ST. LOUIS COUNTY 鈥 A city committee considering the privatization of 51黑料 Lambert International Airport on Tuesday delayed a vote to cut the number of bidders on a long-term airport lease, pushing back that decision by at least a week.
51黑料 Budget Director Paul Payne, chairman of the Airport Advisory Working Group, said after a two-hour closed-door meeting that members of the group were still reviewing documents 鈥 鈥渁nd that takes time.鈥
But records obtained by the Post-Dispatch indicate that a disagreement about whether to advance a bidder connected to Jeff Rainford, a lobbyist who was a chief of staff to former mayor Francis Slay, may have been a factor in the delay.
That bidder, STL Aviation Group, wasn鈥檛 among eight groups the city鈥檚 lead consultant, Moelis and Co., had recommended, the records show.
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Reached by phone later Tuesday, Payne said the Airport Advisory Working Group hadn鈥檛 decided on any number of finalists. He declined to comment on STL Aviation Group.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 decided who we would advance to the next stage 鈥 that decision has not been made,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ecause there hasn鈥檛 been a decision yet, I鈥檓 not going to characterize discussions on any of the particular respondents at this point.鈥
Payne did, however, confirm that the working group has interviewed 11 of the 18 groups that responded to the city鈥檚 request for qualifications, or RFQ.
That number 鈥 but not the names of the bidders 鈥 was listed in minutes from closed-door meetings on Nov. 27 and Dec. 10 obtained by the Post-Dispatch. Of the seven remaining groups that want a shot at leasing the city-owned airport, six were not invited for an interview because they failed to meet qualifications. One group had dropped out of the process.
Moelis and Co. recommended to the working group Dec. 10 to advance eight to the next round, according to meeting minutes.
Based on the recorded exchanges of committee members, STL Aviation Group, a New York-based consortium led by California-based Oaktree Capital Management, was not among them.
Linda Martinez, a top aide to Mayor Lyda Krewson, suggested that STL Aviation Group should be added, but the Airport Advisory Working Group wrapped discussion up, expecting to make a decision at its next meeting.
鈥淓xcluding them,鈥 Martinez said, according to the minutes, 鈥渨ould send a negative message to the community since they are familiar with the 51黑料 area.鈥
Martinez did not respond Tuesday to requests for comment by the Post-Dispatch.
Rainford quit as STL Aviation Group鈥檚 lobbyist in May, but said he was still working with the group to form the team that would submit a formal proposal to operate the airport.
STL Aviation Group, which has retained a number of other prominent local lobbyists, includes a company that runs airports in France and elsewhere. Others involved in its bid include prominent 51黑料 firms: Clayco and Clayco鈥檚 real-estate development arm, CRG; KAI Enterprises; KWAME Building Group; and World Wide Technology.
According to the airport group鈥檚 closed-door meeting minutes:
On Oct. 31, 2018, Deputy City Counselor Michael Garvin told the airport working group he received a phone call from 鈥渁 firm that employ鈥檚 (sic) the former Chief of Staff of former Mayor Francis Slay asking if it would be a conflict of interest according to the conflict of interest policy of the Working Group,鈥 according to meeting minutes. Garvin said there was no conflict in his opinion, but that the working group could take action if there is appearance of conflict. The group asked Garvin to tell the firm they considered Rainford鈥檚 involvement to cause 鈥渁n appearance of conflict.鈥
On Dec. 10, Martinez asked the working group to amend its minutes to say that, based on city code, Rainford鈥檚 involvement 鈥渄idn鈥檛 create an actual conflict and that the group believes that there is an appearance of a conflict.鈥
Payne responded that the working group didn鈥檛 have all the facts to definitively conclude whether or not there is an actual conflict, but agreed that the minutes be adjusted.
Garvin said that there was no conflict based on the information he had.
Jefferson City lawyer Marc Ellinger suggested the minutes should state 鈥渋t is the position of the Working Group that there is an appearance of conflict.鈥
Gerard Hollins, who represents Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed at the meetings, motioned to approve the minutes. He, Payne and LaTaunia Kenner, who represents Comptroller Darlene Green, voted in favor. Martinez abstained.
Garvin said the group鈥檚 conflict-of-interest policy 鈥渋s subjective and could lend itself to arbitrary decisions.鈥 He suggested bidders have a chance to respond to concerns.
Hollins said that if the group adopt a recommendation by Moelis, referring to Moelis and Company, that the group should clarify to Oaktree that 鈥淩ainford鈥檚 involvement is not the reason they weren鈥檛 selected to advance to the next process.鈥
Glenn Muscosky, managing director of Moelis and Company, reiterated that the firm鈥檚 recommendation was to advance eight out of 11 bidders that were interviewed. He said that the working group鈥檚 next steps were to review the request for proposals, have the finalist bidders sign non-disclosure acts, and obtain redacted copies of all 18 bidders鈥 responses to a request for qualifications.
Martinez then 鈥渟uggested that the group consider advancing Oaktree to the next stage鈥 because she believed they met the RFQ criteria. She 鈥渟tated that excluding them would send a negative message to the community since they are familiar with the 51黑料 area,鈥 according to the minutes.
Payne and Hollins 鈥渄isagreed on account of their presentation.鈥
Matthew Hughes, of Moelis and Company, said 鈥渁dvancing Oaktree carries the risk of losing other stronger parties the city would rather include.鈥
The working group ended the Dec. 10 closed-doors meeting by agreeing to make a decision on the matter at following meeting, which was held Tuesday.
A draft of a potential airport lease agreement, also obtained Tuesday by the Post-Dispatch, said the city would lease the airport for 45 years.
Payne said that number and other details have not been finalized.
鈥淭here are many iterations of multiple documents,鈥 he said. 鈥淓ach time they鈥檙e circulated and each time they get comments and each time they can get changes. Those are the kind of things that we discuss at those meetings and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing.鈥
Payne said after meeting Tuesday that the working group is attempting to coordinate a meeting next week.
Meanwhile, the group has released redacted versions of all 18 candidates鈥 responses to the RFQ, issued in October to assess whether potential bidders have the operational and financial capacity to run Lambert. The redacted responses are available at .
The release follows a process to redact proprietary information from the documents, Payne said.
鈥淚t gives you a little more of the substance about what this process is about and what is out there,鈥 Payne said.
The Airport Advisory Working Group has four voting members: Krewson, Aldermanic President Lewis Reed and Comptroller Darlene Green or their designees and Payne.
