[Mpls] Re: stadium

[David Greene]

Andy Driscoll wrote:
> Not all referenda are bad, but we know a railroad job when we see it.
> And who's speaking "for" you in this "discussion?" 

Several posters have indicated that no one on this list supports
the stadium plan.  I was responding to that general message, not
any particular individual.  My choice of words was poor.

> And why should you people as a minority of stadium supporters prevail
> without proving your side is adequately supported. 

Why should rural legislators get to have a say in whether or how
we impose taxes on the metro area?  Because that's the way the
system works.  If the legislature and the governor approve the plan,
then stadium supporters will prevail.  If one disagrees, one should
vote out the elgislators and the governor at the earliest possible
opportunity.

> to private business, do so, but it is arrogant in the extreme to expect the
> public trough to feed the voracious appetite of the money-changers who field
> millionaire children as entertainment, diverting real resources from real
> needs to those who wallow in luxury as we speak.

The public subsidizes private business all the time.  Best Buy in
Richfield, Block E, Mall of America, etc., etc., etc.  This is not
a new phenomenon.

> And the economics have proven elsewhere (including at the Hump) that
> catalytic development never really follows the public's investment ion
> private corporations, especially sports stadia.

The Mall of America, for all its flaws, actually has spurred private
and public investment.  I remember when Hennipen Ave. used to be a
place one didn't go after dark.  For all their flaws, recent
developments there have made a big difference.

> And why would anyone want to play or watch baseball in a cloud of burning
> garbage?

This is a red herring.  Hennepin Ave. gets at least as much, if not
more, of the emissions from HERC.

> Twisted values if ever I've seen them.

Tell that to me once you've spent considerable personal time working
hard to make progress on issues of public good like education,
transportation, domestic violence, immigration and health care.

David Greene
The Wedge