There won’t be a change at the top in NEFAR this year.
Dane Leslie of Watson Realty will again serve as president — assuming he’s voted into the office at the January 20 meeting — after the president-elect, Stephanie White of of Magnolia Properties, resigned to take a staff position with the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors in Fort Walton Beach.
White’s departure was somewhat untimely, as NEFAR’s by-laws require slates of officers to be posted within 30 days of the meeting at which the election will take place. Her resignation came within 30 days of last month’s meeting so Leslie could only be nominated, and will be elected prior to the official installation at the January meeting.
So will the remainder of the slate: Carol Zingone of the Prudential Network Realty as president-elect, Sally Suslak of Traditions Realty as secretary and Ben Parham of River Oak Realty as treasurer.
The membership was alerted via email mid-month and the entire process was described and discussed at the September meeting. That was supposed to be the election day; instead, the vote will be on January 20, the meeting that usually only introduces the new officers.
“As the timing of Stephanie’s notice was within 30 days of the Sept. 23 election meeting, NEFAR did not have the option to properly notice a 2012 presidential replacement, in accordance with NEFAR Bylaws,” wrote NEFAR Executive Vice President Glenn East in his email.
The Emerald Coast Association is based in Fort Walton Beach and serves a number of counties in Florida’s panhandle. It has 3,000 members and affiliate members, roughly NEFAR’s size.
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A presidential poll at the NEFAR luncheon may not be a true indicator but, as its originator said, “It’s fun to do.”
Nancy Garcia, NEFAR’s director of government affairs, passed out a sheet of paper listing 11 candidates alphabetically. The instructions: “If the General Election was taking place today, my vote would be cast for:”
The winner ... drumroll, please ... Republican Mitt Romney.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, got 32 votes with Texas Gov. Rick Perry next at 24. President Barack Obama, the only Democrat on the list, got 14 and businessman Herman Cain was right behind at 13.
The rest:
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani, 10; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 8; Rep. Ron Paul, 6; former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, 4; former Ambassador Jon Huntsman, 2; and trailing at one vote each, former Sen. Rick Santorum and Rep. Michele Bachmann.