ST. LOUIS 鈥 At $240,000, Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge鈥檚 salary is often cited as the highest among city employees. But a newly released list of employees and salaries for the region鈥檚 two major economic development organizations shows that Otis Williams, head of the 51黑料 Development Corporation, made $10,000 more last year.
And Rodney Crim, head of the 51黑料 County-centric 51黑料 Economic Development Partnership, topped that. At $260,000, Crim made $79,000 more than the county鈥檚 highest paid employee, acting 51黑料 County Health Department Co-director Dr. Emily Doucette.
Williams and Crim are the top earners in municipal government in the 51黑料 region, according to the .
The paper requested the SLDC and Partnership salaries in January, under Missouri鈥檚 Sunshine Law. The two economic development groups claimed a provision of the law, which requires public governmental bodies to release a list of employee names, salaries, positions and length of service, did not apply to them.
People are also reading…
SLDC custodian of records Edward Roberts said the organization was not a public agency, but rather a not-for-profit corporation.
After months of correspondence with reporters and Post-Dispatch attorney Joseph Martineau, the organizations relented this week.
SLDC鈥檚 general counsel David Meyer maintained that the organization still disagreed with the newspaper鈥檚 interpretation of the law. 鈥淣evertheless, in the interest of transparency, the full information you have requested is being provided,鈥 he wrote.
The two organizations are incorporated as nonprofits, though they run agencies created by state statute, such as Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authorities, Port Authorities and, in the city, the Land Reutilization Authority, a land bank. The SLDC board is made up of the chairs of those boards, plus an SLDC chair picked by the mayor and two members of the board of aldermen. The Partnership鈥檚 board members are appointed by the 51黑料 County Executive, who gets 11 appointments, and the 51黑料 Mayor, who gets four.
As nonprofits, the two organizations file annual disclosures with the IRS that include salary information for a few of their top leaders. But most of their employment information has not been publicly released.
Missouri law says that nonprofits that primarily contract with public governmental bodies, deal with tax abatement and eminent domain, or accept direct appropriations from local governments are considered 鈥渜uasi-public governmental bodies鈥 and subject to the Sunshine Law. The Partnership receives about $4 million a year from 51黑料 County. SLDC provides staff for the LCRA and other bodies that recommend tax abatement and have the power of eminent domain.
The Post-Dispatch sought to add the agencies to its database in part due to recent history: the Partnership was embroiled in former 51黑料 County Executive Steve Stenger鈥檚 pay-to-play scheme. Its former CEO pleaded guilty in the federal investigation, and it was used to give jobs to Stenger鈥檚 political allies. For example, it employed John Cross, a political operative close to Congressman , whose endorsement helped Stenger win election in 2014. Cross also received a chunk of sham contract money from the county port authority.
In 51黑料, at least one top city staffer is paid through SLDC: Chief Technology Officer Robert Gaskill-Clemons, who made just under $167,000 last year. His 2018 hiring was announced through Mayor Lyda Krewson鈥檚 office, with the release stating that she appointed him to her administration.
鈥楶ublic agency鈥
In response to the newspaper鈥檚 initial record requests, the two organizations said the agencies created by state statute, such as the land clearance for redevelopment authorities and port authorities for the city and county, had no employees. All the employees staffing those bodies are under SLDC and the Partnership.
The Partnership sent a two-page analysis that used the Webster鈥檚 Dictionary definition to argue that it is not an agent of the city or the county.
鈥淣either the city nor the county retain 鈥榯he right to control the conduct鈥 or operations of the Partnership,鈥 Partnership attorney Howl Bean II wrote. 鈥淭hat power remains with the Partnership鈥檚 board of directors pursuant to its bylaws.鈥
But Martineau, the Post-Dispatch鈥檚 attorney, countered in a letter to the Partnership earlier this year that such an arrangement, if permissible by law, could also be used to conceal government employees, work or payments.
The crux of the organizations鈥 argument against disclosure lies in two words 鈥 鈥減ublic agencies鈥 鈥 found in the section of the Sunshine Law requiring release of employee names and salaries.
Each maintained that the provision dealing with employees and salaries refers to 鈥減ublic agencies,鈥 a term that is not specifically defined in the Sunshine Law. Only 鈥減ublic governmental body鈥 is specifically defined.
Jean Maneke, an attorney for the Missouri Press Association, said the reference to 鈥減ublic agencies鈥 in the Sunshine Law is nothing more than a 鈥減en slip by the drafters.鈥
鈥淭he way the language is in that definition, 鈥榩ublic agency鈥 is being used in the same sense as 鈥榩ublic governmental body,鈥欌 she said.
Moreover, she said, the Sunshine Law has a specific provision saying the law should be 鈥渓iberally construed鈥 and its exceptions 鈥渟trictly construed.鈥
鈥淎ll the analysis about what an agency is, and what the relationship is, that鈥檚 incredibly complex, and the reality is, I think it鈥檚 a simple attempt by the people who wrote the statute to just group these things together,鈥 she said.
The one case the Partnership found that references the public agency definition discrepancy, Pulitzer Pub. Co. v. Missouri. State Employees鈥 Retirement System, contains only a footnote mention.
Even there, the court wrote that 鈥渨e assume, without deciding, that a public agency ... is equivalent to a public governmental body.鈥
$4 million payrolls
The new data show that eight employees at the city鈥檚 51黑料 Development Corporation were paid more than $100,000 in 2019, led by Williams.
Williams has held high-level positions there for 22 years and has led the 62-employee agency for the last seven years, during which he captained the region鈥檚 effort to land the $1.7 billion western headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in North 51黑料. Williams announced last week he will retire at the end of Mayor Lyda Krewson鈥檚 term in April.
A dozen Partnership employees made more than $100,000 last year, led by Crim.
Crim was tapped as permanent president and CEO of the 55-employee organization last year. He previously led SLDC before his 2013 move to the Partnership in Clayton as part of the organization鈥檚 effort to merge some city and county economic development functions.
The average salary at SLDC is $67,000; the median is $56,000. The average pay at the Partnership is $79,000, the median $64,000.
SLDC and partnership payrolls total just over $4 million, each.
Only area public school district superintendents, university presidents and cultural institution chiefs made more than Williams and Crim last year, according to the .
