The St. Louis Rams stadium funding lawsuit tangle continues to get messier and messier, with circuit court judge Thomas Frawley putting off hearings on the state’s suit against the city over a stadium vote requirement until June 25. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs in a different suit — this one trying to enforce the requirement for a city referendum on any stadium funding, as approved by voters several years back — are petitioning the judge to let them intervene in the case, on the grounds that city lawyers won’t fight the state aggressively enough, and … oh, hey, look, it’s Jeanette Mott Oxford, former state legislator and foe of past public funding for the Cardinals, who put in a cameo in Chapter 16 of Field of Schemes:
One of the three residents, former state Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford, said she still hoped she’d be able to testify. The city has many needs, she said, for homeless services, public safety, affordable childcare and housing, “and yet millionaires and billionaires ask us to subsidize their professional sports projects,” she said.
“A case might be made to win my vote,” she said. “But I need to hear about it!”
Sure, you say you need to hear about it, Jeanette. But just because you want your say, and you and the rest of St. Louis voted to require that you have your say, doesn’t mean that the state’s lawyers and judges are going to agree that you’ll have your say. That’s not how democracy works in America!