最新杏吧原创

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of capital out there in the world waiting to be invested,鈥� Martinez said.

Indeed, so much of it that 18 companies or coalitions of investors answered the city鈥檚 request for qualifications, seeking to be considered in a next round of requests for proposals to lease the airport.

So where is that capital coming from?

The city of 最新杏吧原创 doesn鈥檛 want you to know.

I first asked for copies of the requests for qualifications on Nov. 1, the day they were due. A few days later, the city denied my Sunshine Law request. But after pushback from the at the Washington University School of Law, which is representing the Post-Dispatch, and attorney Mark Pedroli, who filed an open meetings and open records lawsuit against the city, the city counselor鈥檚 office had a change of heart.

On Tuesday, the city posted of the RFQ online.

What did they redact? On some of the proposals very little. On others, entire pages of information.

The redactions tell a story.

Some companies completely blacked out a section titled 鈥淯ltimate Ownership,鈥� and the city let them get away with it. Others blacked out a section that outlines any previous 鈥渃riminal claims鈥� or 鈥渃ivil claims,鈥� so taxpayers can鈥檛 look up what happened related to other privatization efforts the secret owners might have been involved in.

My personal favorite redaction came from a coalition that includes OMERS Infrastructure Management and Fraport AG. That coalition鈥檚 proposal blacked out the section titled 鈥渃onflict of interest.鈥�

From the beginning of the airport privatization process, that has been the biggest area of liability for the city.

The privatization talk started under the administration of former Mayor Francis Slay when Jeff Rainford was his chief of staff. Both men would end up signing up as lobbyists for two competing potential bidders.

One of those bidders, STL Aviation Group, a coalition that includes Oaktree Capital, is still in the running.

Maybe.

According to minutes of closed meetings obtained by Post-Dispatch reporter Nassim Benchaabane, the airport privatization consultants being paid by 最新杏吧原创 billionaire Rex Sinquefield did not recommend Oaktree鈥檚 coalition as one of the companies to move to the next round.

Enter Martinez. Despite Mayor Lyda Krewson鈥檚 previous statement that Rainford鈥檚 connection to Oaktree would work against the company, Martinez said that not advancing Oaktree would be a mistake because so many members of the coalition have local ties.

Among those local ties? One that is connected directly to Martinez.

To Oaktree鈥檚 credit, it didn鈥檛 redact its section on conflict of interest, and it discloses plenty of potential conflicts.

One of the coalition鈥檚 members used to be a law partner with Martinez.

Another, longtime Democratic operative Brian Wahby, owns a company that is paid by Alderman Jack Coatar. The Oaktree coalition employs two people who work for consultants on the city鈥檚 advisory team, including one for Sinquefield鈥檚 Grow Missouri nonprofit, and another who works for the consultant that issued the news release responding to Benchaabane鈥檚 story, suggesting that the Airport Working Group is committed to a 鈥渇air and equitable鈥� process.

Fair and equitable to whom, the unknown people blacked out in documents that should have been public?

That鈥檚 what Pedroli expects to ultimately litigate in court, where his Sunshine lawsuit will be heard in the light of day.

鈥淭he city鈥檚 redactions violate the law, undermine public confidence and impeach the process,鈥� he says. 鈥淐oncealing the ownership of potential bidders isn鈥檛 simply troublesome, it鈥檚 lethal to the process. Concealing the bidders鈥� conflicts of interests with the city takes it to the next level. These redactions are jarring, inexplicable, and the ultimate indictment of the process.鈥�

For now, that process moves forward, as the deputy mayor, with the full support of her boss, pushes for the inclusion of a team that includes a former law partner, in which other members of the working group can鈥檛 agree whether Oaktree鈥檚 connections to the former mayoral chief of staff who started the city down this road is just an 鈥渁ppearance鈥� of a conflict or an actual conflict.

Flip a redacted coin, working group.

Neither answer bathes the city in glory.