Ted Mondale providing active leadership on stadium
Ted Mondale is no dummy.
Raised in one of Minnesota’s most savvy political families, Mondale knows plenty about how to build a political legacy. His next target: saving the Vikings by securing a new stadium for the beleaguered team. Eschewing Halloween costumes, Mondale took on the role of the head of the Metro Sports Facilities Commission two weeks ago and has been nothing but active.
In two weeks, he has accomplished more in the last two weeks than former chair Lester Bagley did in the previous two years. It’s a job few people would want, period, much less a Democrat in the wake of the GOP takeover of the Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate.
Yet Mondale’s been reaching out to both parties and across aisles with members from both parties, hoping to fulfill Democratic Governor Mark Dayton’s top campaign promise to sports fans: that he’d land the Vikings a new stadium and preserve them as a Minnesota resource.
Few people from either party want to touch a landmine like stadium financing with the state facing a budget deficit; general funds help is out of the question, but an expansion of gaming is in the mix, as well as user fees, ticket taxes and the like. If the stadium deal can be swung without touching general funds, it has a chance, now that Mondale’s on the job.
This site’s not normally a fan of Democrats; but at least on this mission, we’re hoping Mondale’s the man to score a touchdown for Vikings fans. The Metrodome lease expires at the end of this year, after all; and the roof is a wreck.
