Mark Snyder writes: >What increased taxes? Where has anyone said extending a loan for financing a >ballpark would require a tax increase? The whole point of doing the loan and >paying it back through surcharges on parking or whatever is that such a plan >would NOT require general tax revenues OR a tax increase. Why doesn't Wells Fargo or TCF extend a low interest loan for this? Why is the state being asked to do this with their budget shortfall. Extending that loan ties up state money that could be better used elsewhere.
>> How many people stay in hotels or visit restaurants after Twins games? And >> how many people stay in Minneapolis Hotels and eat in Minneapolis >> Restaurants after Twins games? > >The visiting players and their staffs do after every game, as do some of the >home team players. Many games also are attended by folks visiting from out of >town - check the Strib or PiPress sports pages to see various examples of tours >you can go on to see your favorite home team play on the road. Presumably, they >would stay in a hotel in either Minneapolis or Bloomington. Arguably, the Twins >might be more popular for this type of thing than some others because our ticket >prices are far below average and we have that neat shopping mall near the >airport. I'd be interested in seeing some numbers on this. >> Studies on this issue have shown that when there isn't a pro sports team, >> people spend their entertainment dollars in other ways. > >But do they spend them downtown? Or do they go to movies or shopping or >whatever out in the suburbs where parking is free and traffic is generally less >of a hassle? Do fans who go to games spend other dollars downtown -- or do they just pay for parking, go to the game, cause mega traffic congestion, then go back out to the suburbs. >So? Quality theater means it deserves public funding? What about those folks >who could give a fig about theater or who are deaf like me and so may not be >able to fully appreciate a play or orchestral performance? One nice thing about >pro sports for me is that it's all visual, or at least enough so that I can keep >up with everything despite being unable to hear. Although I do venture out for >the occasional small show because I have friends who perform. Again, I don't >mean to knock the performing arts, but saying that they deserve public funding >and a ballpark doesn't strikes me as both hypocritical and snobbish. The economics of the performing arts isn't the economics of pro sports. Pro sports is more comparable to the Movie industry -- and I don't favor subsidies for that either. >> Neither the planetarium or any of the theaters that get public money pay >> workers the type of out of control salaries that ball players make. > >And also don't generate the kinds of taxes the ball players do. Do you realize >that visiting baseball players pay income taxes for the games they play here? >It totalled about $9 million in tax revenues for MN last year. The state is better off if we have more industries that hire more people at lower salaries than ball players make -- and have career track jobs -- than pushing the dead end job method of economic development. I didn't support the Northwest Airlines bailout -- but at least there were professional high paying jobs as part of the picture. >> As I understood it 67% opposed public financing. > >That's because you didn't read the whole article. You looked at a pie chart on >the front page. Had you ventured inside to the rest of the article, you would >have seen a table listing a variety of financing options. Poll respondents >favored using monies from ticket/parking surcharges as I stated before as well >as favored slot machines at Canterbury Park (66%), issuing special >sports-related lottery tickets (64%) and a low-interest loan from the state to >the Twins combined with some private money (67%). I merely stated the option >considered most favorable at 72%. I saw the rest of the article -- and the Strib (stadium booster that it is) quoted people who favored or were neutral on subsidies -- and didn't quote the folks who opposed subsidies. The wording of the questions on the poll made it sound almost like a push poll -- trying to get the poll respondants to favor a particular public subsidy option -- sugar coating it so it doesn't really seem like a subsidy. >> Not if it's not a sound business proposal. What is stopping fans from >> forming a non-profit now to buy the twins -- and getting a sugar daddy to >> be the 25% investor? Why does Kahn's proposal require the legislature to >> act? > >Because it provides credibility. If there were a group of us fans who had the >connections and the clout to form such a non-profit and approach a sugar daddy >and get that person on board, it would have been done already. Unfortunately, >Pohlad and MLB are unlikely to give us fans the time of day unless we have a >partner worthy of their attention. The point of Kahn's proposal was to make it easier for the legislature to fund a stadium in the future. I'd say get together the non-profit first -- get some credibility in the private sector first. The legislature shouldn't be the first place you go for funding for this. >What bothers me is people that think this is an issue not worthy of attention >just because they don't care a great deal what happens to the Twins. It's worthy of attention -- but it's worthy of private sector attention. This isn't a governmental priority -- especially with the budget shortfall at the state level. >I don't >sit out in left field and complain about all the issue posted that I'd rather >not hear or read about. I grow weary at times of the education thread but I'm >not wailing on Mr. Atherton or Mr. Mann to shut up and go away. I'm not complaining about the stadium thread. It's an issue that's been plugged by the media in a major way. What I'm complaining about is the stadium issue is sucking the life out of other issues in the City that are more relevant to local government. >What about >those of us who want a stadium built and so appreciate the time and effort our >elected officials have put into solving the problem? You should also thank the media -- the Strib, the TV stations and everyone else who has been covering this issue ad nauseum. >I worked on Rybak's campaign and don't recall stadiums being a particularly huge >issue one way or the other in his campaign literature or statements. I know >Rybak ran on a philosophy of getting things done without always pulling out the >City's checkbook as SSB often did. And I see him acting consistently with what >he campaigned on. He's offered no big plan for public financing that would cost >our taxpayers anything. He's stated that any proposal needs to have private >dollars committed first and foremost. Rybak attacked other candidates at debates on their stands in favor of public subsidies for stadiums. After he got elected the major issue he seems to be working on is the stadium. He ran on affordable housing and opening up City Government. >If you'll permit me an aside, with regards to Gary Bowman's comment on Ostrow >viewing a $10 million investment as appropriate - do you know what that would be >for? It would cover things like street work and sewer work, which would be >needed for ANY kind of development project, whether it be a ballpark, a shopping >center, a theater or even a green space park with grass and trees and stuff. >Honestly, if Minneapolis managed to procure a new ballpark and all we ended up >having to contribute was that $10 million in infrastructure costs, we would be >the envy of nearly every state and major municipal government in the nation! I'd like to challenge the Media outlets -- the Star Tribune, WCCO, Hubbard Broadcasting etc. to put their money where their mouth is. Having pro-sports in the city helps their bottom line -- so why don't they invest in the stadium? Other states and municipal governments are probalbly rooting for Minneapolis and Minnesota to stand up to the extortionists known as "owners" in Major League Baseball.... Eva Eva Young Central _______________________________________ 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
