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| Wednesday, November 14 Ventura against government funds for new park Associated Press |
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ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Gov. Jesse Ventura is scheduled to meet Friday with several Twin Cities business executives to discuss their efforts to keep Major League Baseball from eliminating the Minnesota Twins. The group includes attorney Mike Ciresi, one of the leaders of a group of executives trying to form a partnership to buy the Twins from Carl Pohlad. Ventura has been strongly criticized by some people, including Ciresi, for not helping fight the baseball owners' Nov. 6 vote to buy out and shut down two still-unnamed franchises before the 2002 season. The Twins and the Montreal Expos are considered baseball Commissioner Bud Selig's top two targets. During Ventura's three years as governor, he repeatedly has criticized efforts by Twins officials and some legislators to provide a public subsidy for a new Twins stadium. On his radio show last Friday, Ventura repeated his argument that the 19-year-old Metrodome is as good a place to play baseball in today as it was in 1987 and 1991 when the Twins won World Series championships there. But Ventura also said Friday he might support paying for a new ballpark with so-called "user fees." Stadium supporters use that catch-all phrase to cover a number of special fees and taxes on fans and teams using a stadium. Some backers of public funding for a ballpark took Ventura's tentative endorsement of user fees as an indication he was moderating his opposition to state spending on a ballpark. Ventura spokesman John Wodele declined to identify the other business leaders who will join Ciresi in the meeting with Ventura.
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