Short List of Candidates to Head New Vikings Stadium Authority

5 EYEWITNESS News has obtained a list of possible candidates to fill the new Vikings Stadium Authority, which will oversee the billion dollar project.

Governor Mark Dayton makes three of the five appointments, including the person who will be Chairman of the Authority. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak has the other two appointments.

Sources tell 5 EYEWITNESS News that Governor Dayton wants Ted Mondale to chair the authority, but sources also say Mondale might not take it and pursue other opportunities. Sources say Duane Benson, the former head of the Minnesota Business Partnership and retired NFL player, is on the short list and could be a candidate for the chair position if Mondale does not take it.

The other two under consideration by Dayton are U.S. Bank CEO Richard Davis and former Target CEO Bob Ulrich.

Mayor Rybak wants Bill McCarthy of the Minneapolis Central Labor Council appointed as a favor to labor for its support of the stadium and he also wants Barbara Butts-Williams, the Dean of Education at Capella University, appointed because of her extensive management experience.

These names are only a short list right now and are very fluid. But sources tell us most of these names, if not all, will end up on the Vikings Stadium Authority.

The authority has a very important role in ensuring the new Vikings stadium is a success. The appointed members will control the budget, and any cost overruns or mistakes will fall on the shoulders of taxpayers.

Governor Dayton and Mayor Rybak are expected to make their final choices for the authority later this week.

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