there was an article in today's strib by dan wascoe who presumably ate a free lunch provided by the GMCVA at the Ways and MEans committee hearing. the memorandum GMCVA presented to ways and means in which they ask the city to seek from the state an additional one cent hotel tax to increase their budget in the coming three years states in their words, "the request is with the full support of the Minneapolis Hotel Association, who recognize the value of the plan and the importance of GMCVA programs." in the same article mention is made of providing free rent to groups who might otherwise go somewhere else. this is ludicrous. we should give freebies to cheapskates who won't come to Mpls and choose Salt Lake city or Indian-no-place over Mpls and then we'll soak them a little with an extra penny tax. So the city loses money so the hotels can make money. Is that how it goes? That's right! It's a good deal for the citizens who work at hotels and restaurants! I go back to this past summer when the hotels were being struck by employees and our mayor and city council president stepped in to save the day by brokering the 23% raise over the course of a five year contract that would in all likelihood leave people worse off five years hence than they are today. There is also the bit about hiring parolees. you mean the city or the convention center doesn't now? Why not? and the admonition that they wouldn't be coming in contact with hotel guests? Who are these guys? seems to me we might have had the wrong guys in jail? Does anyone out there know how much the river city trolley costs? how about it's revenues? what was the cost of those little empty buses running around that were finally discontinued? And tell me again why we're building this addition to the convention center? Are we expecting a larger crowd than the 50,000 aa conventioneers we entertained last summer? Here's the line i like best from the memorandum: "the plan was developed by the board in a series of retreats and refined by a stategic planning committee." I love it. I'm retreating for the day. Regards. Tim Connolly Downtown Mpls ward 7 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE. http://im.yahoo.com/
