THE GAD REPORT. Do You Have The App? CANNERY DISTRICT GAINS LAND RETAIN THE 31 PICKING UP STEAM REALTORS ASSOCIATION OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN

Transcription

1 REALTORS ASSOCIATION OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN THE GAD REPORT VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 MAY, 2016 CANNERY DISTRICT GAINS LAND It may only be a row of trees next the river, with debris and rocks scattered among the foliage, but the trees next to Family Video are going to be the gateway into the Cannery District s mixed-use development. The next piece of a 21 piece puzzle that will now allow the city to transform those trees into a use such as a bike trail or an area where tables can overlook the Chippewa River. It s also the far south end of the district, which will have bike and walking trails, plenty of green space, a proposed soccer field and other amenities such as a possible indoor year-round farmers market, basketball courts and scenic lookouts to the river. The city now owns 15 parcels with the remaining six to be purchased, and all of those are west of Oxford Avenue. The engineering plans for the district are being paid for in part by a grant your Association wrote last year in partnership with the National Association of REALTORS. And it s not the only partnership that will be used in the development of the Cannery District. The district will have a health impact assessment done as the program moves forward thanks to a grant received by the Eau Claire City County Health Department. The idea is to devel- op a healthy place to work and live. The scope of the study will also affect the neighborhoods adjacent to the new district, in order to make those areas more health-friendly. The health impact study is part of a two year grant from the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program. With the wheels turning, there is still excavation of old sites, buildings to demolish or move, and ground to check for contaminates and whatever is buried there from over 100 years ago when the Cannery District was actually used as a cannery. Its another way of refurbish, replace and reuse bringing an area back to life. Do You Have The App? Text App to and remember to login!! CANNERY DISTRICT MOV- ING FORWARD 1 RETAIN THE 31 ROLLING 1 JUSTICE PROSSER RETIRES 2 RETAIN THE 31 PICKING UP STEAM MEYERS RUNS AGAIN 2 What is Retain the 31? Retain the 31 is our campaign to retain all 31 Large Donor Council members from As part of our fundraising plan, retention of those LDC s along with recruiting new LDC members this year will insure reaching our fundraising goal this year of $44,000. Our new member goal is five, as of this writing, we have four new LDCs, so we are well on our way. Our members have been involved in RPAC for decades, now the game has changed with substantial increases in the amount of money candidates can receive for all elected offices, from the Legislature to your town board. That makes increasing participation in RPAC a priority for DO YOU HAVE THE APP? 3 CONGRATULATIONS REAL- TORS HAYWARD REFERENDUM AGAIN 4 4

2 PAGE 2 THE GAD REPORT REPRESENTATIVE MEYERS RUNS FOR RE-ELECTION State representative Beth Meyers (D)- Bayfield announced that she will seek a second term in the Legislature. The 74th district covers Bayfield, Iron, Ashland, Price and portions of Vilas, Sawyer and Douglas counties, including three tribal reservations. the position as Minority to serving in the Assembly, Meyers was a member of the Bayfield County board of Supervisors and represented the Town of Russell and the Red Cliff reservation. Currently, there is no named opponent for her. The fall election is November 8th. Her committee assignments include Assembly committee on transportation and tourism, and currently holds Caucus Secretary. Prior THE 2016 RPAC GOAL: $44,000 BREAKING: J USTICE PROSSER RETIRES After 40 years in public service and 18 years sitting on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Justice David Prosser announced on April 27th that he will retire when the court s term is done July 31st. Prosser served nine terms in the state Assembly, and served as a commissioner with the Wisconsin Tax Ap- peals Commission before former Governor Tommy Thompson appointed him to serve an unexpired term on the Supreme Court. Prosser was elected to a ten year term in 2001, and a second in His term is up in Governor Walker will name a replacement for Prosser who will serve the rest of his term. SAND MINES LAYING OFF WORKERS EOG Resources, who has mines in the towns of Howard and Cooks Valley, as well as a processing plant in Chippewa Falls, are laying off employees, at least for the short term. Fairmont Santrol, which operates a plant in Menomonie, also will layoff a few employees for a short time. In New Auburn, Superior Silica Sands are laying off nine employees. The downturn in the oil market is to blame for the temporary layoffs, but that may be changing in the next month or two. Oil prices have rebounded nearly 50% from their lows in the mid $20 s per barrel, and hover around $45 a barrel. That s the spot where frackers can pump and make a profit. There are thousands of wells that have been completed, and only need pumps attached to start operations. PurFrac is working on a reclamation plan for a proposed 690 acre sand mine in the town of Cooks Valley, next to EOG s sand mine, signaling locally that sand mining is not going away any time soon.

3

4 VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 PAGE 4 ANOTHER CANDIDATE FOR WACH S 91ST A familiar face is running for the 91st Assembly. Republican Bill Ingram of Durand has filed to run for the seat currently occupied by incumbent Dana Wachs (D)- Eau Claire. Ingram has run several times for public office over the years, he was a candidate for the 91st when Durand was in the 91st (it s now in the 93rd Assembly District). He has also run for State Senate, but lost in a primary. He did run for and was elected to the Pepin County Board of Supervisors where he serves on the Law Enforcement Committee, Human Services Committee and is the current cochair of the Aging and Disabilities Resource Center. Ingram knows Eau Claire, serving as a law enforcement officer for the UW Eau Claire police department as well as the Durand Police Department. Although Ingram lives in Durand, he is allowed to run for an office he does not reside in. Should he win on November 8th, he would have until January 3rd to establish a residence in the 91st district. This is the first time Representative Wachs will face an opponent since he was elected. Ingram and fellow Republican Shaun Ewig will have a primary in August. CONGRATULATIONS REALTORS!! Your fellow REAL- TORS faired well in the Association as several were elected to public office. Brendan Pratt Coldwell Banker Brenizer Eau Claire was elected as the new Mayor of Altoona. Dave Masterjohn Masterjohn Appraisal Spooner had the nail biter of the elec- tion. His bid for re-election to the Washburn County board ended in a tie, Masterjohn won the tie breaker. Michael Xiong American Realty Partner Eau Claire was re-elected to a three year term on the Eau Claire City Council. John Sobota Andale Real Estate in Menomonie was the top vote getter for Menomonie School Board. Adam Carson Asher Realty Durand won election to the Elmwood School Board. There are plenty of opportunities to be involved in your local government is elected and non-elected positions. Look into it!! HAYWARD TRIED A REFERENDUM AGAIN The Hayward Community School Board voted 6 to 1 to hold a referendum on November 8th, asking voters in the district to exceed revenue caps for the school year. The first referendum, help on February 16th failed by a 1267 to 1060 margin. In that referendum, the district asked voters to exceed revenue limits, bring back teaching positions, upgrade buildings, technology and new heating systems. The district, like many in recent years, have had to cutback on needed repairs to their buildings, cut classes, and layoff teachers and other staff due to budget con- straints. Many of those districts are increasingly turning to referendums to get money to make repairs or upgrades or to keep current programming at current levels. The district has seen increases in staffing costs as well as transportation in recent years and hopes the referendum will address needs. WE ARE AT 80% OF GOAL FOR NEW LARGE DONOR COUNCIL MEMBERS IN 2016!!

5 Ask Bruce how to charge your investment at $ per month from April to December ($300 to RPAC, $700 to Direct Giver with Visa or Mastercard!!)

6 REALTORS ASSOCIATION OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN 1903 Keith Street Suite #3 Eau Claire, WI Phone: home office/text Phone: board office Bruce King Government Affairs Director WWW. R A N W W. O RG The REALTORS Association of Northwestern Wisconsin is the largest association in terms of area, stretching from Lake Pepin to the south all the way to Cable in Bayfield County to the north. We are the fourth largest of the 20 Associations in terms of membership. Your Association covers 270 units of local government, monitoring a wide variety of issues that can and do affect you. In addition to local government, your GAD also monitor issues at the state and national level that will have a direct or indirect impact on housing and the industry, as well as legislation that can affect the consumer. Your Government Affairs Director works with members and affiliates to raise investment dollars for RPAC that help to support elected officials that support your business. RANWW is one of only three REALTOR Association s in Wisconsin that have their own PAC, which was started 37 years ago to support candidates at the local and state level. We have added a Facebook page, called The GADabouts, that aims to keep you up to date on political issues that will affect your business. Your GAD also produces a periodic government affairs program posted on our YouTube channel, RANWWTV!! OUR MISSION IS TO HELP OUR MEMBERS BE MORE SUCCESSFUL IN REAL ESTATE MY THOUGHTS BY BRUCE KING It s May, and if you work in my world, you are already looking at November 8th. Besides the election for the next POTUS, there are elections from all 99 Assembly seats and half of the state Senate. There are contested races shaping up in many of these races with Phil Salamone the latest to toss his hat in the ring for a shot at Congressman Sean Duffy s 7th CD seat. In addition to the state races, there will be plenty of referendums from Eau Claire to Hayward, asking voters to exceed revenue limits for programs, equipment, maintenance, or debt service. If you live in a community that will hold a referendum this fall, make sure you invest a few minutes to become educated on why they are asking for the money, and what it will be used for. Getting the facts from the source instead of reperculated gossip is much better in the long run (spoken like a former school board member). Speaking of investing, I may be asking a handful of members to participate in Phone A Friend for RPAC in mid August. This is an initiative from NAR and already has 450 associations participating. All you need is your laptop and a cell phone. You ll receive about 30 minutes of training and a list of people to call ( we are going to target those individual members and affiliates that generally do on invest in RPAC and get them to invest $35 to $100). Food and beverage is on NAR and you ll spend about two hours total making calls and inputting information. More information on this fun event will be coming next month. Its off to Washington DC for legislative meetings & committees that I serve on with NAR.