La Crosse Mayor Washington-Spivey on sacrifices in passing 2026 budget, plan on two closed parks and downtown revamp

La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey in studio discussing the sacrifices made in passing the 2026 budget and what future budget talks will look like.  We also discussed Burns and Cameron parks being closed now for over two months due to violence and drug use and how that gets resolved. And, in between that, we talked about the downtown corridor study, and the city council putting off for 90 days a recommendation to the Wisconsin DOT on how 3rd and 4th streets could look in the figure — with parking, bike lanes and sidewalks.  The mayor was part of the council meeting Monday finalizing the 2026 budget, where most of the attention was on closing of the north branch library and north side pool. That was Washington-Spivey’s first budget as mayor and he talked about how he wants to see that plan evolve going forward with earlier talks on future budgets.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.