'The Pond' gets OK from legislators, but Pawlenty calls provisi...

The Minnesota House passed an economic development bill Tuesday that allows the city of St.

[headline]

Had then Council Member Now Mayor Chris Coleman not demanded the loan repayment scenario back in 1998 St. Paul would not be in this mess.

A smarter Mayor, Norm Coleman had a proposed financing package that he knew would not place the city in this predicament. Now, after Miss Chrissy has seen the error of his ways, he's trying to fix the mess he created all by himself.

Pawlenty should veto this proposal. As a St. Paulite I am really sorry to say this.

But if the people need to place blame, place it on your very own mayor Chris Coleman.

If you have not figured it out yet, Democrats have NO business acumen.

[Paul]

What's good for St. Paul is that they stop living beyond their means and reign in the spending.

[Mr Right]

Idiot Mayor and Ass. Mayor and City Council for this stupid idea! I hope the Governor vetoes this bill, especially for this!

THIS IS ALL THAT LAME ANTI-BUSINESS DFL IN ST PAUL CAN THINK OF! BUILDING AN ICE RINK FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT!!

THROW COLEMAN AND THE CITY COUNCIL OUT ON THEIR BUTT!

[mike v]

the the xcell is down the tubes for what reason right now???? the vike's have how many more fans attending games/watching on the tube then the wild???? but can't get a stadium ??? or even their foot in the door

[It was a simple fix]

Veto it now. Don't let the dumb for life idiots in St Paul off the hook to build another boondoggle.

[BillB St Paul]

Build it NOW. We need to have it to keep the best of the best in town. That other city north of Richfield has got the football,basketball and baseball. We have the NHL.

[Tybalt]

this thing doesn't sound all that useful to me. the wild need it for practice? no they don't. They have the Xcel. High school, junior high school, grade school games? Big deal. sounds like most of the time it'll just be sitting there empty. doesn't sound like something that will generate much economic activity.

[Lewis Sinclair]

I'll think I'll just call my bank this morning and ask they forgive my mortgage debt since I "made a bad deal". I'm sure they'll understand.

If Pawlenty has ANY decency, he'll veto this sucker.

[Ma chalmers]

Lewis Sinclair wrote:

I'll think I'll just call my bank this morning and ask they forgive my mortgage debt since I "made a bad deal". I'm sure they'll understand.
If Pawlenty has ANY decency, he'll veto this sucker.

Is that analogy supposed to make sense?

[Joe Taxpayer]

Gov Pawlenty...VETO THIS BILL!

[NeverEnuf]

I understand Mpls/StPaul people voting DFL, but the rest of MN?
This legislature is just signing your paychecks over to the Big Cities.

[Joe Taxpayer]

BillB St Paul wrote:

Build it NOW. We need to have it to keep the best of the best in town. That other city north of Richfield has got the football,basketball and baseball. We have the NHL.

why don't you send in some money out of your own pocket, and write on the envelope "my donation to The Pond"

[annoymous]

This is a joke! Saint Paul DOES NOT need an ice ring under public money; the city needs to cutback on wasteful spending projects, layoff on high end city employees, and cut taxes for the working and lower middle class that are in dire help.

Would somebody PLEASE explain the justification of having Chris Coleman and some of the city council members for the next several years come November?! I would like to know the sudden demographics of people in Saint Paul that constantly support this guy in the context of himself as being narcissistic, self-righteous, narrow-minded, lack of innovated ideals, and out of touched status quo.

[Sarah D]

In these bad economic times I just don't see any justification for this. I don't see it creating enough jobs, and I don't see any great need for it.

As another poster pointed out, the Wild already have an arena. As for schools that could use the ice rink, well they can also do what was done when I was a kid, put an oval wooden wall around an area of ground and flood it in the winter. Voila, an ice rink.

As for "forgiving" the last eight years of a loan for St. Paul, it's not forgiving anything. It's just redirecting. St. Paul would still have to pay the money.

And I would have to agree with Pawlenty (surprise, surprise!) that the money that St. Paul would spend on this arena would be far better put to use to pay for police and firefighters.

[Its not political]

Wow if this doesn't fall into the definition of irony I don't know what does. The Democrats scream "more money for education" and "no new sports stadiums" but in one day they pass a bill to build a new sports stadium while at the same time the city that is to get this stadium (which is democratically controlled) announces, that to save money, two elementary schools should be closed.

I can't help but laugh at this

[Ska]

I'm still really confused. Another hockey rink for the Wild? What's wrong with the X?

[Good Job Mayor]

The Mayor and Council should continue to seek parity from the legislature regarding the financing of the X. This proposal requires the team to continue to pay the city and the city then can use the money for economic development. Minneapolis continues to recieve a $1.5 million appropriation from the state as a condition to buying the target center. This money is used to subsidize promoters and take concerts away from the x. So whether you like the Pond idea or not, the Mayor and Council should be congratulated for their willingness to act. The only troubling thing here is that the Governor wants a the Wild to fund the Police and Fire departments with their loan repayments. Governor raise revenues and quit pushing down these costs to the cities. You raise my taxes everytime the city has to. Do the job you were elected to and quit running for the one you will never have!

[Ted]

BillB St Paul wrote:

Build it NOW. We need to have it to keep the best of the best in town. That other city north of Richfield has got the football,basketball and baseball. We have the NHL.

Yes, you have the stupid sport that goes on strike for a whole season.

[Just Wondering]

Good Job Mayor wrote:

The Mayor and Council should continue to seek parity from the legislature regarding the financing of the X. This proposal requires the team to continue to pay the city and the city then can use the money for economic development. Minneapolis continues to recieve a $1.5 million appropriation from the state as a condition to buying the target center. This money is used to subsidize promoters and take concerts away from the x. So whether you like the Pond idea or not, the Mayor and Council should be congratulated for their willingness to act. The only troubling thing here is that the Governor wants a the Wild to fund the Police and Fire departments with their loan repayments. Governor raise revenues and quit pushing down these costs to the cities. You raise my taxes everytime the city has to. Do the job you were elected to and quit running for the one you will never have!

Just Wondering how long you have lived in St. Paul? Heres a little history for you regarding Chris Coleman. While on the Council he pushed for a loan while Mayor Norm Coleman and Senator Kelly pushed for an outright grant. Regarding government aid, Councilman Coleman went along with every no new tax , spend down surpluses budgeting proposal of both Norm and Randy. I believe he even voted against the 3% tax increase specifically targeted for more police and fire personel. So while you praise the Mayor and attack the Governor the facts prove something else.

[Me Generation]

Tybalt wrote:

this thing doesn't sound all that useful to me. the wild need it for practice? no they don't. They have the Xcel. High school, junior high school, grade school games? Big deal. sounds like most of the time it'll just be sitting there empty. doesn't sound like something that will generate much economic activity.

Clearly you did not grow up playing hockey in this state. No ice rink is vacant, I used to wake up at 4:30am when I was 10 for practice on the coveted indoor ice rink.

And why do people always think the DFL is always behind these things, as if no republican was needed to pass that vote. IDIOTS.