The Sad, Pathetic, Corrupt Story Behind St. Louis Metrolink-MLS Deal
St. Louis has two big initiatives facing it- one for an expansion of the Metrolink, adding a desperately needed North South line- and public funding of a Major League Soccer Stadium.
Here’s how it all went down- these facts have been verified through multiple sources.
A few weeks ago, The St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ways & Means Committee held a public meeting at the Nebula co-working space on the corner of Jefferson & Cherokee.
The purpose of the meeting was to hear the public’s view for the city to, “raise the sales tax by one-half-cent to help pay for a future North-South MetroLink expansion and other neighborhood preservation efforts”
The Aldermen in attendance, specifically Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia, told the public that the MLS deal was dead- there hadn’t been any time to get facts and figures on a stadium deal, and it wouldn’t be going forward- until, suddenly, it did.
Also approved by the Board of Aldermen, “$60 million in business use-tax increases for a new Major League Soccer stadium downtown. The new use-tax revenue will be created automatically if the other sales tax passes. A judge still has to decide if the issues will face voters.”
WHAT IS A USE TAX?
A “use tax” is a tax that is levied on businesses whenever they, say, do construction using a material that has its own tax in order for them to use it. For example, lead. (I have no idea if lead has a use tax, just using as an example).
If a hypothetical company wanted to build something in the city using lead, it would pay a tax to the city for doing so.
Funds generated by a use tax are supposed to be used for things like hiring police officers, maintaining the streets, etc- NOT FOR FUNDING STADIUMS
Enter one of the most corrupt Lobbyists in St. Louis, Lou Hamilton
It is well known in St. Louis that Lou Hamilton controls several politicians he makes donations to, chief among them Alderman Jack Coatar. (pictured)
Alderman Jack Coatar is such good friends with his benefactor lobbyist Lou Hamilton, he and his fiancee take vacations with Lou. In Alderman Coatar’s own words to me, “Lou is my friend, we take vacations together and go to each others homes at the holidays.”
Lou Hamilton is famous for being corrupt and a bully. While he was the Chairman of the Board for the Metro Taxi Commission (before being forced to resign in disgrace) he used to have illegal police lights in his SUV so he could get through traffic- (presumably because there might be a lobbyist emergency somewhere he had to be at).
Lou is not only corrupt, he is monumentally careless in his corruption. In one special case, Hamilton’s SUV was stolen- and the thieves discovered the police lights and began pulling over people and robbing them. Hamilton suffered no legal repercussions because, corruption.
Hamilton’s response? His wife asked for extra police presence at their home, never mind the the people being robbed.
THE TANTRUM OF ALDERMAN JACK COATAR
Lou Hamilton inserted himself into the Metrolink debate by sending in his personal Alderman, Jack Coatar, to demand that the Metrolink and MLS Stadium be linked. When the Board of Alderman didn’t go his (read: Lou Hamilton’s) way, Jack made a comment along the lines of, “that’s it then, if we aren’t funding the stadium, Metrolink is dead,” got up, and stomped out of the meeting. If Jack (Lou Hamilton) can’t get his way, then he’s taking his soccer ball and going home.
By stomping out of the meeting, Coatar revealed the administration’s true intentions- sure, they’ll throw a relatively anemic pittance at Metrolink to shut the annoying citizens up, just as long as they are able to give rich people money they don’t need
WHERE WE ARE NOW
Jack’s partner in this new bill is Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia (pictured)
Ingrassia has said she is glad she “took control” of the bill linking Metrolink and MLS funding via the Use Tax.
LOBBYIST LOU HAMILTON INVITED TO DRAFT LEGISLATION
After the huge public opposition to the public funding of the now L.A. Rams to stay in St. Louis, the administration knew they couldn’t try the same tactic.
St. Louis is SO corrupt that lobbyists are welcomed onto the floor of the Board of Aldermen- they are called, “Honored Guests” and fawned over in introductions before the Board does its business.
To get an idea of how wrong and how completely backwards St. Louis government is, imagine if you turned on C-SPAN and saw the lobbyist for Exxon Mobil sitting next to the member of Congress they bribe- sorry, “lobby”- helping them draft legislation.
Sure, we all KNOW that’s how it works, but in St. Louis the Board of Alderman say, “Screw you, public, we’ll do whatever the hell we want right in front of your face and you can take it or not. Either way, we’re getting ours.”
Luckily for corrupt lobbyist Lou Hamilton, he knew he Jack would do his bidding- (if you don’t think Coatar does Hamilton’s bidding, look at his campaign finance reports- better yet, look at who pays Lou and draw a line to what Coatar supports).
As this new monstrosity was being put together, Lou Hamilton was right there in the room with Ingrassia, Coatar and the other Alderman drafting legislation that will effect the city for decades to come. You all remember electing Hamilton, right? (A vote for Coatar is a vote for Hamilton).
Hamilton’s lobbying clients have been dropping him as of late, as they have realized that to have him represent their business interests is bad PR- he was forced to resign from the MTC and other clients are taking a hard look at the value/cost of keeping him around.
He regularly brags to entrepreneurs he can get them whatever they want- who all then tell me about him approaching them. (They are more polite than I am and demur- but still tell me. Every. Time). He’s also tried to slime his way into several other Aldermanic campaigns- and the candidates have to ask themselves if his “help” is going to be worth the price they pay later. He’s an analog, corrupt lobbyist in a digital world who is way past his prime and out of his league (if he was ever in it).
APRIL 4TH BALLOT
Voters will have two choices to make on April 4th- they are as follows:
- The public can vote to increase the sales tax to help fund the Metrolink expansion
If #1 is a yes, Use Tax funds immediately become available for public funding of the MLS Stadium
2. The public can vote on public money being spent funding the MLS stadium.
LEGALITY OF THIS SCHEME
This is an area where I do not have the facts- some are saying it is illegal for the city to use funds from the Use Tax in this way. I do not know whether or not this is true. Reportedly, an attorney plans to sue the city later this month so the public can see it play out.
DISGUSTING, CORRUPT POLITICS
I live in the most diverse neighborhood in the city, and I love it. What I don’t love is the crime. This summer, my Mom and nephew were visiting me and we were having a great time.
In the middle of the night, we were awakened by multiple gunshots outside my living room window- all it would have taken is one stray bullet coming through the window and someone I love could have been killed. Crime is out of control in St. Louis and we are talking about giving away tens of millions of dollars to people that don’t need it?
The people pushing the hardest to give public money to High Net Worth people that absolutely could open the stadium without public money are also the ones that don’t tend to experience the crime in our city.
The politicians of St. Louis keep saying, “Bringing MLS to town makes us world class” — do these people also live IN the city? Do THEY live in neighborhoods where crime is rampant?
Their message to the citizens demanding action on crime: “LET THEM EAT CAKE!”
I would argue that people coming to a sports event from out of town and not being shot and paralyzed would be a better next step.
Now it’s your turn, St. Louis. What kind of a city are we going to have?
