PRESS CONFERENCE

February 25, 2020

11:00 am
4811 Delmar, St. Louis Mo. 63108

Adolphus M. Pruitt, II EMBARGOED FOR

St. Louis City NAACP 11am - February 25, 2020
314-361-8600 (Office)
314-479-4427 (Cell)
PRUITT@STLOUISNAACP.ORG

AIRPORT PRIVATIZATION UNPLUGGED

Former St. Louis City Mayor Vincent Schoemehl trashed our City leaders and proposed a
“regional aviation management structure” with governing authority of Lambert, Spirit, and
Mid-America Airports.

St. Louis, Mo. – The St. Louis City NAACP is conducting a review of the City’s process to
privatize St. Louis Lambert International Airport, and the efforts to kill such as a possibility. The
NAACP has filed numerous public records requests and obtained a substantial amount of
documentation. While most of the documentation is still under review, some have painted an
unflattering picture of the City of St. Louis’s leadership; more specifically African-American
Aldermen.

St. Louis County Executive Sam Page staked out job opportunities for County residents, potential
lease proceeds, and tax revenue. Sam Page in a text message stated: “Leases at the airport could
be taxable, all personal property there is taxable, businesses located there must obtain County
business licenses, and the County issues permits for all building, plumbing electrical, mechanical,
and related work there” - while pushing his port authority to spend funds on a study in-spite of an
audit showing that the authority misspent over $1 million.

Do our Regional & City leaders agree with former St. Louis City Mayor Vincent Schoemehl’s
characterization of our African-Amercian Alderman? That the City’s elected officials can be
bought with “a few private dinners, some orchestrated ego stroking, etc.” as proposed by Mayor
Schoemehl? And is the City incompetent?

The NAACP will periodically provide details of its findings, along with other idiosyncrasies; and
post all the open records obtained to our web site “Stlouisnaacp.org” along with video responses.

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The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is to secure
the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based
discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.