DEAR NEIGHBOR MARCH 25, 2013 COMMERCIALS ET CETERA SUPPORT CONTACT
Farmer
for
La Crosse

Who is Doug by day?

• Soon-to-be-retired Executive Vice President at Park Bank

• 1981 — Present

• Finance Instructor at Western Wisconsin Technical College

• 1977 — 80

• Loan Officer at Batavian National Bank

• 1971 — 77

• Bachelor's Degree in

Public Administration

• George Washington Univ.,

Class of 1971

Is Doug experienced?

• La Crosse City Council

• 1987 — 2012

• La Crosse School Board

• 1992 — 93, President

• La Crosse County Board

of Supervisors

• 1974 — 84, Finance Chair

• State of Wisconsin

Banking Review Board

• 2003 — Present

• Western Wisconsin

Technical College Board

• 1986 — 91, Chairman:

Search & Screen Committee

for College President

Who is Doug Farmer?

• La Crosse resident since 1971.

• District 10 resident since 1971.

• Husband to Betsey since 1971.

• Father of four sons.

• Morgan — Central '96

• Malcolm — Central '99

• Gordon — Aquinas '03

• Douglas — Aquinas '08

Authorized and paid for by Farmer for La Crosse, Sheri Knope, Treasurer.

● doug@farmerforlacrosse.com ●
DOUGLAS FARMER 321 SOUTH 21ST STREET LA CROSSE, WI 54601 January, 2013 Dear Neighbor, I have opened every campaign letter for the past 25 years with that greeting. Neighbors choose their elected officials. The elected officials represent and advocate for their neighbors’ wishes and needs, or at least are supposed to. If they fail, their neighbors choose another neighbor in the next election. As I wrote in 1987, “Local government in the final analysis is simply helping your neighbors.” Though each campaign letter began with the same two words, the body of the letters changed with my views. Spending more than 40 years in La Crosse, spending more than 40 years working Downtown, spending more than 40 years worrying about La Crosse’s future will change anyone’s priorities. To see the full text of the 1987 version or the 2011 version of those letters, look to the right. In the first use of “Dear Neighbor” during my initial campaign for City Council, I asked my neighbors to continue coming to me to coordinate their garbage pickup. I then directed their attention downtown, away from our neighborhood: We need to take immediate steps to revitalize the downtown area. In a very real sense, the downtown area is a resource we are in danger of losing. And once lost, it will never be recovered. When first elected to the Council, my primary issue was downtown. I obviously know and have faith in downtown, but I’ve also come to be a realist. If we don’t save our neighborhoods, downtown won’t matter. In the most recent usage of “Dear Neighbor,” I asked my neighbors to continue letting me know if they suspect drug activity at any specific residence. I then directed their attention to determining what our neighborhood will look like: Not only is this a burden to our neighborhoods, but if allowed to continue, it will result in the deterioration of our tax base and the City of La Crosse will look more and sound more like the cities of Madison and Milwaukee. Those are problems we neither need nor want. Our neighborhoods surround and support downtown. If we protect our neighborhoods, downtown will prosper. Sincerely, ﷯ Douglas Farmer