Illinois REALTORS® President Matt Difanis speaks in a video outlining options the association could take in the wake of the resignation of the association’s president-elect.

Illinois REALTORS®’ Executive Committee is recommending that the association go without filling the president’s position in 2019.

The decision came after the Aug. 13 resignation of president-elect Dan Wagner, who was slated to become president in October. Wagner, senior vice president for government relations at the Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, said in his resignation letter he needed to spend more time with his family and focus on business.

One possible option to address the departure was to have Sue Miller move up to president-elect from treasurer, and for Ed Neaves to advance to president from president-elect in October. Both said they do not wish to advance and indicated that for family and business reasons, they preferred to serve as president in the year in which they had initially intended. Illinois REALTORS® leadership fully respected their decisions.

Current President, Matt Difanis cannot serve as president for another year due to limitations outlined in the bylaws.

Difanis said of all the options available, the Executive Committee believed there was one that stood out as the best option. That was to leave the presidency empty for 2019.

Illinois REALTORS® 2018 President Matt Difanis outlined the reasoning behind Executive Committee’s recommendation in a video which he shared with association board members and others this week.

In the video, he noted the 2019 Nominating Committee was required by the association’s bylaws to submit a slate of officers for consideration by the full board 45 days in advance of the annual meeting. Given that Wagner’s resignation came just days before that deadline, the Nominating Committee reconvened Aug. 17 to vote on a slate of officers.

Because of the impending deadline, there was little or no time to interview candidates and conduct the background checks that are necessary for a new candidate to be presented to the full Board of Directors.

In their meeting, the Nominating Committee approved a slate which did not name a president for 2019, but re-affirmed its support for having Sue Miller as treasurer and Ed Neaves as president-elect. Difanis will serve as immediate past president.

“The leadership is 100 percent united behind keeping the president vacant for 2019, because we firmly believe that is in the best interest of our organization,” Difanis said. “That’s because every other alternative scenario, we believe, carries with it some significant downsides.”

Under the association’s bylaws, the board can choose someone, such as a past president, to fill a vacant role. In this case, the Executive Committee determined that was not the best option.

“While we certainly have well-qualified past presidents for that, there are several downsides,” Difanis said.

He noted that there could be jockeying among candidates for the position, which would “factionalize” the board. That would do little to foster the continuity needed in what is seen as an unprecedented occurrence in the association’s 102-year history.

Difanis also said having a board-appointed new member join the Executive Committee could pose significant problems.

“The person would drop in and serve with a team that had never served with the new chair of the Executive Committee,” Difanis said. “… Any president which would get dropped in for 2019 would also not have any role in the literally years of planning that the Executive Committee has been doing for 2019. That doesn’t make sense.”

Neaves, Miller and Difanis said they plan to do whatever it takes to fill the void left by Wagner’s resignation. Under the association’s bylaws and the rules for meetings, the remaining officers may chair meetings in the absence of a president.

“When it comes to the many, many duties of president, this leadership team is 100 percent committed to dividing and conquering those duties,” Difanis said.

“We’ve got this.”

The association’s Board of Directors meets Oct. 4 in Lombard and would have to sanction any leadership change and will consider the nominating slate which does not include a filled president position.