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Observing Our Government in Action
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The League has been a champion of government transparency since our founding in 1920. It is one of our core principles and a vital part of our mission.

Members of our Observer Corps (OC) volunteer to monitor local government boards and committees to understand and shine a light on issues of importance to our area, especially those related to positions adopted by the LWV of Wisconsin.

The League Lens shares a snapshot of what is happening in county, municipal, and school district meetings as reported by our OC members.

We welcome new members to our Observer Corps team. If you have an interest in observing a La Crosse area government entity—municipal, county, or school district—visit our Observer Corps page for more information about how to get involved.

MARCH 2026 LEAGUE LENS

Virginia Crank, Editor

SCHOOL DISTRICT OF LA CROSSE BOARD OF EDUCATION
March 2 & March 16

The La Crosse School Board met twice in March and held no workshops. The meetings did include three School Showcases. One featured a junior from Central High who received an art award and $750 prize from the WI Association of School Boards. The second featured faculty and students from Longfellow Middle School describing the school’s Just Recycle program, which launched in March 2025. The program, with support from community partners, is run by seventh-grade volunteers who collect, count and track recycled items from the cafeteria and 32 classrooms each day. The third highlighted the La Crosse Public Education Foundation that in 2025, $470,000 of community resources were directed to educators and staff, financial support for students in need, and teacher classroom innovation projects.

A good portion of the two meetings was devoted to updates on referendum construction and borrowing, long-range facility plans, and budget updates and projections. The construction update noted that interior work has begun at State Road elementary and that site preparation at Hogan is nearly complete with 130 wells being drilled for the new school’s geothermal heating and cooling system. Bids for borrowing for these projects has been completed and will go through Financial Capital Markets.

In discussion of long-range facility planning and budget projections, the superintendent reported that focus will turn to Logan and Longfellow middle schools with the expectation that, over the next ten years, both schools will be remodeled, relocated, or replaced. The District projects a budget deficit for now but expects to be in the black once they realize the savings from the consolidation of schools; enrollment continues to decline but at a slower rate.

In other business, the Board heard a report that, while disciplinary interventions remain low at all schools (less than 1% of students), minority and special education students have higher numbers than the general population of students. The Board also discussed concerns about ICE in the community; school administrators have provided staff with direction about how to support students in such a situation and have communicated with parents that the District does not share private data.

~Observed by Jean Hammons

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CITY OF LA CROSSE COMMON COUNCIL

The Council met three times in March. The first was a special closed meeting to approve city purchase of the Radisson events center, south of the convention center. In the second meeting of March, the Council approved zoning changes requested by 360 Realty for the mixed-use development of the old K-Mart site; some concerns were voiced about the height of the five-story buildings impacting privacy of neighboring houses and about increased congestion at the already-busy intersection. The project will need more approvals before moving forward.

Additionally, the council defeated a resolution for spending on a downtown beautification project, replacing damaged planters and receptacles, but approved resolutions to increase the pay of fire and police staff to meet state guidelines. The council also agreed, based on advice from the Department of Justice, to remove part of an ordinance concerning eviction procedures which was originally meant to address problems with drug and gang houses.

-Observed by Nora Garland

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TOWN OF CAMPBELL

In March, the Town of Campbell Board celebrated approval by the state’s Incorporation Review Board of their request to incorporate and become a village. Additionally, the town received a grant to study how long PFAS stays in the soil and heard information about a state bill which will create a framework for communities to access PFAS funds from the Department of Natural Resources. One board member suggested that the town propose a large group request to expedite and process requests.

~Observed by Sally King

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All county meeting links

La Crosse County Executive Committee

The County Executive Committee’s March meeting included two resolutions related to salary increases. The first resolves to increase the salaries of elected positions by 3% per year
starting in January of 2027 and continuing at 3% per year each year through 2030. The second approved a competitive compensation plan for all county employees following a salary review process by a consulting firm. This review completes an ongoing project and will now go to the County supervisors.

This meeting also included discussion of an ongoing housing study being conducted by the County Farm. The study will be reviewed in a future meeting.

-Observed by Stephanie Davis

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Health and Human Services

The March meeting opened with announcements that 1) the renovated Hillview facility will hold two open houses in May, and 2) Rachel King has been newly appointed as County Health Director; she gave a brief report, noting that the county’s strategic plan will be giving a higher priority to mental health.

The “Board Education” portion of the meeting included two reports. The first focused on one supervisor’s attendance at the monthly Hope Restores breakfast; three county nurses were also present at that breakfast. The second report, offered by two county nurses, focused on a grant received in 2025 for tuberculosis screening (especially for latent cases), provider education and public Q & A. They noted that TB rates are low in WI, but prevention is still important.

Finally, the Board unanimously passed its consent agenda with the chair noting that several items are being considered for future agendas, including half-way houses.

-Observed by Stephen Minnema

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Judiciary and Law Committee

The Committee’s March meeting featured reports from Justice Support Services and the Chief Deputy. JSS reported on pretrial programs, pre- and post-charge diversion programs, and OWI and drug treatment courts as well as the Intoxicated Driver Program’s online Drivers Safety Class. They also gave an update on Ophelia’s House, a women’s transitional housing facility, and on the System of Care and Youth Justice programs. Specifics available here.

The Chief Deputy gave a jail report focusing on changes in FCC regulations and their impact on contracted communications services through Securus. The sheriff chose not to increase charges to incarcerated persons for individual computer tablets and also chose to decrease phone and video call rates. He also decided to add access to the free “Essential Education” programs, which include GED preparation materials.

~Observed by Chris Haskell

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