Wow, it’s Fall already?
2019 is just flying by, isn’t it? Hope your year has been exciting and productive!
Here at RBAR, your Association has been working hard all year long to provide true value for your membership, offer educational opportunities, run amazing and fun events, and advocate on behalf of our members and their clients (and the entire community at large). We’ve reviewed and updated the Association’s ByLaws and Policies, and are putting together a strategic plan to guide us for years to come. Angela Tolosky, your 2020 President, is already hard at work on your behalf to make sure next year is even better than 2019.
One specific event that I hope you are already planning for, RBAR is working with Neighborhood Housing Services and Habitat for Humanity on our First Annual Realtor Run for Shelter 5k, October 12, 2019. Contact the RBAR office to register, or go to www.RunForShelter5K.com Walk, run or crawl, it’s going to be an awesome event!
Outside of our Association, RBAR continues to have successful collaborations with different local organizations to improve Greater Reading/Berks County and beyond. From the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance and organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Neighborhood Housing Services, to expanded relationships with the Home Builders Association and the Center for Excellence in Local Government, RBAR continually strives to effect positive change in our local community. No better example of that exists than our relationships with local elected officials.
Speaking of elected officials, the most important date of your calendar year is quickly approaching, Election Day. A little over a month away at this point, November 5, 2019 is a day that will have long-lasting ramifications to Reading, Berks County, surrounding areas and most notably you and everyone you know. Your vote on Election Day can literally change the course of history. I realize that sounds dramatic, but you just have to look at the 2019 primary election results to see the value of even absentee votes, which significantly altered the ballot for the fall in the County Commissioner race.
How valuable is your vote? What is your voice worth? It all depends on the outcome. How important is it to elect officials that will collaborate to return Reading and Berks County to prominence? Do you like the direction the City is currently headed, do you think there are other things the County could do? Are you willing to stand up for your beliefs, use your right to vote, and then make sure to hold the winners accountable for their actions during their terms. No one candidate has all the answers. Each elected official needs the input of their constituents, whether the Recorder of Deeds or Supervisor for Heidelberg Township. However, if you do not exercise your right to vote, which will take less than 15 minutes of your time, than you not only have little ground to stand on to complain, but your are also dishonoring the sacrifice of so many for this great nation of ours.
Local election years notoriously draw the lowest voter turnouts, which confounds me because it is where we have the most true impact to the outcome. Presidential years are important, but when outcomes are tied to formulae from the electoral college,it is difficult to feel you did more than your civic duty. This year, YOUR VOTE likely could be one of a couple hundred or a few thousand to elect a person that has say over what rules and ordnances are enacted that impact you directly. Is your township creating new rules about zoning? Get out and Vote. The City putting together a Comprehensive plan to guide what they do for the next decade? Get out and Vote. The County determining rules regarding taxation and business development? GET OUT AND VOTE!
See you October 12th, and November 5th.
~Mark Mohn