I apologize for the length and disjointed nature of this message, but I'm on the digest, so it's hard to keep up with all the comments as they come in.
Robert Schmid wrote: "In THEORY, we are protected but in fact we would spend millions to recover a fraction of the original loan. Thus, again, let private sources assume the risk. Better yet, a public corporation where shareholders can choose the level of risk they wish to commit to." MAS: I'm not sure where you're getting this argument from. Now if the team were locked into a long-term lease, it's possible they could attempt to break it and public money would be spent fighting that. If there's a loan, it's a loan, plain and simple. It gets enforced. Not even bankruptcy would allow a teams owners to skip on what's owed. As far as a public corporation, I would be all for that too. Ask anybody from Green Bay and they'll tell you how great it's worked out for them with the Packers. If our political leaders could put together a plan and get Major League Baseball to approve a sale to a public corporation, then I'd be honored to buy shares in the Twins. This reinforces my point that it's political will, not money, that is the major stumbling block here. Gary Bowman wrote: "I've said it before and will again. It's immensely ironic that the business community is so quick to chant "less government, less taxes, free market" when there's talk of public investment in social programs but have no problem going to the trough when they're the recipients (and I'd argue far less needy ones). I also will strenuously argue to my dying breath that businesspeople smart enough, talented enough, and having enough resources to make the immense wealth they have DO HAVE the ability to build a stadium themselves. The reality is they're smart enough, talented enough, and have enough resources to know that it's not a wise investment. Hence, let someone else pay for it." MAS: I agree that many corporations are hypocrites. But that's not the point here. I'm trying to advocate the voice of the fan. If there were a way to build the ballpark fully from private funds in this market, I have to believe it would have been done by now. My hope is to find some kind of puublic-private partnership that allows the team to stay without being a total loser for the taxpayers. I think my proposal at least moves in that direction and shows that the problem is less about dollars and more about the lack of political will. Bruce Gaarder wrote: "Another part involves the number of people buying tickets at each price. I seem to remember a lot of Twins PR about how many tickets are available for $4 or so. Those folks wouldn't likely be happy about paying $3-$4 more per ticket. As has been pointed out recently, teams with new stadiums lose a lot of money. [snip] If there are 100,000 fans who would be so devastated to lose the Twins, each should take out a $3,000 loan for three or four years and combine the funds to build a park. That would run about $75 a month." MAS: Maybe Bruce missed it, but part of my proposal suggested a progressive surcharge, specifically to keep the cheap seats cheap. Also, those who have attended games in the past season or more can attest that upper deck general admission seats (which were actually $5) were still not very popular due to the lousy view. Lower level general admission tickets were $10 each, a better value on an hourly basis for your entertainment dollar than going to a movie. I'd also like to see Bruce back up his claim about teams with new ballparks being money-losers. Which teams and how much were their losses? Were there any other circumstances involved that may have contributed to losses, such as a lousy product on the field or social backlash because the team has players or owners that are jerks? As far as the personal loan idea, if I thought it would work, I'd be the first to sign up. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of baseball fans that could afford such a proposal. My proposal works out to maybe a dime per taxpayer per year in unrecovered interest on a loan (I assumed 5% interest and 2 million taxpayers in a quick calculation). Are there that many of us who are so hung up on anti-corporate principle that we're unwilling to give up one thin dime per year? Mark Snyder Ward 1/Windom Park _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
