Pat wanted more years as mayor, 39 years ago

In 1979, Mayor Patrick Zielke of La Crosse decided to seek a third term.  In those days, La Crosse’s mayor only served two-year terms, instead of the current four years.  Zielke’s ’79 challenger would be alderman Sharon Imes.  When Imes quit the council to run for mayor, and Helen Kelly stepped down from the council to attend law school, that left no women in La Crosse city council seats.

La Crosse County got a medical examiner for the first time in 1979.  Dr. Paul Dietz was hired for the job, after the county eliminated the elected post of coroner.  Bill Black was sworn in as sheriff in 1979, Russ Fiedler was county clerk, and district attorney (and future judge) Michael Mulroy began a second term.

Disco dominated the radio and the record charts in 1979.  During the first half of the year, most of the #1 songs in America were performed to a disco beat.  They included “Le Freak” by Chic, “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, and Rod Stewart’s musical question “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”…39 years ago, yesterday in La Crosse.