That's what happened in July 1999, when Ventura suggested creating a voluntary citizen fund for a long-sought sports stadium in Minneapolis. Supporters were encouraged to muster up their own money instead of waiting for elusive public dollars to materialize. "It was a `put your money where your mouth is' type of thing," recalls Roger Simonson, finance director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, the organization in charge of overseeing the fund. The power of suggestion proved strong: 630 people sent in checks totaling $85,826. Ventura also promised that if no viable plan for the stadium materialized in the next year, he would refund the money.
And this July, the governor proved true to his word. Despite a promising start, the fund fell a few hundred million dollars short. And other than a suggestion by Ventura to seek federal emergency funds for the stadium, no viable route of financing the project had emerged. So, everyone who donated to the fund got a reimbursement--including the individual who donated a single cent along with a note saying that a new stadium was rock-bottom on his priority list.
The fact that it would cost 33 cents to mail a check for a penny didn't deter the payback effort. "We were determined," says Simonson. "We got the money, and we were going to return it." One of those refunded was Ventura himself, who donated $1,000 to the fund. Only one hapless citizen, who wrote an unidentified check for around $200, has yet to get his money back.
