Minneapolis Throws Down the Gauntlet

The City of Minneapolis has set the bar very high for naming horrible choices for the Mike Opat Ball Park Authority. Joan Campbell is the worst of the worst when it comes to stupid elected officials. She got thrown out of office along with Sharon Sayle Benton and Jackie Cherryhomes. Can't wait to see who the Governor names. Ballpark agency has first member Minneapolis City Council on Friday named a former member, Joan Campbell, to the Minnesota Ballpark Authority. Former Minneapolis City Council Member Joan Campbell was named Friday as the first appointee to the new five-member Minnesota Ballpark Authority, which will own the new Minnesota Twins stadium and supervise its construction. A 12-year City Council member who left office in 2001, Campbell was appointed on a 12-1 vote by the City Council. The authority's other four members are expected to be announced next week, when Hennepin County and the governor's office each make two appointments. The authority, which is scheduled to begin meeting next month, will own the stadium and sign an agreement with the Twins for the team to manage its day-to-day operations. Campbell, also a former Metropolitan Council member, said she told City Council President Barb Johnson of her interest earlier this week. Campbell said she supported Hennepin County's controversial decision to impose a 0.15 percent countywide sales tax increase, or 3 cents for every $20 spent, that will be used to help build the $522 million stadium. She said she also backed the equally controversial decision to levy the tax without a referendum. "There needs to be a political will to do what's right for the city, and I think this is right for the city," she said. "I'm happy the county's willing to do this because obviously the tax base in the city would never support that." But Campbell acknowledged that she became interested in the job only recently after finding out that she was eligible. Members of the Ballpark Authority cannot have held elected office in Hennepin County or Minneapolis within the past two years. Johnson said Campbell, who served on an implementation panel for the city's new downtown library, was a good choice. "She's extremely loyal and also knows our process," Johnson said. "She's been through this stuff before. She knows how to get a project done on time and on budget." MIKE KASZUBA

Hennepin County Schedules Vote on Stadium Spending

The board has not yet officially approved the Mike Opat sales tax, but spending has to be approved with no secure funding source. From the MPR website County board sets timeline for stadium vote Hennepin County officials say they expect a vote to approve the Twins ballpark sales tax increase by October. But county officials say there is much to be done in the meantime. The county has to start negotiating a lease agreement with the Twins. Once the agreement is complete, county commissioners will take public testimony at three public hearings likely to be held in August. The board is expected to vote next week to approve spending $5 million to cover some initial costs. The money would be recovered after the tax increase is imposed next year. However, commissioner Penny Steele expressed concern about where the county would find $5 million if the sales tax increase doesn't pass. "Stranger things have happened, people either somehow aren't in office or somehow things can happen in a time gap in the world of human beings. I assume then that property tax would pay those $5 million," she said. County staffers confirmed Steele's assumption. Steele opposes the tax increase for the stadium. However, the supporters on the county board still outnumber opponents 4-3.

Mike Opat and the Four Horsemen

From the Pioneer Press: "From Sid's Sunday column: 'Phil Krinkie, the esteemed so-called state representative, recently described the four Hennepin County commissioners in favor of the Twins plan — Mike Opat, Randy Johnson, Peter McLaughlin and Mark Stenglein — as "the Four Horsemen." Well, that is very nice of him to give these courageous politicians a name, because they deserve to be remembered for the courage they showed to continue voting for the stadium.' "I'm not sure the so-called representative intended the same homage to the commissioners that Mr. Hartman seems to find in the appellation. Maybe he doesn't recall the descriptive portion of the text Grantland Rice provided in 1924: " 'Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. " 'In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death.' "Maybe Sid can decide which name fits which politician." The combo platter