As I have talked about, I find it a little irritating that we are gifting the State Theatre $1.5 million based on the request of Denny Sanford.
Here are FOUR reasons we should say NO to this request;
SANFORD MADE MOST OF HIS FORTUNE BY PREYING ON PEOPLE WITH BAD CREDIT
And the Feds responded with major changes to the credit card laws;
The Credit CARD Act of 2009 prohibits upfront fees from totaling more than 25 percent of the card’s total available credit in the first year, and the rules that take effect in October provide greater detail on what that means. Specifically, the new rules expand the definition of “upfront fees†to include fees charged before the account is opened (for example, an application fee), not just those charged after it is opened.
Not only was Sanford involved, but our last mayor was the VP of Marketing for this subprime scheme.
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA SAID ‘NO’ TO A LARGE SANFORD DONATION
While Sanford has maintained it was the University’s fault this didn’t go through, the University says otherwise;
Then, in 2002, he reached out to his alma mater, the University of Minnesota. He offered $35 million for the construction of a new football stadium. Your idea of what happened next depends a lot on your loyalties. The University claimed Sanford wanted “too much control†over the project, and the two parties failed to reach an agreement. Sanford alleges the University got greedy, more than doubling the projected cost of the stadium, trying to coax a few extra millions out of Sanford’s pockets. He pulled out, feathers ruffled.
The other story was that Sanford wanted his name on the building to.
MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERALÂ PREVENTS SANFORD MERGER
Minnesota State Lawmakers got a little nervous about the merger;
Why did Sanford pull out of the talks? The prospect of the two $3 billion hospital systems merging alarmed some Minnesota leaders. The Minnesota Attorney General, Lori Swanson, called a press conference in late March to express concerns about Fairview assets remaining in Minnesota after a merger, and speculated about the future of the University of Minnesota’s teaching hospital, operated by Fairview, after a merger with an out-of-state entity. She convened a public hearing on short notice, on a Sunday in early April, and promised additional inquiry into the proposed merger. Two Minnesota state legislators introduced a bill to slow or stop the merger. Facing public suspicion and politicians intent on slowing, if not stopping, the merger, Sanford Health decided to cease merger discussions.
I met and spoke with AG Swanson shortly after this happened at a political event in Minneapolis. She basically told me that once their office started digging around on Sanford, the more concerned they got.
SANFORD HOSPITAL IS BEING INVESTIGATED FOR MEDICARE FRAUD
This of course is still going through the courts and investigation mode, but if found guilty there could be HUGE repercussions for the entire community;
Two doctors employed by Sanford Health are suing the company and one of its neurosurgeons, accusing them of defrauding the federal government and harming patients by performing unnecessary surgeries. Dustin Bechtold and Bryan Wellman filed the lawsuit in 2016, and a federal judge unsealed it Thursday. The complaint says Sanford Health has been buying medical devices from a company owned by Dr. Wilson Asfora, and that the surgeon uses those devices in unnecessary spine surgeries. The suit says this violates anti-kickback laws. The suit also says Sanford and Asfora billed Medicare and other programs for care that was never provided.
While Sanford has been very generous with his giving, there is certainly NO reason the Mayor or the City Council need to give money because he says so. We can say ‘NO’ to the whims of billionaires, other’s have. We just lack the courage.
l3wis