Old politicians never die, they just cash in.
Former ºüÀêÊÓƵ-area congressman William Lacy Clay, now working as a lobbyist for a Washington law firm, has been awarded a contract with University City to find some flood money, city officials said.
More specifically, Clay and will work with the city to secure federal funding for a flood mitigation project.
The firm, for which Clay is a senior adviser, will be paid $8,609 a month plus expenses to beat the bushes for bucks to construct a retention basin on eight acres of federal property on Woodson Road in Overland. The contract went into effect Sept. 1.
The work has become critical after flash flooding in late July along River Des Peres caused extensive food damages to number of homes in the municipality, said Gregory Rose, city manager of University City.
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More than 9 inches of rain fell in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area from July 26-29, causing more than $87 million in damages to public property, as well as severely damaging hundreds of homes. University City alone applied for $40 million of federal aid to buy out damaged residences within its limits.
Although the D.C. law firm was not the lowest of the two bids received by the city, Rose said that Clay’s group was chosen because of Clay’s ties in the nation’s capital.
“Flood mitigation is our highest priority at this point,â€Â Rose said. “And we believe that (Clay’s) years of experience will be invaluable in dealing with federal agencies while we’re trying to navigate†the process of completing the project.​
For the approximately $10 million project to be completed, Rose said, approvals must be secured from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Administration, as well as from the Metropolitan Sewer District.
“We’re in the final stage of getting approval for the detention basin from the Corps of Engineers, but then we have to get the money for it into an appropriations bill,†Rose said.
Rose said he also hopes to gain the support of Cori Bush, University City’s current U.S. representative, “and that she becomes a cheerleader†for the project once it moves to the congressional appropriations stage.
As to a timeline for the work, Rose said he hopes to get federal and state approvals in 2023, and then get included in an appropriations bill in 2024, “when some design and construction work could begin.â€
Clay, who did not return phone calls seeking comment, served as a U.S. representative from 2001 to 2021. He lost in the 2020 Democratic primary to Bush, who was reelected last month to another two-year term.