Over 200 years ago well before the internet and the Minneapolis Forum,
Alexander Pope wrote "A little learning is a dangerous thing". How
profoundly prescience.
About two weeks ago I enrolled
in the Forum. I'd heard about it from State Representative Phyliis Kahn and
Park Commissioner Annie Young, two committed public servants whose opinions
I respect. I thought I would become better informed and find some thoughtful
and well reasoning minds. For the most part I have been disappointed.
Members seem to instantly write about things of which they know little, form
opinions with very little reflection and occassionally descend into a smug
state of snideness as evidenced below.
Just
today Emily Ero Phillips, the Park Board's public information officer,
posted information on the Forum about the factors that lead to the Park
Board's decision to acquire the Moore Property site at 21st and West River
Parkway North. I respectfully suggest any Forum member interested in the
issue at least review Emily's e-mail before they reach a judgement about the
wisdom of the Board's decision in this matter.
I
also think that to understand the issue Forum members should have the
financial analysis that the Park Board staff prepared. Contrary to many
statements made on the issue, the planned Park Board headquarters will be
revenue neutral. In fact, the Park Board has already received several
inquiries from both public and private entities about leasing space in the
building. Should that occur the the building will serve as a profit center.
After the City Council tabled the Park Board's request for G.O. Bonds to
finance the acquistion and development of the property, the Park Board asked
me (the Board attorney) what options in had to finance the property. In
reviewing the matter I recalled a little used and long neglected provision
in the City Charter which allows the Park Board to finance the acquistion of
property by entering into a mortgage agreement with a lender. (I'd like to
credit the former Assistant Superintendant for Park Planning Al Wittman for
his years of telling me about how this device was used to acquire much of
the park system around the Chain of Lakes.) The ability of the Park Board to
mortgage its property is unique in Minnesota law. It allows the Park Board
to enter into a debt obligation of this type without interferring with other
capital projects' source of funding.
Placing a mortgage on the property for the cost of the acquistion (not the
improvements also) has an additional advantage. By using existing Park Board
reserves on which the Board receives no interest (this is another story
about how the city receives the interest earnings on the reserves of various
city entities) to pay for the improvements, the Park Board could lease out
as much as 46% of the building to "private use", ie. certain
non-governmental and non-tax exempt entities, as opposed to a 10% private
use limit if the project had been fully funded by G.O. Bonds. This gives the
Park Board ample room to accommodate other users and makes the likelihood of
the building being a profit center even greater. In short, by tabling the
first proposal, the City Council did the Board a favor because the current
financing has the Board incurring only $3.1 million in debt instead of $4.6
million with much greater flexibility on use.
I've
represented the Park Board for nearly 20 years, the acquistion of the
Riverfront property for a headquarters and operations facility is the
smartest thing I've seen the Board do. And believe me I've seen the Board
make numerous great land acquistion decisions, eg. the central riverfront
and Fort Snelling. The Park Board had a home at City Hall over 40 years
ago. But City space needs dictated that the Board become an itinerant
renter. Unlike the County, the City has to my knowledge never adopted a long
term strategic plan for its space needs. The one bold space plan put forth
by the City Coordinator and approved by the City Council in the early 1970s
was to add eight additional floors to the Hennepin County Government Center.
That decision, however, was trashed by the talk show predecessors of Jesse
Ventura (and perhaps the same predecessors of this Forum) and after much
hubbub and blatherskite, then Mayor Charles Stenvig vetoed the Council
action. This of course left the City paying rent to a variety of landlords
in and adjacent to city hall for decades.
Unlike
the County which has a long term space plan and strategy, the City has given
relatively little thought to its needs. Certainly it has given no thought to
the Park Board's needs. Over 40 years ago had the Park Board build its own
building everyone would be saying that that Park Board was composed of
geniuses. Had they done it 20 years ago, the current Board would be paying
no rent. And in both cases the Board would have another valuable asset. I
would challenge any Forum member to show where the Park Board has made an
ill-advised acquistion decision in its 120 history.
Much of this debate has left out the intangible benefits of this acquistion.
Recently the Met Council adopted the Upper River Plan. This internationally
acclaimed plan is the (let me repeat this for some Forum members who are
unfamiliar with the geographic area north of Hennepin Avenue) is the
planning blue print for this city for the next 50 years. The housing boom in
the central riverfront which is directly attributed to the Park Board's
Central Riverfront Park literally made the difference from the City's
population declining in the 1990s to its population increasing. The upper
riverfront presents an even greater opportunity. In fact with the Grain Belt
project we are already seeing it. Over the last 18 years the Park Board with
the Legislature's help has already acquired at least four strategic yet
disconnected parcels. The Board itself has acquired other parcels. Locating
the Park Board headquarters on the riverfront would in my opinion make an
enormous statement about its commitment to the next great phase in
development of this city.
While I understand that the internet
and this Forum
is designed to exchange information and opinion, I find it less than helpful
when satiric pieces such as the one produced by the list manager are
published. This is especially so when there is an evident lack of
information about the topic. It seems to me this Forum is exactly the type
of medium that our current Governor thrives in. From reading some of the
recent messages it also seems that this Forum is perhaps a potentially
lethal breeding for libelous inaccuracies. Based on the time I've spent
writing on this issue, I think this may be my first and last contribution to
the Forum. Although I'm reminded at this point of another great author's
views on the topic. A century after Pope, Samuel Langhorne Clemens wrote,
"A lie can get half way around the world before the truth even gets its
shoes on."
Brian F.
Rice
Mpls Park
Board Attorney
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of
David Brauer
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 9:11 PM
To: Mpls list
Subject: [Mpls] Board of Estimate announces move to Lyndale Farmstead
Citing a lack of independent-board headquarters on the south side, the
Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation has announced plans to buy
the Park Board maintenance depot by Lyndale Farmstead Park
"We don't want southsiders to feel insecure," explained Board of
Estimate and Taxation member Wally Swan. "We've seen what an inferiority
complex can do to the north side. But now that they have the Park Board
headquarters, we know they are feeling pretty smug. Northeast has the
school board, and downtown has City Hall. We decided our $5.1 million
purchase price is an adequate salve for bruised southsiders. Plus, there
is no better way to demonstrate the independence of independent boards
than by dispersing them widely throughout the city."
The Park Board, which currently has maintenance operations on the
Lyndale Farmstead site, will move their equipment to their new
Mississippi River headquarters. "We hear they have extra room," said
Swan.
Asked why the Board of Estimate - which has no heavy equipment - needed
such a large site, Swan said the purchase would be an investment in open
space for future generations. He also said potential rental income would
reduce borrowing costs. He said negotiations have begun with
neighborhood residents looking for a dog park.
(This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual public policy,
living or dead, is intentional. However, "Wally Swan" is a composite of
public officials and not meant to represent the real, live Wally Swan.)
David Brauer
King Field
Tells the truth in his day job
_______________________________________
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
_______________________________________
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
