Proposed pay cuts strike city of La Crosse mayor

Current La Crosse Mayor, Matt Harter, has been a target of pay cuts that have slowly swept across the state of Wisconsin. The cuts proposed by the La Crosse City Council would reduce Mayor Harter's pay from $77,200 to $38,600 annually, a fifty percent pay cut. Obviously, being mayor is no easy task. When asked, Harter says that he is "definitely on call all the time", as he often finds himself "talking about whatever the latest issue is" with constituents while out and about at job-related events or on evenings and weekends. It is clear he enjoys being involved in the community and hearing what people have to say – an important task for any elected official, but something many view as a rarity in today's political atmosphere.

These pay cuts come about as the La Crosse City Council puts the decision of whether or not the city of La Crosse will hire a city administrator in place of a mayor to vote. The citizens of La Crosse will have the opportunity to exercise their democratic power by voting in favor of or against these changes in an April 3 referendum. If citizens of La Crosse vote in favor of this referendum, Harter's pay will be cut and a city administrator will be hired. Mayor Harter was given the opportunity to veto this ordinance, but declined. "My opinion is that the citizens of the city will not adopt an administrative form of government," prompting Harter to choose against a veto and let it go the people of La Crosse for a decision, as he does not "think it's in the best interest of the city…our current form of government and executive management…is the best way for us [to operate] in the city of La Crosse."

If a city administrator is hired, it is unclear what will happen to Harter's position, as the city's policy states the mayor's position must be full time. "If they are going to keep that policy stating that the mayor's position is full-time and [still cut] it [the mayor's pay] in half, I don't think that is right," says Harter, as he is certainly putting forth a time commitment that warrants a payment greater than what would be offered. If the position changes to part-time, which seems to be assumed with the proposed pay cut, many of the mayoral duties would have to be taken over by the city administrator. The ordinance proposed only addresses a pay-cut and not specifically how the mayor position will be affected by the hiring of a city administrator, something that will definitely need to be discussed if the referendum passes April 3.

Whether or not the decision is made to decrease or even replace Mayor Harter's role as mayor, the city of La Crosse will be at a loss. His concern for the protection and preservation of his citizen's right to vote will be at risk, as the city administrator hired may not be willing to make such commitments as Mayor Harter has made, and also be under the direction of the La Crosse City Council.