Nivac ? Real estate agents split from Wisconsin Realtors ...

During the first week after Gov. Scott Walker announced his plan to cut the take-home pay of state workers and neuter their unions, longtime local Realtor JoAnn Kane lost three active, serious buyers. They no longer felt they had enough money or job security to buy a new home.

Kane is upset over how Walkers agenda is affecting local families. What galls her more is that her trade group, the Wisconsin Realtors Association, is a key Walker backer. It not only endorsed him last fall, it gave $43,125 from its PAC to his campaign. More recently, it endorsed Supreme Court candidate David Prosser.

We were dismayed, says Kane of this decision. We would rather that [WRA] didnt support individuals in the elections. We want them to support issues.

Kane is among a newly formed dissident group called Real Estate Professionals for a Better Wisconsin. She believes the quality-of-life concerns ? natural resources, topnotch schools ? that draw people to Wisconsin are threatened by Walkers agenda.

Fellow group member Amy Sherman-Kortbein agrees: Real estate is not about selling houses. Real estate is about selling communities ? good schools, a clean environment. The budget repair bill is going to destroy those things.

Individuals with real estate licenses are not required to join the WRA but must do so to access the Multiple Listing Service, a critical industry tool. It costs Madison Realtors $550 a year to belong to the WRA, including dues to its local and national affiliates. {Note: The print version of this article incorrectly stated that Realtors are not required to join the WRA; in fact, joining this trade group and its national and local affiliates is necessary to call oneself a Realtor.]

Sherman-Kortbein feels the state group has backed Republicans to an extreme and wants the public to know not all members approve. Weve got to have a voice here ? this is not us! she says. We didnt give money to the Walker campaign.

Thats true enough. Contributions to the associations PAC fund are voluntary, at $35 per year, with some giving more or less. WRA president Bill Malkasian says only 37% of the groups members take part.

Endorsement decisions are made by the WRA board based on input from WRA committees. Malkasian says the vote to endorse Walker last fall was unanimous, backed even by Democratic members. The WRAs endorsements cross party lines ? last year, for instance, it backed 45 Democrats and 51 Republicans in state Assembly races.

Malkasian respects his members right to dissent, but calls Real Estate Professionals for a Better Wisconsin a small, vocal, passionate group of Realtors based in Madison. He notes it has only about 120 members, whereas the WRA as a whole has 13,435.

While Malkasian doesnt dispute that Walkers initiatives have spurred a temporary downturn in home sales here, due to economic uncertainty, he says its the kind of turmoil other parts of the state have long known, especially over the loss of manufacturing jobs. And that, he says, is what drove the WRAs endorsement: The majority of our members wanted Scott Walker because they wanted jobs.

But Kane thinks the kind of jobs people have also matters ? and ones backed by strong unions with good benefits suit her fine.

Its not a race to the bottom, she says. Its okay for people to have pretty good benefits. Its okay for people to have a stable job.

article source

Source: http://www.nivac.info/?p=2907

jamie oliver food revolution the good wife flip camera jp morgan thomas jefferson