Realtors Political Action Committee: It's worth it!

By Eliezer Rodriguez Bronx, NY The Bronx political landscape will soon look different. Some elected officials will be term limited out, others will seek to move from the state assembly to the city council and a few have promised to bring fresh blood to the elected positions they seek. As all of these changes are in the horizon, the real estate industry should be asking itself if it is doing everything it can to protect the interest of its members. Over the years, I have been actively involved in local politics. My experience extends from collecting signatures, to fundraising and even managing a campaign. Surely, I thought, this experience will serve me well in my relatively new role as the association executive officer (AEO) for the Bronx Manhattan North Association of Realtors (BM-NAR). Soon after my January 1st, 2013 start date as AEO, I received a political lesson from Perry Gault, president of Perry Gault Management Co., past president of BM-NAR's board of governors and current chairman of our Realtors Political Action Committee (RPAC). Perry gave me an ear full of how important RPAC is in protecting the interest of the real estate industry. In March 2013, Perry wrote an article for Realtor & Business Newsletter entitled "Protect The American Dream Through RPAC." In the article he wrote: "RPAC is the political arm of the National Association of Realtors. The purpose of RPAC, which is bi-partisan, is to protect our industry from restrictive bureaucratic regulations which hamper our ability to do business on a level playing field. RPAC assists political candidates running for a variety of public offices across the country who have pro-realtor voting records. RPAC is the number one political action committee in the U.S. and is determined to retain that honor this year and for many future years." Perry has done an excellent job at getting our association to invest in RPAC. His work has led our association to exceed our RPAC contribution goal, year after year. Although we exceed our RPAC contribution goal, we are not getting 100% participation from our members. Some members forget to invest, while others don't remember if they have invested. Matthew Schmelzer, VP of Tryax Realty, Inc., and past president of BM-NAR's board of governors is a strong RPAC advocate and acknowledges that we have to get better at encouraging more investors. I have seen firsthand how RPAC dollars are put to work. This past May, I accompanied Susan Goldy, BM-NAR's past president and last year's president of the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR), Sandra Erickson, BM-NAR's past president and Christina Taylor, VP of the Bronx residential committee for BM-NAR's board of governors to our nation's capital to lobby our leaders on bills that threaten the American dream of home ownership. While in Washington, I visited the RPAC Hall of Fame and found Michael Schmelzer's, Matthew's father, induction plaque for donating at least $25,000 to RPAC. I took a picture of the plaque and shared it with my board of governors (see picture above). The Schmelzers not only talk-the-talk, they walk-the-walk. In June, Susan and I lobbied our leaders in Albany. Susan did a magnificent job at getting our elected officials to listen to Realtor's issues. If you are a Realtor and you are not investing with RPAC, it's time to start. I have put my money where my mouth is and made my investment. RPAC money is available to support candidates that are friends of our industry. Sandra Erickson is one of our members who has requested and received, on numerous occasions, RPAC money to support candidates that are friendly to Realtors. Finally, let your money do the talking and support RPAC so the Bronx political landscape will take into account the needs of our industry. For questions regarding RPAC, e-mail [email protected]. Eliezer Rodriguez is the association executive of BMAR, Bronx, N.Y. Shown (from left) are: Eliezer Rodriguez, Esq., BMAR association executive officer; Sandra Erickson, BMAR past president, Sandra Erickson Real Estate; congressman Eliot Engel, 16th District; Susan Goldy, BMAR past president, NYSAR past president, Halstead Property Riverdale - Susan Goldy Team; and Christina Taylor, BMAR VP Bronx residential division, Laujel Realty Corp.