Ted Mondale to lead Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission

Gov. Mark Dayton Friday morning announced he'd tapped former Met Council chairman Ted Mondale to lead the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission.

Mondale, as the Star Tribune blog reported Thursday, was the only finalist for the spot.

The commission was formed to oversee the construction of the now-deflated Metrodome more than 30 years ago.

Dayton's office said of the commission, "Its mission is to bring urban and suburban and statewide, business, labor and the general public together to find common ground and work on issues related to stadium infrastructure in Minnesota. The MSFC consists of seven members: six appointed by the Minneapolis City Council, and a Chair appointed by the Governor. The Chair must reside outside of Minneapolis."

Mondale, who lives in St. Louis Park, is a former state senator who ran for governor in 1998, the same year Dayton ran for the first time.

He is the son of former Vice President Walter Mondale and no stranger to stadium games. He was on Hennepin County's Twins ballpark design group a decade ago and the Minnesota Vikings' Board of Advisors.

Mondale, now the vice president of software company Nazca Solutions, some deep connections to those who were in Dayton's kitchen cabinet and went to school with Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner.

He will have a hefty job at the sports facilities post. The Vikings' lease on the Metrodome expires this year and the team is pushing for a new stadium.