City finally hires “parking czar”

Former La Crosse center employee
chosen from 20 applicants

La Crosse’s new ‘parking czar’ is on the job. 

Jim Flottmeyer began his role as parking utility coordinator, assigned to manage the three downtown parking ramps run by the city. 

According to parking board president Dick Swantz, part of Flottmeyer’s job will also be to help figure out how to get that ticket gate system to work reliably, so people won’t be tempted to wreck the machines. 

The gates are shut off for now, so hourly parking in the ramps is free until May.

“There are people, quite frankly, who come here and have a great time at an event,” Swantz explained, “but then they have this really unpleasant experience in our parking ramp and that’s what they remember.”

Swantz added it’s possible that Flottmeyer and other city leaders will revise the rate system that went into effect when the gates were first turned on two years ago. Users are charged $.75 an hour after three hours of free parking – up to $6 a day.

Flottmeyer, a former La Crosse Center employee, was chosen from among nearly 20 candidates for the new job of parking utility coordinator.