EDITOR'S NOTE: In June 2004 I began a new venture as managing editor of both Northfield News and Faribault Daily News. This column originally appeared in the Northfield News on April 22, 2006.
After years of ambivalence about whether I felt it necessary that the state pay for billion-dollar stadium playgrounds for multi-millionaire players and owners in which to romp around, I've finally been persuaded that the time to build is now. Take the Twins stadium proposal, the new on-campus football stadium at the University of Minnesota, and the Taj Mahal-like Vikings stadium proposal, wrap them all up in a single package and get the job done. Now ... this year, and let's be done with it. Trust me, this was no overnight decision. For years I half-heartedly supported the stadium proponents. I certainly am a sports fanatic, but I was troubled by the fact that so much else that is so much more important than stadiums wasn't getting done in this state. It didn't particularly bother me that my favorite sports teams were blowing smoke that they might relocate elsewhere because anyone who follows sports knows that they have no where to go any longer. Every major metropolitan area in the country already has several professional sports teams and the leagues have learned the lessons about moving teams to places such as Montreal and Vancouver. So what's left? Las Vegas, please. So, I was never concerned about the Twins or Vikings leaving, and obviously the Gophers can't. That argument wasn't the deciding factor for me. No, this week, I've come to the conclusion that it's time to "Git-R-Done," as they say, because politically the momentum has never been as high as it this legislative session, the stadium packages have never been as kind to the general taxpayer as the most recent proposals, and lastly ... let's face it, we've been discussing this for a decade and it's not going to go away. If we don't pass the stadium proposals this year, they will be back next year, and the year after that until they are done. Imagine the amount of money that has been spent in the past decade on efforts to lobby the Legislature either for stadium proposals or against them. Imagine the hundreds of hours of time expended by legislators and staffers on this issue, and think about how much the price tag on these facilities has risen just because of increased building costs. Couple all of that together and you'd think that the combination could have paid for a good portion of the stadiums by now. Ultimately, however, I finally arrived at the conclusion that we should build the stadiums, when I stopped internally debating whether spending money on sports stadiums was ethically correct when other important issues weren't being funded. The question instead should be: Why don't we fund it all? If Minnesotans truly value professional sports, then they need to fund the stadiums; it's how professional sports work these days. If Minnesotans value public funding for the arts; then pay it. If Minnesotans value a universal health care program; then fund it. Simply, the debate comes down to what do we want to be as a state? It's true that some state residents aren't professional sports fans. But others don't use the public biking trails that are created, or don't support the state funding artistic endeavors. Face it: We each depend on the state to pay for something important to us. Don't allow someone to say that we can't build stadiums because we have to pay for education, or for health care, or day care. Why not pay for all of it if they are priorities to us? It's the politicians, and those in the political machine, who have framed this debate as to an either-or scenario. But it doesn't have to be. Does this mean Minnesotans might be paying more in taxes? Of course it does. But no one ever said that maintaining high standards of living in our state would come cheap. Sure, there are states with no state income taxes, but really, have you driven on their roads? Excuse the crude analogy, but last week I bought a brand of shaving cream that I don't normally use. After one use, it literally burned the skin on my neck so that for days I walked around with my entire neck scabbing over and then ultimately the skin peeling off. I bought the shaving cream because it was cheaper than the normal brand I use. A lesson learned? I think so. Many Minnesotans bemoan the fact that we pay too much in taxes and then to placate them, each year legislators find new ways to shift the state budget around. But we could make a conscious decision to pay for the things we want. If it's cheaper you want, take a look at South Dakota, but I don't see a lot of people flocking there for the quality of life. Do you? -- Devlyn Brooks is managing editor of the Northfield News.
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