Experiments 9-12-25

St Charles County Counsel of Homeowners Associations. 

I had an opportunity to close the gap between voters and their county government. In 1966 I moved to Weldon Springs in St. Charles County and became the President of my Subdivision Homeowners Association. In 1969 my old friend Doug Boshert was elected Presiding Judge of the county.  Doug owned a local business and was the United Way Chairman in 1965. I had spent time with other Subdivision Presidents and saw the need for Subdivisions to from a County-Wide Association. I wrote the bi-laws and suggested that the President of the largest subdivision should lead the start-up. St. Charles County was the fastest growing county in the US and needed to add homeowner representation. The Counsel was formed in 1969. We had 300 subdivision and represented 68,000 homes. The President called me and asked if I would lead the association. I agreed. We didn’t charge dues. I received a copy of the list of the Presidents of these 300 subdivision along with their phone numbers. I began holding monthly meeting and created committees. The first was a committee to monitor the Public Service Commission.

Doug Boschert was monitoring the County Zoning Board. He would call me to find out homeowner issues in specific subdivisions. I would call them and get feedback on the issues. I would then call Doug and tell him what I learned. Doug would then enter the zoning meeting and advise them to take the advice. The Bonnie Ridge subdivision wanted a 50 foot treed buffer zone added to a zoning request that proposed a trailer park next to Bonnie Ridge. The Homeowners trusted the Developer, who promised to replace the trailer park with a subdivision of single-family homes.

The trailers were owned and the spaces were rented to employees of MacDonald Douglass who eventually sold their trailers and used the money to make downpayments on the homes.

In 1973, I was holding my monthly meeting and was approached by the VP Finance from Marymount College in West St. Louis County he was closing down. He knew I worked at Washington U and asked me to see if Washington U would be interested in renting space to offer Masters in Nursing and Masters in Education courses on the Marymount Campus. The expansion was approved.

In 1974, the Public Service Commission proposed a water rate increase. My Homeowners wanted soft water. We arrived at the televised PSC meeting with encrusted water heater bottoms and the water was softened. My Homeowners supported the rate increase.

In 1975, I alerted the Homeowner’s committee that I would be resigning to move to Salina Kansas. They elected a young Real Estate Agent.

In 1979, I received a call from the Real Estate Agent-Homeowner President who had replaced me. He was calling to see if I thought they should dissolve. I had included a “Termination Clause” in my Charter. By 1979, the growth of the County had stabilized. I asked him how many of the Homeowner’s Counsel had moved to elective office. He gave me a long list. Doug Boshert had moved to the Missouri Senate. I agreed and the Counsel was dissolved.

My Experiment was a success. Voter Majorities can access their elected officials. This requires good people and we certainly had that.

Shepherding Corporate Culture

My first experiment was to explore the elements of Corporate Culture. I identified the need to encourage my high school classmates at CBC to increase their support of our State Champion Football and Basketball Teams to ensure that they continue to hold their State Championship status. I formed a Dixieland Band to play at “away games”. I had them play in a parade of decorated convertibles to the games and play from the grandstands at the games. The feedback from our players was positive and they all told me so. The experiment was a success. Our teams won their State Championships my Senior Year.

I knew that the Personnel Director was also responsible for “Employee Relations” and needed to be able to establish the Corporate Culture to support motivated and effective teams.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader