[Mpls] Rybak waffling on Stadium? Not here.

[Aaron Klemz]

Sid Hartman, Star Tribune, 5/2

http://www.startribune.com/stories/503/5379768.html

"Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak was on the phone early
Sunday morning, calling our WCCO Radio sports show and
requesting to go on the air so he could clear up his
stance on the proposed partnership of the Twins and
Hennepin County to build a new baseball stadium in
back of Target Center.

"I support the plan. I think it's what we set out to
do 18 months ago," Rybak said. "I think the county
board should pass it. If I was sitting on the county
board, I would vote for it. And I think it should be
sent over to the Capitol. ... The county, the
governor, [Senate Majority Leader] Dean Johnson and
[House Speaker] Steve Sviggum are all saying the same
thing that I'm saying, which is the following: 'This
is a good plan. Take it up after the highest
priorities are done.' And I think that's important."

A bit of controversy occurred when Rybak refused to
comment about the stadium plan when it was first
announced.

"I gave a sloppy quote that I think was too vague, and
I shouldn't have done that," Rybak said. "But I'm
trying to be real clear. I support the county plan, I
would for vote it. It's in the best site. And I think
they should send it over to the Capitol and take it
up."

Rybak made it clear that there were more important
things than the stadium that have to be taken up first
by the city and the Legislature.

He talked about Denver, Seattle and other cities that
have made great progress in building stadiums and
getting other things done with a small sales tax, and
he supports this one.

"[Hennepin County Commissioner] Mike Opat and I began
working on this two years ago; he deserves tremendous
credit for this. As does [Hennepin County Board
Chairman] Randy Johnson. As does the whole county
board," Rybak said. "But I believe most of them would
support regional sales taxes for something broader.
We've got to get into a different discussion in this
community where we're not just saying 'No new taxes,'
we're saying, 'How do we pay for great things?' The
ballpark is one of them, but it's a lower priority
than schools and roads and police."

Rybak has a point. Make the sales tax broader. Instead
of three cents on every $20, make it six cents. Then
more needs such as transportation, housing, etc.,
could be covered and such a bill would be easier to
pass because it would help more people. This could
happen if and when Hennepin County approves the sales
tax for the stadium plan and sends it to the
Legislature for approval."



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Aaron Klemz, Minneapolis, Minnesota
aaronklemz at yahoo.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com