ken Howell, a three termer, due to health problems is also not in the race. Linda Frame on her first is still clueless and is running unopposed.

It’s a bad sign when the only people left in the race are either too oblivious to know better or too comfortable to care.

The lineup for this year’s spring election is:

1st District: Robert Croce vs. Janelle Powers (No incumbent)

2nd District: Linda Frame (Incumbent) Unopposed

3rd District: Brian Smith (No incumbent) Unopposed

4th District: Cathy Stoodley (Interim Alderperson for Ken Howell) Unopposed

Alderpersons Cindy Yager and Mary Jo Fesenmaier are both in their third terms but are not up for reelection till 2026. Meanwhile, Mayor Todd Krause has spent six months breaking rules with the enthusiasm of a man who knows nobody will stop him. Feisty Council President Mary Jo Fesenmaier, once a thorn in the side of bad governance, has gone missing in action more absent from meetings than every other politician combined. Coincidence? Not likely. Even the fighters lose their fight when they realize they’re swinging at shadows.

When three out of four Alderman seats of the City Council in Lake Geneva go unopposed it is a good tell that something is not cool the way things being run down at city hall.

When nobody wants to run for office, it’s not because everything is fine. It’s because nothing is. The voters, the politicians, the whole town they all know something is off, but the wheels keep turning anyway. No opposition. No accountability. No change.

This is what the slow death of small-town democracy looks like.

And then there’s the school district, back again with another referendum for more money, hoping the voters have developed short-term memory loss since last year’s rejection. They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result if that’s true, Lake Geneva’s education board might be due for a psych evaluation.