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Members of the Illinois REALTORS® Local Government Affairs Committee gathered at the Public Policy Meetings in East Peoria Wednesday with an eye toward developing resources that can help REALTORS® locally.
Local Government Affairs Committee Chair Tim Ryan urged REALTORS® who are not on the 15-member committee to share the most pressing local issues with committee members in preparation for a June 10 meeting in Springfield. He hopes to get the perspective of a mayor or city leader at that event.
“We took a look at the local issues that are most pressing right now,” said Ryan. “We wondered if this committee could come up with ideas that would be more proactive.”
Mike Scobey, director of local advocacy, and Gideon Blustein, member outreach manager and local governmental affairs director, answered questions for committee members and members of the audience, too. As an example, Blustein and Joe Roth, local governmental affairs director, talked about how vacant property registrations became a hot-button issue in several communities as a private company advocated the idea as a revenue-raising practice some mayors and city managers shared with each other.
One problem with the concept, is that registration fees as high as $350 every six months would be assessed to property owners and collected by a private company. Sales representatives of the private company promised elected officials that families struggling with foreclosure would not be adversely affected, said Blustein. But the situation provided REALTORS® with the opportunity to successfully educate municipal leaders on foreclosures.
The committee is hoping REALTORS® facing similar situations on similar topics could benefit from resources using lessons learned from those experiences. A number of members responded to Ryan’s request for input.
One REALTOR® in the audience identified himself as an alderman in his community and urged fellow REALTORS® to refrain from using the term “politician” and instead use more respectful descriptions, like “elected official.” Another REALTOR® mentioned her positive experiences attending city council meetings and getting to know elected officials.
