Cat Beltmann is the Citizens League membership coordinator and has worked for the Citizens League since June of 2008.
On Tuesday, April 13th the Citizens League and the Minneapolis Foundation hosted a joint roundtable discussion with Lester Bagley, Vice President of Public Affairs for the Minnesota Vikings. Both the Citizens League and the Minneapolis Foundation have very similar roundtable event series – The Inter-Generational Roundtable Series and At the Table – and this event represented a unique intersection.
While it was great to learn about the ways the Vikings are involved in the community, as one might suspect, during the question and answer part of the program a lot of questions surrounded the proposed new Stadium. The Vikings have been working over time lobbying elected officials trying to gain support for their stadium bill. They’ve also been talking to the people, businesses, and organizations in the communities that will be impacted if a new stadium were to be built.
The Citizens League is a non-partisan, multi-issue, member funded policy organization based in St. Paul, and we study policy topics that impact Minnesota and Minnesotans. We have a unique approach to policy research and development in that we believe it’s important to bring those affected by an issue to the table to help identify a problem and propose solutions.
In the case of the Vikings Stadium, we are all impacted by the professional sports teams in Minnesota. Whether you attend a Twins or Vikings game, live in the same neighborhood as one of the stadiums, are part of a non-profit that players volunteer with, or just happen to get stuck in the pre-or-post game traffic on 35W. We might not ever come to a consensus on whether we should use public funds to pay for this stadium, but what’s important to remember is that we all need to play a part in the discussion. A key principle of the Citizens League is believing in the power and potential of all Citizens to impact policy. We all have the ability to gain an understanding of complicated public problems, of imagining innovative and effective policy solutions. And we can all govern for the common good.
The responsibility for making the stadium decision doesn’t just rest with our elected officials. It’s important that we provide feedback to them on what we feel the right or wrong decision is. Elected officials and the Vikings are also responsible for reaching out to those who will be impacted by the decision, whether the impact will be positive or negative, to engage them in a dialogue. Every Minnesotan is a policy maker and has the ability to affect policy decisions.
So what was my take-away from our discussion with Lester? We all have a responsibility to be involved with the debates that are taking place at the capital, no matter what the topic is. The only way to develop sound policy is by bringing those affected by a problem to the table. We are all responsible for finding the common ground in policy decisions so we can all achieve the common good.
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