Fraters Libertas

Smells Like Government Spirit

Hey, good news out of Hennepin County. The proposed site for the new Twins baseball stadium doesn't stink - much.

From the front page of the Star Tribune, one of the most ardent supporters of using tax dollars for this multi hundred million dollar government subsidy, an article with the charming title (in the print edition): Taking a Good Stiff Whiff.

But after more than a year of daily monitoring, [Hennepin County Senior Environmentalist Jake Smith] and four other trained air smellers report that it's unlikely that aromas from the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) will overpower the odor of hot dogs -- or bad pitching -- in any stadium next door.

Yes, the government of Hennepin County, those same folks who recently voted to give $353 million of tax revenue to the Minnesota Twins (while denying the request for voters to give approval via referendum) are also in charge of administering the study that seeks to prove there will be no adverse consequences for locating the ballpark right next to a facility which burns 1,000 TONS of solid waste PER DAY.

With that gem of a parcel of land selected, you can start to see why there isn't a private investor in the world who would sign on to this project. No, instead the force of government will be used to make us all investors in this field of dreams. And what are we going to buy for our money?

... [Smith] found the scent of solid waste distinguishable at only four sites, although one was close to where home plate may someday be.

Understand, the Star Tribune is reporting this, the official Hennepin County line, as good news. Fellow citizens, for your 353 extra large, you're getting a ballpark where a thousand tons of solid waste burning a few hundred yards away is "unlikely" to overpower the smell of hotdogs. At least at more than 4 sites, only one of which is near home plate. Where do I sign up for my personal (toilet) seat license?

Here's another way of relaying their message of "Don't Panic," at least until the bill passes the state legistlature and becomes law.

At opposite corners of the HERC property along 7th Street N. the panel detected incinerator odors for three straight days only once at each point.

That is reassuring news. Very few four game series will suffer the stench of blazing trash throughout every game. Sounds like a good reason to buy season tickets right there, the odds of at least some stink free baseball will be almost assured.

More good news, at this hand picked site, the smell of burning garbage is the least of our worries:

On his 3-mile walk-and-sniff Friday past 21 specific points on a route that rippled outward from HERC toward downtown and into the Warehouse District, Smith detected a lot of distinct smells: bus exhaust, sewer gas, blossoming plants, fish from a fish wholesaler.

Ah yes, the ambiance of the warehouse district in Minneapolis. Which may turn into a home field advantage, once the Twins get used to inhaling bus exhaust, fish, and sewer gas on a daily basis. Recalling those scrappy 1934 St. Louis Cardinals, maybe we can start calling the Twins "The Sewer Gas House Gang".

The absurdity of this story highlights the essential problem with government intervention in the private capital markets. Not only are they taking the people's money and redistributing it to support an entertainment option they would never freely choose on their own, the government picks a site that is a baseball atmosphere. One bordered by a garbage burner, an interstate highway, and a series of cement parking ramps. It's what you don't want, where you don't want it!

Only the government can get away with something like that. And under a one party (DFL) regime like Minneapolis/Hennepin County, that's business as usual. Business for which there will be no electoral consquences. What are the people of Minneapolis going to do, vote Republican? (Ha!) No, instead, their government will serve them garbage, tell them it's peanuts and crackerjack, and the local paper is more than happy to spoon feed it to us all.