Compliance with State Law? You Get a Raise US Bank Stadium Board Says

MINNEAPOLIS- The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) has decided on a pay raise and change in ethical standards for staff members.

The board discussed that there would be a $60,000 cap for the interim chairwoman’s position and a 4.5 percent salary increase for four other staff members.

Among other discussed policy changes was placing the chairperson of the board directly in charge of the relationship with both government and convention agencies. Another change to the positions description is that the chair will also be responsible for the MSFA’s adherence to state laws, budget, and contracts. These changes may be a response to Interim Chairwoman Kathleen Blatz delegating various responsibilities to Executive Director Rick Evans. This taking their respective positions both have tried to increase transparency through a much greater deal of input from the public.

All staff members will now be required to adhere to state laws that prohibit participation in political activity at work. This policy change comes after members of the MSFA were accused of giving out commissioned seats inappropriately to friends and family members, as well as DFL activists.

Former Chairwoman Michele Kelm-Helgen and former Executive Director Ted Mondale stepped down in February after the revelations that they had used $32,000 worth of taxpayer money for such expenses. While there was a great deal of bipartisan support for changes toward the usage of the luxury suites owned by the state, the wording which referred to this issue was cut from the final budget deal.

Alpha News reported in early June that U.S. Bank stadium security provider, Monterrey Security is being investigated currently by the FBI and the Minnesota Private Detective and Protective Agent Services Board for the creation of fraudulent work documents for employees with criminal past.

Henry Carras