On 2/3/04 1:29 PM, "Andy Driscoll" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Devoting one minute of precious legislative time or one dollar of scarce > Minnesota revenues and resources to a stadium (only proponents call it a > ballpark) is the obscenity of this Legislative session. Neither Minneapolis > nor St. Paul should be pushing for a dime in state or local revenues for > such a boondoggle, let alone any urban delegation member working to public > finance a millionaires' playground while we have bulging deficits and the > slashing of local government aids and human services programs. > > Join the battle to turn the Legislature's attention to helping the cities of > Minneapolis and St. Paul. Stop the discussion now and get on with the > people's business. > > http://www.NoStadiumTax.com > > Andy Driscoll > Saint Paul > -------- Unfortunately for Mr. Driscoll, those of us who reside in the real world know that there certainly will be legislative time devoted to discussions regarding a Twins ballpark and/or a new stadium for the Vikings, whether he likes it or not. That's because there are a lot of people who DO actually want these discussions to take place because they DO want to ensure that we keep the Twins and Vikings in Minnesota. Part of this is due to the connection we have with these teams and part of it is recognizing that keeping these teams costs a heck of a lot less than trying to attract new ones. One only needs to look at the saga of the North Stars and the Wild to recognize this. Now while there may be some folks who cannot fathom the civic value that professional sports teams bring to our core cities and state, they are still a small minority of our population, albeit a very vocal one. My hope is that the Minneapolis delegation will represent all of their constituents and not just the squeaky wheels. My other hope is that our delegation will realize that these discussions are just as much the people's business as discussions about a planetarium or a theatre or a zoo. People can squawk all they want about nonprofits and millionaires and whatnot, but that's not the point. The point is that people like living in areas that feature professional sports teams and they like to watch them play. Businesses like being based in areas that have professional sports teams. Bars, restaurants and hotels like the business that professional sports teams attract. Our professional sports teams are just one of the many reasons why Minneapolis is cool and Fargo or Des Moines sucks, but they're a pretty big reason for a whole lot of folks. And like it or not, anti-stadium folks, a heck of a lot more people go to Twins games each year than to the Guthrie or any other theatre in town and they probably have a lot more fun. Most of those folks are NOT going to come downtown to go to the theatre or see a movie at Block E. I'm glad our mayor and county commissioners understand this point and is spending some of their time promoting the Rapid Park site for a Twins ballpark. Now, while my preference would be for a Twins ballpark financing plan that is based mainly on user fees because I'm willing to pay my fair share to keep them here, that's not what Hennepin County chose to offer for their plan. I suppose I am pleasantly surprised that they went with a broad and shallow approach rather than attempting to stick it to downtown residents and workers as was done with the Convention Center. Whether the suburban legislators in Hennepin County can squirm out from under the thumbs of the Taxpayers League and get on board with that will be interesting to see... Mark Snyder Windom Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
