Politics links Pawlenty, ballpark backers

02/05/2006

The governor’s office and stadium promoters see no conflicts of interest in the relationships, but opponents scrutinize all links.

Mike Kaszuba,
Star Tribune
Last update: February 05, 2006 – 12:06 AM

Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s personal efforts to salvage plans for a new Minnesota Twins baseball stadium in downtown Minneapolis have immersed the governor in a proposal that has a series of ties to him politically.
Brian McClung, Pawlenty’s communications director who now briefs reporters on the stadium’s progress, was a lobbyist for Twinsville Inc., the corporation formed to promote the ballpark site and pitch redevelopment plans for the surrounding area.

In that job, which he held for less than two months in 2004, McClung worked for Twinsville executives Bruce Lambrecht and Rich Pogin, who contributed money to Pawlenty’s 2002 campaign and co-hosted a fundraiser for the governor at Lambrecht’s Minnetonka home. Lambrecht and Pogin manage three limited partnerships, comprised of about 200 investors, that own most of the stadium site.

Soon after Pawlenty was elected, Lambrecht’s wife, Jeanne Braun, was hired as Pawlenty’s personal assistant, and for more than two years worked side by side with Pawlenty in the governor’s office until she resigned in May.

In 2004, while his wife worked for the governor, Lambrecht spent $90,000 lobbying for Twinsville but said in a statement to the Star Tribune that his efforts were primarily directed at the Legislature. “At no time did I lobby the governor,” said Lambrecht, who described Pawlenty as “an acquaintance through politics and not a ‘friend’ through social circles.”

Though McClung, Lambrecht and Pogin said the relationships have existed for years and have not moved the stadium closer to reality, Pawlenty’s increased involvement has brought additional scrutiny by ballpark opponents of any role these ties may play.

Since Christmas, Pawlenty has hosted meetings in his office and at the governor’s residence to inject new life into the $478 million baseball stadium proposal. It would be partly financed by a 0.15 percent sales tax in Hennepin County, a deal approved May 3 by the Hennepin County Board. McClung said the governor plans more meetings before the Legislature convenes in March.

Although Pawlenty had previously lent only lukewarm support to the Hennepin County proposal, he said after meeting with team and county officials in December that “we need as a state to keep our Minnesota Twins.” The governor added that he preferred a referendum on using sales tax money but realized the team is opposed to doing so.

“There’s so many conflicts of interest in the whole deal, it’s enough to make your head spin,” said Laura Lehmann, a spokeswoman for Citizens for a Stadium Tax Referendum. The group opposes plans by the county and the Twins to seek a legislative exemption to a state law requiring a referendum on the use of sales tax money.

McClung, Lambrecht and Pogin said their longtime ties are not an issue

McClung, when asked whether there was a conflict, responded with a one-word e-mail: “No.” He later added that the governor’s office was not involved in selecting the Minneapolis site and that Pawlenty initially supported building a Twins stadium in St. Paul.

“The definition of a conflict of interest is generally that the decisionmaker has a personal or direct financial interest in the proposal. That is not the case here,” he said.

From Twinsville to Pawlenty

McClung resigned March 19, 2004. One month later, he became executive director of the Pawlenty for Governor Committee. Five months later, in September 2004, McClung became Pawlenty’s press secretary.

“The Twins and related organizations have hired so many lobbyists over the years that it is not uncommon for those who work in public policy to have some connection,” added McClung, who said he did not directly lobby the governor or his staff while at Twinsville.

Pogin, who is Twinsville’s chief financial officer, cautioned against reading too much into the links between the Twinsville executives and the governor. “We have never gotten any special treatment,” said Pogin.

Pawlenty’s chief of staff, David Gaither, said Pawlenty feels that a Twins stadium is a “quality of life issue” that remains “the right thing to do.”

About Pawlenty’s ties to the Twinsville partners, Gaither said: “Did Bruce Lambrecht hold a fundraiser for him? You bet he did. Did Jeannie [Braun)]work in the office? Yes, she did. Did that exert any undue influence on his decisions? I don’t think so.”

Lambrecht, who has served as Twinsville’s president, issued a statement but declined to be interviewed for this article. He is well-known in local Republican circles and considered running last fall for the state Senate seat that Gaither vacated to become Pawlenty’s chief of staff.

Randy Johnson, the County Board chairman who has been meeting with Pawlenty about the stadium, indicated he did not see a conflict of interest. He said Lambrecht is “a political donor to people who are for and against the ballpark idea.”

Anticipating the appearances

In a written statement, Lambrecht said his wife got a job working for the governor when Pawlenty took office because she was qualified and not because of any political ties.

“Jeanne Braun met the governor once at a fundraiser, and volunteered on his campaign and on his transition team,” Lambrecht’s statement said.

Braun, who earned $35,000 in the job, resigned three weeks after the County Board voted to tentatively approve the project. She declined to be interviewed for this article.

Her resignation letter to Pawlenty, which Lambrecht recently made available, said that she was leaving because the stadium would be built “on land owned by my spouse’s business.”

The letter went on to say that “even though the location was selected by the county and not the state, and the proposal may not ... present an actual conflict of interest for you, I have decided to resign my employment with you to avoid even the appearance of any undue influence.”

Charlie Weaver, Pawlenty’s chief of staff at the time, said he hired Braun based solely on her qualifications. “She didn’t bring [the stadium] up, and I wouldn’t have expected her to,” said Weaver, who said he interviewed several other applicants.

Weaver said, however, that as chief of staff, he did discuss the stadium with Lambrecht while both men were part of a group that flew to Seattle in September 2003—in part to see the new baseball stadium there. “Stadiums were definitely on the agenda for the whole group,” he said.

How influential are the ties?

Critics of the stadium proposal say Lambrecht and Pogin’s links to Pawlenty may not be all that influential.

“I don’t think there’s any connection. I don’t think the governor’s pushing this because of past contributions” from Lambrecht and Pogin, said state Rep. Phil Krinkie, R-Lino Lakes, chairman of the House Taxes Committee and an opponent of public funding for a new Twins stadium.

Krinkie, who has taken political donations from Lambrecht and Pogin, said he attended the fundraiser for Pawlenty at Lambrecht’s home but downplayed its significance. It was not, he said, as if “everybody [was] dropping big money in the drum.”

Pogin said it is unclear how much money he and Lambrecht would make should a stadium be built on the property. The site would likely be condemned by the county, he said, limiting any payment to fair market value. “If somebody says, ‘You’re going to get ‘x’—nobody knows how that’s going to come out,” he said.