A former tourism director in St. Louis received a retirement package that included $500,000, health insurance, and a vehicle as part of an early retirement agreement.

 

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Newly released records show Kitty Ratcliffe, the long-time head of St. Louis’ tourism arm, received a year’s salary, a significant bonus, insurance for a year, and the title to a taxpayer car, in exchange for retiring early.

Ratcliffe announced her retirement from Explore St. Louis in early July, facing mounting criticism, specifically over the construction and cost for upgrades at the Convention Center.

Explore St. Louis, which is taxpayer-funded, markets St. Louis to the world and runs the Convention Center, as part of the St. Louis Convention and Visitor Commission.

First Alert Four Investigates requested the terms of Ratcliffe’s departure through Missouri’s Sunshine Act on July 3. Explore St. Louis just provided the agreement Monday.

In the document, signed by Ratcliffe and the Chairman of the Board on July 1, Ratcliffe agreed to retire and to not seek any other monetary claim against the organization.

In exchange, the St. Louis Convention and Visitor Commission agreed to pay Ratcliffe through the end of her contract, which would have run another year. According to public records, Ratcliffe was making an annual salary of $396,000. In addition to an extra year’s salary, the Commission also agreed to pay her upwards of another $128,000 as performance bonuses.

They also agreed to pay her health insurance for an additional year.

And the agreement said that Ratcliffe would be provided the title for the Commission’s car she’d been driving, a Volvo. The model and year, nor its value, were immediately known.

First Alert Four Investigates reached out to representatives of Explore St. Louis, who provided a statement: “In recognition of her nearly two decades of service, the commission is honoring the terms of Kitty’s contract which expires June 2025. Searchwide Global, a worldwide hospitality industry executive recruiter, is engaged to conduct a search for a new President in collaboration with the commission and City and County stakeholders.”

They added they did not have other details immediately available.

We were unable to immediately reach Ratcliffe.

As part of the terms of the agreement, Ratcliffe waived any and all claims she might have had against the commission. The agreement also mutually agreed that neither party would “denigrate or disparage” the other.