Twenty years ago, St. Louis taxpayers help foot the bill for the most expensive public works project in our city’s history – the construction of 9,000-foot runway at Lambert Airport with a billion-dollar price tag.
It was a costly but important investment in an airport that sees more than 14 million travelers each year, bringing business, revenue and jobs to our community.
Two decades later, things are going well at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, and the public is a seeing a positive return on its investment with a rise in passengers and an improved credit rating.
But now there is talk that the fruits of these investments might be handed over to someone else.
Mayor Lyda Krewson and aldermanic President Lewis Reed recently approved a plan that could lead to the St. Louis airport being leased to a private operator.
The Krewson/Reed plan appointed a group of consultants and advisers to look at the issue and make recommendations on the fate of the airport.
Far from being an objective group, these consultants and advisers would be paid millions of dollars if the airport is privatized. More concerning is the revelation that President Reed worked to get a big campaign donor a lucrative slice of the consultant pie. Simply put, if the airport is turned over, his donor gets rich.
Meanwhile, this plan does not guarantee the one group that should be consulted will even have a say in the matter – the St. Louis voters.
Only Comptroller Darlene Green stood up for the public and voted against this plan, and she should be commended for pumping the brakes on any effort that doesn’t give the residents of our city a seat at the table.
I am sure there are pros and cons to transforming how the airport is operated, but these are things that need to be evaluated and judged by the public, not a small and select group of politically connected consultants.
We all know someone who works at the airport, uses it for business or benefits from the revenue it brings to our community. That’s why voters should have the final say in any decision that might turn over this public asset to a private group.
In the meantime, leaders need to understand that any plan that doesn’t put the decision to a public vote just won’t fly.
State Senator Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis) represents the 5th Senatorial District in the Missouri Senate.
