August 14, 2007 by Jeff Cooper

Greetings, everyone.  I wanted to take a moment to share the experience of presenting our St. Louis Soccer United group’s proposal last night to the Collinsville City Council.  It was a rewarding experience on so many levels, it’s difficult to capture it all in the time I have this afternoon.  But I’ll try.

First, we were extremely pleased to learn late last week that Dick Fleming, the president of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, asked if he could speak at the meeting on behalf of the project.  We were honored to have earned the endorsement of the RCGA, which is essentially the Chamber of Commerce for the entire 16-county bi-state region, and Mr. Fleming on Monday delivered a brief but thorough speech as to why this project will be a winner for sports fans and citizens on both sides of the river.  Most important, Mr. Fleming offered an economic analysis by the RCGA that was independent of our studies and told the City Council that we are on target with our estimates.  That is, the thousands of full-time jobs our project will create and the nearly $3 billion of total economic impact it will generate over the first 10 years of operation are accurate, to say nothing of the intangible benefits.  Mr. Fleming also wrote a letter of support on behalf of the RCGA, and we cannot thank him and the RCGA enough for championing our effort.

I have a great deal of respect for the process and importance of city government, but that respect at least tripled when I followed Mr. Fleming to the podium and began to speak to our elected officials on the merits of what we envision in partnership with Collinsville.  Following nearly two years of discussions with city leadership, the day had arrived when we had our public forum with Mayor Stan Schaeffer and the City Council, not mention a lot of television cameras and newspaper reporters.  I made what I believe to be our best presentation, welcomed questions and comments from the City Council, and now we will begin to work through the proposed agreement.  It may sound cliché, but this is government at work and it is a very profound experience when you are part of the process and believe strongly in what you are representing.

I thank the Mayor and the City Council for their time and attention, and for considering over the next four weeks what we asked of them last night – to confirm a partnership between the City of Collinsville and St. Louis Soccer United to build a professional soccer stadium and bring Major League Soccer to the region.

Finally, it meant a lot to have my dad, Jack Cooper, accompany me to the meeting.  I wanted to have at least one supporter on hand, but we were both amazed at the applause following the presentation (the council chambers were packed).  I truly appreciate the many kind and encouraging words that were offered by the citizens of Collinsville and soccer fans, including the Gateway City Supporter's Club that made the drive from University City to literally drum up support.  Thanks!