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No charges in Lake Geneva election flap

Photo

Spyro Condos

Photo

William Chesen

LAKE GENEVA — Walworth County prosecutors will not file criminal charges against those implicated in an election-related incident at a Lake Geneva restaurant.

Lake Geneva police were dispatched March 29 to the Harborside Café to identify a woman who earlier had handed Bill Chesen, who was then candidate for mayor, a cartoon that made fun of his college degree.

The cartoon depicted Wally the dog with a diploma in his mouth from Almeda University and a conversation bubble above that read, "I graduated with Bill Chesen."

Chesen, who later won the election, holds a bachelor's degree from Almeda University, which is an online institution not accredited by the U.S. Department of Education.

The Almeda Web site indicates it is accredited by the Association for Online Academic Excellence and offers associate and bachelor's degrees based on an assessment of a candidate's life experience.

According to Lake Geneva police reports, Chesen that morning had parked his pickup truck in front of the restaurant, which is owned by then-opponent Spyro Condos.

Chesen returned that afternoon to put money into the parking meter.

Soraya Eiermann, who was sitting on a bench outside smoking a cigarette, handed him the cartoon, which she said she found on the bench.

Chesen took the cartoon to the police department because he believed it depicted defamatory information similar to papers already circulating in the city.

Police Chief Michael Rasmussen advised two officers to go to the restaurant to "keep the peace" because of the "political atmosphere and conflict between the candidates."

The officers talked to Eiermann, who was in town from Illinois visiting a friend.

The incident spawned complaints from:

-- Condos, who said the police had no right to enter his restaurant and cause a disturbance.

-- Alderman Tom Spellman, who accused Chesen of misusing his position as an alderman to involve police in the incident.

-- Chesen, who said the cartoon was defamatory.

All the complaints were investigated by the Walworth County Sheriff's Department, and reports were turned over to the district attorney's office.

In a Sept. 9 letter to the sheriff's department, Assistant District Attorney Diane Donohoo addressed the defamation complaint.

She wrote that she was declining to issue criminal charges because:

-- The cartoon had no defamatory effect. "In the public forum of running for the position of city mayor, this information would be properly termed as negative campaigning," Donohoo wrote.

-- Eiermann's intent was not to defame Chesen, "but rather to bring a matter to the attention of voters," Donohoo wrote.

-- While Chesen didn't consent to the cartoon, he had detailed his educational background in his campaign literature. "The voters were entitled to know that his degree was of questionable value," Donohoo wrote.

Donohoo wrote that there was nothing criminal about Eiermann's conduct March 29 because she simply was exercising her right to "engage in public discourse in an attempt to support the candidate of her choice."

Donohoo wrote that civil court might be the most appropriate forum for Chesen's complaint.

The Janesville Gazette was not able to reach Chesen for comment.