Mike Opat, Call Your Office

It's time to build the Vikings a new stadium.  So says Roy Terwilliger, Chairman of the Metropolitian Sports Facilities Commission in an Opinion Exchange submission on the Minneapolis Star Tribune web site, presumably to appear in tomorrow morning's print edition.  Forgive me if I'm just a bit cynical here.  The 7-8 New York Giants were playing the 11-4 Minnesota Vikings, unbeaten at home.  The article is stamped today at 2:44 pm.  T-Jack has been on the field the past half hour, the game well in hand.  And there will be Terwilliger's article in tomorrow's paper amidst all the Vikings hoopla and playoff coverage.

To hear him tell it, we're all set.  What: the design is done.  Where: the current Metrodome site.  Why: cheaper to build now while construction costs are down.  When: Now, to be ready in three years.  Only thing left: How?  How to fleece us taxpayers once again?

The Governor will sign a stadium bill, any stadium bill, no question.  Ordinarily, the Legislature would eventually come up with something, at the last minute like everything else.  But the money isn't there and you can't hide this one in the Bonding Bill.  Former Senator now lobbyist Dick Day will try the Racino approach, but either way, public opinion will be heavily against it, just like the Twins stadium.  Only a Super Bowl victory will provide the kind of euphoric lull needed to pass this in the open.

What the Commission needs is a way to bypass the voters, just like the Twins stadium.  It's time to give those who won't pay the ability to impose this on those who will, just like the Twins stadium.  It's time to bring in Hennepin County Comissioner Mike Opat to stick us in Hennepin County once again, just like the Twins stadium.

Comments

[J. Ewing]

Hey, I LIKE that idea. Don't tax me, don't tax thee, tax that guy behind the tree (or in Hennepin county, it still rhymes). So long as this taxpayer isn't on the hook for it, I won't object, except on principle. Not that principle means much, it seems.

[Hiram]

When faced with a choice, Hennepin County chose to buile a Twins Stadium, not a Vikings Stadium. It's hard to imagine how they could sustain both now. What is conceivable, although only barely possible if for another county to step up and build a stadium. Anoka was a possibility for a while, but the Vikings walked away from that deal.

With the state facing additional deficits, and with the apparent unraveling of the governor's unallotment policy, it's hard to see how the legislature could find money for a new stadium. What Terwilliger is alluding to is one of the central ironies of recessions. That is, things are cheap, but that no one can afford to pay for them.

[J. Ewing]

hiram, what you are missing is that the legislature, particularly with the DFL in charge, doesn't have to "find the money" for anything they want. They just spend it, and assume that the revenue will magically appear and, if it doesn't, it's all the fault of those mean old Republicans.

I think that, somehow and "by hook or by crook" there's going to be a publicly funded stadium for these millionaire athletes and billionaire owners. We've done it before.

[Hiram]

That's not the way the legislature works. In 2009, the legislature did pass bills that balanced the budget, they were rejected by the governor because he didn't like the way the budget was balanced.

I think there will be a Vikings Stadium too, I just don't see how it will come about. The Twins Stadium slipped through when proponents found a usually neglected level of government that was willing to sign on to their proposal. In retrospect, it's clear enough, that county governments should never be allowed to have the authority to make that kind of commitment, but that's a done thing now.