A Post-Dispatch investigation has revealed how several of those contracts have gone to campaign donors of St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger. In the wake of those stories, the council last year appointed members to a rival port authority, which is battling for legitimacy in court. And the council tightened oversight of the Partnership by funding it only in quarterly allotments, forcing it to submit to council inquiries in order to receive its annual $4.1 million county appropriation.
Partnership board members said Tuesday they had no information about Port contracts, or any actions taken by Sweeney or other Partnership officials who worked on them.
“We never discussed Port Authority business at Partnership board meetings,” Ramirez said. “I don’t know anything about the Port Authority, so I felt it was a little bit confusing because I felt people were confusing the two.”