ST. LOUIS • Lambert-St. Louis International Airport officially deactivated courtesy parking cards for government insiders earlier this month, but a few want them back.
Airport officials had doled out the cards for decades to politicians and lobbyists, giving holders unlimited free parking at the airport’s best and most convenient garages. After the Post-Dispatch asked questions about the program, Lambert Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge sent letters to about 150 cardholders notifying them the program would end Oct. 1. Hamm-Niebruegge’s letter included a form allowing holders to request to keep the privilege, but she told the Post-Dispatch she doubted anyone would do so.
Hamm-Niebruegge was wrong.
In fact, records obtained through state open records laws show seven people returned the form asking for free parking, a perk that allows holders to avoid parking charges of up to $23 a day via assigned electronic access cards. All of the requests were denied.
Arthur Washington, a former airport commissioner who is retired from the city treasurer’s office, wrote in his request: “As a former Airport Commissioner I have been enjoying this privilege for many years. I feel I should be grandfathered into this process.”
Hamm-Niebruegge denied Washington’s request, saying it did not “warrant the issuance of a parking card pursuant to the new parking policy.”
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar requested to keep his card, citing frequent travel to speak about trends in policing. Belmar wrote that he had four trips planned for the rest of this year. That request was also denied.
The airport is situated in the county. The county police department still has seven cards for parking access.
St. Louis Sheriff James Murphy, D-St. Louis, also requested a new card, but was denied.
State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal requested a new pass, saying she travels for work purposes. Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, also noted the airport is part of her district.
“This has been a 30-year courtesy,” Chappelle-Nadal told the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday. “I’ve only had one for a year while there are other people who have had it for 20 years.”
Chappelle-Nadal, who is challenging U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay next year in the 1st Congressional District Democratic primary, noted that Clay’s sister had had a free-parking card.
“I’m not upset, but I kind of feel cheated,” she said.
Chappelle-Nadal was flying out of Lambert on Tuesday for a mission with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce. She said she had left her car at home.
State Rep. Clem Smith, D-Velda Village Hills, also requested a pass “for frequent and short notice air travel to conduct business of the state, region, and 85th district.”
Hamm-Niebruegge said the positions didn’t warrant courtesy parking.
The Rev. B.T. Rice, pastor of New Horizon Christian Church, requested to keep his free parking, saying he travels to many cities promoting nonprofit organizations.
“Your community service to promote various organizations does not warrant the issuance of a parking card pursuant to the new parking policy,”
Hamm-Niebruegge wrote in response.
John Saracino, a former airport commissioner and current director of constituent services for County Executive Steve Stenger, asked to keep his because he still attends airport commission meetings.
Hamm-Niebruegge declined to give a 24-hour, anytime-access parking card, but cited airport policy that anyone attending airport meetings can have their parking validated at the meeting.
The new parking-card list is a fraction of its former size, which once included current and former senators, governors, mayors, aldermen and lobbyists. Parking card usage varied. Some aldermen used the card virtually every month, while others, such as Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, Mayor Francis Slay, and U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, didn’t use theirs at all.
The program dated to the 1980s. Hamm-Niebruegge said it had been done out of “honor and courtesy” to those who had added value to the airport. But she also said it was time for the program to end.
The airport is owned and operated by the city of St. Louis.
Original article can be found here: http://lakeexpo.com
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