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Poellinger, who has been mayor from 1995 to 2000 and from 2003 to the present, has lived in La Crescent all his life and owns Poellinger Inc. — a commercial and residential construction company.
He remains dedicated to public service, he said, because he “really likes to be involved.”
1. What is the toughest challenge you face as mayor?
The toughest thing? You have to make decisions for the greater good of the community and sometimes it puts pressure on an individual or an individual neighborhood. The other part of it is it’s difficult to engage the public proactively in decision-making. Sometimes I don’t know how to light that fuse.
2. How do you plan to handle the upcoming funding cuts caused by the $2 to $3 billion Minnesota state deficit?
We have a council and leadership that have weathered economic downturns before. The problem comes in when the state tells us that we’re going to get aid, we set our budget, and then they come along and cut their aid — which is what they’ve done to us before.
We’ve already set a budget, so we don’t have any other ways to raise money.
So we’re going to approve our budget and then probably wait until the first quarter — we won’t do anything major until the state gets their ducks in a row.
3. What is the importance of the interstate pact La Crescent has with Wisconsin?
It’s broken down into individual contracts. We have agreements with La Crosse for bus service, police coverage, fire department coverage and now there’s a fourth for sewer service.
It didn’t exist until I was in as mayor in the late 1990s. John Medinger was mayor of La Crosse at the time, and he was looking for ways to partner with other communities that would be beneficial for everybody.
We receive funding we wouldn’t be able to because we share in these services — things we couldn’t do on our own — and it streamlines a lot of laws and rules about services crossing the river. The mutual aid is good. With these agreements, we’re paying our fair share for these services.
4. How do you view development in La Crescent?
Our residential development is down compared with what it was in the 1990s. We were building 40 or more homes at that time. Now it’s eight to 10 houses a year.
A community needs some growth, even if it’s just replacing some housing stock. What some people don’t understand is that, because of our growth, we’ve been able to successfully meet many federal standards and mandates by spreading the costs out to a greater number of people.
The valuation mechanisms — on things such as houses — have stayed up there, especially for people who built in the 1990s. Their values have gone up to meet the cost of their investment.
Now we need to look at the needs of our seniors. Quality options for senior housing.
We’ve got another generation of people wanting to come into the community. So, we also need to look at affordable housing.
5. Why have you chosen to live your life in La Crescent?
I really enjoy the community. With my business I have the opportunity to travel to different countries and communities, so I can think outside the box. Sometimes I have a broader view of what La Crescent could be, I think.
At the same time I’m always cautious about the direction we’re going to go. I don’t want to disrupt the core values here. My family likes all the communities in the area — the region has so much to offer.
