I don't let Sly Di near the computer much, she gets people all mad and servers crash in the flame wars she starts. But she's got that new cattle prod all charged up and she's comin' toward me with it. Yooooh!
"Dyna's a nice lady, but she'd much too nice and has this fantasy that people will give you a good deal because their nice too. I realize that everything is for sale and deals are everywhere whether we see them or not. And nothing is off the market- heck, I'd even whore or sell drugs if the market wasn't so saturated with $10 crack whores. Politics though gives a pretty good return on investment, provided you fill out those campaign finance reports right and stay outa jail. And when politics moves into the realm of big time public works like stadiums, there's billions to be made.
Now Minneapolis needs some tough negotiators at the table (and bar, back alley, etc.). Now Peter McLaughlin does OK with his own money, last I remember he was driving a Ford Escort. But last time he went shopping for transit for us after a couple decades he brought home an oddball short leg of a light rail system for nearly a billion dollars. If I were doing it the first commuter train would have highballed while Ronnie Regean was still "tracking" and by now we'd have a system that covered most of Minnesota. Plus we'd have the system turning a profit by charging freight railroads to use our tracks during the off hours.
Clearly we need to keep Peter as far from the negotiations as possible- perhaps this would be a good time to send him on a fact finding trip somewhere? RT, on the other hand, clearly has potential as a dealmaker- he drives an expensive hybrid car, but he got us taxpayers to pay for it. And before anybody gets upset about this petty "borrowing" from the city fleet, remember that Sharon borrowed a fully equipped Crown Vic PI and an officer to chauffer her. That "appropriation" pales in comparison to the governors Lincoln and what seems like half the State Patrol on overtime protecting him pretty much from himself.
"But I believe most of them would support regional sales taxes for something broader. We've got to get into a different discussion in this community where we're not just saying 'No new taxes,' we're saying, 'How do we pay for great things?' The ballpark is one of them, but it's a lower priority than schools and roads and police."
R.T. has potential as a hard bargainer, unlike Peter and other politicos who just hand over the taxpayer's charge card and never ask the price. But he needs a tougher opening gambit, announced at a news conference at maybe a homeless shelter within sight of the proposed stadium. Heck, instead of being vague, I'd demand funding for public safety, at least two commuter rail lines, and upgrading education in a deal that would be at least revenue neutral if not profitable for Minneapolis.
Actually, I'd let R.T. make that offer as I usually play the "bad cop" in negotiations... I'd slip up to the mike and in dark tones describe the crime wave that would descend on fans without adequate police funding. And the gridlock if we don't get commuter rail and other transit built and rolling in all directions from the stadium by opening day. If that didn't do the job, I'd hint at another Northside riot overrunning the game if the economic development weren't spread all the way to the city limits!"
Fortunately Sly Di has now learned to type with both hands**************************************************************************************************** and thus let go of the cattle prod...
regaining control in Hawthorne,
Dyna Sluyter
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