Poll Finds Most Minnesotans Oppose Public Money For Vikings

Survey Shows 65% Of Minnesota Residents Oppose Public Funds For Vikings Stadium

Minnesota residents by a more than 2-to-1 ratio "strongly oppose using their tax dollars to pay for a new Vikings stadium," according to Bill Salisbury of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS. A survey by Decision Resources Ltd. found that 65% of those polled "opposed public funding for a pro football stadium, while 31[%] favored it." Vikings VP/Public Affairs & Stadium Development Lester Bagley yesterday said that he "wasn't surprised by the result." Bagley: "If you were to poll the (Minneapolis) Convention Center, the Guthrie Theater, the Twins ballpark, light rail and a myriad of other projects, you'd get the same result." Bagley added that the poll "asked the wrong question." Bagley: "You've got to ask: Are the Vikings worth retaining for the next generation of Minnesotans?" Decision Resources President Bill Morris said that he "surveyed 625 adult Minnesotans Jan. 4-10 for an annual presentation on the pulse of the state that he makes to city managers." The poll "had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 1/14).

STARTING THE CHARGE: In San Diego, Matthew Hall reports the San Diego Centre City Development Corp. (CCDC), the city's downtown redevelopment arm, yesterday "secured the first approval in a series it needs to spend larger amounts of money repairing blight downtown," and "chief among the beneficiaries of the effort would be" the Chargers. The CCDC's Budget/Finance & Administration Committee yesterday voted 5-0 "to embark on a process that could take 15 to 18 months." CCDC Chair Fred Maas said the effort is "about a stadium" downtown for the Chargers, but also is "about things bigger than a stadium" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/14).