From the President

CAA Board Meeting and the PAC Report

by Eric Andresen

The California Apartment Association (CAA) held its regular Board Meeting on September 18 and 19 in beautiful Monterey. At these meetings, the members of CAA not only affirmed our commitment to excellence in representing California rental property owners but also emphasized our desire to step up to the “next level” in the services that we provide to our members across the State, such as educational opportunities and legislative representation in Sacramento. Over the last three years, CAA has clearly become the leader in representing income property owners throughout California. CAA itself has grown dramatically during this time, doubling the size of its staff, making a commitment to add a third full-time in-house lobbyist and improving its education and legislative departments. This enhanced capability will allow CAA to maintain its position as industry leader and to provide even greater opportunities and benefits to its members.

At this past board meeting, CAA elected next year’s officers and directors. Neveo Mosser and I will continue to represent SFAA in our positions as officers of the association—Neveo as Secretary, and I as Vice President and Chair of the Government Affairs Committee. Four members of SFAA also hold seats on CAA’s Board of Directors: Jim Laufenberg, Jon Bumgarner, Dave Wasserman and Marc Wilson. Each of these volunteers needs and deserves your support and thanks for the efforts they are making on your behalf.

Speaking of support, we still are not getting anywhere near enough financial support for our own Political Action Committee or the CAA Political Action Committee. Through these accounts, we are able to wage our battles against appalling legislation and against representatives who do not support our industry. To become more proactive and improve the overall atmosphere here and in Sacramento, we have to step up our efforts, but that will only happen if the contributions increase. Contributing to these two PACs is imperative for every property owner and must become a routine operating expense every year.

As many of you should know, Senator Tom Torlakson’s Security Deposit Legislation has been signed by the Governor and will become law on January 1, 2004. We’ll be presenting guidance and more information about this new law within the next few months, but the disappointing aspect is that we probably could have completely stopped this bill if we’d only had more financial support from CAA members. With sufficient funding, we would already have had a substantial impact on the makeup of the state legislature and would have been far more successful in garnering support for our opposition to this bill. Our failure to defeat it stems primarily from inadequate member support. This trend has to stop if we’re going to continue to grow and have a greater impact on the legislation that affects our industry.

With steady growth, CAA will continue to maintain its role as an industry leader. We should all be proud to be members of CAA and, of course, of the SFAA and should take the responsibility of supporting these organizations quite seriously. So, look at what you’ve donated this year and plan to double it next year. If you didn’t contribute to both PACs this year, you should be so embarrassed that you will sit right down and write a couple of substantial checks before you even turn this page. Active participation in our industry’s political and legislative action is no longer an option, it is mandatory. Please make sure you do your part.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the SFAA or the San Francisco Apartment Magazine. In addition to serving as the current President of the SFAA, Eric is also the Vice President of Political Affairs for the PPMA and is the original author of the PPMA Residential Tenancy Agreement. Mr. Andresen will serve as the Vice President of the California Apartment Association in 2004 and he is extensively involved in other industry organizations here in San Francisco and at the state level. He owns and operates West Coast Property Management and West Coast Property Maintenance Companies. He can be reached at Eric@WCPM.com.