the voters of Minneapolis will get an opportunity to vote on whether they want
to contribute $600 to $900 million to the construction of a monument to head
injuries and gladiatorial combat to benefit a New Jersey developer who was just
found to be guilty of swindling a partner out of $21 million.
Judge Phillip Bush took the matter under advisement and will issue a ruling
sometime early next week. He asked petitioner Doug Mann for further
clarification on some points. Doug Mann is a candidate for Mayor and a member
of the Green Party and the Farmer Labor Association.
If Judge Bush rules in favor of the petition, grants the Writ of Mandamus and
orders the City to hold a referendum on whether City money should be used to
support the new stadium, it will stop the construction. The City would most
certainly appeal the ruling, but in the meantime no bonds could be sold. Who
would buy bonds when there was no clear agreement they would be paid by tax
revenues? And, along with the faltering contribution of the State, the stadium
bubble would pop.
The implications of this are profound.
Citizens of Minneapolis have twice amended the City Charter to demand the right
to vote on whether funding a sports stadium is more important than basic
services. They have demanded the right to be heard on this question. A
practical nurse with only slight training as a paralegal, Doug Mann has taken
on this challenge. His first oral argument before a district court (in what
Judge Bush called "not Law School 101, but more a graduate course") was
brilliant and courageous.
If you believe in the rule of law, if you believe in the people's right to
govern themselves, then you must applaud Doug Mann's struggle, no matter how
you feel about the Purple People Eaters.
Ed Felien
Powderhorn