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Grassroots efforts of Realtors® crucial to Amendment 4 defeat

By
Real Estate Agent with Greystone Real Estate Group
ORLANDO, Fla. – Nov. 10, 2010 – For weeks leading up to the Nov. 2 elections, thousands of Realtors across Florida held signs, passed out stickers, alerted Facebook friends, made phone calls and knocked on doors to spread the word about the dangerous consequences of Amendment 4, the constitutional amendment which – if it had passed – would have required voter approval for all city and county growth management plan changes. Without the hard work and passionate commitment of Realtors and others opposed to Amendment 4, the outcome of the election could have been very different, said 2010 Florida Realtors President Wendell Davis, a broker with Watson Realty Corp. in Jacksonville. Realtor members and local Realtor associations were instrumental in the grassroots campaign to “Vote No on 4,” which was spearheaded by Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy, a coalition formed of more than 300 diverse organizations, including Florida Realtors among other business, labor, civic and planning groups, as well as concerned individuals. Rei L. Mesa, president and CEO of Prudential Florida Realty, Florida Real Estate Services, said he and the company’s large force of sales associates and affiliates worked diligently to tell customers, colleagues, friends and others throughout their communities why Amendment 4 should be defeated. “It was important to educate people about Amendment 4 and its consequences, and to keep the consensus growing,” Mesa said. “I’m a strong believer in ‘out of sight, out of mind’ – we consistently sent out emails with the ‘Vote No on 4’ message utilizing our customer database and extending it even beyond that. About 45 to 30 days before the election, we sent emails on a weekly basis; and then last week, I think I had an email message distributed almost every day. We were very pleased with the reaction from our customers and experienced no negativity.” Members of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors supported the “Vote No on 4” campaign in numerous ways, such as distributing info cards and other materials at area events and trade shows, putting up yard signs and calling more than 1,700 households that received absentee ballots, urging residents there to vote no. According to Nancy Garcia, NEFAR’s government affairs director, members waved signs or handed out “Vote No on 4” materials to arriving fans at three of the Jaguars home games, as well as before the big Florida-Georgia game – NEFAR President Carol Hill even handed out stickers in the Jaguar colors at the NFL game and Gator-colored stickers at the UF/UGA matchup. Eric Sain, treasurer of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches and a Realtor with The Corcoran Group in Palm Beach, put up “Vote No on 4” signs near polling precincts at 4 a.m. on Election Day. He has two T-shirts with the “Vote No on 4” logo, and he wore them every day the week before the election – with daily washings, of course, he said. The shirts were a great way to start conversations about the amendment. “I was at our local farmers’ market and had people stop me to ask about Amendment 4,” he recalled. “They’d say, ‘I’ve seen the signs, I’ve seen the TV ads, but what is it all about? Why are you voting no on Amendment 4?’ Wearing the T-shirt helped put a face to our cause, and it really engaged the average guy on the street to feel comfortable in asking me about it.” In the Tallahassee area, more than 72 percent voted no on Amendment 4, noted Steven Louchheim, association executive for the Tallahassee Board of Realtors. “Our members really rallied to the cause,” he said. “People put out yard signs, they waved signs at strategic intersections and at the polling precincts. We raised money locally that paid for stickers promoting ‘Vote No on 4’ on the front page of the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper for three days and for seven billboards, which stayed up for 30 days. The effort definitely coalesced the business community in Tallahassee.” Amendment 4 was rejected by more than two-thirds of the state’s voters, demonstrating that the grassroots effort paid off at the polls. Following the election results, Davis thanked Realtor members and all “Florida voters for taking action to protect the future of our great state. Clearly, Floridians are committed to protecting jobs, preserving personal property rights and protecting our economy.”
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Anonymous
Jill

And the reason they had all of that free time to protest Amendment 4 is due to the housing glut and foreclosure crisis, two problems Amendment 4 aimed to correct.

Now what are they going to do with all of their free time?

Nov 12, 2010 02:39 AM
#1