I think that I have done all the things to say that I am very qualified to be a NAR Director.
I have served on multiple NAR committees since 1997. The most prestigious is probably the Nominating Committee in 2010. The current, very interesting committee, is the MLS Committee. I also passed through Research Committee two or three times, as well as Land Use, Conventional Finance, Business Issues, and Resort and Second Home committee, where I helped rewrite the RSPS Certification curriculum. I served on the NAR BOD by reason of being an officer of the Michigan Association for three years.
Like many of the persons running, I have made personal contact with both the volunteer and staff leadership at NAR. I feel I can email them and they will know who I am. In fact, not because it is me, but because of how NAR operates, staff at NAR always email me back immediately. They are amazing in this respect.
I have attended every NAR national meeting since 1998 (although I had to leave early last May because of a death in the family). Almost all of those years, I attended the Board of Directors’ meetings. I even learned how to snatch the Agenda with all the background materials without being a Director or an Association Executive. Why the NAR staff insists on throwing extras away I do not understand. It is very hard to follow a three hour meeting without the background materials. I check out many committee meetings and I read all the committees’ prepared materials.
But the reason that I think that you should elect me over the other very qualified candidates is that I have been sending out to everyone who will accept it, my “Very Biased Opinion of what happened at NAR” for at least 7 years. I have always gotten very positive feedback from readers.
I am making a commitment to send out this admittedly biased report to each and every delegate from the MAR if you elect me Director. I feel like the information coming back from the Convention beyond the normal propaganda is more valuable, than the information that I will try to take from you to the Board of Directors as your representative.
In fact, in most cases, Directors have little or no impact , as Directors, on Nar’s direction and operations. Occasionally there is a vote that changes what has been proposed. Rarely, there is a chance to speak up to make a difference at the BOD meeting. Being a Director is just one more tool for getting to know the people who are making the decisions so, when you have a good idea, you can try to influence what will go forth.
So I ask you to elect me as the candidate who will report back to you what it was like to be at the Spring and Fall Conventions the next three years—especially the stuff that will not appear in the Official NAR Report of the Meeting.