City Hall
City of La Crosse, Wisconsin
400 La Crosse Street
La Crosse, WI 54601
Meeting Minutes - Final
Council Planning Meeting
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
6:00 PM
Council Chambers
400 La Crosse Street
Call to Order
Council President Dickinson called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
Roll Call
11 -
Present:
Tamra Dickinson, Erin Goggin, Barb Janssen, Larry Sleznikow, Olivia Stine,
Gary Padesky, Aron Newberry, Jennifer Trost, Crystal Bedford, Lisa
Weston,Rosanne Northwood
2 - Chris Kahlow,Mackenzie Mindel
Excused:
Agenda Item:
Municipal Structure
City Attorney Stephen Matty gave the background/history on powers of the Mayor and
City Council, and the State Statutes and Charter Ordinances related to said powers.
He also gave a brief history on the prior movement to add a city administrator
(2010-2012) through the current movement to add a position of this type. He also went
over the options on how to add a position, whether it be through charter ordinance or
other means depending on the end goal of what the position would look like. Leading
into the next portion of the session, Attorney Matty noted that the best way to decide
on what kind of position is needed to figure out what problems need solving.
Council Members and staff broke out into groups to work on answers to the questions
for Breakout 1 and then came back as a group to report their findings.
Daniel Foth, JD, Director, Certified Public Manager Program and Local Government
Specialist, gave a presentation on the different municipal management structures in
Wisconsin. He reiterated that it is important to figure out the problems that need
solving in order to decide on what kind of management structure is needed. He also
went over some considerations for hiring for a position of this type: timeline, formal
search process, contract, benefits, interview process, and transition if duties end up
being removed from the Mayor.
Council Members and staff broke out into groups to work on answers to the Breakout
2 questions and then came back as a group to report their findings.