In 2009, the CREPAC trustees are focusing on expanding our industry’s overall political efforts and involvement by offering the 2009 Candidate Campaign School. The major goal of this effort is to identify and assist REALTORS® who want to impact the political process and provide them with extensive training and the resources that will serve them well in their campaign for local elective office.

Since the inception of term limits for members of the California Legislature, many of the Legislature’s new members are coming from the ranks of local government. There are several former county supervisors, mayors, city council members, school board members, and representatives of water boards in the 2009 freshman class of the California State Legislature. If REALTORS® are to continue to have legislative success in such an environment, we will need to build a bench of local elected officials who can move up to the State Assembly and Senate.

Our goal is to create a recruitment process and training institute, also known as a candidate campaign school for REALTORS®, for those interested in running for local elective office. If you are interested or know someone who would like to participate, please click on “Candidate Training Nomination Packet”.   Please complete the form and fax to (916) 492-5290. The deadline is Friday, May 8, 2009. Note:  This form is in PDF format and you will need Adobe Acrobat reader to open this PDF file.  If you do not have Adobe, you can download it for free, here: http://www.adobe.com/

Upon the candidate's approval to attend the "training,” C.A.R. will invite candidates to participate in a campaign institute focused on campaigning for local elective office.  The institute’s faculty will be comprised of C.A.R. and local association staff members, as well as experienced campaign consultants who are experts in the areas of campaign finance, polling, message development and the many other facets of running a local political operation.

We believe this strategy of working intensely with potential candidates should create a better political climate for the Association and its members in the future. Any questions, please contact Kitty Barowitz at (916) 521-2219 or by email at kbarowitz@comcast.net.