Minneapolis City Council endorses downtown stadium on 7-6 vote
By a 7-6 vote that seemed to surprise no one, the Minneapolis City Council approved a resolution to support a new Minnesota Vikings stadium downtown - provided the bill also pays off the convention center and renovates Target Center.
The resolution, OK'd after a contentious public comment session Tuesday, April 24, also states that funding the city's share of the project with $675 million in redirected sales taxes did not violate the city's charter - a point deemed "clearly false" by dissenting council members and many residents.
In what was the most contested issue of the session, council member Gary Schiff noted that the stadium bills in the Legislature both include language to bypass a charter amendment, passed in 1997 with a public vote of 70 percent, that requires the city to hold a referendum to approve spending more than $10 million on sports facilities.
"My frustration is enormous, and my sense of trust with many members of this city council and particularly the mayor is greatly damaged," said Minneapolis resident Ann Berget. "I've listened to corporate leaders in the last few minutes...praising the partnership that they feel they've experienced with Mayor (R.T.) Rybak and council president (Barb) Johnson. Minneapolis taxpayers, many of them, do not share that feeling."
Charley Underwood, a retired St. Paul schoolteacher who lives in Minneapolis, said, "In my entire life, I have earned approximately what one star football player gets in one game."
Other residents complained that Vikings owners had yet to open their books and criticized City Attorney Susan Segal for not writing a formal opinion on the charter amendment.
For the first hour of the standing-room-only meeting, the lines were starkly drawn between business and labor leaders - primarily in the construction, architectural, and hospitality industries, as well as business groups such as the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce - speaking in favor of the resolution, and residents angered about the use of tax dollars speaking against it.
Business leaders repeatedly stated it "was not about the Vikings" - but rather about how a new stadium would bring jobs and keep Minneapolis competitive. They said the proposal would need no new tax dollars - a point contested by some residents, who said extending a sales tax that currently pays for the convention center was just the same as a new tax.
Sales taxes will pay off the center's construction bonds in 2020. The stadium bills in the Legislature would extend the use of a portion of those sales taxes through 2046 or 2047 - using $675 million of the $2.1 billion garnered over that time, according to city chief financial officer Kevin Carpenter.
Some Minneapolis residents who spoke in favor of the stadium later told the Pioneer Press that they worked for the Timberwolves or in construction or hospitality. Toward the end of the session, a few Minneapolis residents who said they were not tied to any business interest also came forward in support of the stadium, which would replace the Metrodome.
"It's a huge contributor to our urban core, our vibrancy," said resident Jen Antila.
After the public comment session, Johnson brought up the proposal for a vote, stating, "We do it because we are an important city. We are the economic engine of this region.
"Nobody loves the financing mechanisms for professional sports, but we benefit from that exposure that the NFL gives us," she added.
Voting with Johnson in favor of the resolution were John Quincy, Sandy Colvin Roy, Diane Hofstede, Don Samuels, Meg Tuthill and Kevin Reich.
Schiff and Cam Gordon spoke loudest against the resolution. Gordon tried to pass several counter motions, most of which were voted down 7-6, along the same lines as the stadium resolution.
But one passed, with Reich's support: a motion requesting that the charter commission review the stadium bill to determine whether it complies with the city's charter.
(source St. Paul Pioneer Press)
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