Politics
City administrator concept gaining momentum in La Crosse
The idea of a city administrator has been a topic of conversation multiple times on La Crosse Talk PM with the mayor.
Last week, it was brought up again, and it appears the concept may be getting some teeth. La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds said on WIZM the administrator idea could be referred to a future meeting for considering by the city council.
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.
Reynolds at Thursday’s city council meeting said he would like a public discussion of whether La Crosse needs an administrator, noting an expert in government management could be better for the city than leaving certain duties to the elected mayor.
“Much of that is taken up with the operations of the city,” Reynolds told council members Thursday, concerning the distribution of powers. “If you are somehow released from that, then you can engage in process building and policy building, in relationship building with other municipalities.”
The mayor added that an elected mayor may not have sufficient background in city government to make the kind of management decisions that an administrator could make.
“We’re not hired for our skills at management, or at developing processes within city government.” Reynolds says a mayor is generally hired for “political acumen.”
If the city decides to go through with an administrator, that position could earn around $200,000 a year. The city council, though, would finalize the position’s contract, plus its responsibilities.
To add the position, the city’s charter would need changing and that would require a two-thirds vote by the council.
Human resources director Rebecca Franzen suggested a city administrator could be paid between $187,000 and $194,000 annually. Mayor Mitch Reynolds suggested that having an administrator would make up the cost of the new position quickly by cutting down on wasted time.
Back in 2012, the concept was put on the ballot, and it was shot down by 60.2 percent of the 9,871 votes cast.
Libertarian Guy
September 15, 2024 at 11:19 pm
I thought may or Mitch Reynolds has a masters in business administration. I’m sure I heard him say that on the air one day. So is he saying that he was elected not because of his budgetary management skills but because of his political acumen? Is he also saying he does not have the skills to successfully manage the city budget? Hmm…. So now he wants to create a brand new position at great city/taxpayer expense. sounds like he just proved that he is right. We need a new mayor not a city administrator.
Roy
September 16, 2024 at 9:22 am
I’m not sure that the mayor advocating for a city administrator several times on a sympathetic radio talk show constitutes “gaining momentum” as Brad’s headline infers.
walden
September 16, 2024 at 5:36 pm
The Libs on the City council are frustrated they must get support from the Mayor, who is directly subject to the citizenry (voters). Hiring a liberal city administrator, especially one with a multi-year contract, gives the Lib dominated City Council more power. The city admin position would be insulated from the voters by the council.
For an example of how this would work, see how the La Crosse School Board operates, where the superintendent is given continuous renewals of multi-year contracts by a liberal school board. The superintendent is not directly answerable to the taxpayers. If you think that is easy to overcome, look at the last three school board elections where the voters voted for change, only to get more of the same. Taxpayers get out your wallets.
Bill
September 18, 2024 at 11:39 am
If I have learned anything about mitch Reynolds is that he loves spending other people’s money. Which is why he gets along with a common council that also loves spending other people’s money.