Smelterville

Moreover, Schilly believes the smelter will bring much-needed jobs to Crystal City. Like other longtime residents, the mayor remembers when nearly everyone in town worked for PPG. Today most of the town's residents — like the mayor himself — must leave Jefferson County for full-time employment. And if Crystal City wants to continue to provide its residents with the services they've come to expect — leaf pickup and quality streets and water — Schilly says the town needs to increase its general revenue, which collected just over $3 million last year. The smelter, according to Kennedy's data, could add another $500,000 in yearly taxes for the city.

With that in mind, on September 10 Crystal City officials entered into a lease agreement in which the city would purchase the PPG property for $2.2 million and immediately lease the land to Wings Enterprises for the smelter. Schilly says the deal allows the city to take control of 250 acres of prime real estate for nothing, with Wings' lease covering the entire $2.2 million purchase cost. Members of C4 note that the contract will have Wings paying the city less than $100 per acre annually over the course of the 100-year lease.

On October 8, C4 was granted permission to make its case before the city council. Cheered on by more than 100 C4 members who attended the meeting, Jill Thomas questioned why the council did not consider Tom Kerr's substantially more lucrative offer of $5.4 million for the PPG property. Thomas further revealed Kennedy's finances for the project — including the $300 million offer from Minmetals — and presented e-mails from Crystal City building commissioner Bob French that suggested Bill Bradley's property, Hug's Farm, would also be part of the smelter project.

On Wednesday, August 29, 2007, French wrote to Kennedy: "I spoke with Mr. [Peter] VanCleve [Bradley's attorney with St. Louis-based Bryan Cave] yesterday, and told him I would forward to him an e-mail the price for the sale of PPG. This information will be pertinent in the sale of the Hug's Farm site."

In another e-mail unearthed by C4, Bob French attempts to downplay a PPG executive's concerns about the public outcry from the smelter. "Mr. Kerr was on the St. Louis news and in the local paper with what amounts to — my personal opinion — the ramblings of a desperate man," wrote French to PPG's Dick Marks on September 1, 2007. "The meeting on [September 5] will help to alleviate most of the rumors that have most people stirred up. Our strategy is to have the developer (American born and raised) reveal just enough to put the concerned citizens' minds at rest."

When Thomas concluded her half-hour presentation, a thunderous applause from the audience prompted Schilly to pound his gavel and demand order. "This is not a meeting to shut down the smelter," warned Schilly. "This is a public meeting of the city council to conduct city business."

But not everyone on the council felt that way. Minutes after Schilly's admonition, councilwoman Pam Portell made a motion to delay the closing of the PPG property deal for six months. "I'm nervous about this and concerned we made a rush to judgment," she said. "There's a lot that has surfaced. I'm uncomfortable with some of these e-mails. Obviously, there are a lot of citizens who aren't happy about this either."

The meeting ended with the majority of council members voting along with Portell to delay the closing from December 2007 to mid-2008. But the council would soon reverse course following a five-hour, closed-door meeting with developer Jim Kennedy. At its next public meeting on October 22, the council voted to keep the original closing date on the sale of the property. And, in response to Tom Kerr, the council approved a second motion prohibiting the city from considering any other proposals for the PPG property.

"Are you really surprised?" asks a bemused Tom Kerr. "They've alleged from the beginning that I'm the only one against the smelter. They don't care that there are hundreds of other people who don't want this deal. It's good old boy politics. Who is going to stop them?"

Lately, several C4 members question whether the "good old boy" network extends all the way to Jefferson City. "We've been in contact with the attorney general's office from the beginning, and at times we thought they were going to act," says C4's Jill Thomas. "Are they too busy? Or do they not want to get involved because Attorney General Jay Nixon's old law firm is assisting the city in the purchase of the PPG property? I think that's a very relevant question."

The small-town politics don't end there. In December, C4 tried to get a judge in Jefferson County to issue a temporary restraining order against the city that would block the sale of the PPG property. Mayor Schilly's wife works for the Jefferson County Circuit Court, and several judges recused themselves from hearing the plea right away. Now the C4 group is asking the court to assign a judge from outside Jefferson County to hear their lawsuit.