St. Louis alderperson Megan Green’s description of the lobbying around the Rams stadium bill as “bribery” has had quite the fallout:
- The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said that it had found “nothing actionable” in Green’s complaint; the FBI wouldn’t comment on any investigation. (It’s worth noting, though, that Green quickly backed away from claims of illegality, tweeting, “just because something in legal in MO doesn’t mean it’s ethical.”)
- The St. Louis Business Journal report that the “person close to me” described by Green as having received an offer of “a political favor” in exchange for pressuring her for her vote was state representative candidate Ben Murray, her boyfriend (and former staffer).
- Board of aldermen president Lewis Reed says he’s considering a formal reprimand of Green, or removing her from committee posts, as punishment for her tweets. “She clearly has lied about this,” Reed told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Something needs to happen. The board, universally, is really upset about it.”
Meanwhile, back in the actual news, there could be a final city vote on the Rams stadium bill as early as today, though Friday is more likely. If that’s approved as expected, then Gov. Jay Nixon can go back to fighting with the state legislature over whether they even get to vote on a Rams funding bill, which should be loads of fun.
Neil, I think a $477 subsidy is probably acceptable to most people but may not be enough for the NFL. Might want to check the headline again (missing M) :-)
Doesn’t sound like she lied at all to me… sounds like she was telling the truth. Someone was offered a consideration for pressuring her for her vote.
This begs the question, is “the board” upset that this became public, or upset that it actually happened?
Green lied and she got caught. Her attempt to backtrack on this is expected and pathetic.
St. Louis aldermen push forward riverfront stadium deal after last minute changes
Reportedly NFL will throw in another $100 million. The Inglewood sham worked.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/st-louis-riverfront-stadium-deal-changes-again-at-last-minute/article_2bc95b00-479f-50d1-b9f1-396140e3ebfd.html
How exciting–NFL football! You can’t see that on TV or have a favorite team unless it plays in your hometown, after all!
She isn’t far off with her comments. These starry eyed NFL stadium loving politicians just keep transferring the same thought process from one city to the next: http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/05/local/me-nfldreams5
Wow st Luis wake-up. Your leaders are mortgaging your future. No taxes for corporate America. Schools police fire department should receive new funding. Not a open air stadium that will be used 10 times a year with no promise of a super bowl.