Announcements

The Zone Initiative Project

By Richard C. Pfeiffer, Jr.
Columbus City Attorney

Concerned about public nuisances in your neighborhood? Concerned about property not being kept up to the City's housing, building, zoning or safety codes? Is street prostitution a problem in your neighborhood? Is your neighborhood being tagged by graffiti? Is there a liquor permit holder who is not maintaining his or her business pursuant to the standards of a responsible permit holder?

With funding help from Columbus City Council members President Michael Mentel, President Pro Tem Kevin Boyce, Maryellen O'Shaughnessy, Charleta Tavares, Priscilla Tyson, Andrew Ginther and Hearcel Craig, I have created a team of five attorneys who will work on an effort we call The Zone Initiative Project. What is it?

The Columbus Division of Police has geographically divided the City into five Police Zones. To each Zone I have assigned an attorney whose responsibility it is to be in touch with the police officers, code enforcement officers, health department inspectors, fire fighters, area commissions and civic associations in the Zone to determine how we can use the law and the courts to address and attempt to remedy persistent problems in the Zone. This Project has existed for some months. Most recently, the Project closed down an establishment in Franklinton called Downtown Dolls, an establishment which created significant secondary negative effects on the neighborhood, to include two homicides.

The City Attorney's website, http://www.columbuscityattorney.org/Civil/Nuisance.aspx, provides information on the five zones as well as the pictures and contact information for the attorneys assigned to each zone. Please contact me or the Zone Attorney for your area if you have a concern that needs addressed.

Submitted May 15, 2008 by Richard C. Pfeiffer, Jr., Columbus City Attorney, 90 West Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215; (614) 645 6904; rcpfeiffer@columbus.gov

Watch for you new R-Guide

Your 2008 CBR membership directory -- the R-Guide -- is scheduled to mail in July. As a benefit of membership, each member of the Columbus Board of REALTORS® receives a copy of the full CBR membership roster annually. If you haven't received your R-Guide by August 1, please contact Lenora Moore (614) 475-4000 x253.

Do you give back to your community?

CBR's Spotlight on Community Service award recognizes members quarterly who are involved in their communities in a variety of ways. This award was not designed for the outstanding contributor but to acknowledge the average REALTOR® who donates their time and energy to improving their community. Our second quarter 2008 awardees are spotlighted on page 59. Click here for the application. Please nominate yourself or someone you know. Applications will be reviewed next on August 1.

CBR does not share, sell or trade member email addresses!

CBR has had numerous contacts from members concerned that we sell or give out member email addresses. This is not true.

We have always had a policy that forbids the board from providing member email addresses even to members.

The `Find a REALTOR®' function available at the CBR web site provides the public with your office address and contact information (including email and web addresses). However, the results pages designed to provide only one contact record at a time specifically to impede scraping of the data in bulk.

Now, this does not prevent someone from looking up members one at a time and getting your email address (which would be very time consuming). But it's that or not displaying the information. And our understanding is that the purpose of a `Find a REALTOR®' function is to provide the public with a way to find and contact you.

Last month, the CBR Directors approved a formal Membership Privacy and Security Policy. If you would like to read this document, click here.

CBR 100-Year Anniversary Memorabilia Exhibit

During the last 100 days of the year and to wrap up our 100-year anniversary celebration, the Columbus Board of REALTORS® will host an exhibit of member real estate memorabilia. If you have any real estate items that you would like included in the exhibit, please bring them to the Board. Please direct questions to Marque Bressler (614) 475-4000 x236. 

Franklin County Board of Elections Recruiting Poll Workers

In anticipation of a record voter turnout for the Presidential election, Tuesday, November 4, 2008, the Franklin County Board of Elections is inviting CBR Members to work the polls. The Board of Elections will need 5,000 individuals to work the polls that day. Poll workers earna minimum of $123 ($108 for Election Day service and $15 for training).

Requirements to serve at the polls:

• Be a U.S. citizen and registered to vote in Franklin County
• Attend a three hour training course offered during October
• Have transportation to the polls
• Work from 5:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Election Day

Anyone interested in participating are asked to call the Franklin County Board of Elections at 614-462-5393 or register online at http://vote.franklincountyohio.gov/boe by October 6, 2008.

Also, if you are planning to work the polls, you may not be stationed in your own precinct on Election Day, so you are urged to vote absentee beginning September 30. Please remember to tell us the name of the firm you are representing so that we can recognize your  employer with a thank you ad in the Columbus Dispatch after the election.

What's new in the CBR library?

On your next visit to the Board, stop by the CBR Falco B. Smith Library to see what's new. To help you identify our newest items, we now have a shelf labeled "New in the Library". Currently featured on the shelf are "Top Performance" by Zig Ziglar and "Doing the Right Thing' by Deborah H. Long.

We also have created a new library category entitled Client Information (CL), which will feature loads of information on working with clients.

The Board has quite an extensive real estate library, but we are always looking to expand our collection and you can help by becoming a solicitor for the Library. When attending a seminar, introduce yourself as a member of the CBR and request a book donation for the library. All gifts and contributors will be acknowledged in the In Contract magazine.

Also, if you have any suggestions of items needed in the Library or would like to donate a gift, please call Lucy Hadley, (614) 475-4000 x240 or Michelle McCormick (614) 783-5555.

Google Street View

Google Street View is a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth that provides 360° panoramic street-level views and allows users to view parts of selected cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas at ground level. When it was launched on May 25, 2007, only five cities were included. It has since expanded to more than 40 U.S. cities, and includes the suburbs of many, and in some cases, other nearby cities.

Google Street View displays photos that were previously taken by a camera mounted on an automobile, and can be navigated using either the arrow keys on the keyboard or by using the mouse to click on arrows displayed on the screen. Using these devices, the photos can be viewed in different sizes, from any direction, and from a variety of angles. Lines that are displayed along the street that is shown indicate the direction followed by that street. You can use it to:

• View street level photographs
• Take virtual walks: pan, rotate and zoon
• Explore cityscapes, landmarks, points of interest
• Find shops, restaurants, parks, hotels and more
• View listings (in some cases) or neighboring areas