by Michele Gillis
Staff Writer
Realtors from across Florida traveled to Tallahassee for Great American Realtor Days last month to ensure that the voice of real estate is heard in the Capitol.
“We go to represent our members by discussing with our elected officials what issues are important to us, our customers and the overall real estate industry,” said Dane Leslie, Northeast Florida Association of Realtors president. “Our group was slightly larger than previous years as we have made a concerted effort to ask our members to become more involved and to let our legislators hear from us on how we feel.”
According to Nancy Garcia, NEFAR’s governmental affairs director, Realtors recognize the importance of meeting with their legislators to express their concern or support for legislation that may impact homeowners, property rights and the real estate profession.
“Our talking points were caps on tax rates for nonhomestead property, homeowners insurance other than Citizens, Affordable Housing/Sadowski Fund and Septic Tank Inspections,” said Leslie. “The Great American Realtor Days is a powerful opportunity for members of our associations around the state to come together at one place and visit with our legislators about issues that are important to citizens involving property rights and the real estate industry. We have great leadership working on behalf of Florida Realtors every day in Tallahassee but it sends an important message when several hundred members show up to reinforce the staff efforts.”
“This year we had 50-60 members attending the event,” said Garcia. “That number is a little higher than last year, but generally we average around 45-50 members in attendance from NEFAR.”
The group took a bus to Tallahassee on April 12, spent the night and started out early the following morning to visit the lawmakers.
Leslie said the NEFAR delegation was very strong due to the active participation from the NEFAR Leadership Academy.
“This is the second year for this program and they jumped on board and helped make us have a very strong contingent in Tallahassee,” said Leslie.
The 15 2011 Leadership Academy members joined about 30 NEFAR members on the bus trip. Several other Realtors drove themselves to the event.
“Because we had such a large group, with many appointments scheduled, we broke into groups,” said Stephanie White, incoming NEFAR president.
Leslie’s group met with State Sens. Steve Wise and John Thrasher, as well as State Reps. Lake Ray, Mia Jones, Mike Weinstein, Charles McBurney, Janet Atkins, Daniel Davis, Reggie Fullwood, Ronald “Doc” Renuart and Bill Proctor.
The groups also saw Gov. Rick Scott speak and ended their day with a brief meeting with Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll.
“We are very fortunately to have a strong working relationship with our legislative delegation and they are very receptive to our positions on property rights and real estate related issues,” said Leslie. “They agree with many of our positions but were also realistic in describing the tough decisions that lay ahead with finalizing a state budget.”
Carol Zingone of Prudential Network Realty said they started out at 9:30 a.m. with meetings with the representatives and senators.
“We were all over the Capitol area,” said Zingone. “I had a great time last year and learned so much, there was no way I was going to miss it. I love learning and meeting new people, so this combines those two, and helps me learn more about how government works. The first-timers were really impressed with how well organized the entire event was and how accessible their representatives were. It’s an incredible trip.”
White said it is hard to explain the experience, but that it is well worth the trip.
“So many NEFAR members don’t get the opportunity to see what happens behind the scenes,” said White. “All of the matters discussed affect us and our customers. Housing is the driving force in our economy. We must have legislators supporting our profession. With Florida Realtors being the largest trade organization in the state, we have a powerful voice.”
Michael Morris of Re/Max Specialists, a member of the NEFAR 2011 Leadership Academy, went for the first time.
“I wanted the opportunity to learn more about current legislation that affects homeowners and home purchasers,” said Morris. “I truly enjoyed the experience. It’s encouraging to know that our legislators, the governor, and lieutenant governor are pro-real estate, and truly do support legislation that promotes home ownership. They were very eager to hear our assessments of the current state of the northeast Florida real estate market.”