Ballpark bill in scoring position

The Minnesota Twins scored a major victory late Thursday when the House Taxes Committee said a sales tax could be used to help build a $522 million stadium in downtown Minneapolis without requiring a referendum.

By a razor-thin 15-13 vote, the legislative committee opened the door to the possibility that the team's decade-old struggle to build a successor to the Metrodome may now be rolling toward overall approval at the State Capitol.

Although the Twins proposal has other hurdles, stadium supporters shouted their approval as the vote was announced after an exhaustive and emotional public hearing in a school auditorium in Bloomington.

"We sort of felt this was a Waterloo issue for us," said a smiling Jerry Bell, the team's lead negotiator on the stadium project.

Opponents in the auditorium of Oak Grove Middle School, however, were angry.

"Shame on you, shame on you," critics yelled loudly as the results became clear.

Under the stadium plan, the Twins and Hennepin County would build a 42,000-seat, open-air stadium using a 0.15 percent sales tax in the state's most populous county. With team and county officials insisting that the controversial proposal could not go forward if there were a countywide referendum, the county has been seeking an exemption to a state law that requires a referendum.

"This was a big one. I knew it would be close," said a happy Mike Opat, the Hennepin County commissioner who took the lead on the project.

The vote was also noteworthy because the committee was seen as a potential roadblock to the stadium plan. In addition, the committee is headed by Rep. Phil Krinkie, R-Lino Lakes, who opposed the project and on Thursday tried to force the county and the team to hold a referendum.

"I don't think whether there's a referendum or not a referendum is going to be a deal-breaker as to whether the Twins remain in the state of Minnesota," said Krinkie, before the vote was taken.

Krinkie's committee is scheduled to meet this morning to continue debating the project, but the referendum vote was a strong indication that the Twins stadium proposal may be close to having the necessary votes in the House, where other Twins stadium plans have faced roadblocks in the past.

Earlier in the evening, hundreds of cheering and jeering residents gathered on a second day of hearings by the committee. The proceedings took on a carnival-like atmosphere as fans tailgated in the parking lot, participants were greeted at the door by the Twins mascot and opposing groups heckled each other outside the school.

As one group chanted "Build it!" by the front entrance, Dave Garland, of Minneapolis, yelled back, "Pay for it!" as he wore a Twins cap covered with phony $100 bills and argued against public subsidies for the stadium.

While Thursday's hearing was geared to listen to stadium opponents, critics testifying faced a sea of onlookers wearing Twins caps and jerseys.

"This isn't a ballgame, folks, this is a committee hearing," Krinkie said as he tried to quiet the crowd.

But many of those present appeared ready to endorse the stadium plan and also seemed not to worry that the county and the team are seeking to levy the tax -- estimated to cost 3 cents for every $20 purchase -- without holding a referendum.

"I lose more money in the cushions of my couch," said Kevin Leyk, of Bloomington, who listened from an adjoining room set up to accommodate an overall crowd estimated at nearly 700 people. "I think it's outrageous that people cause such a big stink over such a little amount."

Cathy Schmidt, of Plymouth, sitting next to Leyk, agreed. "We can't have a referendum on everything," Schmidt said.

Laura Lehmann's testimony elicited cheers and boos.

"Shall we follow the law, or put it up for sale to the highest bidder?" asked Lehmann, the head of Citizens For A Stadium Tax Referendum.

"We all love baseball, but do we love it more than our country and the democratic principles upon which it was founded?"

Vikings interested

The Taxes Committee hearings were watched closely by Minnesota Vikings and Anoka County officials, whose $675 million proposed football stadium in Blaine is also before legislators. The Vikings stadium, like the Twins proposal, would largely be financed with a countywide sales tax, and Anoka County officials are also seeking an exemption to a state law that requires a referendum.

Mary Capra, the mayor of Centerville in Anoka County, testified Thursday that the Twins and Vikings proposals have many similarities. "Citizens of both counties feel abandoned" by the move to not have a referendum, she said.

The Vikings' interest in the hearings also comes as speculation builds that both stadium plans, or even all three -- including a campus football stadium for the University of Minnesota -- may be rolled into one legislative attempt to approve them at one time.

But Rep. Andy Westerberg, R-Blaine, the chief House author of the Vikings' stadium proposal, who also sits on the Taxes Committee, said he was not sure what would happen. "We're building a lot of momentum with stadiums," he said, adding that holding the hearing in Bloomington, ostensibly to hear from stadium opponents, may have not worked. "I think that backfired," he said.

Mike Kaszuba • 612-673-4388