A proposal for the state to help pay for a levee at St. Paul's downtown airport has touched off a tiff between Mayor Randy Kelly and the leaders of the city's legislative delegation.
Sen. Mee Moua and Rep. Michael Paymar, who serve as co-chairs of the St. Paul delegation, accused Kelly of threatening to ask Gov. Tim Pawlenty to veto all the city's bonding requests if lawmakers don't fund the airport project.
"Threatening to have other worthy St. Paul projects or bills vetoed is wrong and it undermines our collective work at the Capitol," Moua and Paymar, both Democrats, wrote in a letter to Kelly on Monday. "Should any St. Paul projects or bills get eliminated or vetoed, we will certainly look to you for an explanation."
In addition to $2 million for the levee, St. Paul's wish list at the Capitol includes money for an Ordway Center for the Performing Arts renovation, a biotechnology initiative, Phalen Boulevard construction and other projects.
The lawmakers say the airport funding is now not in the bonding bill but that as the measure moves through the Legislature, that could change.
Kelly denied making the threat. He said it was "nonsense" and "absurd" to suggest that he would torpedo the city's top initiatives should he not get his way with the airport project.
He explained that he merely told Rep. Alice Hausman, another of St. Paul's delegation members, that any St. Paul projects included in an approved bonding bill must later be approved by the mayor before the funding is sent to the city.
Kelly, a former state lawmaker and veteran of many bonding battles, said he told Hausman of the mayor's role in the process while they were talking about a proposal she supports $300,000 in state funding to design an expansion of the Como Park zoo and conservatory.
The mayor said he might have a tough time approving that project, which he said would ultimately increase the city's operating costs at the zoo. The airport levee, meanwhile, would help the city retain and attract business, Kelly said.
"If I have to start weighing where our priorities are, my focus is to retain jobs, expand our tax base and make sure that St. Paul remains a vibrant city," he said.
The airport levee has been a matter of disagreement between Kelly and a City Council majority. Last year, the council rejected a proposed $1 million city contribution to the project.
The $29 million project, which would include a dike and other drainage improvements, has sparked environmental questions and concerns about additional flights and noise.
The state funding would be merely a piece of the pie. Plans call for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns and operates the airport, to join the state and federal governments, as well as private interests, to pay for the project.
