Our local industry association, the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors, still continues to amaze me. Even after 104 years, our organization is still vibrant — and getting better.
Our association and MLS membership remained surprisingly strong in 2011 despite market conditions. We currently have about 1,000 Realtor members of our association and about 1,400 MLS members. What’s remarkable is that these membership numbers have dropped in the past few years, but not nearly as much as you might have expected. The employment figures for our industry locally still look pretty good!
Some of the many community events that our association was responsible for this year:
» The Fair Housing Poster Contest with more than 800 young artists participating from area schools.
» The second annual Charity Fundraiser Golf Tournament, which raised almost $25,000 for Hugs for Cubs (next year’s tourney is on May 18 — mark your calendars).
» Our annual Fiesta Kickoff Party had more than 400 partygoers, including many of our local government leaders.
» And our recent Unity Shoppe fundraiser generated more than $11,000, for which Jim Caldwell, our incoming president, presented a check at the recent Unity Shoppe Telethon.
All in all, It was a good year for our association.
There are so many individuals who contributed to the success of 2011, but I’d like to acknowledge just a few:
First and foremost, our association executive and our incredible staff are the backbone of our association. They are superb! The excellent Board of Directors, and just as important, all of the volunteer committee chairs that gave of their time and expertise to help guide and make happen all of the workings — and fun — of our great association.
And of course, the more than 150 committee members who made things actually happen. Thank you, all!
As I close down the last days of my service as president of the association, I am mindful that my role, in many ways, was to just be the custodian of this organization. In addition to that responsibility, I am grateful for the opportunity to have made a contribution that, hopefully, will leave our association just a little bit better than when I arrived. Best wishes for a prosperous and fulfilling 2012.
— Paul Suding, a real estate agent with Cool Santa Barbara Homes and Village Properties, is president of the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors. He can be contacted at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 805.455.8055.
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