Who is behind the Rams stadium deal? (original)

August 09, 2015
PresidentExecutive Vice Chancellor for AdministrationMemberMemberBoard memberBoard memberBoard memberBoard memberBoard memberBoard memberBoard memberBoard memberBoard memberBoard memberPositionBoard memberBoard memberBoard memberBoard memberFormerManager, Community AffairsCDC ChairmanManaging DirectorPartnerChief of PolicePartnerDirector of Real EstatePresident & CEOVice President, Office of the CEOVice PresidentPositionVice President, Energy DeliveryFranchise ownerSenior Vice President & PartnerDowntown Now! is one of four Downtown STL Inc. arms$12,500/month contract for land assemblageFormer Chief of Staff$5,000/month contractFounding firm memberCreated two-man task force$20,000/month contractContract worth $2.2 million thus farContract worth $484,294 thus farFormer parnterContract worth $13,230 thus farChairman & CEOBoard memberPresident and CEOFormer President$20,000/month contractFormer Senior Vice PresidentWorking closely togetherOwnerContract worth $220,000 thus farBank of AmericaCorporationGoldman SachsMcDonald'sCorporationUS BancorpAnheuser-BuschAmeren CorporationPeabody EnergyThe Laclede Group,Inc.WashingtonUniversityStan KroenkeFleishman-HillardIncJeremiah W NixonSt. LouisUniversityDavid PeacockNestlé PurinaPetcare CompanySt. Louis RegionalChamberFrancis G SlayHank WebberThompson CoburnLLPDoug WoodruffDowntown STL Inc.St. Louis RamsTask ForceRobert BlitzKasey BerghZack BoyersJason BraidwoodPaul M BrownSam DotsonAmos HarrisPeter PierottiJoe ReaganCartan SumnerEllen TheroffMichelle TuckerDavid N WakemanJimmy WilliamsJim WoodcockThe Koman GroupSt. Louis MetropolitanPolice DepartmentSpinnaker St.LouisCraig HellerDowntown Now!The St. Louis RegionalConvention and SportsComplex AuthorityJeff Rainford Blitz, Bardgett &Deutsch, LC HOKDFC GroupSt. Louis RamsEnvironmentalOperations, Inc.Stacy HastieMissy KelleyIn January 2015, Kroenke announced plans to build a 80,000 seat Currently owes more than $213,000 in back taxes.Rainford, Woodruff, and Peacock were the first three leaders to begin moving the stadium plan forward, starting as early as July 2014NFL stadium in Inglewood, CA--calling into question Rams future in STL.Kroenke's combined net worth with wife Ann Walton (of the Walmart fortune) Public entity that owns the Edward Jones Domeis $11.8 billion.Subject of a St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigation that found the company had designed nearly allof the state’s high-value cleanups, chosen which companies could bid on the work, submitted bids to itself and hired itself for jobs.

With the news that there will be no public vote on the proposed tax-payer funded stadium for the St. Louis Rams, there are many questions about the stadium deal and the city's development and investment priorities. 

Mayor Slay publicly restated his support for the proposed stadium, saying that although the 
Stadium may not break even on costs or bring revenue to the city, it is a necessary investment because a football team is “one of the things that make living in a big city fun.”

After the last year in the St. Louis region, it is hard to hear that “fun” is Slay’s top priority for the city. Police teargassed and arrested residents en masse and were found guilty of countless civil rights violations. There is a clear call for the city to pursue change that will bring about racial justice. It is almost laughable that our elected officials and civic elite think that a $1 billion stadium, paid for by taxpayers, is what this city needs right now. 

So who, besides Mayor Slay, supports the stadium deal? The above web shows that members of downtown corporate community and other St. Louis elites are the active advocates for (and profiteers of) the project. In particular, Doug Woodruff, the President of Downtown STL Inc. and Downtown Now! (who recently left that position but will continue working with the stadium task force) has played a key role in pushing the project on behalf of the 200 businesses Downtown STL Inc. represents. 

The stadium deal has already 
cost taxpayers almost $6 million. And much of that $6 million has gone directly into the pockets of the very people advocating for the deal. The St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority has awarded contracts to Doug Woodruff's Downtown Now!, Downtown Now! board members including Thompson Coburn and Environmental Operations Inc., and Blitz, Bardgett, and Deutsch--the law firm of Robert Blitz, one of the members of Governor Nixon's two-man stadium task force.