Remember when people applauded U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay when he demanded (in a press release, not an event where he had to answer questions) a public vote on privatization of St. Louis Lambert Airport?
It happened November 14, the day of St. Louis Not For Sale’s You Deserve A Vote Town Hall.
Many airport privatization opponents and privatization public vote advocates gave Clay high praise.
The announcement got media attention.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Clay enters Lambert fray, demands binding vote on privatization
St. Louis Business Journal: Congressman Clay calls for public vote on Lambert airport privatization
Clay’s Press Release ended up in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Airport Privatization Timeline, a Timeline that peculiarly failed to acknowledge long term, major players in opposition to privatization without a public vote and without transparency including Comptroller Darlene Green, the initiative petition drive work by St. Louis Not For Sale, or the Lambert Airport Sunshine Law Litigation.
There was no critical look at what was going on here. Lost in all the giddiness over Clay’s endorsement of a public vote on Rex Sinquefield’s latest dumpster fire was that Clay’s Press Release did not bring in a single new vote at Board of Aldermen to actually get the privatization public vote issue approved.
And, it turns out, Lacy Clay’s Just Permanent Interests PAC took $5,000 from Rex Inc’s Travis Brown/Pelopidas the day before his 2018 primary win. No one was going to notice it on that Election Eve. However, with most every political thing in St. Louis that Rex Sinquefield’s millions touches going up in flames, that $5,000 contribution was going to bite Clay on his ass this election year.
Make no mistake, Rex Sinquefield’s PR guy and lead salesman on airport privatization was looking for friends. The same day Clay took his money this story broke.
8/6/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch- Tony Messenger: The financier who bought Stenger also has eyes on Lambert. Buyer beware.
Clay eyes known opponent Cori Bush over his left shoulder and over his right shoulder a possible white candidate waiting for him to wound himself and present a path to unseating him. Clay needed praise from anti-privatization people, so called progressives in particular, and he got it.
Clay had to distance himself from that $5,000 check from Travis Brown. He’s no hero on airport privatization.
— Marie Ceselski, former 7th Ward Democratic Committeewoman
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