In Saturday's Pioneer Press' story by Patrick Sweeney and Aron Kahn, about how Gov. Pawlenty might try and get the Twins to come to Saint Paul, there was a very interesting comment by Hennepin County Commissioner Mike Opat, the architect of the Twins - Hennepin Co. stadium plan.
Commissioner Opat said that if the legislature requires Hennepin County to hold a referendum on the proposed sales tax increase, to fund the Twins new stadium, AS STATE LAW REQUIRES, http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/297A/99.html he would pull his stadium plan from consideration, rather than comply with state law. "Pawlenty's mention of a Twins ballpark for St. Paul reflects legislative opposition to the Minneapolis proposal, which calls for the Hennepin County Board to impose a 0.15 percent countywide sales tax. County Board Member Mike Opat, who negotiated the stadium plan with the Twins, said Friday that the board would drop the ballpark proposal rather than put the tax to a vote of residents." "Voters would not receive all pertinent information that board members had when making their decision, Opat said, adding that elected officials should not defer tough decisions to voters." http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/12848824.htm Commissioner Opat says he opposes a public referendum because, ""Voters would not receive all pertinent information that board members had ". However Commissioner Opat's website purportedly has all the information about the Twins - Hennepin County Stadium. (See "related Links"). http://www.hennepin.us/vgn/portal/internet/hcchannelmaster/0,2324,1273_1730__2,00.html So my question for Commissioner Opat is, what "pertinent information" did the Hennepin County Board receive, or did he receive privately from the Twins or Twins management, that is so critical or important, that he would rather cancel the Twins Stadium deal, rather than share this information with the public? Commissioner Opat please tell us, what "pertinent information" that you are referring to and not sharing with the public. Dann Dobson No Stadium Tax Coalition Saint Paul [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------- Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free. REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
