La Crosse city hall needs to improve its PR efforts

It is not uncommon for people to be upset with City Hall. No matter where they live. And La Crosse is certainly no different. People don’t like to be told they have to follow new rules, or pay new fees. It seems that in La Crosse, most often the controversies grow not so much because of some bright new idea from local government, but how they go about trying to get us to buy into their idea. People in La Crosse were mad when they got their new assessment last year, and many homeowners found out they were going to be taxed on a property value that had gone up significantly. Council chambers were packed when people suddenly found out the city couldn’t afford to run the Green Island ice arena anymore, and it may have to close. They should have learned earlier said the hockey parents and youth participants. More recently, council chambers were filled with people who attended many meetings to voice their displeasure over new access points to Grandad Bluff. There seems to be a theme here. People don’t like surprises. The city has done a poor job letting people of this city find out their plans. Maybe they would find that if they got the people affected by their latest plans in on the process a little earlier, they wouldn’t be so criticized by local citizens.