Still no pick for consultant.
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A city of St. Louis committee on Wednesday failed to pick an advisory team to help it with privatizing St. Louis Lambert International Airport, according to Mayor Lyda Krewson's spokesman.
The committee, comprised of representatives from the offices of Krewson, Comptroller Darlene Green, Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed and the city counselor, had said it would make the selection by the end of October. The request for proposals was issued in September. The city must select an advisory team if privatization is to move forward.
The spokesman, Koran Addo, could not immediately provide more information. Krewson's office had wanted to make the pick by the end of 2017 in order to keep financial markets interested in privatization, said one person familiar with the matter. It wasn't immediately clear what was holding up the process.
The consultants would not receive up-front money from the city, and would eventually be paid using money from the lease with a private operator, Linda Martinez, Krewson's deputy mayor for development, has said.
Facing perennial budget problems, former Mayor Francis Slay announced near the end of his term last year that the city would explore the move as a way to capture millions of dollars from a lease with an operator. He worked with Grow Missouri, a nonprofit funded by billionaire conservative activist and Slay supporter Rex Sinquefield, to craft an initial application for a Federal Aviation Administration program that would allow the move. The FAA in April gave the city preliminary approval to explore the privatization, and at least two companies — California-based Oaktree Capital and Australian firm Macquarie — have hired local lobbyists to help steer them through the process.
