Trahern Crews is an authorized spokesman for Black Lives Matter St. Paul (and yes, there are some unauthorized folks out there, like this curious State Fair t-shirt salesman who has taken to selling shirts that say "All Lives Matter").
The Black Lives Matter booth is now the All Lives Matter booth. pic.twitter.com/IePNybS3Z9
— FredMelo, Reporter (@FrederickMelo) August 29, 2015
Crews, however, isn't just affiliated with Black Lives Matter. He's also the spokesman for the 4th Congressional District Green Party. And he's a spokesman for his own campaign for St. Paul City Council: Crews is running for the Ward 1 seat currently held by Council Member Dai Thao (think Frogtown and Summit-University).
This dubious-looking man is also running for election, but to what office, no one knows...
So when Crews speaks, it's like one of those microphones with a built-in echo effect. (That's called 'reverb,' guys). You know the superhero Black Canary, aka Green Arrow's sometimes-girlfriend? No, she isn't actually black, but she does have a powerful 'canary cry' that knocks her opponents down and works along the same principles... The Scoop digresses.
So what does Crews -- e.g. the voice of Black Lives Matter, e.g. the voice of the Green Party, e.g. the voice of Crews for City Council -- think of a possible soccer stadium in St. Paul's Midway?
There's no formal proposal on the table yet -- Minnesota United has been mum on details -- but everyone expects some form of public financing or tax increment financing to be involved in the package. At the very least, the project would keep 10 acres of Midway property off the tax rolls forever.
Thao, the city council member, co-sponsored a resolution that would allow the Midway site to remain tax-free if the team pays for a stadium using private funds, but Crews apparently isn't feeling it:
"The St. Paul Green Party rejects Mayor Chris Coleman's plan to build the soccer stadium with taxpayer's dollars. We believe that public funds should be used for schools, libraries and recreation centers. We don't want to fund anymore cronyism with public funds.
The studies of economic impacts of stadiums consistently find that they do not create jobs or boost income, or stir development."
-- Trahern Crews Saint Paul 4thcd Green Party of Minnesota Spokesperson
The election is Nov. 3.
The post What does Black Lives Matter think of a Major League Soccer stadium in St. Paul? appeared first on City Hall Scoop.