Howard County Association of REALTORS^®
2002 Board of Director's Letter
October 2002

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Dear Members,

This is the time of the year when our Board reflects on what we have accomplished and where we are going. As we head towards the Installation of our 41st President, Rick La Rocca, let's celebrate with joy all of our great victories in every arena this year.

Howard County had many accomplishments this year with the help of our grass roots Legislative Committee, our Legislative Chairman Gary Vreeland, and our typical unparalled enthusiasm. We were the first Association in the state of Maryland to reach our RPAC goal. We had two very successful legislative breakfasts for both our state and County Council representatives. We had a Candidate Forum that was quoted in the Baltimore Sun, and we had a "Welcome to Howard County Breakfast" for our new Congressman, Elijah Cummings. Our officers met with County Executive, Jim Robey, and a number of times this year with various concerns from our Realtor members. Our members went to Capital Hill many times to discuss the Banking Bills. We met three times with Congressman Ben Cardin and twice with Congressman Elijah Cummings. Both our local, state and national political leaders know us by our first names. We have one of the few state delegations that call us, first before we call them on Realtor issues. Not too many groups can make such a claim.

We have reached more members than ever with our social events. We had the two most successful "Flings" (Spring Fling and Summer Fling) we have ever had, a magnificent dinner dance, and a successful golf outing that included an RPAC Fundraiser.

Our education courses continue to fill quickly and are a great member benefit by providing good quality education at a very affordable price. We also have reciprocity agreements with our neighboring Associations, which allow Howard County agents to get continuing education in neighboring counties for member prices.

We were the first medium sized Board to host the Freddie Mac CreditSmart^® classes which are part of the Maryland Association of Realtors^® Partnership for Housing Foundation. We are also going to be one of the first Associations to host a new Fair Housing program from the Foundation. This innovative program is a partnership with the Foundation, the Maryland Association of Realtors^®, HUD, and the State of Maryland Human Rights Commission.

Our Board had many accomplishments at both the Maryland Association of Realtors^® and at the National Association of Realtors^®. We had one of the winners of the Fair Housing Calendar Contest run every year to honor Fair Housing Month in Maryland. Last year Barb Seely was the By-Laws Chairman for our State Association and Anne Cooke was the first Chairman of the newly formed Grass Roots Mobilization Committee. Ilene Kessler was a Director-at-Large for the state, a state RPAC Trustee, and the Secretary for the Partnership for Housing. This year Kay Armstrong Baker will Chair the Communications and Public Relations Committee and Anne Cooke will Vice Chair the Leadership Academy. Ilene Kessler will serve as the Treasurer of the Maryland Association of Realtors^®. Our Past President's have stayed engaged in the Realtor volunteer world. Barb Seely, Ilene Kessler and Shirley Matlock have served on National Committees-Membership Policy and Board Jurisdiction Committee , the Political Communications Committee, and the State and Local Fiscal Affairs Committee. Next year Ilene Kessler will chair the National Medium Board Subforum.

Howard County had the most members graduating from this year's wonderful Leadership Academy Class sponsored by the Maryland Association of Realtors^®. George Brookhardt, Oliver Henderson, Melvina Brown, Suzi Padgett, Patty Smallwood and Gary Vreeland were in this year's class. We had several members of the Rookie Realtor^® Society. We had members on many Committees at the state level. All over the state people look at Howard County as an Association with enthusiasm and integrity. We also won two awards at our State Convention. Oliver Henderson won the Rookie of the Year for the entire state and Ilene Kessler won the Omega Tau Rho award from the National Association of Realtors^®. Blaine Milner, our Realtor^® of the Year at the MAR Convention, graduated from Leadership Howard County, a program defining Leadership for Howard County specifically. And we are looking forward to Vivian Feen becoming President of the D.C./Maryland CRS Chapter in December.