Paul Ciesielski

Portage Mayor Austin Bonta presided over his first city council meeting Tuesday. "What I could say is that the first two days has been like drinking out of a fire hose, but I absolutely love it," Bonta said during his first mayor's report. "It has just been such a joy."

The Portage Park and Recreation Department is running out of money. Last year, the city council put more than a million dollars in the park department's 2022 operating budget, only for the state to cut it down to $609,000. Park Board President Paul Ciesielski told council members Tuesday that's less than what it was in 1995 and not enough to run the city's current park system.