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Mr. Barisonzi commented regarding my statements that he and others had
organized to publicize mistruths in order to promote their own candidates.
I cited several examples in a previous post. I will respond to Mr.
Barisonzi's comments regarding the alleged "stadium sales tax vote" in this
post as representative of the actions of this group. I will respond to his
other points at a later date.
Mr. Barisonzi wrote:
> "Checking the record" at City Hall is difficult;
>the legislative style of the current council leadership does a great job of
obscuring their actions
> in clouds of bueracracy, process, and context-based voted. Too often
> resolutions pass unanimously, hiding the deep divides and rich debate that
> went into a decision. Too often this allows Councilmembers to stand on
> whatever side of an issue they choose base on the mood in the community
and
> who they are trying to spin.
For any citizens who want to find out how their own representatives voted,
it is actually very easy. Every Council action is writen and is called a
"resolution". Every resolution is numbered. Every Council committee has a
clerk at the meeting who takes minutes and records all votes. You can, in
fact, get a copy of every vote ever taken by the City Council back to when
it was started. Looking at the really old ones is very cool. (OK, I've
already admitted to being a public policy geek) The Clerk's Office is on the
third floor or you can call 612-673-3136. Ask for Sybil or Becky. They're
great.
With a vote, there is no standing on whatever side of an issue you want.
They write down what you are voting on. You get to say yes or no to what is
written. Not ambiguous at all. There is no standing on different sides of
an issue, no wink and a nod. You either say "Yeah" or "Nay" to what is
written and you are held to that. These resolutions are the only things
that have legal force for the City. (ie they are the only thing that give
the city the authority to take an action or spend money or basically do
anything unless it is something already outlined in the City Charter).
> To figure out what is really going on one needs to patch together a
> combinaition of council resolutions, press reports, and interviews with
> Councilmembers. This is what "A City for Neighbors" did when we put
together
> a report card documenting the Council's votes on key issues.
>
> In June of 1999, Hennepin County was considering imposing an additional
half
> cent sales tax to pay for a stadium and other projects. The proposed tax
> increase was projected to raise $70 million dollars. The resulting
> resolution was Resolution 99R-230. It was voted on June 25, 1999 and
> received the support of the esteemed Councilmember from the 12th ward. The
> votes split was right down the line of Councilmembers who had consistantly
> support/opposed public funding for the Twin Stadium. The City Council
> debate "assumed that any financing would include an additional half cent
> sales tax increase throughout Hennepin County." (Star Tribune, June 26,
> 1999)
>
> People can read the docuementation and the vote for themselves at:
> http://www.acityforneighbors.org/vote6.html
I have re-typed the resolution here from a scan of the original so everyone
on the list can see for themselves whether it says anything about a sales
tax subsidy. (The answer if you don't want to read all of it is that it
doesn't say one word about a sales tax subsidy.)
Resolution 99R-230 Keeping the Twins in Minneapolis
Whereas keeping the Minnesota Twins in the City of Minneapolis is critical
to ensuring the City's status as the economic and cultural center of the
Upper Midwest Region and every city in the State of Minnesota benefits from
the presence of the Minnesota Twins; and
Whereas the City of Minneapolis is the best location for a Twins stadium and
is best able to serve the needs of the Twins and the general public; and
Whereas the Minnesota Twins currently contribute at a minimum, $49 million
annually in direct spending, 557 full-time jobs, and $6.5 million in taxes
to the state and local economy; and
Whereas a new stadium will generate $36 million annually in new spending and
create nearly 168 new full-time jobs and 402 construction jobs generating
$12.8 million in taxes; and
Whereas an additional 1.1 million fans are expected to enjoy the stadium and
downtown Minneapolis, helping to generate an additional $36 million in
direct spending; and
Whereas the public sector will annually receive $13.5 million in state and
local taxes collected from stadium and team revenues as well as from
additional sales taxes paid by fans who will be eating, shopping, lodging,
and parking while attending Twins games at the new stadium; and
Whereas building the new stadium will be a partnership involving the State
of Minnesota, the Minnesota Twins, the regional business community, and the
City of Minneapolis; and
Whereas the City's financial contribution to the project shall not exceed
$10 million for land assembly or related expenditures; and
Whereas the elected officials of the City of Minneapolis believe that any
responsible plan for the construction of a new stadium provides for a
reasonable return on investment in the event in the increased value of the
team;
Now, Therefore Be It Resolved by the Council of the City of Minneapolis:
That the City of Minneapolis has a desire to keep professional sports in
Minneapolis and will sit down with our partners at Hennepin County, the
regional business community, and the State of Minnesota to develop a
responsible financial plan to accomplish that goal.
Adopted: Yeas 7, Nays 6 as follows:
Yeas: Johnson, Thurber, Ostrow, Campbell, Biernat, Colvin Roy, Cherryhomes
Nays: Lane, McDonald, Niland, Goodman, Herron, Mead
Passed: June 25, 1999
Approved June 28, 1999 S Sayles Belton, Mayor
Attest: M Keefe, City Clerk
I would invite Mr. Barisonzi, Mr. Martinez, Ms. Ritzier or any other person
to show me where is says anything about a sales tax subsidy in this
resolution. There is no trickery here, just the plain words of the
resolution that was voted on. I stand by statement that there was never a
vote supporting a sales tax for a stadium until someone can show me a
Council action which says differently.
Carol Becker
Longfellow
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