Could a new stadium keep the Minnesota Twins up and running? The team is being threatened with shut down because of low salaries and low rankings…but local political and business efforts in creating a task force to look at options for new stadium in state are providing hope that there is still a chance to avoid losing professional baseball in Minnesota.
TOM SCHECK: Twins president Jerry Bell repeated the same story he's told state lawmakers for five years. But this time, he says, he wasn't coming to the legislature to ask for help. He told the 18-member group that he testified at their request and was merely explaining the team's finances.
He says, the Twins rank near the bottom of the League in revenue and far below the League average in player salaries. But Bell also provided a glimmer of hope for Twins fans, who have feared the Twins will be cut by the end of the year. When a task force member asked him if the Twins would be saved if baseball delayed contraction for a year and a new stadium was built, Bell said, it was a possibility.
JERRY BELL: Assuming that contraction does not occur prior to beginning of this season, and assuming the Twins are one of the teams that would be contracted, which has not been announced, I think the answer to that question is yes.
TOM SCHECK: Bell's reply was the first concession from Twins or Major League Baseball officials that a new stadium would make an impact on the league's decision on which teams would be eliminated. After Bell's testimony, the task force listened to six plans that could help keep the team in the state.
Saint Paul Mayor Norm Coleman and Saint Paul Mayor elect Randy Kelley are pushing a plan that splits the cost of a $375 million facility between private businesses, including the Twins and the city. They say, the city would pay for its share with a 3% sales tax on bars and restaurants, game-day parking revenues, and a ticket tax. Kelley says, the legislature would need to approve the tax increase and issue the bonds which the city would pay back.
RANDY KELLEY: We have a very specific proposal. I think that Saint Paul can, in fact, be the place in which a ballpark could be built. And I think the Twins could come here. I think we stand the best chance of getting a proposal adopted and the best chance of getting it funded.
TOM SCHECK: Kelley says, he thinks the city council would approve the plan if the legislature gave the go ahead. He says, he isn't sure if he'd bring the proposal up for a citywide referendum. Saint Paul voters defeated a half-cent sales tax increase in 1999 that would have helped pay for a new stadium.
Minneapolis mayor Sharon Sayles Belton and her successor, RT Rybak, also proposed a $315 million ballpark. They say it would be paid for mostly with private money and a 1/3 public contribution. Rybak, who opposed public subsidies for a ballpark during his mayoral campaign, repeated his belief that the private sector should pay for most of the stadium.
RT RYBAK: I don't believe that we should be doing a significant public investment in this at all, to be perfectly frank. I do say, though, as the mayor elect, I'll work as hard as I can to make sure that we get out in the private sector because the private sector in Minneapolis is far and away the largest private sector anywhere. This is where the headquarters are and others. I'm working that as hard as I can, and that's where I believe the resources should come from.
TOM SCHECK: The task force also listened to stadium proposals that would transfer ownership of the Twins to the public through a sale of team stock. Another asks the state to allow Canterbury Park to operate slot machines. Supporters say, a slot machine tax would go to stadiums and other needs.
And Senator John Marty, who is opposed to using public money for stadiums, said, the Twins in Major League Baseball should pay for the stadiums entirely with private money. He says, there's too large of a disparity between small-market and large-market teams for a ballpark to make a difference.
JOHN MARTY: Regardless of what the proponents of the other plans have said, their plans will put taxpayers on the hook for large amounts of money, and they simply don't address the economic problems.
TOM SCHECK: Finance commissioner and task force member Pam Wheelock wouldn't call any of the proposals front runners. But the former Norm Coleman aide said the Saint Paul plan offered more information than the others.
PAM WHEELOCK: Just based on what we've heard today, I think they're more concrete about what their role will be in how the facility will be financed but perhaps not quite as concrete, obviously, on what site and what the end product is.
TOM SCHECK: The task force will hold its next hearing in Alexandria on Thursday. I'm Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio.
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