Bagley, who lives in Minneapolis but grew up in the small town of Barron, Wisconsin, was a stadium consultant for the Vikings before becoming an employee in 2005. The following are his responses to questions presented during the interview at Winter Park:
Q. What lessons did you learn growing up in Barron that still serve you well today?
A. Small town roots, connection to community and work ethic. Both my parents worked. My dad built a successful business, and my mother worked for the federal government. I grew up playing sports and was a big fan.
Q. Your wife Wendy has worked at the Capitol for years and now is a an executive in the Department of Human Services. Does her access to state administrators and the governor provide a lobbying advantage for the Vikings?
A. No, there’s no special advantage that it provides. I’ve got a 20 some year career in public affairs including at the Minnesota Business Partnership so I’ve got my own relationships. The good news over there is the governor is used to the rough and tumble of politics and he knows that he’s going to get his shins kicked every once in awhile. It wasn’t meant (the publicized criticism of Pawlenty) with any malice. It was just trying to get a point across…(with) our frustration level with our situation and we’re passed that. Zygi and the governor met and cleared the air. Now we’re moving forward and have a good dialogue going. I think the governor is also professional and smart enough (to know) that my wife has nothing to do with this project. She’s a loyal lieutenant of his and works hard for him. He’s able, I am able and my wife is able to separate the two. I wish it did give me some special advantage but it doesn’t.
Q. Is it correct to assume that given your years of experience in public affairs that it was a calculated strategy to call out the governor for lack of leadership over the years on the stadium issue?
A. I expressed a frustration. It wasn’t some sort of planned scheme like ‘let’s do this in order to get this reaction,” but it was a public frustration of something that’s been brewing and growing privately for a couple of years. It was (also) frustration I hear every day from our ownership. I spoke that day on behalf of the ownership and took the point and got the message across. It was effective because we’re finally making some headway both in the discussions with the governor as well as just generally in trying to move this project forward in a very difficult political and economic climate.
Q. What would you say that progress is?
A. The frustration we expressed wasn’t necessarily about lack of leadership. It was just basic lack of engagement. We’ve been up there in times of surplus and deficit. We keep getting put off to the point where there’s not been a serious dialogue about how to solve this problem. It’s not just the governor, it’s (also) state leaders, and generally this (stadium issue) has not been a priority. It needs to be a priority because we’re running out of time. Typically these projects need leadership from the executive branch, at the very least engagement. So the progress is that we’ve got a dialogue going with the governor and legislative leaders. We know where we stand in terms of how difficult this environment is but we’ve got an acknowledgment there that we’re running out of time. That we’ve got to address this. Let’s start to kick around some creative ideas as to how this might shake out.
Q. You have mentioned that 28 of the NFL’s 32 teams have built new stadiums or renovated existing facilities since 1997 when the Vikings first approached the state about a new facility here. Would you characterize the process here as unusually slow?
A. I think there’s been kind of an acceptance (since then) that this is something you’ve got to do. If you want to have major league sports you’ve got to have a facility. If we want to have the NFL, you’ve got to solve this problem. That’s not a threat, that’s the pressure we get everyday from the other NFL owners saying we’re tired of subsidizing this market. Because this market gets between 15 and 25 million dollars every year from other owners through revenue sharing to have a team here because the stadium is the worst economic situation in the league. So I don‘t classify this as slow. I think it’s deliberate. We’re Minnesotans. We’re thorough. Unfortunately, the down side is that the delay has cost significant dollars. In 2001 when we were at the Capitol with this project and a very similar stadium it was half the price. A retractable (roof) stadium in 2001 was $475 million. Seven years later it’s at $950 million.