Mitch Reynolds sworn in as La Crosse’s next mayor

Reynolds says he's ready to earn La Crosse resident's trust, set to begin work Wednesday

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) – A new era begins at La Crosse’s City Hall as the city swore in Mitch Reynolds as the city’s next mayor. Reynolds said his first day at work begins Wednesday morning, “bright and early.”

He said he’s excited about the opportunity to work for the people of La Crosse. Mitch said his list of priorities includes about 22 things he’d like to tackle right away including the ongoing PFAS contamination problem on French Island.

Reynolds defeated Vicky Markussen two weeks ago by only 205 votes, a two percent difference. Reynolds hosted a daily afternoon news program on WIZM and served as the news director at Midwest Family Broadcasting for 15 years. Obviously, this experience is completely different than what he is used to, but he said he’s ready to earn La Crosse residents’ trust.

“I love the cliche, ‘Proof’s in the pudding.’ You just have to watch and wait,” Reynolds said. “Trust is built over time and it’s one of those things where they will have to identify successes as they come forward.”

This is Reynolds’ first experience in politics and he said he understands how big of a responsibility this is.

“The idea is not to think of it as one big thing, but to think of it as little things that you stack all together to make something that’s pretty spectacular,” Reynolds said. “That’s my focus right now.”

Seven city council chairs were up for grabs as well this year. The City Council now holds seven women and six men the first women majority in the city’s history.

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