I would like to thank the following Education Committee members Yin Bihr, Chair; Shawn Tsai, Vice-Chair; Stephen Walker and David Tran for doing such a great job in planning and organizing so many education programs for our members. We had a very good attendance at our Fundamentals of Commercial Real Estate Course conducted by Mr. David Fu, Esq. on April 26, 2008. I also understand that we are going to have a 1 CE Credit Course on “RESPA” sponsored by Jon Wax, Natural Hazards Disclosures on May 8 th and a 3 CE Credit Course “Foreclosure” instructed by Joe Ramos and sponsored by Yolanda Martinez of North American Title Co. on May 29 th. I know Joe is an excellent and very knowledgeable instructor and I definitely don’t want to miss either course. Again, many thanks to the Education Committee.

I am very pleased with the wonderful appearance of our Association Office, the Real Estate Service Center and our great MLS/General meeting room. I hope our members are happy with the new seating arrangement and please drop me a note or advise me if any of you have a better idea or suggestion in any kind of new seating arrangement. We also had a chance to test our new digital projector at our last MLS meeting on April 24 th. It is really cool and wonderful. You don’t have to use a transparency any longer but can simply use any letter sized FLYER for pitching of new Listings. I would like to thank Lorraine Clark and her Office building committee members, our Association Executive Vicky Kammeraad and Jo Chastain for coordinating and doing such a great job. Thank you guys and gals.

I attended the 49 th Assembly District Budget Town Hall meeting on April 17, 2008 at the Alhambra City Council Chambers. Assemblymember Mike Eng gave us wonderful opening remarks and a very interesting closing statement. They presented the Fiscal State of California with the Governor’s proposal to close the State’s $14.5 billion budget gap by cutting General Fund, Reducing 2007-2008 K-14 education spending by $400 million, making deep cuts to Schools, Health Care and Human Services in order to balance the Budget.

Oliver Chi, City Manager, City of Rosemead; Donna M. Perez, Superintendent, Alhambra Unified School District; Chief of Police John T. Schaefer, San Marino Police Dept.; and Dr. Marie S. Torres, Alta Med Health Services Corporation discussed the Budget Impact on Local Communities. Later in the program Jean Ross, California Budget Project; Ali Le Cooper, Together for California’s Future; and Assemblymember Mike Eng discussed Budget Solutions.

To me, it was very informative and quite a learning experience. I believe it is a very important issue and we, as Californians, should be aware of California’s current Budget Deficit and how it could have a great impact on our local communities’ public services.  

It was an honor and privilege to represent our association at the 12 th Annual REALTOR® Tech & Business Expo at the Santa Anita Park on April 22, 2008 at the invitation of Arcadia Association of REALTORS®. I attended with our AE Vicky Kammeraad.  

Again, at the invitation of the Montebello District Board of REALTORS® and their President Bob Archuleta, I attended an exclusive invitation-only reception preceding the Quarterly Luncheon honoring NAR President Dick Gaylord on April 23, 2008 atthe Quiet Cannon in Montebello. I was truly honored to have my picture taken with President Gaylord, our Association Executive Vicky and my wife, Irene (photo at left). Also pictured at right is Montebello President Bob Archuleta, NAR President Dick Gaylord and myself. President Gaylord reminded all of us to visit NAR’s website at www.realtor.org and listen to his podcast recorded on 4/8/08 on Ten Tips to Boost Your Business and on 4/22/08 Navigating the New Credit Environment. We were also very excited to learn from him that NAR will be participating with a beautiful float in the 2009 Rose Parade in Pasadena to celebrate NAR’s Centennial, 100 years of Excellent Service.

I am going to miss you all at the MLS breakfast

meeting on May 15th because I will be attending NAR meetings in Washington DC from May 12 th -May 17 th. Also attending will be Association Executive Vicky Kammeraad and President-elect, Rita Chio. So, I hope to see you all on May 22 nd (Thursday) at our usual MLS meeting.

 Well, that’s all for now and hope all of you are healthy and make it a productive month in May, 2008.

Arthur A.W. Shu, 2008 President

West San Gabriel Valley Aassociation of REALTORS®, Inc.