La Crosse city council candidate Doug Happel on city admin, sidewalks, housing and homeless

We hit the big main issues with La Crosse city council candidate Doug Happel in terms of housing, homelessness and city administrator on WIZM, but also another that he’s dealt with in his district and an older issue that could be reintroduced.

La Crosse Talk airs weekdays at 6-8 a.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 wherever you get your podcasts.

Happel, who has been on city council since 2011, is running for reelection in District 12. His opponent is Lisa Weston. You can read more about both candidates on the WIZM election page.

Happel spent the first part of the conversation discussing a sidewalk issue in District 12 — where he says most of his neighbors did not want sidewalks.

We also discussed re-pursuing talks with the Town of Shelby on a boundary agreement with La Crosse — conversations that fell off around 2018.

Happel also expressed his opinion on whether to hire a city administrator, where he is mostly opposed to the idea. That discussion led to a conversation about the budget situation in La Crosse now and into the future.

Lastly, we discussed both housing and homeless.

With housing, Happel talked of some upcoming projects and the need for more diverse housing. He brought up the old Kmart property that could soon begin development and a need he sees to upgrade the roads in that area.

In terms of homelessness, Happel mentioned his sponsoring of the camping ban on city property and also his support of the Pathways Home plan between the city, county and other entities that work with those in need.