Michele Kelm-Helgen's and Ted Mondale's statements of resignation from their
positions as Chair and Executive Director, respectively, of the Minnesota
Sports Facilities Authority may be the best evidence that they should have
resigned.
Even though Ms. Kelm-Helgen has previously said that regardless of what other
sports facilities bodies do, the MSFA still ought not have done what it did
with its suites, once again in her resignation statement, she complains about
different standards for the MSFA.
She also notes that "when questions about the suites use were raised, MSFA took
responsibility, and then passed and implemented a new policy...." Well, not
quite. Questions were first raised about potential problems with use of the
suites in November 2013, at the time the Use Agreement was approved, and the
MSFA ignored those concerns at that time.
Ms. Kelm-Helgen claims she is resigning in the public interest, hoping that the
new legislation that will pass will be better -- probably meaning less
stringent oversight of the MSFA and its use of the suites -- if she isn't the
focus of the Legislature's attention. I think she may be exaggerating her
importance here.
Plus it may not have been her true motive for resigning. The current bill,
which is passing House committees nearly unanimously -- one nay vote in each of
two committees so far -- would end her and Mr. Mondale's tenure on July 1,
2017. They were on their way out regardless of whether they voluntarily
resigned or did not voluntarily resign.
Mr. Mondale's letter of resignation was considerably shorter, but he wrote of
being appointed "to be the CEO and Executive Director of the MSFA to assist in
building an iconic stadium where youth sports would have the finest facility
that we could offer."
It sounded like the stadium was built for youth sports. Neither Mondale nor
Kelm-Helgen mentioned the Vikings.
And curiously, Mr. Mondale wrote that he has "given the Governor my
resignation." But according to the stadium legislation, it's the Authority who
appointed him, not the Governor. Maybe one of the problems all along was that
he thought he was appointed by the Governor, when he wasn't.
It's never nice to see people lose their jobs, but it may have been their
response to the suites scandal more than the actual inappropriate use of those
suites that caused their ousters. Even if they didn't really "get it" -- as it
still appears they did not -- they should have at least pretended that they did
in their statements responding to the public outcry and to the Legislative
Auditor's report. Maybe they were just too principled to do that.
Chuck Turchick
Phillips
positions as Chair and Executive Director, respectively, of the Minnesota
Sports Facilities Authority may be the best evidence that they should have
resigned.
Even though Ms. Kelm-Helgen has previously said that regardless of what other
sports facilities bodies do, the MSFA still ought not have done what it did
with its suites, once again in her resignation statement, she complains about
different standards for the MSFA.
She also notes that "when questions about the suites use were raised, MSFA took
responsibility, and then passed and implemented a new policy...." Well, not
quite. Questions were first raised about potential problems with use of the
suites in November 2013, at the time the Use Agreement was approved, and the
MSFA ignored those concerns at that time.
Ms. Kelm-Helgen claims she is resigning in the public interest, hoping that the
new legislation that will pass will be better -- probably meaning less
stringent oversight of the MSFA and its use of the suites -- if she isn't the
focus of the Legislature's attention. I think she may be exaggerating her
importance here.
Plus it may not have been her true motive for resigning. The current bill,
which is passing House committees nearly unanimously -- one nay vote in each of
two committees so far -- would end her and Mr. Mondale's tenure on July 1,
2017. They were on their way out regardless of whether they voluntarily
resigned or did not voluntarily resign.
Mr. Mondale's letter of resignation was considerably shorter, but he wrote of
being appointed "to be the CEO and Executive Director of the MSFA to assist in
building an iconic stadium where youth sports would have the finest facility
that we could offer."
It sounded like the stadium was built for youth sports. Neither Mondale nor
Kelm-Helgen mentioned the Vikings.
And curiously, Mr. Mondale wrote that he has "given the Governor my
resignation." But according to the stadium legislation, it's the Authority who
appointed him, not the Governor. Maybe one of the problems all along was that
he thought he was appointed by the Governor, when he wasn't.
It's never nice to see people lose their jobs, but it may have been their
response to the suites scandal more than the actual inappropriate use of those
suites that caused their ousters. Even if they didn't really "get it" -- as it
still appears they did not -- they should have at least pretended that they did
in their statements responding to the public outcry and to the Legislative
Auditor's report. Maybe they were just too principled to do that.
Chuck Turchick
Phillips
