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.

PAR Members Luncheon - Amendment 5

On July 28th, I delivered what we call an "FAR Update" to the Pensacola Association of Realtors membership luncheon. The purpose of the update is to let members know what the Florida Association of Realtors is doing on their behalf; i.e. the latest in member services, any changes or enhancements, and also what is happening on the political front. Our incredible Public Policy staff led by John Sebree is tasked with being knowledgeable and current on ALL things that relate to private property rights and license law. The most important issue is passage of Amendment 5, reducing our property taxes across the board by 25 to 40%! Last week FAR rolled out a new informational website to promote this effort: http://www.giveme5florida.com/. When I mentioned this in my update, I received a lot of blank stares; then when asked if anyone even knew about A5 only a few raised their hands. Looks like we have our work cut out for us. Fortunately, their were a lot of RPAC endorsed local candidates who did not know either, but after hearing the positive benefits seemed to embrace the idea of lower property taxes. You'll be hearing a lot more about A5 over the coming weeks. The opposition has a pending lawsuit challenging the language, but we hope that lawsuit will be defeated quickly and we can go all out to ensure passage.

Habitat for Humanity Wall Raising - Orlando

Meet Martina Dunston, the proud new (future) Homeowner of the NAR sponsored Habitat house in Orlando. The dedication will take place the week of the NAR convention in November. Martina's children are James age 7 yrs, Amy age 4 and Destini 18 mo. She is a single mother holding down a full time job. She has also put in 300 hours of sweat equity time to qualify for ownership.

Summer, Cynthia and I were joined by over 40 volunteers including from ORRA, Bob Caldwell, Pres-Elect Les Simmonds, AE Belton Jennings and Greg Rokeh to raise the walls last Saturday. It was truly an emotional experience to witness and be a part of something as special as this event. Dee Danmeyer, Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity Orlando and Jennifer Gallagher Volunteer Coordinator coordinated all of the FAR and NAR volunteers along with other HFH homeowners working on their sweat equity. We arrived at the job site (a concrete foundation) by 8:30 and by noon had the walls up and the first roof truss in place. If you are coming to the NAR convention, set aside some time to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.