Elections
WIZM hosting La Crosse mayor debate soon, as candidates stop in studio

Less than a month before voters cut La Crosse mayor candidates down from four to two.
In the meantime, however, WIZM is working on multiple ways to help you get to know the candidates.
At 6 p.m. on Feb. 6, all four will take part in a debate that WIZM is hosting at the Bluffs Ballroom on the UW-La Crosse campus. The event is open to the public.
Before that happens, however, WIZM is scheduling interviews with candidates, including Ellie McLoone heading to the studio at 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Last week, candidate Vicki Markussen was in studio for La Crosse Talk. One topic discussed was the potential hiring of a city administrator.
Markussen was glad no decision was made on the position before the election.
“I’m grateful that it got slowed down,” said Markussen, arguing that one administration should not be making “key decisions for the next one.” Current mayor Mitch Reynolds is not running for a second term.
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.
Markussen added that an administrator could help the next mayor connect with citizens and work on the big picture.
“The mayor, then, is the person that’s coming in to set the current tone that’s in pulse with the community,” Markussen said. “Having a city administrator would actually put the mayor in the community more frequently.”
The other two candidates running for mayor are Chris Kahlow and Shaundel Washington Spivey.
