years ago.” Cortese observed ….
years ago.” Cortese observed 14 mutual presidents and GRF President Marsha Gerber as they inked a seven-page contract replacing agreements signed by each of the mutual corporations at their founding, primarily in the mid-1960s. The original agreement, which specified a one-year term, has been renewed annually ever since. A 48-page attachment to the new management agreement outlines approximately 420 services GRF offers to the mutuals. Most maintenance, finance, security, and mutual governance support are included in the annual payment paid through the mutual’s basic fee. Additionally, the management agreement also sets fees for additional special services used by only a few mutuals. The previous agreement has governed the mutual and GRF’s partnership since Mutual 1 signed the first agreement on Oct. 1, 1962. At the time, what was then called Rossmoor Leisure World was the world’s largest housing development for seniors and the nation’s largest cooperative housing development. It would also feature many “firsts”: America’s first mass-marketed housing project, the first-ever walled senior community, the nation’s first all-electric community.
Event emcee Courtney Lindsay, while guiding 14 mutual presidents through the signing ceremony, noted the longevity of Leisure World Seal Beach’s governance structure. Lindsay told 29 mutual officers and GRF directors that the scale of Leisure World’s cooperative governing experiment was unprecedented. While the co-op concept was used in apartment buildings, in Leisure World it would be tried in a community of over 6,000 residences.
While many co-ops founded under federal rules abandoned citizen council management decades ago, Leisure World Seal Beach has successfully maintained the resident governance. After the signing was concluded, 15 of the community’s 16 mutuals had agreed to the new contract. Mutual 3 is the only mutual that has not agreed to the new terms.
GRF President Gerber recognized the mutual officers and GRF directors present, stating that they “represent the thousands of resident volunteers who have labored to make this community work during the past 60 years.”
Gerber ended the ceremony by thanking Cortese for her visit and her parents’ efforts. Gerber indicated that “the inspiration and foresight that created this environment in which senior adults can remain active, healthy and fulfilled has been a gift to us. The community leaders in this room are proud to be the keepers of this heritage as the oldest Leisure World, and to continue to enjoy the richness of life our predecessors’ energies, and now our own, have provided us.”
—William Thompson
