A lead story in today's Pioneer Press reports on the decision by the Mn
Twins to settle on Minneapolis for its new location. This of course this is
not a big surprise to many of the longer term St. Paulites. What is
disturbing is the amount of time and money, both public and private, spent
in chasing an unreal dream of a few. At least with the financial structure
insisted on by the Twins. We have also forgone numerous development
opportunities on at least three separate sites holding out the political
hope of a miracle. The favored site by the Mayor is not large enough to
accommodate a stadium even if a St. Paul stadium were possible. The Mayor
still says we'll be there and waiting if the Twins change their mind. Is it
possible the real motivation in holding out hope is only for political gains
even if only short term.
We actually had an opportunity to recover at least something for all this
expense. When the Mn Legislature named St. Paul as the only City the State
it would subsidies, I was giving the Mayor credit for a pretty shrewd move.
We could now trade those chips for Minneapolis support for something else
i.e. bonding dollars or light rail. Something that really could be built. In
the end that also was squandered.
Also in today's Pioneer Press editorial, we are told how successful we have
been for dreaming big in St. Paul and claiming "the city has gone through a
genuine renaissance". Talk about spin. This sounds like an effort to save
face after continually taking unrealistic and wrong positions over the
recent past. I think most every decade St. Paul has experienced since
about 1840 can and probably has made a claim of progress and development.
Certainly in the decades immediately prior to Norm Coleman's administration
this was the case. The editors misuse the word renaissance which actually
means rebirth. That implies we were a dead city prior to the last decade.
What really occurred was change, and that is inevitable. The word
"renaissance" was a political catch word started in St. Paul by Norm Coleman
(actually Eric Mische) and continues to be used to spin our situation by the
Paper.
What the editorial board lacks is history. Few of them have been around
very long and even fewer of those quoted in today's editorial were around
prior to the 90's either. Their list of hits and misses shows this. The
Children Museum started in the Scheibel Administration. In fact the River
Centre and Xcel Energy Center was possible because of the 1/2 cent sales tax
during Scheibel's time. When I ran for Mayor in 1993 all the candidates
supported this tax except ironically, Norm Coleman. They mention Ecolab as
a "hit". What did the do in the last 10 years? What about The Conseco
development or Minnesota Life (never leased) as missed developments? Was
Lawson a miss? To name a few discrepancies.
The focus of the Pioneer Press has been strictly in support of development,
any development for over a decade. There has been little focus on cost or
opportunity lost. There is no acknowledgement of poor public policy or long
term investment concerns when it comes to development. Perhaps this is
because the Editorial Board and the Chamber Of Commerce don't pay much for
these developments. Saint Paul residents have that burden.
John Mannillo
Downtown and Highland Park
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