Having been the Chair of the NARPM 
Government Affairs Committee during 2007, I had an opportunity to write the "Legislative Scoop" article in the NARPM monthly magazine, "Residential Resource". I wrote the following article that was published in the November 07 issue. I would like to share it with you simply as an introduction to NARPM. Every Realtor or Agent working with a Property Manager in any way, should be certain that their Property Manager Colleague is an ACTIVE NARPM member, trained by NARPM and adhering to the NARPM code of ethics. Property Management is a different animal than real estate.
Find NARPM at http://www.narpm.org
This article was the last article I wrote for the Resource as we affectionately refer to our magazine.
A Time to Reflect
As we enter into the fall of the year and the forthcoming excitement of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and yes a New Year, can anyone believe that old 2007 is already getting gray hair?
With all the excitement however, comes a time of renewing, and a time to be thinking as to where we might be going on the political front next year. Your Legislative Committee has not been sleeping. We have been thinking and planning and looking ahead to even more initiatives that we can undertake in the coming year.
NARPM is somewhat like a "new year" in that it hasn't been around a long time; it is a young adolescent association that needs a lot of care and nurturing, but the rudiments of greatness flow within the organization. It just requires that every one step up to the plate, find something to do and get with it. And this is what's happening. You can feel it in the air. People are stepping up. People are getting involved.
As of this writing, there will be over 450 attendees at our Phoenix conference. This is up from approximately 250 at the last conference in Burlington. Think of it, over 150 first time members will be joining us in Phoenix.
This gives me shivers as I think of where NARPM can go next year on the political front. For as the association grows from adolescence into young adulthood and ever increasing maturity, and the peak of our political power, other associations will see us in a new, more serious light. Politicians will begin to seek advice from our newly found confidence and professionalism. And our members will see our successes and our numbers will swell. This Association is rising to an unprecedented threshold of greatness, and has done so in just a few short years.
This is what is happening now!
This legacy leaves us to ponder how we can now grab the moment to more effectively gain the political prominence to which we all aspire and indeed need. We can do it but not at the national level. Not quite yet!
Of necessity, it first has to happen at the local level where the rubber meets the road. It is at the city, county and state levels that laws are born that either hinder the professionalism of property management or alternatively move the profession on to even higher and mightier heights.
And this is where we all come in, for it is with us and our chapter members that the knowledge, professionalism and understanding of Property Management and Home Rental Issues reside. Certainly, this knowledge, professionalism and understanding does not reside in the minds of our dually elected representatives and other governmental officials. It resides with us, and within our chapters. We just need to be able to share it and we are just about there!
Granted, HUD and other federal agencies swing a huge club that sometimes seems to knock us a bit off balance from time to time, but in the main, we have to learn to walk at the local level before we can even think to influence the Big Boys on Capitol Hill. But as our numbers swell, we will gain that clout. Our time will come, but not right now.
Now, it is at the city council, county commission and state legislatures where we have representatives with whom our members are friends, neighbors, and sometimes family. It is at the chapter level where these friends, neighbors and family members meet monthly, where they talk together, and share thoughts, ideas, concerns and problems with other NARPM chapter members.
It is at the chapter level where things can move forward in a way that gives us the position from which to help our governmental representatives mold the laws that affect our profession. It is at the Chapter level where NARPM can develop the real political clout we all want and need.
And, as we gain this clout and grow in prominence and prestige, we will grow even faster, for we are about to become big enough to outgrow the horns of the proverbial dilemma we have been in. We need members to have clout, and we need clout in order to recruit members. And we are just about there.
We are past the hard part. We can now stand on the shoulders of the giants who have gone before us. We can now work from a rock-solid base established by those who have lived through the really tough part of getting NARPM up and growing. It is to these giants that we owe our respect and appreciation, for they are still with us. We all stand a little taller because of the efforts of each of them.
So, from this perspective, as we in the Government Affairs Committee look forward to the new year, we see a year to encourage the chapters to organize and energize their own Political Action Committees. We see an unprecedented opportunity to influence our friends, neighbors and cousins on the various city councils, county commissions and state legislatures.
And to what do we owe this confidence?
Look to both California and Washington State where the local Chapters have organized to work with their city and county officials. At the state level, they have formed State "Umbrella" Chapters where Political Action Committees can be born of members from each of the other Chapters. These Committees will effectively represent each of the other chapters in the interest of getting first class laws out of their State legislatures to govern our profession.
Your Government Affairs Committee has thought long and hard about this, and we are going to move aggressively forward from a position of newly established organizational strength to grow these initiatives throughout NARPM. Stick around and watch the sparks fly from the industry of our members in the tremendous chapters of this marvelous association of professionals.
Jerry Bangerter, RA - Property Manager, RE/MAX Kai Lani, 25 Kaneohe Bay Drive #109, Kailua, Hawaii 96734 -- http://www.rxkl.com/.
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