CLAYTON — The St. Louis County Port Authority on Thursday officially withdrew a request for proposals to study regional governance and the potential privatization of St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
The East-West Gateway Council of Governments, the region’s planning arm, is scheduled to discuss a similar study at its board meeting later this month, according to Port Authority Chairman John Maupin.
The Port Authority’s foray into the airport issue divided the board among those who felt the study was an intrusion into city business and those who felt it was important to weigh in on the disposition of what they saw as a regional asset. Maupin defended the Port Authority’s action to wade into the airport privatization issue. “No one else was doing it,†he said Thursday.
The day after the Port Authority voted to move ahead with its own study a month ago, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson announced she was ending the city’s exploration of leasing the airport to a private operator, citing opposition from residents and the business community.
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Now that the city is no longer moving quickly to “unilaterally†enter into a private lease, Maupin proposed putting the study proposal on hold while East-West Gateway takes up the issue.
Even suspending the study, though, generated some disagreement among board members. Some, including Maupin, wanted to leave the airport study request suspended so it could be reissued quickly. Others, led by board member Mike Hejna — who opposed wading into the city airport issue to begin with — proposed rescinding the request altogether.
“What we did last month is no longer relevant,†Hejna said.
Ultimately, the board voted 4-3 to rescind the airport study request, though board members said they would be open to revisiting the issue should East-West Gateway or another organization not take up a comprehensive look at Lambert.
“I feel strongly that we need to put this to rest as a board and deal with it again should there be a need for us to address it in light of new information,†said board member Mary McMurtrey, who cast the swing vote allowing the request to be issued last month.
Maupin, though, said that would be a “mistake†because “we don’t know what’s going to happen.†St. Louis County Councilman Ernie Trakas, who represents the council at the board, urged commissioners to only suspend the request because it was “pulling teeth†to get it passed in the first place.
Allowing East-West Gateway to study Lambert has been pitched by St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann, who this year takes his turn as chair of the group, which is made up of regional leaders. Ehlmann has long advocated for more regional say on Lambert’s governance and operation, including as a state legislator 20 years ago.
Ehlmann and St. Louis County Executive Sam Page met in November before the Port Authority’s first attempt to issue a request to conduct its own Lambert study. Though Page supported the study, Maupin and former Port Director Denny Coleman said it was their idea. Coleman, a longtime St. Louis County economic development official, came out of retirement to work for the port authority on a volunteer basis as the County Council fought to wrest control of the agency from former St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger, who resigned and pleaded guilty to corruption related to the port.
The board’s attorney, Andrew Ruben of Sandberg Phoenix, also informed port board members of an expansive open-records request filed by the St. Louis NAACP seeking emails between them and some of the area business leaders said to have been concerned about Lambert privatization, such as the heads of Civic Progress and the Regional Business Council, Andy Taylor of Enterprise Holdings and David Kemper of Commerce Bank.
Maupin said he had no communication with any of the individuals named in the records request: “The quick response is, no,†he chuckled.