Your Strange Tangential Vikings Stadium Story of the Day

Not really time for a new Vikings stadium post, but this is an odd story:

Anoka County is seeking $2 million in compensation for a package it created to try to land a Vikings stadium in Blaine five years ago — a playbook the County Board’s chairwoman says Ramsey County used to lure the team to Arden Hills.

The proposal by Rhonda Sivarajah drew a response of “huh?” in Ramsey County

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"Huh" is a bit more polite than "whiskey tango foxtrot," I guess. There's more:

Sivarajah at first suggested that Ramsey County pay the $2 million — which she called a “conservative estimate” — for using an Anoka County plan the Vikings publicly sacked in 2006. After a vigorous discussion, she said the money should instead come from the state and only if racino proceeds help to fund a stadium in Arden Hills.

“If the state decides their priority is to use proceeds from racino to fund a Vikings stadium in Ramsey County, then Anoka County should be reimbursed $2 million, which was utilized to develop the financial package that Ramsey County is essentially using,” Sivarajah said later.

I'm hesitant to go on, since it's possible that Sivarajah might invoice me for quoting her. But we need to finish the job:

When Anoka County devised its plan five years ago, racino wasn’t part of the picture. It was that plan, again without racino, that Sivarajah said Ramsey County used.

“I know Ramsey County has requested information from us,” she said. “It’s only appropriate that the citizens of Anoka County be reimbursed.

Here's a prediction -- all Sivarajah will get out of this is a headline in today's paper. If you follow her logic, you find there really is no logic. If units of government are due compensation every time they pick up the phone and call another, you'll have no communication at all. At least no one will call Sivarajah.

Just a guess -- what this is really about is getting Anoka County's beak in the tent for any racino proceeds, especially if the Running Aces track gets one. Running Aces is in Anoka County and if it's going to generate any money, Sivarajah and her colleagues would like a taste. That's easy enough to understand. It's even a defensible request, since Anoka County will incur additional expenses for policing the site if a racino is built. It would be better if she'd just admit as much instead of pretending that Ramsey County owes consulting fees.