J. Patrick Coolican produced a pair of fascinating headlines Thursday at the Star Tribune: Sen. Tom Bakk wants an underground garage for Capitol and Sen. Tom Bakk sends out news release on proposed $7.2 million underground garage.
Oh.
Early Thursday morning, the Star Tribune staff writer reported about Bakk's jonesing for a room with a view:
In the final minutes of the legislative session Monday, the Senate feverishly passed a bonding bill that included a priority of Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook: $7.2 million for an underground parking garage at the State Capitol that would provide a grand total of 30 vehicle spaces.
That works out to $240,000 per parking space. The underground garage would obviate the need for what’s there now, a surface lot that in the past was used for the governor and constitutional officers and a few select staff. With the surface lot gone, it could be landscaped to improve the site’s aesthetic properties.
The Senate passed the bonding bill with overwhelming bipartisan support, but just a few moments too late for a vote by the House, which had already adjourned.
The “garage-mahal” isn’t dead yet, however.
Bakk advocated for the underground garage, saying continued use of the surface parking lot at the northwest corner of the Capitol would mar the view from both the Capitol and the new Senate Office Building. . . .
Bakk on Wednesday said that “I want to landscape up to the building. If we do not build (the underground garage), we will have a surface parking lot there. That is not the visual I want.”
The veteran Iron Range senator’s commitment to the Capitol project is unquestionable, sometimes at the expense of the political fortunes of himself and his party. It was Bakk who led the charge for the new Senate office building now under construction, inserting language for it into a bill at the end of the 2013 session. House Republicans made an election issue of it and some House DFLers remain convinced the controversy helped cost them their majority. That building will cost $76 million when it’s completed later this year. It will have its own $14 million underground garage, paid for through user fees. By moving the senators’ offices into the new Senate building, Bakk has maintained the public will be able to claim more space to celebrate the grandeur of democracy in the renovated Capitol.
In the more recent article, Coolican reports:
He said his concerns with the current surface lot are related to security so close to the Capitol. Bakk previously told the Star Tribune he wanted the surface lot replaced with an underground garage so the current surface lot could be landscaped for better views, in addition to security concerns.
That should work on the Minnesota Jobs Coalition and Minnesota Action Network oversized mail pieces.
Photo: Majority Leader Bakk.
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He thinks he's the second coming of Roger Moe when it comes to parliamentary maneuvers. Mary Jane Rachner might be a better match.
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | May 22, 2015 at 06:57 AM