CEO Report to Board
The year of 2016 is wrapping up as you are reading this month’s report and I would like to take time to look back on the past year.
We began with our year with a goal of visiting member offices and I am happy to report that we were able to visit a large number of offices. The visits were very well received, and I hope that the leadership will continue this practice. At the OAR winter conference DJ presented a class on professional standards to the state executives committee. Class went very well and we received many compliments on this class.
In January we received word from IRS our foundation has been granted Tax Exempt Status.
In February we had 2 RPR sessions for our members and had great attendance for those events.
In March we had our 30 hours of CE at the Board Office at the beginning of the Month. I attended the AEI in San Antonio; the big focus was on NAR’s MLS views. The message is that MLS should not be part of your core value, but focus on advocacy. Our Board is still committed to the MLS and will continue to make it part of our core values.
In April we attended the OAR legislative meetings and once again had our legislative dinner with the state officials and had great attendance by local officials. We also did this in conjunction with the Lorain Co. Board and the Toledo Board of Realtors®. The Charitable Foundation held its first fundraising event and we were able to collect over $6000.00 in contributions.
In May Tammy Steinle and I attended the Mediation Training put on by OAR in Columbus. The officers and I traveled to Washington D.C. for the NAR mid-year meetings and legislative meetings. Once again our leadership team did a great job of delivering our legislative concerns with our federally elected officials.
In June Connie and I attended the OAR Executive Seminar at Mohican Lodge. We also had a by-laws committee meeting to go over changes to be proposed to the Board in the fall. The Forms Committee met in June to finalize the listing agreement.
In July we held our annual CE at Put-in-Bay and had great attendance. July 19th & 20th Rapattoni staff was at the building to work with the staff and leadership team to start the design review of the MLS System. Connie and I also had a web session with Rapattoni to discuss the website’s ADA compliance. We have formulated a strategy to monitor the regulations and add items to bring our site into compliance. Also in July the Legislative Committee met with Lorain Co. Legislative Committee and held legislative candidate interviews for the open Ohio 57th Legislative seat.
In August we held the Annual Bob Stayer Golf Classic. After all bills were paid the event has been the most profitable to date. Also in August, President Elect Alex and I attended 2017 NAR Leadership Summit. In August we also had the 2nd Annual Island Cruise for RPAC.
In September we had the General Membership meeting in Fremont. We also attended the 2016 OAR convention with a great attendance. There was a reception at the Marriott that the OAR Leadership team attended. On September 23rd I attended a breakfast fundraiser event in Toledo for Senator Randy Gardner and followed by a Luncheon for LuLu in Fremont. On the 28th the Community Service committee held a meeting and discussed goals and ideas for the coming year.
In October we had a conference call with Rapattoni to discuss the design review that we are finishing for our MLS. Our Annual awards banquet was held on October 11th and we had a large attendance. October 17th I traveled to Columbus for OAR 2017 Leadership Meetings a long with President Sara Riesen.
In November we started working on plans for 2017. The officers met and assigned committee chairs and vice chairs.
In December DJ and I attended the OAR Attorney AE meetings in Columbus. In today’s meeting you will also see the calendar for 2017 events that have been planned and are committed to.
In the office staff Connie has moved to the MLS office and will now be the MLS Director. On December 12th we welcomed Leslie Bixby as our Administrative Assistant. I feel the staff will be in good shape now and Connie can direct more of her attention to the MLS. I want to thank the Directors who will be leaving the Board. Fran and Tammy, thank you for your valued years of service. And last but not least, Frank Corder for his leadership and hard work on our Board of Directors. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Respectfully submitted,
David W. Freitag, RCE CEO