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Condos wants to retake Lake Geneva council seat

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Spyro Condos

LAKE GENEVA — Former Alderman Spyro “Speedo” Condos wants to take back his seat on the Lake Geneva City Council, but it wasn’t clear Tuesday if he’ll be allowed to reclaim it.

“I’d like my seat back,” he said. “We had an agreement. (The mayor) reneged on it. … I’m doing the same. I’ve changed my mind.”

Condos on Monday filed a letter with the city to rescind his resignation from the city council. He claims Mayor Bill Chesen violated a Nov. 25 agreement Chesen and four council members reached after mediation by a Walworth County judge.

Chesen agreed to drop the charges he brought Sept. 10 against council members Mary Jo Fesenmaier, Arleen Krohn, Penny Roehrer and Tom Spellman.

Condos in exchange agreed to resign from the council.

In his Monday letter to City Attorney Dan Draper, Condos accuses Chesen of violating his part of the agreement.

Condos wrote that the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office still is investigating Fesenmaier, Krohn, Roehrer and Spellman based on a complaint from Chesen.

Chesen filed the complaint Sept. 21, according to the sheriff’s office.

If the violations Chesen included in his Sept. 21 complaint are the same as the violations he used to bring charges Sept. 10 against the four council members, Chesen is in “flagrant violation” of the terms of the agreement reached in court, Condos wrote in his letter.

Even if the violations are different, Chesen still is going against the intent of the agreement, according to the letter.

Condos told the Gazette on Tuesday that when Chesen agreed Nov. 25 to drop the charges against the council members, Chesen should have withdrawn his complaint and the investigation should have ended.

“In either case, (his) shameful disregard of the terms of the agreement, which he ‘reluctantly agreed’ to, shows contempt for the court, (the judge) and the authenticity of his word, and thereby revokes any and all agreements entered into in this matter,” he wrote in his letter.

Chesen said he fulfilled the terms of the agreement.

“I withdrew my charges in writing, and I have not to this date reinstated those charges,” he said.

Chesen said he believes the sheriff’s investigation into his complaint is over because a detective told him it was complete.

“I’m thrilled if they started a new investigation based on my complaint,” he said, “but I didn’t ask them to do it.”

Sheriff’s Capt. Dana Nigbor said Tuesday she knows of only one investigation into possible open meetings violations in Lake Geneva. The investigation, initiated by a Sept. 21 complaint from Chesen, still is open but soon could be closed, she said.

Nigbor said the detective might have told Chesen the investigation was mostly complete, but the detective also might have recently talked to council members as he prepares to close the case.

Condos believes the agreement reached in court now is null and void because of the ongoing investigation.

“The charges still have not been dropped,” he said. “(The four council members) are being investigated. (The mayor) reneged on the deal. The charges weren’t dropped or they wouldn’t be being questioned. And that nullifies the agreement.”

Condos is waiting for a response from the city attorney about his letter.

The Gazette was not able to reach the city attorney Tuesday.

Condos said he wants his seat back, but it’s not clear if he will be allowed to take it when the council next meets Monday, Jan. 25.