Suit filed to avoid public vote on new stadium - STLtoday.com
LOUIS • The public body that owns and operates the Edward Jones Dome filed suit Friday against the city of St. Louis, seeking to avoid a civic vote on the use of taxpayer money for a new downtown football stadium. The suit, filed in state court, says a 2002 city ordinance requiring a public vote is “overly broad, vague and ambiguous,” and asks the judge to rule that it either doesn’t apply in this case, conflicts with state statute or is unconstitutional. Jay Nixon’s two-man stadium task force has been working for months to solidify financing and sidestep project-killing delays before presenting plans for the $985 million riverfront arena to a National Football League owners committee this spring. “Our issue is time — not a public vote,” Nixon task force member and former Anheuser-Busch executive Dave Peacock said on Friday. “Our concern is that one government is suing another, and both have been working together to build a new stadium,” said St. Louis University professor and legal clinic supervisor John Ammann, who threatened to sue the city this week to try to... “The city counselor has a responsibility to vigorously defend all the laws of the city. Moreover, Ammann asked, even if the Dome authority wins the suit, is it right to skip a vote. “Isn’t that what city residents believe, that they have a right to vote on. Source: www.stltoday.com
