Comments On The Strib's Flatiron/mprb Article
The following are selected on-line comments made by readers in response to the Star Tribune's Sept 12, 2008 on-line article by Mike Kaszuba.
FLATIRON MANSON MIGHT HAVE A GOOD LAWSUIT HERE AGAINST THE MINNEAPOLIS PARK BOARD
Posted by bikemiles
The 2007 Charter boat season was basically over by the time that cleanup of the fallen bridge was completed and FM started work on the new bridge. There are state laws both on "gouging" and on governmental agencies charging "unreasonable fees". The "gouging charges" can have triplicate damages plus the aggrieved's legal costs. There is also the matter of a potential attempt to obstruct interstate commerce since this was a Federal Highway System freeway bridge. A case like this would likely be heard in Federal Court. Federal jury pools tend to not be "downtown".
UNEQUAL STANDARD
Post by teddybear
When it became known that various for-profit tenants operating from Minneapolis Park Board land had never paid their proper taxes, Park Board officials seemed only interested in minimizing the tax amount due. Those same taxes pay to support the Park System, and it wasn't as if the taxes would come out of the Park Board's pocket. So why the favoritism? These entities are also for-profit, as is Flatiron, and lots of businesses lost money because of the bridge collapse. I find this price gouging and coercion unconscionable. If you want to go after some money, go after the caterer on Park Board land who has STILL not paid their taxes despite making a bundle on the RNC events.
VERY STRANGE DEALINGS
Posted by chiemsee
This story has a lot of strange and misleading things going on. I have the utmost respect for Scott Vreeland (whom I know personally) and Tom Nordyke. Yet statements attributed to Tom simply can't be true. Either the reporter erred, or Tom lied. The reporter paraphrases Tom as saying "the Board balked...at simply extending its use to Flatiron". But the Board cannot have balked as the issue was never brought before the board. Park Board meetings are open to the public and recorded and broadcast over cable TV. Citizens who follow the Park Board meetings report the issue never came up. Additionally, later in the same article, Tom says he himself "was unaware of police being sent to the property." The same sentence contains the outrageous whopper of lie where a "Park Board spokesperson said police had gone there to photograph Flatiron's equipment." Does anyone believe Park Board sends police, not staff, to photograph things? Moreover, Flatiron workers at the site report that the Park Board police threatened them, essentially being told to remove their equipment immediately or face arrest. Peter Sanderson's remark was the most accurate thing in the story: "it was a business proposition, just like the Mafia does." This is not the first time the Park Board has extorted money from contractors, Mafia-style. This kind of thing has been going on for years. But with an actual police department and barracuda, inside-connected attorney Brian Rice on the side of the Park Board, none of those contractors has been interested in risking their necks to tell their stories publicly. The Park Board's elected commissioners, like Tom Nordyke and Scott Vreeland, are kept in the dark by the executive management (Jon Gurban, Don Siggelkow), particularly about their backroom and underhanded dealings with contractors, both favored and abused. And lastly, where did the money from this "rental fee" that Flatirons paid go?