>From the tape of the hearing: (Contact Rep. Kevin Goodno, Chairman of the Tripartisan Taskforce on Stadium Issues. His staff person is Holly Iverson Hayden @ 651-296-4295.)
Pam Wheelock: If in your analysis or exploration you come back and determine that there is a gap that cannot be filled by private interests to move this facility forward, is the, to be blunt, just to cut to the chase, is the incoming leadership of the city willing to revisit providing local leadership to revisit the $10 million cap for the host community's participation? Chair: Mayor-elect Rybak? R.T.: That's just what we are doing right now. But we have to go back out to the public and do that. The public has spoken pretty strongly. Not just in Minneapolis but other places about a deep, deep questions about that. And I don't believe we can or should sit here and make that commitment. I am going to do my best to try to get the city united on that, but I cannot make that commitment today. another: Representative Tom Ostoff: Mayor Sayles Belton and Ms. Cherryhomes had me and a House Bonding Committee over in Minneapolis looking at the bonding needs of the city of Minneapolis and we visited other parts of the state as well. Some of us will tell you that we don�t know if we�ve got enough general fund money for debt retirement, whether we have a $200 million bonding bill, or a billion dollar bonding bill. I think if Commissioner Wheelock has her way we won�t have a bonding bill at all. I looked at something called the the Walker.... Chair: Mr. Ostoff, just remember you have your back to the Commissioner. Representative Ostoff: I may trust the Commissioner with my life but not my money. Mr, Chairman, it�s really important because some of us have to make multiple choices. Not all of you do obviously, but you keep raising this quality of life thing: �what does a team mean to a city?� I am old enough that I was here when then-Council Member Sam Cervanich said �just give us a stadium, our downtown will be full forever, and we�ll never be back.� That lasted a week... The fact of the matter is that we have to make tough choices Is the city prepared to say that this stadium is more important than the Walker, or whatever that ... area is over by the river. Are you prepared to discuss that with this group so we can say that this is a serious offer? R.T. Rybak: I am absolutely prepared to do that. And one of the things that I have said is, and let me be clear about that, one of the things that I have said is that Minneapolis needs to have a united front at the Legislature. So I am meeting with Legislators next week to help answer that very question. Frankly, sir, I haven�t taken office yet. But I do believe that what we need to do is come back here with some priorities. This is not a Minneapolis project. This is a statewide attempt to save the Minnesota Twins. In fact, it�s a region-wide attempt. We are bringing forward an opportunity that we think is far and away the best opportunity for the state of Minnesota. We want to be partners with you on this. If this is city versus city, we�re not playing that game. We want to be a partner in this. We can do the best job that anybody can do. But this can�t be seen as a Minneapolis facility. Council Member Jackie Cherryhomes: Mr. Chair, can I just respond to Representative Ostoff�s question? In our Inter-governmental Relations committee earlier this week we did indeed prioritize what the city�s priorities are with regard to a bonding bill and our legislative agenda. That agenda will be adopted by the city council on December 14. Our highest priority is the Near North project, coupled with the Planetarium project for bonding. another: Mr. Robinson: Mayor-elect Rybak, are you committed to this project or are you sitting there saying that you have to go back to the citizens to find out if they are committed to the project? R.T. Rybak: I am deeply committed to having baseball in Minneapolis. But I believe anybody, mayors or legislators or anybody else has to go out and do some more work out in this community so this thing doesn�t explode back at the state capitol. You bet I want this to happen. I�m working very hard on that. I�m not even elected yet and I�m working pretty darn hard on trying to get a consensus in Minneapolis. But I am going to run it through citizen groups, like we did last night out in the public, reporters, cameras and everything else in front of us so we can have this be a public process. It�s a messy business, but I�m going to do it that way and I think we have to do it that way, because that�s the only way we are going to substantially change this debate. Mr. Robinson: So the answer is yes, you are committed? R.T. Rybak: Yeh, I am definitely committed. The number one thing I am committed to in Minneapolis and no one should make any mistake about it, is affordable housing. But I do believe deeply that this is something we should get done. ===== Sue Anderson Powderhorn, Ward 9 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com _______________________________________ 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
