Former Ramsey County Commissioner Tony Bennett, a deal maker who tried to lure Vikings to Arden Hills, dies

Frederick Melo, Pioneer Press
·3 min read

Former Ramsey County Commissioner Tony Bennett, a bipartisan dealmaker and instrumental voice in both the acquisition of surplus military land in Arden Hills and the countywide consolidation of 911 emergency dispatch, has died. He was 82.

Prior to being elected to the county board in 1996, Bennett’s colorful career included years as a St. Paul Police officer, a U.S. Marshal and a state lawmaker. He served on the county board through 2012, when he was defeated in a four-way political primary that centered heavily on his failed efforts to lure a $1 billion Minnesota Vikings stadium to Arden Hills.

Bennett’s death was announced by County Board Chair Trista MatasCastillo during a county board meeting on Tuesday.

“He was truly a great gentleman and full of life, always up to some great mischief, trying to get the deal done,” said Ramsey County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt, addressing the board. “If you were riding with Tony in a car, you just kind of held your breath, because he knew his way around St. Paul, and he knew how to get there fast.”

Bennett was born on March 11, 1940, in St. Paul and attended Johnson High School, St. Thomas College and the University of Minnesota. In addition to his career in law enforcement, he served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1971 to 1974 and from 1983 to 1990. During his time on the county board, he lived in Shoreview and represented Arden Hills and the county’s northern suburbs.

Bennett, a moderate Republican, created close alliances across the political aisle, working with entrenched members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party to get the county to acquire the 427-acre Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills from the federal government. The land had languished after years of failed efforts to draw interest from the private sector in light of pollution concerns. The county finalized its purchase in 2013, a year after Bennett left office.

“He loved to deal,” said County Commissioner Jim McDonough. “You couldn’t always get him on policy, but if you could talk to him about the deal, then you got his attention. We did a lot of good work together. … Whenever I needed the deal, I called Tony, because he could get the deal done.”

Development plans for the TCAAP site, now cleaned to residential standards and dubbed Rice Creek Commons, have been mired for years in a legal dispute between the city and county over infrastructure costs.

Bennett was also a supporter of a combined Ramsey County-St. Paul 911 communications center, which opened in 2007 after years of negotiations between the city and the county’s suburbs over financing.

In 2011, then-St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and the city council fervently opposed a proposal to institute a half-cent sales tax in Ramsey County to fund a new football stadium for the Minnesota Vikings in Arden Hills.

The plan, heavily promoted by Bennett and fellow Ramsey County Commissioner Rafael Ortega, fizzled when the Vikings brokered a deal with Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota to build U.S. Bank Stadium in the same site as the old Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

“Tony was a character, to say the least,” said Ortega, who told the county board Wednesday he had been in touch with Bennett’s family during his final two weeks. “The newspapers wrote an article about us and called us the odd couple, because he was maybe three times the size I was, he was a Republican and I was the Democrat, and we argued like hell. When we went on trips, he was a lot of fun. … He drove like a police officer, all the time.”

Reinhardt said Bennett’s longtime wife, Pat, also was receiving care for health issues. Bennett is survived by three children, Chris, Steve, and Pam.

Services will be announced at a later date.

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