ECAR plunges into politics

One of the best ways Florida’s Realtors can help the economy is by supporting political candidates who will help the economy, says Cliff Long, the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors’ government affairs director.

“The best way to ensure economic growth and the interests of small and large business owners is to affect who is in office,” Long, who started his job a year ago, told The Log. “We have deemed it necessary to ensure that we have the right people in office. If they’re wrong in their decision making, it can hurt everyone ... We’re looking for people who have a vision, people who have a history of making decisions, who are electable, and people who are open to hearing what other people have to say.”

Long cut his teeth in politics as the Northwest Florida representative for Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, for which he received a Davis Productivity Award from Florida TaxWatch. The awards recognize state employees who save costs, increase revenue and benefits citizens and the private sector, according to Florida TaxWatch’s Web site.

“I had an opportunity to work with many elected officials regularly,” Long said, “and built many strong relationships at the state, county and city level and some of the smaller municipalities. I learned of the opportunity at ECAR to work with many of the same people I was already working with and I jumped at the opportunity.”

Long added that he enjoys working with Realtors: “They are a very professional, driven group of individuals. I also enjoy working and meeting with men and women who want to make a difference.”

Long said ECAR intends to work at state, county and city level, evaluating candidates; ECAR’s Public Policy Committee will interview as many candidates as possible, and when it reaches consensus on the best candidate for a particular position, will submit the name to the association’s board.

Long said the 2010 primary will probably be the first election where ECAR has a chance to weigh in. ECAR also sponsored a Valparaiso Town Hall meeting this month on the F-35 jets relocating to Eglin Air Force Base, focusing discussion on real-estate concerns such as property values, property rights, appraisal concerns and encroachment.

One of the things he’s learned in his new job, Long said, is that “local politics is night and day different from state,” where candidates’ success can be shaped by “where a person’s from, who their family is, what they’re part of” — that is, local groups such as Rotarians or TaxWatch — and their personal finances.

At the state level, Long said, personal wealth can help but “it’s PACs away!”

Mary Anne Windes, ECAR’s president-elect, told The Log that if ECAR talks, elected officials will listen: “One of the things we were told again and again, both in Tallahassee and in Washington, D.C., was that it’s their belief (and we concur) that it will take the real estate market to bring everything else in the entire economy around ... Thus we had remarkable reception at all levels.”