Far too often,
Governor Dayton has chosen government leaders on the basis of political loyalty
rather than competence. However, the selection of Kathleen Blatz as chair of
the Minnesota Sports Facilities Commission (MSFC) is spot on. We need
credibility and capability in the management of the public’s money.
One is hard pressed to
think of any endeavor that has been more mismanaged than the partnership
between Zygi Wilf and the government. It has been a nightmare of faulty
promises, secrecy and ineptitude finally resulting in a Senate investigation
led by Senator Sarah Anderson and the housecleaning of MSFC.
No Minnesotan enjoys a
higher level of credibility than Kathleen Blatz and that is precisely what is
needed if any semblance of public trust in governmental partnerships is to be
restored. In typical Blatz fashion, she immediately reviewed the mission of the
commission and engaged her board colleagues in a genuine discussion of purpose.
She recognized that there can be no unity until there is a real understanding
of the legislation that created MSFC.
As a legislator,
District Court judge, and Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Kathleen
Blatz always had her compass fixed on the public good and never permitted any form of self-interest by anyone to enter into
the final work product. That level of integrity and competence is precisely
what the doctor ordered.
While the MSFC
redefines it role and reviews its contracts, the state Senate will continue its
work on restructuring the commission. Headed
by Senator Sarah Anderson (R-44A), the committee has an opportunity to truly
straighten out the whole stadium mess. It began with false statements of
funding by gambling proceeds “without using a single dollar of general fund tax
revenues” and included a law limiting all public funding to $498 million.
Obviously, truthfulness and law have succumbed to secrecy and an endless amount
of public monies being directed to the stadium.
It is imperative that
Senator Anderson, who is emerging as a state leader and possible gubernatorial
candidate, direct a public review of the stadium project from the very
beginning. Only then can there be a full comprehension of the oversight role
and the assignment of that role to the commission or another entity. But without
an understanding of the past, it will be futile to attempt to design the
future.
Further, the Anderson
committee has an opportunity to make a permanent contribution to future
public-private partnerships by making a declaration of public policy that
includes a list of essential ingredients with full public disclosure and
competence at the top.
The end results of the
efforts by the MSFC board under the leadership of Kathleen Blatz and the Senate
Committee chaired by Sarah Anderson could well be a structure that is truly
dedicated to the public good. That would be a change we would welcome.
