2025 City Council Candidate Martin Gaul

District 11

I am a 50+ year member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
Union (IAMAW), having worked for Continental Can Company, now Crown, Cork, and Seal
located here in La Crosse beginning in 1974. I retired after serving just shy of 41 years, the last
3 years as the Directing Business Representative for IAMAW District Lodge 66 in La Crosse.
My wife Jo was (is) my high school sweetheart with whom I was lucky enough to remain friends through the years. We’ve now been married for 31 years and have 3 children between us.

I served on the La Crosse City Council beginning in 2015 for 6 years, the final 4 of those years
as the council president. I did not run for re-election in 2021, choosing instead to run for mayor, falling just short in the primaries. After much consideration and encouragement from those I previously served with on the council I decided to again run for the District 11 seat when the opportunity presented itself this year. I believed then as I do now that we are elected specifically to do the business of the city as effectively and efficiently as we can.

I think on a relative basis the questions you’ve asked may be more appropriate for those seeking a position on the council for the first time. For me personally, none of the questions can be answered individually as they all relate to each other in some fashion and to all the other issues we face as a city. The problems and challenges are simply too complex to allow for individual response that would be meaningful and achievable.

All questions and issues considered by the council come with an immense amount of background information and opinions that should be part of the decision making process. Our city staff does a great job providing this to us together with their thoughts and recommendations. The decisions we make will please some while disappointing others; at the end of the day that is what we are elected to do. I respect that process. I have always felt my top priority is to represent the district while also considering the impacts on the city as a whole. If chosen to return to the council I look forward to once again working together with the other council members and our new mayor to make deliberate, common sense decisions that hopefully prove beneficial to the city.

I encourage you to visit the WIZM website along with those of other local news outlets and
search my name. My positions on issues we have faced over the years, many the same issues we continue to face, are there.

Martin Gaul

email: [email protected]