PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Staying The Course
Of Success
Welcome to 2020! I would like
to kick off my year as ORRA’s
president by offering gratitude
for receiving your trust,
and by promising to uphold my duties to
the best of my abilities.
A lot of association presidents burst into
their year chomping at the bit to make big
changes and blaze new paths. I’m here to
tell you that I’m not that president. In my
belief, it’s hard for an association to accomplish
its goals if they change every January
1. In fact, my overall objective is to provide
a steady, guiding hand and help ORRA to
stay the course as it makes further progress
on the many worthy initiatives it began in
2019 or even earlier.
A great example is affordable housing.
ORRA took on an amazingly active role
in addressing this community crises in
2019, under the determined guidance
of then-President Jeffrey M. Fagan. We
should all be thankful that Jeff has agreed
to serve as ORRA’s go-to in 2020 regarding
affordable housing. The issue is incredibly
complex and having Jeff’s knowledge
at ORRA’s disposal is invaluable. We will
continue to call for full funding of the
Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Funds
and to seek support for affordable housing
solutions from governmental officials, the
media, and the public.
Two of my additional areas of priority
are professionalism and profitability.
ORRA’s Professional Development Department
will continue its ongoing efforts
to create programs that educate and encourage
REALTORS® to provide the highest
levels of customer service. And profitability
is important to everyone! ORRA will keep
seeking more and better tools, classes, and
other resources to enhance your financial
success. It’s up to you, however, to reach
out and utilize all that ORRA has to offer.
Of course, this approach doesn’t mean
that new and exciting projects won’t
emerge in 2020. If you’ve already watched
the 2019 State of the Association video
address you know that our charismatic and
forward-thinking CEO, Cliff Long, has big
plans. In the hopper are budding initiatives
such as an association management
company, a rebranded web presence, and
a deep dive into television.
In case you haven’t seen the 2019 State
of the Association — available in English
and Spanish — I highly recommend you
take the time. It’s lively viewing that’s chock
full of interesting highlights from last year
(my favorite is that REALTOR® Code of Ethics
violation cases went down 27% compared
to 2018). You can find the video on both
orlandorealtors.org and facebook/ORRA.
Finally, I’d like to remind you that while
I may be taking on the role of ORRA’s
president for one year, ORRA is and always
will be YOUR association. Please feel free
to contact me at any time regarding any
ORRA-related concern at president@orlandorealtors.
org.
Reese Stewart
JOIN US at the 2019
Recognition and Annual
Awards Luncheon on
February 19, 2020! We’ll be
gathering at Mango’s Tropical
Café to honor our 2019®
REALTOR of the Year along
with Annual Award recipients,
the Class of 2019 Honor
Society, the ORRA Good
Neighbor Award winners, and
more. Visit orlandorealtors.
org to learn more and to
register. Tickets and seating
are limited!
4 Orlando REALTOR® Winter 2020
/orlandorealtors.org