La Crosse Mayor Kabat talks the good and bad in state-of-the-city address

The Mayor didn’t waste much time taking a
shot at one of President Trump’s executive orders.

La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat gave his state-of-the-city address Thursday night.

It began with a little dig at the sanctuary cities executive order issued last month by President Donald Trump.

“If state and national leaders want to create jobs and a better country, my advice to them is to reach out and work with us, not threaten to take away our funding,” Kabat said.

Kabat painted a mostly positive picture of La Crosse but he did point out some real problems, as well.

“Recent reporting paints a bleak picture with arrests in La Crosse for heroin up more than 1,200 percent since 2010,” Kabat said, “and arrest for meth up more than 1,400 percent during the same time.”

The Mayor pledged to put more resources towards dealing with those drug issues in the coming year. 

Kabat also cited citywide improvements in a number of areas over the last year, especially in an ongoing construction boom, but also in significant neighborhood developments. More to come, he promises.

“For 2107, we will build upon all of those successes and do more, including doubling the miles of streets we re-pave and increasing our fixes of those annoying potholes,” Kabat said.

Along with the continuing surge in building projects in the city, Kabat also cited reduction in the city’s carbon footprint and improvements in troubled neighborhoods.