FYI - this rally announcement is propagating on facebook and the list-serves of traditionally DFL allies in our area... a referendum is what voters put into place and deserve, and I think it is apalling that we would use our limited taxing and bonding capacities to subsidize a billionaire's pro sports team while expanding gambling. There is time to stop this theft and show the State Legislature and Governor Dayton that we hold schools, hospitals, basic functions of civilization to be higher priorities than corporate mass spectacle.
Have fun!
Thanks,
Soren
Call Mpls City Council to demand Minneapolis' right to vote. Especially Reich, Tuthill, and Colvin Roy, are the mostly likely to switch sides. We just need one more no vote! (See details below).
Join others in the rally and hearing.
Though if you do, call your City Council person now and join us next week.
Minneapolis Says NO to Stadium Tax Scam!!
No Subsidies for Billionaire Zygi!
We Demand Our Right to Vote!
RALLY:
Wednesday, May 23, 4:30 - 7pm,
Mpls City Hall. Meet outside on 4th St. side.
Come as soon as you can.
It's not a "done deal". Zygi Wilf can't get any money from Minneapolis unless the Mpls City Council votes to approve the deal. We have just days left to stop them.
Intergovernmental Relations Committee votes on Thursday, May 24, 10am; full City Council votes on Friday,
May 25, 9:30am. Both votes are in Council Chambers, Room 317, City Hall - come if you can. No public comment will be allowed, but your presence is important!
This vote is critical! If the Council votes Yes, this will be the largest long-term financial commitment in the city´s history. Total payments may exceed $675 million, a debt burden on our children and grandchildren for the next 30 years. We have far more important priorities than subsidizing a billionaire who wants to make more profit from the additional luxury suites!
The game of football can still be played in the existing Metrodome.
Irresponsible! The city has NO money to pay for this until 2021, after the Convention Center debt is paid. In the meantime, the city pays no principal, or even interest, just racking up more debt each year! This is not an investment. The city will not own a piece of the stadium, and it receives no revenue that would help pay the debt. The construction jobs will be long gone before the city even starts paying. This is short-term gain with severe long-term consequences.
Undemocratic! In 1997, Mpls residents voted overwhelmingly to protect us from the power of the City Council to tax us for professional stadiums. As a result, our City Charter (Constitution) requires a referendum for any such costs over $10 million. City leaders asked for and received a State exemption from their own Charter! If the Council votes Yes on this plan, they will take away your hard-won right to a vote by the people!
If this makes you angry, DO SOMETHING NOW! Come to the rally, come to the Council meetings, and contact the members of the Mpls City Council!
The 7 Council members who currently support this scam:
Barbara Johnson 612-673-2204 barbara.johnson@minneapolismn.gov
Diane Hofstede 612-673-2203 diane.hofstede@minneapolismn.gov
Don Samuels 612-673-2205 don.samuels@minneapolismn.gov
John Quincy 612-673-2211 john.quincy@minneapolismn.gov
*Sandra Colvin Roy 612-673-2212 sandra.colvin.roy@minneapolismn.gov
*Meg Tuthill 612-673-2210 meg.tuthill@minneapolismn.gov
*Kevin Reich 612-673-2201 kevin.reich@minneapolismn.gov
*the last 3, Reich, Tuthill, and Colvin Roy, are the mostly likely to switch sides. We just need
one more no vote!
Thank these 6 opponents, and encourage them to stand firm:
Cam Gordon 612-673-2202 cam.gordon@minneapolismn.gov
Robert Lilligren 612-673-2206 robert.lilligren@minneapolismn.gov
Lisa Goodman 612-673-2207 lisa.goodman@minneapolismn.gov
Elizabeth Glidden 612-673-2208 elizabeth.glidden@minneapolismn.gov
Gary Schiff 612-673-2209 gary.schiff@minneapolismn.gov
Betsy Hodges 612-673-2213 betsy.hodges@minneapolismn.gov
WE'LL BE BACK! Follow-up rally Thursday evening, May 24, same time and place. A celebration if the committee votes no; an angry protest if they vote yes, with the demand that the Council overturn the committee vote on Friday morning!
Quit Playing Games With Our Children's Future!! Our kids can't eat footballs! Don't let them throw poor and working people and families under the concrete slabs of a new Vikings' Stadium.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/...
8:54 AM PT: A tiny bit of MSM coverage in advance of the protest (also heard in their broadcast): http://minnesota.publicradio.org/...