Appraisal Institutes Leadership Development and Advisory Council (LDAC) – Seattle Chapter Representatives Blog
May 23rd, 2013. We just heard about the I-5 tragedy. Our hearts go out to everyone involved. Don Jury and I were stuck on the tarmac at Reagan Airport in DC when we heard the news.
Our flight was being delayed due to a big thunder storm. Coincidentally, we had quite the cast of characters on our flight including Patty Murray, Maria Delbene, Slate Gordon, and Dave Rietcher, (they all sit coach by the way). Everyone was heading home for the holiday weekend. It was great being able to follow up with Patty again after our luckily run-in just the day before on the underground tram below the capitol.
More importantly, something quite remarkable happened relating to how we all heard about the bridge disaster. It turns out Don Jury, who is quite tech savvy, was the first person on the plane to receive a text update from a special newscast subscription. He personally informed our senators and congressmen about the situation, which allowed them to immediately respond to the crisis right there on the plane. Don was the information point person for the whole event. He also had a link to a WA State DOT report that mentioned the Skagit bridge was functionally obsolete, (a word us appraisers know all to well). We were stuck on the plane for nearly 2 hours, and everything was hectic due to not knowing what was going on, however, Don turned out to be the only guy in the know. it was somewhat heroic in my opinion. Don scored some major points. Appraiser by day, hero by flight…well done Don!
May 22nd, 2013. Great day on the hill yesterday! We met with Patty Murray, Jim McDermott, and Maria Cantwell’s offices within a two hour dash across the Capitol grounds.
It was 88 degrees, humid as possible, and we’re all dressed in dark suits. We definitely gained a good amount of sweat equity 🙂
We pitched our issues regarding the extension of the conservation tax incentive, as well as encouraging a few amendments to the Financial Institution Examination Fairness and Reform Act, (try opening a conversation with that statement…yikes). Overall, we feel our efforts were a victory as far as being able to deliver our message. However, we’re pragmatic about the likelihood of seeing any real movement with these issues considering the gridlock and dysfunction that exist in our government. Nevertheless, we’re proud to have had the opportunity to express our opinion and be a part of the political process. We are all extremely energized about this experience, and can’t wait to do it all over again next year.
On a side note, did you know there is an underground tram system below the Capitol building that runs between the senate and the house offices? We’ve got a great story about that. You won’t believe our dumb luck. Our fist meeting was with Patty Murray’s office at 1pm, while our other meetings were at 1:30 and 2:30. To say the least, we had to hustle to make our appointments, with little time to give an effective pitch. Patty was busy voting on the floor when we got to her office, so we met with two of her staff. These people were awesome, and very sincere about hearing us out and understanding our concerns, (p.s. I have their contact info if you ever need a good line to the senator). Later in the day, on the way back to the senate offices, we decided to take the underground tram, instead of melting on the street. After several levels of security checks and hallway mazes, we reach the tram station. Unbelievably, there was Patty Murray waiting for the next train! It was an amazing coincidence. We got a private one-on-one with her in the cab of the tram.
For the most part we talked about Dungeness Crabs, and how she doesn’t tell anyone in DC about them because she doesn’t want to share. It was a fun chat. We were able, however, to deliver a quick pitch about the bill on conservation tax incentives before her stop. In that short period of time, Patty was open and receptive. At the very least it felt like we made a good first impression
May 21st, 2013: Hey all, we had a great first day at LDAC. It’s been amazing meeting so many colleagues from across the nation. Here are a few highlights of the days events:
Jim Amorin, 09′ past president and current chair of the strategic planning committee, gave a nice presentation on the state of the AI. We have 16,000 MAI members; 7,000 SRA members; and roughly 26,000 members when including candidates and affiliates. Our group accounts for over 25% of all appraisers in the county, (we’re the big dog in the field). The AI’s financial statement is improving with revenues on a 6.5% rise and expenses declining slightly. However, despite gains in revenues, the number of paying members is on a declining trend. Jim mentioned the average age of a designated member is 62, and he’s worries about how we plan to fill the gap and attract the future pool of members. On a side note, Sarah Stevens added over 500 new members last year, which is an all time record, and Rick Borgess is on a good pace this year as well. Much credit is given to the new Capstone course, and the roll out of the candidate/adviser program. (FYI, there are 767 enrolled candidates across the country and advisers are needed badly!!).
Jim finished up by confirming that the AI will be adding a Residential/General Reviewer designation in 2014. Also, as the chair of strategic planning, Jim is reaching out to develop a working group made up of AI members from across the county to address residential issues. He’s looking for residential success stories, as well as input from knowledgeable practitioners to help our members strategize about the future of residential appraising. If you’re interested in contributing to this group, please sign up for LRR (Leadership Resource Registry) on the AI website, as well as reaching out to Jim personally.
A few other notes: we had a great keynote speaker, Faith Rolland from Bellevue, who gave a great performance on developing leadership presence by focusing on how we look, talk, think, and act in leadership roles and opportunities. She was great! Got us all fired up for our lobbying efforts tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted.
