La Crosse city council not happy with mayor

Kabat wants to give dept. heads
power without seeking council approval

La Crosse city council members aren’t exactly saying it’s a power grab by the mayor, but there’s plenty of skepticism.

Mayor Tim Kabat plans to give department heads more spending authority, while avoiding the need to for city council approval.

Northside council member Andrea Richmond seems frustrated by even the suggestion that the council should be taken out of the loop of daily decision making in city hall.

“What changed?” Richmond asked. “It worked for years. Now, all of a sudden, we’re going to make these changes.”

Kabat claims the idea is to simply give department heads more flexibility and make the city run more efficiently. The full council votes on the plan next week.