Say anything to get it built

When the aquarium was proposed, my friend was on the City Council. He asked me what I thought of the projected visitor numbers. I called the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. The director of public relations laughed when I told him. The committee ran up insane travel bills traipsing around to other aquariums. One local legislator, now retired, referred to it sarcastically as “the fishtank.”

One thing seems to be true of all politicians no matter where they are: They all love to spend the taxpayers’ money on pet projects, all the while ignoring the real needs of said taxpayers. North Dakota is no different.

These out-of-control decisions by the Duluth city council have been a problem forever and forever. As far as closing the Duluth library, was there any consideration toward the old school buildings being used for a library? A city cannot always get everything brand new. Duluth has always seemed to have a financial death wish. Good luck in the future to the future generations.

I realize you often point out the specific city funding mechanism for projects, i.e. tourism tax funds, but I think to the extent possible you should do this whenever you can. Like in the above article, which states: “The facility still receives a $360,000 annual operating subsidy from the city.” It’s helpful to know if that subsidy is from tourism tax or another city funding stream?

Thank you. The aquarium’s annual operating subsidy comes from the tourism tax. The $12 million bailout was about $2 million from the tourism tax, $7 million from the city’s general fund, and $3 million from tax-increment financing through the Duluth Economic Development Authority.

Relative to the Great Lakes Aquarium, how many of the original PLEDGES made by wealthy supporters were actually PAID. Sources close to the initial GLA project say that many pledges were made, but never paid.

How about an article about what’s happening inside the library, and how the public feels about seeing half the books we’ve paid for be taken off the shelves?