Council approves city administrator study group, despite mayor’s previous objections

Plans to hire a La Crosse city administrator will be reviewed by a special working group over the next few months, despite the mayor’s objections.

Thursday, the city council unanimously voted 12-0 to appoint five council members to a group that would seek comments from the public about the administrator position.

Last month, the council voted to wait until after the spring elections, before deciding whether to create the administrator position, arguing it would give people time to voice their opinions on the idea.

The April elections will include a mayoral race, plus half the city council being on the ballot.

The 12-0 vote Thursday comes a week after the Judiciary and Administration Committee voted 3-3 on creating the administrator working group, therefore not recommending the plan.

At that meeting, Mayor Mitch Reynolds told the committee he opposed the legislation.

“I think it lacks awareness and recognition of the current work responsibilities of the HR department,” Reynolds said last week. “It also implies that our city’s professional staff does not already have the expertise and ability to effectively effectuate a city administrator role. I also believe that is an abrogation the council’s responsibilities to engage with the public on legislation that comes before you.”

Reynolds went to to say, “To burden the staff to do the work that, frankly, you should be doing is, from my perception, is inappropriate,” Reynolds told the committee.