Kelly, Coleman Debate Taxes, Stadiums

The St. Paul mayoral election continues to intensify, as a debate on Tuesday clearly illustrated. St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly debated Wednesday about taxes, education and public safety, although they did share a desire for the Twins to relocate to St. Paul. Kelly went on the offensive against Coleman, questioning his opponent’s character. “Quite honestly, I don’t know who Chris is. Four years ago he was supporting me,” Kelly said. Coleman defended himself, saying the election is about the better agenda for the city. “I have laid out my vision. It’s there for all to see and this election is about whose vision you prefer,” Coleman said. Regarding taxation, Kelly says he has tried to keep property taxes down. “We aught to make it harder for us to raise property taxes in this city. Harder for politicians to dig into our pockets,” he said. Coleman responded, “This mayor is running as the anti-taxation candidate and it is simply without credibility. For thirty years in the state legislature there wasn’t a tax hike that he didn’t support.” The only agreement was that a St. Paul Twins stadium would benefit the city, although they disagreed on the method. “It could potentiall be a wonderful thing for the City of St. Paul, but it is not the responsibility of taxpayers to foot the majority of that bill,” said Coleman.