There's a new factor in Lehigh Valley politics, and it's the Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors. Valley voters have received no less than four slick mailings from the LVAR-PAC. Their mailing placing a Democrat with an organized slate of Republicans was the topic of a previous post. Their second mailing for this hybrid team now identifies the team as bipartisan. An Allentown City Council candidate has also benefited from two of their mailings.Ryan Conrad, who has both an undergraduate and graduate degree in political science. became CEO of the Realtors Association this past September. Before becoming a Realtor, he worked for various elected officials in New York State. Ryan is vice president of the Township Commissioners in Lower Macungie. Look for more voting advice from your friendly neighborhood real estate professional.
It would be very interesting to see the LVAR PAC donation sheet.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lehighvalleyarea.com/content/rpac_information.htm
ReplyDeleteCan you post the other mailers that came through as you did with the previous one?
This year, the LVAR has been more actively involved in local traces. In past cycles, they have been content with handing out money to incumbents. Their voice, like any voice, is entitled to be heard, whether they support Brace or the Gang of Three.
ReplyDeleteit appears that they support the Gang of Three AND Brace. Are they running as a slate or not?
ReplyDeleteanon 9:35, they are not a slate, LVAR supports the Republican "team of 3" plus Democrat Brace.
ReplyDeleteBernie, do not assume that the LVAR represents the opinions of their membership. I know that when Conrad came to city council to support Pawlowski's home inspection law, the rank and file did not agree. i would guess the average realtor would rather not be associated with a voter recommendation.
Let the LVAR select our leaders. At least they should be concerned with property values. The bankers, lawyers and key business leaders have not served us well. I for one do not like letting the average Joe decide elections. Most people need their betters to tell them how to vote.
ReplyDeleteGet your facts straight - Conrad is not a Realtor - he is am employee of the organization. Bernie O'Hare has it right, LVAR has a right to be heard.
ReplyDeleteanon 11:23, he may not be actively involved in selling real estate, but he's a realtor, and even certified to teach real estate classes. i agree that LVAR has the right to be heard, and i have the right to point out that the poorly identified fliers are from them. in the race for county commissioners, they have now sent three pieces to independent registered voters.
ReplyDeleteOf course he has a right to be heard. Even corporations are now people with a right to be heard. I for one will not believe that corporations are people until Texas executes one!
ReplyDeletemolovinsky, you are dead wrong. Conrad is not a realtor, he only works for LVAR. to be a realtor you need a license from the state and he doesn't have one. check the real estate commission website for yourself and get the facts before making up stories. You also don't need to have a real estate license to teach a class. again, check the facts. Looking forward to you admitting you are wrong.
ReplyDeleteIs a straight republican ticket what is needed to bring some sanity to our city?
ReplyDeleteSteelbreast: flip throw away line about Texas---I guess you don't believe what is good for Goldman Sachs is good for America, do you? The pigpen will say you are red.
ReplyDeleteanon 9:20, my guess is he had a broker's license at one time and it is in escrow or inactive. i took the course and realtors exam, but never hung a license anywhere, so i also would not be listed on the website. every real estate course i ever heard of was taught by someone who had passed a brokers exam at some point. the post was about LVAR's political activism, not conrad's real estate license status.
ReplyDeleteperiodically, i need to repeat my comment policy. this is a moderated blog. i only print those comments which contribute to the dialogue. this comment feature is not a chat room. generally, i post every day, except saturday. comments submitted in the evening may not appear to early the next morning. if your comment does not appear, please take no offense, i appreciate your readership.
ReplyDeleteMM: any decent lawyer can poke holes in almost any project of this magnitude. The city has taken numerous actions each of which can and should be challenged as to process and procedure. I am confident they did not dot every eye and cross every t. There should be a legal defense fund set up to challenge the arena for the toothless foreign jocks.
ReplyDeleteSay Mac,
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you spend lots of time worrying about Goldman Sachs in addition to speculating upon how I will weigh in on any given topic but, without factoring Iron into your equations, you may, indeed, have a quite hard time getting any of your measurements to square with reality.
:)