{"id":22,"date":"2012-10-04T16:16:11","date_gmt":"2012-10-04T16:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.impact-international.net\/blog\/?page_id=22"},"modified":"2012-11-05T17:49:37","modified_gmt":"2012-11-05T17:49:37","slug":"visions-and-versions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.impact-international.net\/blog\/visions-and-versions\/","title":{"rendered":"Persons and Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>THE PHIL PAUL STORY \u2013 ALWAYS THERE TO SERVE
\nProfiles of Local Leaders Making Impact <\/strong><\/p>\n

Making a political comeback at age 88 is pretty uncommon, but for Phil Paul it was business as usual \u2013 ready to serve when needed, whether by his nation or his community.\u00a0 It also demonstrates his commitment to his beloved Overland, Missouri, and to the best kind of government for the safety and efficiency of its citizens.\u00a0 It also is an example of beliefs in operation \u2013 Phil Paul\u2019s beliefs that government should be frugal, responsible, wise, and honest.<\/p>\n

Growing up and spending his entire adult life in the community of Overland (except for World War II Navy service), Paul attended grade school in Overland and Ritenour High School, where his daughter teaches today.\u00a0 His volunteering and public service combined with his business commitment as owner of Paul Brothers service station has shaped his lifelong commitment to the city.\u00a0 His foresight is remarkable He wisely acquired a station on a major road in what was then largely rural Overland, and recently sold it after 64 years of ownership.<\/p>\n

Phil, along with six brothers and a sister, was raised on a farm part of his young life during the Great Depression.\u00a0 Circumstances became especially difficult when their father suffered a catastrophic stroke that required constant home care for many years.\u00a0 Though a very successful high school wrestler, Phil gave up going to college because of his father\u2019s condition.\u00a0 His self-reliance even as a young man was well-developed.\u00a0 When the scheduled builder could not do it, Phil Paul took on the challenge of building his own house.\u00a0 Today, as the only survivor among his siblings, Paul credits his intense interest and activity in community affairs as the reasons for his longevity.<\/p>\n

When World War II broke out, Paul and his buddies volunteered for the Navy.\u00a0 These young men from the Midwest reasoned the Navy would take them to the U.S. coastline, so they would at least see the sea.\u00a0 For Paul, that turned out to be only partly true.\u00a0 He trained to be a naval aviator in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Georgia in 1942, but the Navy decided to take only the top ten percent of the flight school class.\u00a0 He fell just short of that and was released to civilian life.\u00a0 In 1944, U.S. draft efforts were full-force.\u00a0 Paul was drafted and succeeded in entering Navy flight school again.\u00a0 After completing almost all of his retraining, he was headed to Pensacola for final flight training when, as he says, \u201cHarry dropped the bomb.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0He felt he could best serve by returning to Overland to continue his business and the volunteer firefighting he was already involved in.<\/p>\n

Fighting Fires, Saving Lives<\/strong>
\nVolunteer firefighting had already been playing a major role in Paul\u2019s public service.\u00a0 At age 18, he signed on as a volunteer in the local fire district (Overland and eight other then-small jurisdictions) at the same time he went to work for aviation giant Curtiss-Wright (which become part of McDonnell-Douglas which in turn is now part of the Boeing Corporation).\u00a0 Paul rose quickly through the ranks of these civic volunteers, from Engineer to Lieutenant j.g. to Assistant Chief.\u00a0 In 1957, the Fire Department moved from to an all-paid staff; Paul was the last volunteer to leave.<\/p>\n

A year later, with nearly 20 years of volunteer firefighter experience, he ran for election to the Community Fire District Board of Directors.\u00a0 He won that first race by 9 votes and was re-elected to the position for 30 years, ultimately becoming Board Chairman.<\/p>\n

During his lengthy tenure in fire service, Phil Paul had many leadership opportunities.\u00a0 The U.S. Army Personnel Records Center, a massive six-acre, six-story building, has been built on Page Boulevard to house soldier records from World War II through Vietnam.\u00a0 In July 1973, a passing motorist noticed smoke pouring out of the top floor of the building.\u00a0 The conflagration lasted four days and remains the largest fire in modern St. Louis area history.\u00a0 It was right in the middle of the nine-jurisdiction Community Fire District, where Paul was then a board member.<\/p>\n

This was the first time that five ladder companies had been summoned to fight a fire.\u00a0 Paul managed a relief system in which the firefighters worked around the clock, six hours on and six hours off, to battle the blaze.\u00a0 This required coordination among all the responding fire departments, housing for the off-duty firefighters, arrangements for coverage of the calls in those areas, and provision of meals, additional equipment, and other support.<\/p>\n

Many consider this the most catastrophic loss of records in the history of the U. S. military.\u00a0 It could have been avoided or substantially reduced had the U.S. Army construction authorities respected and followed the strong recommendation of the Community Fire District\u2019s Fire Marshal for sprinklers on all floors of the building.<\/p>\n

\n

Safer Communities Through Mutual Aid <\/strong>
\nPhil Paul and colleague Glenn Smith were instrumental in ushering in a new era in fire fighting in greater St. Louis, and indeed across the nation.\u00a0 They initiated the practice of mutual aid agreements so that jurisdictions could automatically help out across political boundaries in fire and related emergencies.<\/p>\n

Smith, a World War II Army communications specialist, had become president of North Central Fire Alarm, the leading fire dispatch firm in St. Louis County.\u00a0 In 1956, he witnessed a tornado destroy four homes and damage others in Woodson Terrace, a small community adjoining St. Louis Lambert Airport.\u00a0 While Woodson Terrace firefighters struggled with the disaster, fire companies from other communities stood by, helpless to act without clearance to enter the Woodson Terrace jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

Smith, like other World War II veterans, knew that units in trouble could count on support from other nearby units.\u00a0 The Korean conflict had demonstrated to many soldiers the value of immediate help from medics.\u00a0 Smith and Phil Paul began work on mutual aid agreements in which firefighting units would be able to help each other and deliver that help when it was most needed \u2013 immediately.\u00a0 Phil Paul\u2019s election to the Community Fire District Board of Directors in 1958 made the idea even more plausible.<\/p>\n

Within two years, the concept had borne fruit.\u00a0 The Board of Directors agreed to the concept; the nine Community Fire District jurisdictions signed mutual aid pacts.\u00a0 Paul took leadership in developing the agreements, getting the needed signatures, and ensuring implementation.\u00a0 Smith used his expertise to devise ways to overcome technical challenges and implement needed telecommunications changes to make rapid response possible.<\/p>\n

The two men took the concept to the International Association of Fire Chiefs, which strongly endorsed the strategy and alerted other departments to it.<\/p>\n

Many of the nation\u2019s fire chiefs, World War II and Korean War veterans, quickly grasped the value of having \u201creinforcements\u201d available in times of massive emergency.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Moving to Broader Public Engagement<\/strong>
\nIn 1994, at age 74, Phil Paul\u2019s intense interest in a wide range of local issues led him to run for the Overland City Council.\u00a0 He was elected and then re-elected for four more two-year terms.\u00a0 He focused his committee work on public works where he was able to use his fire department experience. \u00a0His peers named him Mayor pro tem.\u00a0 He was beaten for a sixth term by an opponent who promised free trash service for constituents.\u00a0 Paul would not endorse such a move because he believed it was unaffordable.\u00a0 He lost the election but turned out to be right about the facts.\u00a0 Free trash collection was in fact unaffordable; it remains a for-fee service to this day.<\/p>\n

Roles as a local business and political leader are only part of Phil Paul\u2019s service to the community.\u00a0 For many years he volunteered to help the local Boy Scouts, the school district, and his church.\u00a0 He has been a \u201cgo-to\u201d volunteer for Overland throughout the years.<\/p>\n

Phil Paul\u2019s philosophy of government is clear and unequivocal:\u00a0 Officeholder should be honest, should be good for his or her word, should have lived in the community he or she wishes to represent, and should be judged on what he or she has actually done.\u00a0 \u201cYou can\u2019t just be popular,\u201d he says, noting that government is about something much more.\u00a0 Paul\u2019s local election campaign material sums up his philosophy for deserving the voters\u2019 trust:\u00a0 \u201cHonesty-Integrity-Dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those issues where he did what was right rather than what was popular was his visiting of prisoners, including drug abusers, who came from his area.\u00a0 \u201cSome people didn\u2019t like it, but it was the right thing to do,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n

Phil Paul\u2019s wife Geraldine (known as Jerri or Nana to her family) has always supported her husband\u2019s ardent public service.\u00a0 Mr. Paul credits his wife\u2019s fervent support for providing him with the ability to do what he has done. His children also have significant records of public service.\u00a0 Son Gary Paul worked for the National Labor Relations Board before joining the law firm Brinker & Doyen LLP and now is Managing Partner of this highly-rated firm.\u00a0 Daughter Denise Harper teaches at Ritenour High School where her father was a student 70 years ago.\u00a0 Harper\u2019s son Marty Little earned degrees from Saint Louis University and Saint Louis University Law School, where he won a coveted scholarship in comepetition with hundreds from all over the country.<\/p>\n

Alexis deTocqueville and other observers of America throughout its more than 230 years have noted the nation\u2019s strength in its volunteerism and service ethics.\u00a0 Phil Paul has had tremendous impact while being a volunteer, a public servant, and a promoter of honest good government.\u00a0 His agenda is not about himself, but about improving the municipality of Overland, Missouri and the Saint Louis area that he loves so much. \u00a0That kind of impact is what every community needs and deserves.<\/p>\n

\n

IMPACT International seeks stories of other inspiring persons who are making an impact at the local, state, national, or global level. Please email terry@impact-international.net.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE PHIL PAUL STORY \u2013 ALWAYS THERE TO SERVE Profiles of Local Leaders Making Impact Making a political comeback at age 88 is pretty uncommon, but for Phil Paul it was business as usual \u2013 ready to serve when needed, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"sidebar-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-22","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.impact-international.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.impact-international.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.impact-international.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.impact-international.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.impact-international.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/www.impact-international.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128,"href":"http:\/\/www.impact-international.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22\/revisions\/128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.impact-international.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}