| Mortgage Brokers in Politics
From California to Florida, mortgage brokers fight for causes October 25, 2004 By PATRICK CROWLEY |
| With this being an election year, many members of the mortgage industry are in the thick of the politics.From Florida to California, from local elections to presidential politics, mortgage brokers are active in campaigns, ballot initiatives — even protests.
Jeremy Hauser, a mortgage broker from Orange County, Calif., made national news this summer after getting into a heated argument with protesters at the Republican National Convention in New York. Hauser, a former U.S. Marine sniper who served in the first Gulf War, worked as a Republican National Committee volunteer during the August convention. He was watching a parade of more than 100,000 protesters when, according to the Associated Press, he began arguing with one of the marchers. Hauser attracted attention from the protesters because he was wearing a Bush-Cheney ’04 T-shirt. “I provided you the right to do what you do, which is free speech and protest,” Hauser reportedly said. “No,” a protester shouted back, “you provided more money for (energy companies) Unocal and Halliburton. You weren’t fighting for freedom.” A mortgage broker was also at the Democratic National Convention in Boston during late July. Linda Beckman, 51, works as a broker in Temple Terrace, Fla. According to a Republican National Committee Web site posting, she became a delegate rather than an alternate through the flip of a coin. Beckman and another delegate candidate tied during caucus voting in Florida’s 12th Congressional District. Beckman won the flip and became the delegate. In the Las Vegas area, mortgage broker Ryan Devins is running for a seat on the Clark County School Board. Devins, who won a primary earlier this year, is running with a slate of candidates dubbed “Operation Education.” His opponent is a one-term incumbent named Denise Brodsky. Devins is running on a platform to improve accountability among the district’s administration and get a better handle of finances. “It is because of my children that I am running for school trustee,” Devins wrote on his campaign’s Web site. “As a parent I know first hand the concerns that all parents share such as declining test scores, runaway spending of our tax dollars and the lack of safety in our schools. “I believe that our current school board and superintendent are out of control,” he said. “The board has abdicated its responsibilities citing ‘policy governance’ and the superintendent does as he pleases and is never held accountable. This must stop.” In southern California, mortgage broker Tom Billings is leading the campaign against a 110-room luxury hotel planned for eight acres of waterfront land on San Diego’s Balboa Peninsula. Voters will vote Nov. 2 on a ballot initiative that, if approved, would allow developer Stephen Sutherland to build the project on area that is now basically a community park. Billings is the head of Protect Our Parks, the group fighting to defeat the project, which will include units for sale and rent. “Our group is energized to move forward and defeat this project at the polls,” Billings said in a statement released by the group. “The community is behind us in protecting a public asset from being converted into a time share hotel.” The group has put up information on a Web site, conducted a letter-writing campaign to local newspapers and provided information on the issue. In Colorado, a mortgage broker was on the losing side of a fight over public policy. Jeffrey Burke, who owns his own mortgage company, led an effort to challenge the state’s telemarketing law. The law prohibits telemarketers from calling people whose number are listed in statewide phone directories. His organization, Colorado Citizens for Free Speech, argued that the law is unconstitutional and inconsistent because it allows calls by companies with established relationships with residents. It also exempts charitable and political calls. But in October, a federal judge upheld the law, saying the no-call registry met a substantial government interest and was reasonable, Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar said in a statement. “Clearly, with the (court’s) rejecting of arguments against the federal no-call law and the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to consider an appeal of that ruling, it was pretty clear that continuing a challenge to Colorado’s law would be fruitless,” Salazar said. Burke could not be reached to comment. |
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Patrick Crowley is a political reporter and columnist and former business writer for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Email Patrick at: pcrowley@enquirer.com |
