Post Convention Thoughts

Many of you contacted me with words of encouragement yesterday and today; I'd like to thank each of you for your friendship.


I would also like to extend special thanks to the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors for being so generous in their support of my campaigning activities. The entire staff has been a part of this effort, but most especially Barry Stafford and Michaela Benjamin, I could not have made this journey without them.


I was especially honored by the notice posted on our ECAR Home Page today:

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Bob Hudgens Wins Hearts of Many at FAR Convention
President Cliff Chaplin, CEO Barry Stafford, and the entire ECAR leadership team would like to thank Bob Hudgens for his tireless efforts to become the Florida Association of REALTORS® 2009 President-Elect. Bob’s level of professionalism, integrity, and dignity raised ECAR’s profile to Realtors® around the state. Despite Bob's hard work and personal sacrifice, the FAR Board of Directors selected Wendell Davis as 2009 President-Elect at its meeting September 28. Here are the 2009 officers of the Florida Association of REALTORS®:

President – Cynthia Shelton
President-Elect – Wendell Davis
Vice-President – Pat Fitzgerald
Treasurer – Summer Greene
Secretary – Dean Asher

ECAR is proud to announce that ECAR President Cliff Chaplin was elected as 2009 FAR District Vice President for District 9.
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I started blogging in December to chronicle my year as Treasurer for the Florida Association of Realtors. I plan to continue posting blog entries through the end of the year. The calendar is still packed with activities that are important to members. Hopefully, a member of the 2009 LT will be able to pick up where I leave off by continuing this blog.

Some Thoughts on FAR's Election

Running From the Floor - I realize some may think that "Running From the Floor" (RFtF) is a bit unconventional for the Florida Association of Realtors, but this isn't the first time this has happened. We only have to look back one year to see that we not only had one candidate, but two RFtF; Cynthia Shelton, our current President-Elect and Wendell Davis, a current candidate for President-Elect. The fact that both chose to use the entirety of the election process and not just the Nominating Committee portion indicates that both were compelled to run because they did not agree with Nomination's recommendation and wanted to take their case to you, the directors. I'm sure they faced many obstacles on the path to that election. When all was said and done, you made it very clear that you wanted to be part of the process.

The Ballot - Some have been questioned whether or not I will be on the ballot. I received the following statement from FAR after asking that question:
“Since the candidate nominated by the Nominating Committee is known and since it is known that a qualified candidate plans to run from the floor, it would be proper to assure both candidates that both names will appear on the ballot”.

Your duty as FAR Director - I won't quote chapter and verse, however you can find reference to your duties as an FAR Director on pg. 128 of the 2008 LRG. In summary, it is your duty as director to act in the best interest of the corporation you represent (FAR) and not your local associations who elected or appointed you. I couldn't agree more! So your decision as to who you will vote for comes down to who is the best candidate to serve as FAR's leader in 2010, not who did Nominating Committee select to be on the ballot. The whole purpose of visiting with local associations and districts is to get candidates and members/directors to meet face to face. When boards endorse candidates, they are indicating they agree that their candidate of choice is the best choice for FAR. This is the only process before the NC interview that gives the associations input to the system.

The convention is days away, and I'm looking forward with great anticipation to seeing each and every one of you as we endeavor to strengthen our commitment to the Florida Realtors.

Nominating Committee recommendation

Quite a week, we started out by making storm preparations for Hurricane Gustav; checking generators, updating contact information, making sure the properties we are responsible for were ready. Even though the storm didn't hit us, we felt some impact from the outer rain bands, but more importantly, we put our storm preparation drill into action.


In the middle of all that, I was preparing myself for the Nominating Committee interview on Friday in Orlando. Just like preparing far in advance of a storm, I have been preparing far in advance for the opportunity to be the President-Elect of the Florida Association of Realtors. You can see through my many blog postings that I have travelled the state meeting our members face-to-face and finding out what their needs are and how those needs are changing in light of our current market. I have put forth huge efforts, first as Secretary in 2006 as we overhauled the Policies and By-Laws and then again this year as the Treasurer facing a $1.8 million shortfall. I've established new political relationships as well as built on previous relationships in Tallahassee and Washington. All this in an effort to be as effective for Florida Realtors as I can be.


The Nominating Committee met with both Wendell and myself on Friday morning and decided to put Wendell forth as their candidate for President-Elect. Needless to say, I was disappointed. But after the initial shock, I must say I'm excited to have an opportunity to "run from the floor" given the format of our new nominating procedure. As I travelled this year meeting with local Realtors, they had an opportunity to ask any questions they wanted to assure themselves that I am the person to take on the ultimate job of President. You can see from my endorsements that I have proudly posted, that I won the support of many associations; small, medium, large and mega. They stretch from one end of Florida to the other.


Now is your chance, as a Florida Director, to let your voice be heard. There will be an election on Sunday morning, Sept. 28th during the Board of Directors meeting. I need a commitment from every supporter to be there and cast your ballot for Bob Hudgens for President-Elect.


Please, let me hear from you. BobHudgens@c21coastal.com

Greater Tampa Assoc of Realtors endorsement

It's been several weeks since the candidates meet the leaders of District 6 so I was pleasantly surprised today when I received a phone call from President Deborah Farmer of the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors congratulating me on receiving their endorsement. GTAR has always been active with the FAR.

Orlando Regional RA endorsement

Last Tuesday, the candidates had an opportunity to meet with leaders from District 2, 10 and 12. The venue was the top of the new Plaza in downtown Orlando with a 360 degree view. As usual, each candidate was able to describe their own goals and aspirations for the Florida Association of Realtors. Pres-Elect Cynthia gave an FAR update including our progress on Amendment 5 and a brief look at the 2009 budget. We also spent a lot of time discussing the needs of members during this challenging business market.

After leaving the event, I received a call from Lydia Pisano advising me that the Orlando Regional Realtors Association voted to endorse my candidacy for President-Elect. I'm very excited to receive their endorsement as we head into the final two weeks of campaigning before the Nominating Committee interviews for officers on Aug. 29th. It has been a pleasure travelling the state and meeting leaders of the local associations in this effort to learn more about their needs from FAR.

District 7 - Meet the Candidates

DVP Harry Willett hosted the candidates for lunch at the new Hernando County Association of Realtors office in Brooksville. The members from District 7 were there in the morning for an education program led by Oliver Frascona. After our informal lunch, we each took turns presenting our goals and visions for the Florida Association of Realtors. We finished up with a Town Hall style discussion of the major issues that our top priorities: combatting the media's constant barrage of bad news and the passage of Amendment 5 in November.

District 4 Education Summit - Key Largo

July was such a busy month, I just realized that I hadn't posted about the District 4 Education Summit in Key Largo. District 4 stretches from Key West to Miami, a distance of nearly 250 miles! Dead center is Key Largo; what an incredible location to have an education event. This picture is of the sunrise (yes, I was up at sunrise) from the balcony at the resort.DVP Renate Smith put together a great program with wide range of presenters. She also included a trade show. Late Friday afternoon, the attendees had a chance to hear from each of us candidates about our goals for FAR. They had some great questions. Saturday morning, somewhere around 8:45 (time doesn't matter in the Keys); President Chuck and his LT presented an FAR update and spent a lot of time on the benefits of Amendment 5.


I couldn't go that far without spending some time in Key West with Terri, Luke and Steve. The boys enjoyed renting a scooter and "touring" the island for 24 hours. Grace stayed in Navarre with the Grandparents.