Speaker and Minneapolis Resident Margaret Anderson Kelleher Goes for Mall Boondoggle at the Expense of Her Home Town
From:
Bob Spaulding
Date:
May 02 16:08 UTC
Short link
So, the best possible spin I could put on this, a narrow pool of union folks
got their way...
...At the expense of a public discussion where stakeholders are consulted and
informed about what's happening before our pockets are stripped of $371 million
that would have otherwise gone to struggling cities... That's more than the
state will spend on the Central Corridor (~$300 million for public
infrastructure), and about as much as we will spend on the Twin Stadium ($392
million for a one-of-its-kind regional asset).
...At the expense of sacrificing the future of the landmark nationally-lauded
1971 Fiscal Disparities Act, one of the nation's strongest laws to ensure
regional stability (see
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/18467184.html) ...
...At the expense of every other city in the region who will lose market share
to the Mall...
...At the expense most particularly of the two central cities, and all the
tourist destinations that will be forgone by the mall, and in particular our
downtowns...
...At the expense of urban sprawl...
...At the expense of combating global climate change...
...At the expense of the natural environment...
In short, at the expense of our region and our very future. And that's the
best possible spin.
I know labor did well. And the rest of us? Chopped liver.
Margaret Anderson Kelliher had a defining choice to make, and has rendered
herself useless as a guardian of the public interest, and as an informed broker
in one of the most seminal decisions to come her way.
It's simply shocking.
Bob Spaulding
.