GADzooks! Government Affairs is Coming to You. For many years, REALTORS® have had robust and effective government affairs advocacy at the national level—through the National Association of REALTORS®—and at the state level—through NC REALTORS®. REALTORS®, our clients, customers and the real BY MARK ZIMMERMAN estate industry all benefit SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT from our work to promote OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS homeownership, bolster property owners’ rights and keep regulation of our business productive. What’s missing in this picture is NC REALTOR® advocacy engagement at the local level. We have some good news to share, however: we are in the process of expanding a program in order to change that. In 2018, NC REALTORS® approved a strategic plan that included this goal: “Expand and fund a regional or statewide shared Government Affairs Director (GAD) program.”
The idea is to ensure all our member associations have some degree of government affairs support from the state. Until this year, there have only been two ways associations have access to a GAD. Some associations are large enough to have the resources to hire their own Local GADs who work exclusively for them. NC REALTORS® works closely with these Local GADs on issues. Currently, five associations have their own Local GADs. For associations that have some resources to fund GADs, but not enough for a full-time employee, NC REALTORS® has offered local associations a Shared GAD arrangement since 2011. Under this plan, NC REALTORS® hires a GAD as a state employee who then works part-time for the local association. The local association pays a fee to share in the cost of the GAD. For several years, we’ve had Shared GADs who work with four associations. This year we added two more Shared GADs for a total of six associations who are served through the program. For many of the remaining associations across the state, resources may not be available to take advantage of the Shared GAD structure. That’s where our new program—called
2019 GAD Program Mike Butrum
Porter Graham
Mike Butrum
Stephen Bradford
Hannah Brinson
Stephen Bradford
Troi Bachmann
Katharine Wendt
Nick Scarci
Local GADs (non-NC REALTORS® employees)
12 INSIGHT • August 2019
