Politics
La Crosse Mayor Reynolds on city administrator, parking deregulation, 2025 budget
La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds in studio discussing the possible addition of a city administrator, potential parking deregulation and getting the 2025 operating budget passed.
La Crosse Talk PM airs weekdays at 5:06 p.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk PM wherever you get your podcasts.
The city administrator (6:30) conversation kind of intertwined with the passing the 2025 operating budget, which took up most of the show. But meetings about adding the city admin position could happen as soon as next week.
We ended the show (26:45) discussing parking deregulation in the city, which had a committee meeting last week through the Neighborhood Revitalization Committee.
Libertarian Guy
September 10, 2024 at 12:51 pm
Before the mayor or City Council hires yet another brand new position to the city payroll, they need to find budget cuts to offset full salary and benefits for the city administrator position. You can’t save money by spending money. Neutralize the expenditure before creating additional cost to city payroll.
The mayor likes to talk about past “failures” to sock it to the taxpayers by maximizing allowable tax revenue. Unfortunately, this mayor is only looking at the revenue side of the equation. And now he wants to spend more money by creating yet another position, ostensibly to save money. When you find yourself in a budget hole, it’s always best to stop digging. How about: stop borrowing money the city does not have. Work on reducing the cost of debt service. committing the city to interest payments for the next 20 years is not good financial stewardship. Spending money on homeless provides no return on investment. Maybe the city could stop planting trees. A good fiscally responsible mayor an council can surely find ways to cut spending without need of an unknown, untested, city administrator to try to do it for them. Wise up city council. Wise up mayor.
Bob N.
September 10, 2024 at 2:20 pm
Reynolds started lobbying for this new, additional cost, administrator right after he took office over 3 years ago. Also, Reynolds immediately wanted a public relations man. I said he already had one with Rick Solem. At the same time, Reynolds claimed the City needed a “Homeless Co-ordinator” who was hired. How does this man spend his time? What does he “co-ordinate”? Last I heard from the co-ordinator, he was saying the people of La Crosse needed to be more understanding of all the problems the “homeless” (squatters) have. Millions of dollars of public money have been spent on this problem since the “Homeless Co-ordinator” began co-ordinating, the sum of which could easily be termed a complete failure.
Think of the wonderful, positive changes that money could have bought for the citizenry. At least Danville Illinois got a water park out of their federal Covid money. La Crosse got a damaged hotel and parks with squatters now growing a new slum along the Black River on Rose Street. It’s right below the Indian statue depicting lacrosse being played by natives saying “Welcome to La Crosse.” How ironic.
City Administrators are many times transient bureaucrats, overpaid ribbon-cutters that add tremendously to the cost of government. Their salary normally top all government pay in the county They like big government.
Reynolds could be told that an administrator could be considered only if his mayor’s position becomes part-time with a commensurate pay cut. That should flush out how much we need it.