A $500 million bus line with dismal ridership and Gov. Tim Walz’s use of $430,000 for legal bills are among this year’s nominees for the Golden Turkey award.
The annual award from the Center of the American Experiment recognizes the worst examples of government waste, such as a $700 million renovation of the State Office Building that won the award in 2023.
This year, the center says Metro Transit’s Gold Line bus project received the most nominations. The 10-mile bus rapid transit line opened in March at a price tag of $500 million and connects St. Paul and Woodbury using primarily bus-only lanes.
The problem, as the center points out, is that “the Gold Line was projected to achieve 5,900 ‘daily linked trips.’ After six months of operation, they are at 25% of that projection.”
According to Metro Transit, average weekday ridership for the Gold Line was a little over 1,600 in September.
Another nominee for the award this year is the $430,000 that Gov. Walz spent on a law firm that helped him prepare for congressional testimony in June.
Republican Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia, said he doesn’t view the spending as “an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars” while Senate Republicans said Walz could have used his state-employed legal experts.
The third nominee is the City of Anoka’s planned redevelopment of the historic Rum River Dam in the city’s downtown area. The $51 million project, which is in its preliminary design phase, would include a whitewater surfing park for kayaks and paddle boards.
The final nominee is the City of Bloomington’s use of nearly $1 million in COVID relief funds on a new city hall bathroom.
Readers can vote here for a winner of the Golden Turkey award.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
