Commentary; Posted: 5/3/06
One voice speaks loud against Vikings stadium
T.W. Budig
ECM Capitol Reporter
An Anoka County commissioner refused to shake hands; another simply ignores him, said Jim Hafner.
Such is the fate of a contrarian.
A financial analyst from Coon Rapids, Hafner has been a modest but persistent voice in the stadium debate at the Capitol this session.
Heís testified a handful of times before Senate and House committees in opposition to currently proposed Vikings and Twins stadium bills. Hafner is not a veteran rabble rouser.
Indeed, Hafner only became interested in the Anoka County Vikings stadium proposal ó a proposal which includes a county wide sales tax ó in recent months, he explained.
ìI see us paying a lot of money, but I donít see us getting a lot of money back,î he said.
So Hafner has been spending hours hanging around committee rooms, taking notes, waiting to testify. He has experienced some success.
A Senate committee amended the Vikings stadium bill to reflect a suggestion Hafner made while testifying before it.
For a member of the public, unassisted by a lawmaker, to instantly achieve that result is uncommon.
ìThat was something, wasnít it,î Hafner said of the amendment.
Hafner is used to giving business presentations, said going before legislative committees isnít frightening.
But he does worry about the quality of presentation.
ìMy heart pumps,î he said.
Hafner has a number of beefs about the Vikings stadium proposal.
He thinks the local taxpayers will pay too much and Zygi Wilf and the Vikings too little.
Hafner views county government as at a disadvantage when dealing with financiers like Wilf and Carl Pohlad.
These guys are good, Hafner explained.
ìThey (county officials) get caught up with this, ëWouldnít this be great,íî he said.
Hafner professes no great insight about the workings of the Legislature.
Lawmakers seem inundated in legislation, he explained.
There seems to be lots of lobbyists.
And money.
According to Hamline University Professor David Schultz, special interest groups spent an average of $231,000 per legislator to influence Minnesota lawmakers in 2005.
The professor predicts special interest spending this year will top $300,000 per legislator.
Actually more money was spent in 2002, with special interest groups shelling out more than $416,000 per legislator, according to Schultz.
Hafner has been able to spend the time at the Legislature because heís self-employed, he explained.
He detects a note of fatalism among friends in the neighborhood over the current Vikings proposal.
ìA lot of people just hang their heads and kind of walk away,î Hafner said.
ìThereís a lot of apathy out there. And thatís too bad,î he said.
Politically, Hafner doesnít view himself as a Republican nor a Democrat.
People might think heís a no-new-taxes conservative, but thatís not true, he said.
He doesnít necessarily object to some public funding for professional sports stadiums.
He just believes the sports team owners should be contributing more.
Hafner wants a referendum on the three-quarter of one percent county wide sales tax proposed by the Anoka County Board.
County residents should have the chance to vote, he explained.
Having a referendum pass would be one way of silencing Hafner.
ìIf it (the referendum) gets put on the ballot and it passes, Iíll shut my mouth,î he said.
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