ST. LOUIS — When St. Louis settled with the Rams for leaving the city for Los Angeles it was billed as a win, but now some are questioning whether it was the right call.
The ink is still drying on the $790-million settlement between St. Louis, the NFL, and Rams owner Stan Kroenke, but Alderman Joe Vaccaro said something about it still doesn't sit right.
“I don’t know that we beat the league,” said Vaccaro. “He comes out way ahead. The money he’s giving us for him is chump change.”
“With that in mind, when you first heard about the settlement were you happy with it,” asked KSDK reporter Holden Kurwicki.
“I am happy with the settlement, but I’m a little concerned that we weren’t included in anything,” said Vaccaro.
This is a statement that has been echoed by members of both St. Louis and St. Louis County government.
“The Board of Alderman has been left out of it,” said Vaccaro. “According to the Mayor’s tweet she’s clueless also, and I find that shocking and disappointing.”
“The County Council has been completely left out of any discussions regarding the Rams/NFL settlement, despite asking the County Executive multiple times for information,” said St. Louis County Councilman Tim Fitch.
5 On Your Side has confirmed that St. Louis County Executive Sam Page was briefed on the status of the suit, but the county charter gives the St. Louis County Attorney the ability to settle civil suits without the board signing off.
“It was a private group suing,” said Vaccaro.
It’s unclear if St. Louis City Attorney Sheena Hamilton has the same blanket power.
Questions are now being raised as to whether Hamilton had a conflict of interest since she was a partner at Dowd Bennett, the private firm leading the suit, just two months before the settlement.
“On the surface, I would say it would look inappropriate whether there is a conflict or not,” said Vaccaro.
The attorneys involved in the suit declined to comment on this story since the agreement was made during a mediation, which is confidential in Missouri, but that’s not stopping Vaccaro from asking where the money went in the first place.
“Even up to right now we don’t know where the money is at, where it’s going, and certainly we believe we should have a lot of say in it,” said Vaccaro. “The board of alderman should have a lot of say in it.”
A spokesman for the city of St. Louis told 5 On Your Side that the money is in a trust.
At this time no other details can be provided about the status of the money as attorneys for the city, county, and the regional convention and sports complex authority continue negotiations on how to split up the settlement.