Vikings stadium board politics get ugly; treasurer quits, blasts chair

Updated 12:30 p.m. | Posted 11:25 a.m.

Duane Benson said Friday he's resigning from the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, claiming board chair Michele Kelm-Helgen called him a liar and impugned his character.

Benson, a former Minnesota Senate GOP leader appointed by DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, didn't detail the reasons behind his resignation. Kelm-Helgen, however, said it was tied to an ongoing dispute with Benson and others over her pay.

A recent state report showed Kelm-Helgen is paid more than $35,000 less than her male counterpart on the stadium development team, MSFA executive director Ted Mondale. Kelm-Helgen makes $127,000 annually, Mondale makes $162,245, according to the MSFA.

That report triggered broader debate at stadium authority meetings over pay and responsibilities at the authority, where Kelm-Helgen is the sole full-time board member and employee.

Benson, who served as the stadium authority's treasurer, and another board member, former Target executive John Griffith, had used the equity report to argue that the stadium authority board structure is the problem and that it should have a traditional part-time board that elects a chair and assigns executive duties to a single CEO.

That behind-the-scenes struggle over governance of one of the biggest and highest profile public works projects in Minnesota history spilled into public view during an April board meeting when Kelm-Helgen said she'd "never felt more threatened by board members and what you will do."

Kelm-Helgen, who worked for Dayton, was a key architect of the stadium legislation and serves as the governor's chief representative on the five-member MSFA board, which includes three gubernatorial appointees and two members appointed by mayor of Minneapolis. The board chair gives the governor a powerful voice in day-to-day stadium matters.

Benson on Friday said he'd talked to Dayton and to Lt. Gov. Tina Smith about the dispute with Kelm-Helgen. He plans to leave effective Aug. 1. Dayton is responsible for appointing a replacement.

Benson said Kelm-Helgen called him a liar during a private conversation.

"After our April meeting, I was called by the chair and I was accused of being a liar, I was accused of being untrustworthy, and a number of other things that were an assault on my character," Benson said, adding that he's never been accused of these characteristics in his 40 years of public service.

"When a commissioner restricts you from asking questions, you know you don't have a healthy environment," he said. "That's what I was doing is asking questions."

Kelm-Helgen said the issue of equity had been widely discussed during the public meetings. She said there is mistrust between the two that made it difficult to work together.

The disagreement, she added, stems from a meeting where Benson opposed approval of the pay equity report that included the disparity involving her position. She said that was a reversal of how Benson told her earlier that he'd vote.

"I don't believe I called him a liar," Kelm-Helgen said. "I did have a conversation with him telling him that I'm very disappointed, that what happened at the meeting was very different from what he told me his position would be the night before."

Kelm-Helgen denied Benson's claim that she'd squelched debate.

"He doesn't really support the governance structure that was outlined in statute," Kelm-Helgen said. "I think the governance structure that's in place and was designated by the legislature to run the project actually is working."

Kelm-Helgen said she knew Benson was thinking about resigning but didn't know he planned to quit today.