By Mike Kaszuba
On an important day of news regarding the governor's race recount, DFLer Mark Dayton found time Monday to talk about everyone's other favorite topic – a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings.
Hours after the Vikings fired Coach Brad Childress, Dayton met for an hour with new Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, and new House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, to discuss legislative priorities assuming Dayton's election as governor is upheld by a statewide recount."We talked about the stadium bill in general. We didn't get to any specific agreements or deals," he told reporters afterward at the State Capitol.Dayton said the Vikings' on-the-field woes – the team has just three wins this year – should not impact the stadium issue. "It would be better if they were undefeated and, yes, [going to] the Super Bowl would definitely help the matter," he said, smiling.But he said building a new stadium, with public financing, is "a decision that's going to affect the future of the team and the state of Minnesota for the next 50 years. So, it's not a function of how well the team's performing this year."Dayton's comments were some of his strongest on a new Vikings stadium, an issue that is likely again to face legislators starting in January. The team, which has played at the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis since the early 1980s, has said it will not renew its lease at the facility when it expires at the end of the next season.Dayton's comments also came a week after Republican legislative leaders, who will assume a majority in both the House and Senate in January, expressed support for addressing the issue at some point during the upcoming legislative session. In speaking to reporters Monday, Dayton said much of what happened regarding the stadium next year would depend on the Legislature's new Republican leadership."I've said all along I support a 'people's stadium' – one that's in the public interest, one in which the public benefits [are] greater than the public cost," he said.Bakk said he had met with at least one Republican state senator recently regarding the stadium, and has had reoccurring meetings with team officials. "Really, it's going to depend on whether the [Republican leadership] has a willingness to bring a bill forward," he said.
