Minn. Auditor Launches Inquiry into Stadium Luxury Suites; N.Y.C. Leaders vs. Trump
U.S. Bank Stadium
Connecting state and local government leaders
Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Kansas governor sidesteps legislature; Chicago mayor’s pension plan; and inaction on sex crime investigations in Casper, Wyo.?
OVERSIGHT | Minnesota’s legislative auditor, Jim Nobles, has launched an inquiry into the use of two luxury suites at the new U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis by the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority. A state senator who sponsored legislation that enabled the stadium’s construction says she wants the MSFA’s chair to answer questions about the luxury suites as well, including why the authority is refusing to release lists of guests invited to the suites. [Star Tribune]
PRESIDENTIAL SECURITY | “Here is a candidate who has been threatening to defund the city of New York—and yet we continue to be picking up the tab,” said New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito regarding the $1 million-a-day cost for President-elect Trump’s security. “And we have yet to see if he actually contributes taxes. So that’s really problematic. It’s unsustainable.” Mayor Bill de Blasio wants Homeland Security to reimburse the city. There’s no indication the Big Apple will seek to curtail the Trump family’s security detail though. [New York Daily News]
STATE BUDGETS | Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is not working with state lawmakers on a plan to address a $350 million budget gap. “This is an internal budget development, and we’ll put it in front of the Legislature,” Brownback said when asked whether legislators were involved in the budget talks. The governor declined to say whether he’d push for the securitization of tobacco settlement funds to obtain a one-time infusion of cash. [The Topeka Capital-Journal]
DAM SAFETY | A South Carolina agency is seeking an additional $5 million in next year’s state budget for dam improvements, inspections and removals. The state was hit by historic flooding in 2015 and Hurricane Matthew this year. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said in its 2017-2018 budget request that its “already limited budget” has been “strained” by the pair of recent natural disasters. For years, the department had one of the worst-funded dam safety programs in the nation. [The State]
WATCHDOGS | Portland, Oregon’s elected city auditor, Mary Hull Caballero, wants more autonomy when it comes to spending, hiring and legal decisions. "The auditor's office needs to be structurally independent," Hull Caballero said. The changes she’d like to see would need the backing of the City Council and Portland voters. [The Oregonian / OregonLive]
SEXUAL ASSAULT | During recent months, at least seven women and a former city councilman have spoken out at Casper, Wyoming City Council meetings, saying that local police have not paid enough attention to sex crimes. “I mean, this is life-changing,” one woman, who said she was raped and became pregnant as a result, told the council during public comments. “And it’s just kind of being dealt with like a stolen bike.” She added: “There is a huge problem here, and this is happening in our town, and people are being able to commit crime like this because there’s no time to investigate.” [Casper Star Tribune]
PENSIONS | Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants taxpayers and government employees to increasingly fund two retirement systems covering laborers and municipal workers, and his aides have come up with a plan they plan to introduce to state lawmakers Wednesday. Emanuel has agreed to forgo granting himself the power to appoint an additional trustee, though concerns remain about newly hired government workers having to pay 11.5 percent toward their pensions, instead of 8.5 percent, and who decides who is off the hook should less money be needed to achieve solvency. [Chicago Tribune]
INFRASTRUCTURE | Los Angeles County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has reached an agreement to pay almost $300 million more to the contractor in charge of the 405 Freeway widening project over Sepulveda Pass as a result of a dispute over responsibility for design changes, cost overruns and project delays. In all, the extra cost of the settlement—which pushes the amount spent over $1.6 billion—brings the total of the project 55% higher than the planned budget. [Los Angeles Times]
POLICE | A standoff between Alaska’s two largest law enforcement agencies has left patrol of the Seward Highway—the only road south from Anchorage—in flux. The disagreement over which force should take responsibility for the road threatens to leave stretches of the highway without patrol of periods of the day and night, and could extend closure times in the case of an accident. [Alaska Dispatch News]
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