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October 18, 2011
Dayton to set Vikings stadium session, now needs only stadium plan
And it's on: Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton says he'll call a special session of the state legislature in November to discuss a Minnesota Vikings stadium, even if there's no stadium bill agreed on by then to vote on:
Dayton said he's counting on the deadline to "produce an outcome by at least Nov. 23 that will be either a vote up or a vote down...I see this as the best opportunity, perhaps the only opportunity, to get it resolved until at least 2013."
The debate over the stadium has "become a circular process where, without a deadline, without legislators knowing that they're going to have to vote by a certain date on a stadium plan, that we won't have a plan. Conversely, it's not appropriate or fair to ask them to vote on a plan without knowing what it is," the Democratic governor said at a news conference after briefing legislative leaders on the idea.
What the plan is, of course, still remains a moving target, with a report commissioned by Dayton warning that the Arden Hills site in Ramsey County would be more expensive than sponsors have claimed, and a couple of potential Minneapolis sites still in the mix, plus the longshot of a renovated Metrodome. The likeliest scenario looks to be, as ESPN's Kevin Seifert writes, "five intense weeks of negotiations followed by a pre-Thanksgiving 2011 vote" — or a failure to come up with a bill to vote on, in which case Dayton can at least say he tried.
Meanwhile, opponents of the Ramsey County stadium are busily launching their petition drive to force a public vote on the plan, which would presumably kill it, since voters in Ramsey County all hate the idea of a sales tax to help pay for it. Which could increase the chances of a Minneapolis stadium, except that there's no actual funding plan for one, the city is prohibited by an earlier referendum from spending more than $10 million on it, and the Hennepin County commission has said it doesn't have the money for one. This could be quite the interesting special session.
This is going to fail in a big way. Yikes.
Email your representatives, everyone. Wilf has already stated he won't extend the lease another year. Let's see if he's bluffing!
Posted by Geoff on October 18, 2011 09:42 AM
This is going to fail in a big way. Yikes.
Email your representatives, everyone. Wilf has already stated he won't extend the lease another year. Let's see if he's bluffing!
Posted by Geoff on October 18, 2011 09:42 AM
Oh, from the NFL: "A top National Football League official, after meeting Tuesday with Gov. Mark Dayton, gently upped the pressure for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium by saying that a political stalemate on the project could mean �opening the door� for the team to move."
This is "gently" upping the pressure? What's the next level? Rearranging our face? Kneecapping? Cement overshoes?
Posted by Geoff on October 18, 2011 06:31 PM
I'm gonna be so disappointed if they move the Vikings to the NFC West.
Posted by Ben Miller on October 19, 2011 09:50 PM
Was at a Saint Paul city council debate last night (St. Paul is most of Ramsey County). All 4 candidates came out against the stadium.
None of them went quite so far as to demand a vote, but all expressed their belief that the deal didn't make financial sense and that they feel the circumvention of the normal sales tax process was regrettable. They were very hostile to the project generally.
Of course they are politicians so they love popular positions, but I was encouraged that they seem to not be taken in by the current press/lobbying onslaught in favor of the stadium.
Posted by Joshua Northey on October 20, 2011 11:02 AM
Um, heck me if I'm wrong, but Neil has as much say over whether a Vikings stadium gets state and county financing as the friggin' St. Paul city council does, right?
Good to see that local politicians doing their jobs, though. Surely they refrained from charging the city for overtime pay in order to have this meeting...
Posted by Ben Miller on October 20, 2011 11:21 AM
Also, presumably there's no downside to St. Paul council candidates coming out against a Vikings stadium, since St. Paul wouldn't actually get the team, it would just get stuck with (part of) the bill, via county sales taxes.
Well it being in Ramsey County is sort of "it being in Saint Paul" from a Metro MSP perspective. Arden Hills is about 5 minutes away from parts of Saint Paul. Saint Paul has 60% of the population of Ramsey County and maybe 40% of the geographic area (it is the state's smallest county).
The council doesn't have any say, but a hostile city council is one of those things that will sway the state legislature in the upcoming special session. And even more than that, the hostility of the electorate at the city council debate to the proposal.
Posted by Joshua Northey on October 20, 2011 12:01 PM