Politics & Government

Some Citizens Say University City Is Keeping Them In The Dark

The city has answered only selective questions on the Olive/170 TIF and refused to release some key documents.

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UNIVERSITY CITY, MO — University City has again refused to release a score by St. Louis Development Corporation financial analyst Jonathan Ferry on the proposed Olive/170 TIF.

Ferry has previously scored projects in St. Louis City, and his reports typically show a range of projected rates of return for projects with and without public assistance. Ferry grades each project on tax revenue, economic value and the amount of public assistance needed, among other criteria, coming up with a final grade for the project that indicates whether the amount of TIF assistance requested is appropriate for the overall project.

In refusing to release the Ferry report, the city cited an exemption to the state Sunshine Law that allows documents related to contracts to remain sealed before those contracts are executed. The city has promised to release the document once the contract has been signed, effectively telling citizens they can only see how good a deal the TIF is after the ink is dry.

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In cases where Ferry has evaluated TIFs in St. Louis City, his work is almost always presented during the project's public hearing, and Ferry himself is present to explain his findings. University City has now held two public hearings on the Olive/170 project, and Ferry's work for U. City is still secret.

City manager Gregory Rose explained the city's position on releasing the Ferry report at the June 6 public hearing.

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"As a result of putting that document together, we required the developer to provide to us a lot of proprietary information, so that we can ensure that those numbers that he is reflecting in his request are consistent with what is happening in the marketplace," he said.

Because of the proprietary information contained in the report, Rose said, releasing the information now would put the developer at a disadvantage, though he didn't explain how. Since no other developers responded to the city's request for proposals, and the city has already named Novus as its preferred developer, Patch asked the city to explain just how releasing the score would put the developer at a disadvantage. The city did not respond to that question.

Patch also asked the city to redact any proprietary information and simply release Ferry's final score — typically a number out of 5. The city refused to release any part of the report or explain the specific task Ferry had been assigned.

In response to a Sunshine request from Patch, the city also revealed that no conflict of interest statements exist for any city-appointed TIF commissioners or consultants related to the Olive/170 project. For such a large, publicly-funded development, that's abnormal. Patch asked the city to explain why no such statements were produced, but we received no answer.

Local watchdog Tom Sullivan previously accused the TIF commission's chairman, lawyer Gerald Grieman, of conflicts related to his work for Second Ward Councilmember (and TIF commission member) Paulette Carr, University City Mayor Terry Crow, and the Torah Prep School, which stands to benefit from a proposed sale of the school district's Ronald E. McNair administration building.

Greiman said he hasn't represented Torah Prep since 2012, and that his relationships with Carr and Crow do not warrant recusal, as Sullivan demanded.

Sullivan has also asked for emails between Carr and the developer. Carr and Third Ward Councilmember Bwayne Smotherson were responsible for early work that brought the developer to University City, with acting community development director Rosalind Williams serving as an unofficial adviser, Carr told Patch previously.

The city released a handful of Carr's emails to Sullivan, but the oldest dates only to this past April, while the project appears to have been in the works for much longer.

"They clearly are not all the correspondence," Sullivan said at a council meeting earlier this week. "So I'm asking again that Councilwoman Carr release the emails between her and Novus, otherwise it looks as if she has something to hide."

Sullivan added that he has filed a complaint with the Attorney General's office, which is looking into the matter.

"What I want to know is how the Olive/ 170 project came about and how it got so big," Sullivan said in an email to Patch. "It started out small but then Novus bought Jeffery Plaza and has all these homes under contract. You have to think [Novus President Jonathan Browne] was given the green light at each step and had to be told he could use eminent domain if needed."

Browne said previously he had gotten the city's assurance eminent domain would be used in at least one case. Browne told Patch that former interim City Manager Charles Adams called him to inform him of the decision to approve using eminent domain, but did not say when that call took place. "It's my understanding that it was voted on by the council and approved unanimously," Browne said.

But, if that's the case, Patch can't find a record of it. The vote may have been held in executive session or it may have been an informal understanding between council members rather than an official vote.

Patch has repeatedly asked for clarification on when eminent domain was first discussed with the developer, but neither Carr, Smotherson or acting community development director Rosalind Williams has ever answered that question.

Williams, also, has been accused of conflicts of interest related to the project. According to Browne, the two have a long history, and Williams has submitted a private proposal to "to guide the City through the TIF approval process," according to a document Patch obtained from the city manager.

That proposal, submitted before she was appointed acting community development director, makes it clear that Williams' private community development group, WITH, stands to make thousands of dollars in fees if the proposal is accepted by the city.

Rose said the proposal doesn't represent a conflict of interest because it hasn't been accepted by the city. Asked if the city had any plans to accept the proposal in the future, Rose said: "Not today."

The next public hearing will be held June 22 at 6 p.m. at the University City High School, located at 7401 Balson Avenue.

Photo by J. Ryne Danielson/Patch

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