Letter of the Day (March 3): Mayo Clinic

The Feb. 24 story about the Mayo Clinic continued to try to sell the public and Legislature the idea that the state should spend $585 million to improve Rochester's infrastructure in order to prop up the clinic's image ("Mayo's goal: Full face-lift for city").

Mayo, after 9/ 11, lost the international market (primarily the Middle East) that it once enjoyed, and it has been unable to keep up with other premier provider institutions like the Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins. Mayo continues to be a premium medical institution, but asking the citizens of Minnesota to fund its dreams is not fair.

I'm sure Mankato, Luverne, Duluth, St. Cloud, Thief River Falls and many other cities would like to receive like sums for their infrastructures and business communities. Face it, Mayo, it's 2013. Our state is suffering financially, and we cannot afford you today.