To: Governor Dayton
From: Mitch Berg, Uppity Peasant
Re: Remember all those pieces of paper you signed last spring?
Governor Dayton:
Yesterday, you told MPR News in re the new $90 million Senate Palace that Tom Bakk rammed through at the literal last possible moment of the last session…:
“I think the building itself is necessary … We’re talking about a project for the next century,” Dayton told reporters Wednesday. “But I think the price tag on it, and appearance of it, are a little high.”
Er, Governor Dayton? You signed the appropriation into law.
Or at least we presume it was you, and not Carrie Lucking moving your hands.
That presumption looks weaker and weaker these days.
Dayton said he wants a more modest, less expensive version and planned to share his concerns soon with Senate leaders…The new building is needed to make up for the square footage lawmakers will lose once the renovation of the Capitol is complete, Bakk added. Under present Senate arrangements, the majority party is housed in the Capitol while the minority is housed in the State Office Building. Bringing Democrats and Republicans together under one roof is important, Bakk said.
Here’s a solution. Mere blocks from the Capitol lies downtown Saint Paul. It’s got a 30% vacancy rate – and I suspect that’s even higher in the gulch between Cedar and Jackson streets, where there is virtually nothing living (thanks, largely, to DFL policies).
Why not move the Senate into the old USBank building? Or 375 Jackson? The Hamm? Alliance? The Big Red One?
Or maybe Macy’s? That’d seem…appropriate.
PS to Governor Dayton: Nancy Pelosi was being just a little bit flippant, I think, when she said “you have to pass it to see what’s in it”. It technically is your job to know what you’re signing into law.
Actually that makes sense. If I were a state worker, I’d rather be in downtown St Paul than tucked between the freeway and capital building. And with light rail coming this summer, there will be trains running every 10 minutes from Cedar St in downtown St Paul to a stop right next to the capital and state office buildings.
To add one more thing…..that is how most private businesses would do it. At least those that aren’t super wealthy and don’t need to show off a shiney new building.
Mr. Berg … Don’t waste your time. Until all the lights, tinsel, and sparkly ornaments are tucked away and out of sight you will not be able to get the governor’s full attention.
However, your suggestion of Macy’s or other large unoccupied buildings in downtown St. Paul really seems like a very good idea. Great for the state and great for the downtown Saint Paul area. Not sure if taking one of them off the tax rolls would be too much of a deterrent though.
Follow-up suggestions to this should include some way to satisfy the trade unions who would be excluded by using an existing structure. On The Sopranos they talk a lot about “no show jobs.” Could the concept be applied to the unions and not just our representatives?
NOTE: Spell-check has magically appeared in this post. Is this a Festivus miracle, a new feature, or a lucky accidental strike of some unknown (by me) key that does that?
I think that they would be too late on the old First Bank building, as it was sold to a new owner who has plans for it. I also understand that it is over 85% leased.
That said, I think that they should bring in some of those surplus FEMA trailers and make the DFL office in them. That way, they can prove to their constituents that they can suffer just like said constituents supposedly do!
What am I signing,
RadarCarrie?But, but…reflecting pools!
I like the idea of state workers being downtown, where they can see firsthand the damage their work is doing.
Looked at the building, and it’s interesting that they’re not telling us how big it will be (my guess is 200-300k sF, 3-5k per Senator), and it’s also interesting that it’s coming in a distant second in architectural charm to Stalin’s concrete apartment blocks. Gotta love the flat roof in our temperate climate, too. Nah, nothing could possibly go wrong with that! (even Wal-mart has figured out the magic of pitched roofs in their new buildings)
Rep. Pat Garofalo said it best:
“It just dawned on me that when Mark Dayton signs legislation, he reads it the same way we all read service agreements on ITunes.”
Mitch:
Lets not forget that at least one major state group is in downtown Saint Paul. The Department of Transportation is there.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Nit-picking, Walter, but do you mean the Department of Public Safety, the people who do Driver’s Licenses and Vehicle Tabs, located in Town Square?
The Attorney General’s consumer protection office is large office in Bremer Tower, the Lawyer’s Board of Professional Responsibility is in in Landmark Tower near the courthouse and the Public Utilities Commission is in the Metro Square Building on 7th Place, and there probably are more.