Early SLDC Emails About Tornado Contract Raise Further Questions
St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) recently decided to give a sizeable tornado recovery planning contract to a trio of firms led by Kea Point Solutions, LLC, a company founded specifically to bid on the contract. Additional information has been gathered by public information requests and provided by firms that submitted proposals in response to SLDC’s request for proposals (RFP).
A key piece of information that surfaced is the scoresheet showing how proposals were ranked. These scores were used to determine which four proposals would be forwarded to SLDC’s board for final consideration, along with a top recommendation from staff. Kea Point’s winning proposal scored 81.40, narrowly besting local firm H3 Studio, Inc.’s 80.80 score. This earned Kea Point’s proposal the top recommendation to SLDC’s board. In fact, the spreadsheet uses yellow highlighting to indicate Kea Point’s top score. It additionally says “recommended” in red letters.
Early Emails Between SLDC and Halliday
It is not surprising that the proposal was favored by SLDC staff, as all of the firms involved in the proposal have a long history of working on local development and infrastructure projects. As discussed in Michael Allen’s piece, Kea Point’s Halliday has a long history of working with SLDC on Project Connect, a community outreach effort centered on the neighborhoods surrounding the recently opened NGA West campus on N. Jefferson Ave. Emails obtained through public information requests show that this familiarity was on display, even prior to the issuance of the RFP.
On May 21st, mere days after the historic tornado ripped a scar across northside neighborhoods, Halliday reached out to SLDC head Otis Williams. “I’m not sure if you were aware of my prior experience on disaster recovery before I was in St. Louis. I’ve attached my resume to this email, so you can take a look and get a sense of the type of work I was doing,” states Halliday in the email. He continues, “You know how much I care about St. Louis, and I’m always ready to lend a hand and support you in any way I can. If you ever need me, I would plan on moving to St. Louis to support your efforts.” Williams responds the following day, writing, “You know that I know you are exceptional. I am still coordinatinga [sic] few thongs [sic] within the City. I will get back to you.”
On May 31st, Halliday emailed SLDC’s Deputy Executive Director Rob Orr. The email indicates that it is a follow-up from a conversation, which seems to have been initiated by Orr. “Great catching up this morning. Thanks for reaching out,” begins the email from Halliday. Halliday goes on to request a document that was apparently discussed during their conversation. “If you can send me the Joplin lessons learned document [sic] I would be interested in reflecting on it from my experience with the Christchurch earthquake recovery,” states Halliday. No reply to that email was provided by SLDC’s custodian of record. It is unknown if other “off the record” conversations were had with Kea Point’s Halliday. SLDC’s Orr would eventually be featured in St Louis Public Radio’s coverage of the decision to hire Kea Point Solutions, LLC.
No other firm contacted for this story indicated that SLDC’s senior staff had reached out to them prior to the public issuance of the RFP. This early contact with SLDC senior leadership raises questions about potential staff influence on the final outcome, given Kea Point Solutions, LLC only bested H3 Studio, Inc. by a fraction of a point.
Interestingly, the RFP and addendum document have been removed from the city’s website. RFPs for tornado recovery can be found on the city’s Procurement Opportunities for Tornado Relief webpage. Unlike almost every other closed RFP, clicking on the link takes you to a page instructing you to email a city staffer for information about the RFP. The only other RFP link that takes you to a similar page is the link to the debris removal contract that was awarded, cancelled, and reissued. It should be noted that this webpage is found on the city’s site, not SLDC’s. This would indicate that the decision to remove the RFP and addendum documents was likely made by the mayor’s office. The copies of the RFP and addendum found in our public documents folder were supplied by one of the competitor firms.
LCRA Board Conflict of Interest
Another wrinkle in the story is that a member of a development board under SLDC’s stewardship is listed as staff retained for the project. PGAV’s Lindsey Evans is listed as a board member of the city’s Land Clearance and Reutilization Authority (LCRA). “The LCRA oversees many aspects of public and private real estate development in the City of St. Louis,” states its webpage. It lists Ms. Evans’ term as ending in March of 2028. Her name also appears in the signed contract with Kea Point Solutions, LLC. The signed contract indicates that her work on behalf of the effort will be billed at $235/hr.
No SLDC Response to Questions
SLDC was asked numerous questions about the early emails, discrepancies between the RFP addendum and the final outcome, and if Ms. Evans intends to continue as a board member, now that she is employed in an effort funded by SLDC that will likely bring blighting recommendations related to the contract before LCRA. SLDC did not respond to the questions. We received an automated response indicating that VP of Media and Community Relations Deion Broxton is currently out of the office and directing media inquiries to a Kansas City-based public relations firm named Candid. Read receipts indicate both Mr. Broxton and the Candid employee given as a media contact opened the emails containing these questions. Neither responded by time of publication, after multiple days. If SLDC or Candid respond to the questions, the article will be updated with this additional information.
H3 Studio was also contacted for comment on this story, due to being a close second to Kea Point Solutions LLC’s winning proposal. They did not respond.
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Update: This article was edited at the request of a source.
