Tenants at the Northern Village complex in north St. Louis County—whose living conditions have drawn the ire of County Executive Sam Page—have elected to unionize.
It’s the first tenants’ union in St. Louis County, organizers say, and they’re intent on sending a message that the county needs to act on concerns about the property.
The complex has had issues for years, county officials say, but Page’s office has recently been on a “full court press,” in the words of acting county director of human services Kevin McKenna. That was prompted by a looming deadline to pay an overdue Spire gas bill earlier this month. That bill was partially paid, avoiding shutoff. (A county official said Wednesday that the lender for the property paid the bill, but Nicholas Meador, an attorney for Mazal in St. Louis LLC, which owns the complex, said the owners had also contributed.)…