The St. Louis metropolitan area includes the independent City of St. Louis and Saint Louis County. Although the City and County have independent governments, they work together to develop the region. In St. Louis County, the chief elected official is the County Executive, a post currently held by Mr. Charlie Dooley.
The honorable Mr. Dooley has a long history of public service, which includes being Committeeman of Normandy Township, Mayor of the City of Northwoods, and being the First District Councilman of St. Louis County. He was appointed St. Louis County Executive in 2003, then was elected to the office of County Executive in 2004. In November 2006, he was re-elected by a landslide majority. As County Executive, Mr. Dooley manages a county of one million people and a budget in excess of $500 million.
Mr. Dooley's economic vision formed the innovative St. Louis County Economic Collaborative bringing development initiatives such as the North County’s Buzz Westfall Plaza, the 600-acre NorthPark Development, Emerson Data Center, Express Scripts, Inc., Edward Jones expansion in Des Peres, Covidien in Maryland Heights, Clayton’s Centene Corporation and Furniture Brands Intl., River City in South County, and the China Hub Project.
Mr. Dooley works with legislators in Missouri's state capitol in Jefferson City to implement legislative remedies for issues impacting seniors and families with children. The Children’s Services Fund, now in place in St. Louis County, provides over 30 million dollars for children’s services in the area of mental health, substance abuse, and much more. Mr. Dooley created the County's Family Mental Health Collaborative. In addition, he has worked to strengthen county neighborhoods with a property inspection program and a reorganization of the Neighborhood Preservation program.