With the right tool, Illinois REALTORS® members and local Government Affairs Directors (GADs) will be able to help more Illinois municipalities devise sound public policy.  

On Thursday, members of the Illinois REALTORS® Local Government Affairs Committee met and discussed ways they could achieve that goal and determined they would recommend a brochure be developed that explains the association’s basic positions on real estate market issues. 

Committee Chair Tim Ryan, managing broker with Real People Realty, Inc., of Mokena, said the committee will work with the Government Affairs staff during the summer to develop content for the brochure designed to be used by REALTOR® members and local Government Affairs Directors. 

“The committee had a very robust discussion of ways that REALTOR® advocacy can be improved at the local level,” said Mike Scobey, Illinois REALTORS® director of local advocacy and staff liaison for the committee. “Our members realize that it is a huge responsibility to monitor the activities of nearly 2,000 municipalities in Illinois. But municipal leaders do not always know our basic positions on issues, and they don’t understand all the resources the Association can bring to the table in public policy discussions.”  

If a brochure can help GADs and local associations be more proactive, maybe we won’t have to be in a reactive mode as often, Ryan said.

Ryan will present the project to the Illinois REALTORS® Board of Directors at its September board meeting. 

“The main message,” says Scobey, “is that REALTORS® can be constructive partners – and defenders of real property rights – with municipalities when public policy is being developed.”