2013 May Be the Year When Electronic Lockboxes Finally Take Hold Here

[Published Jan. 24, 2013, in the Denver Post and in four Jeffco weekly newspapers]

By JIM SMITH, Realtor ®

Like many front range Realtors, I have several electronic lockboxes in my closet, dating back to previous failed efforts to introduce them in this market.

Unlike elsewhere in the country, these “smart” lockboxes have never caught on in the Denver market. A few years ago, the National Association of Realtors introduced its own product called the Sentrilock, and several brokerages and individual agents invested in them, including me.

Every now and then I show a listing with one of these lockboxes, but I know many listing agents who, like me, prefer to use the older mechanical lockboxes. The only reason that this lockbox has been adopted to the extent it has is that showing agents don’t have to obtain the key card. Instead, access can be obtained by the use of numeric “one-day codes” which are issued by the showing service, and, as the term suggests, are only valid for one day. Come back the next day and your code will not open the lockbox.

A newer technology was been introduced by Supra, the company which manufactures the most common mechanical lockboxes currently in use in our market. Supra’s version can be opened using a smartphone app.

This approach has great advantages over other approaches, especially as more and more real estate agents adopt smartphones. Because the agent’s phone has internet or at least cell connectivity, the information regarding each showing can instantly be communicated to the listing agent and the seller.  One such application would be to notify the homeowner the moment that the showing agent re-locks the lockbox and has left the property.

I have been told that Sentrilock is likely to introduce a new generation of its lockbox that will use this kind of technology.  If they don’t, they risk losing market share, so I’m guessing the reports are true.

To raise public awareness of the availability of electronic lockboxes, the current version of the state-approved listing agreement requires the agent to indicate whether a mechanical or electronic lockbox will be used.  The expectation is that if an agent checks the box for a mechanical lockbox, the seller might quiz the agent on why he or she is not offering the higher security electronic lockbox.

The most promising indicator that one or the other electronic lockbox will finally take hold in our market is that the Realtor associations serving the metro area have agreed to get together this week to discuss widespread adoption of an electronic lockbox. One of the associations already offers the Sentrilock product, but, depending on Sentrilock’s future offerings, this may or may not guarantee that they will be the chosen product.

The biggest disincentive to us agents in adopting electronic lockboxes always has been and will continue to be financial. Both brands of lockboxes cost over $100 each, compared to $30 or so for the current mechanical lockboxes. In addition, there is a monthly service fee of $10 or so per agent. To lessen the initial investment, the companies who manufacture the electronic lockboxes usually offer attractive programs under which they will accept mechanical lockboxes as trade-ins during the initial implementation period.  The fact that there are competitive offerings in the electronic lockbox market suggests to me that the Realtor associations could negotiate a sweet conversion deal with the winning vendor.  We’ll see.

Although our market hasn’t exactly suffered from our failure to adopt electronic lockboxes, it will be nice to get with this technology.

The Art of Giving and Requesting Good Feedback from Real Estate Showings

[Published Jan. 17, 2013, in the Denver Post and in four Jeffco weekly newspapers]

One of the most important services a listing agent can provide his or her seller is useful feedback from each showing — but he also has little control over getting buyers’ agents to provide it.

What the listing agent can do, however, is to employ a showing service which has an effective and dependable system for requesting feedback from each showing agent.

The showing service which I — and the majority of Denver area brokerages — hire is Centralized Showing Service (CSS), a national firm which has several call centers across the country.  Like RE/MAX Alliance and Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, my firm pays CSS to provide their service free to all my agents for all their listings, and it really makes a difference, including for getting feedback.

For $35 per listing, CSS answers their phones 7 days/week, 8am to 8pm (6pm weekends), and I have never experienced a busy signal or long wait time.  (If their Denver call center is busy, the call is routed to their San Antonio or Kansas City call center.)

What I like about CSS’s feedback system is that it allows the listing agent to specify the wording and the number of times that the feedback request is sent if no response is received. The first request is sent at the end of the showing window, so that it is in the agent’s email inbox as soon as he/she returns from the showing.

The listing agent can specify whether to use a multiple choice “survey” format, or provide a box for the showing agent to provide free-form feedback. I much prefer the non-survey feedback, and think it serves the seller better. It’s also friendlier to the showing agent.

A picture of the home is included with the feedback request, which can help the showing agent to remember which home it was.

The listing agent can specify whether the seller should receive the feedback immediately or only after it is screened by the agent. I take the position that my clients can take whatever feedback is given and I don’t want to slow down the release of that feedback to them. My sellers get the feedback simultaneously with me.

I firmly believe that it is the professional responsibility of every showing agent to give feedback, and email is always the best way. I think it’s rude to call an agent before giving them a chance to respond by email.  The wording of my email requests through CSS is “Please respond to this request so I don’t have to bother you on your cell phone,” which is effective.

Agents who use a multiple-choice feedback request often ask if the price is low, high or just right. How can the agent or seller expect a useful or honest response? If the showing agent is preparing an offer, do you think they’ll tell you the price is right — or low?  And if they’re not preparing an offer, how can you expect them to do a market analysis on your listing?  As a buyer’s agent, I wait for an expression of interest in buying a listing before I look at whether the price is high, low or reasonable.

CBI Gives Priority to Gun Checks

[Published Jan. 17, 2013, in the Denver Post and in four Jeffco weekly newspapers]

To be licensed as a real estate agent, mortgage broker, or many other professions, you have to pay for fingerprinting and then pay the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) $39 to do a background check using those fingerprints.

However, when you purchase a gun, you pay the CBI nothing for the background check and — here’s the kicker — the CBI gives you priority!

Right now there is a 3-4 month wait for new real estate licensees because of the volume of gun background checks at the CBI.  Is there a compelling public policy rationale for making people seeking employment wait behind those who want to purchase a gun?

Golden Real Estate has one such agent waiting for his CBI clearance so that the Division of Real Estate will issue his license to practice real estate.  In Colorado, it’s guns over bread and butter.

 

Arvada Home Has 5 Bedrooms & Mountain View

[Published Jan. 10, 2013, in the Denver Post and four Jeffco weekly newspapers]

This home sits on a quiet knoll in Arvada, with a mountain view from the deck outside the master suite. Four bedrooms are upstairs, and a 5th bedroom is in the 75% finished basement. In addition to the 2-car garage, there is extra off-street parking both inside and outside a 9’6” wide gate. Since there are no covenants, you can park your RV either inside or outside of that gate. Outside the 12’x21’ family room with its gas fireplace is an equally large covered patio. Inside, there is hardwood flooring in every room except the kitchen, including under wall-to-wall carpeting. Open this Sunday, 1-4 p.m.

‘Above and Beyond’ Services Can Set Apart a Full-Service Real Estate Agent

[Published Jan. 10, 2013, in the Denver Post and four Jeffco weekly newspapers]

The general public thinks that all Realtors do is show homes and write contracts and collect commission checks.  After all, what more is there to the buying and selling of homes?

I’ve written before that the average real estate agent has only two or three transactions a year. What sets some of the more successful top producers apart, I’ve found, is that they find new, different and creative additional ways that they can provide value to their current and prospective clients.

Personally, I have found all sorts of things I can do to serve my clients. One of those is to have a in-house handyman as well as a list of outside professionals who can do those little (or big) things to ready a house for market, handle inspection items prior to closing, and help a buyer make improvements after closing. Examples include tiling carpeted bathrooms; replacing light fixtures, or other light electrical tasks; replacing a toilet or other light plumbing tasks; washing windows; painting; repairing drywall, etc.

A few years ago, I sold a home for a widow who was moving out of state and wanted to sell rather than move most of her furnishings. I made a slideshow of the items, with prices, put it online and sent the link to 250 neighbors for whom I had email addresses. Everything sold, and she was delighted.

Lot of agents “farm” a neighborhood, as I do, and a typical farming activity is to sponsor a garage sale. My garage sales have some extra features — I created a website, not just a flyer, showing the participating homes and listing what each home was selling. I provided this information ahead of time to neighbors so they could have first shot at their neighbors’ items. And after the sale I used my moving truck (and handyman) to collect unsold items and take them to Goodwill or Habitat for Humanity — and provided donation receipts to each homeowner.

Last Saturday I took a couple to see models at a new home community — and then introduced them to a client who had bought a home in that community to see if he was happy and if there were any problems with his house.

I don’t believe agents should also be mortgage brokers, but it is important to understand the variety of loan programs and have a stable of loan officers with different areas of expertise from first-time home buyers with only $1,000 down payment to conventional or reverse mortgage programs.

As a “newbie,” I did not think experience mattered much, but it has, in fact, brought me more and better ways to serve my clients.

Buyer Activity Remains High Despite Reduced Inventory

Here's my latest calculations of buyer activity by locale:

And here are the calculations by price range:

Don’t Believe Reports that the Mortgage Interest Deduction Might Be Eliminated

[Published Jan. 3, 2013, in the Denver Post and in four Jeffco weekly newspapers]

There is continued talk in D.C. about including the mortgage interest deduction (“MID”) among those deductions and “loopholes” that might be eliminated. Rarely, however, is it pointed out that the mortgage interest deduction, as it exists currently, is already an example of progressive taxation.

In other words, the MID favors the lower income tax brackets over the higher income brackets.  Congress will never, in my opinion, eliminate the mortgage interest deduction entirely. At most it will change the amount of mortgage interest that can be deducted — and the deductibility of mortgage interest on second homes.

Currently, one can only deduct the interest on the first million dollars of home acquisition debt on up to two residences. Up to $100,000 of home equity debt qualifies for tax deductibility.  Of course, the rules are far more complicated than that, so do a web search, as I did, for “mortgage interest deduction rules” to learn the finer points of this tax deduction’s rules.

The “bottom line” is that the mortgage interest deduction is not an all-or-nothing affair.  It is inconceivable that Congress would vote to eliminate this tax “loophole” but rather make it more progressive than it already is.  Lower and middle income taxpayers can count on it not being eliminated for them. Any adjustment of the rules will impact only higher income taxpayers.

This doesn’t mean that interest on investment property is in danger of losing its deductibility. Interest is a business expense when it applies to investment property and is deductible in and of itself on Schedule E, where you list your rental income and deduct your operating expenses — including interest on the financing of your investment.

Furnace Efficiency Standards to Rise in May 2013

[Published Jan. 3, 2013, in the Denver Post and in four Jeffco weekly newspapers]

A “standard” forced air furnace nowadays is 80% efficient, but next May “standard” will mean 90% because that’s when no furnace lower than 90% may be sold in “northern tier” states like Colorado. (You can buy a house with an 80% efficient furnace after May, but when that furnace needs replacing, you must replace it with a minimum 90% efficient furnace.)

You can recognize a 90% or higher efficiency furnace because it has a PVC flue that goes laterally outside the house instead of a metal flue going vertically through the roof. These furnaces also have PVC air intake pipes to bring combustion air directly from outdoors.

 

This picture shows a 90% efficient furnace installed in one of my listings. The white PVC pipe on the left brings fresh outside air into the combustion chamber. The bigger PVC pipe on the right is the exhaust flue. It’s because the furnace extracts so much heat from the heat source that the flue can be plastic instead of metal.

Currently, 90% efficient furnaces cost more than “standard” furnaces, but once these furnaces are mass produced as the new standard, we can expect that the cost will be reduced substantially.

55.5 cents/mile tax deduction is a windfall for Volt owners like me!

[First 2 paragraphs published Jan. 3, 2013, in the Denver Post and in four Jeffco weekly newspapers]

The IRS allows taxpayers to deduct 55.5 cents per mile for business use of one’s personal vehicle. The deduction is not affected by how efficient your vehicle is, so I am really benefitting from my purchase of a Chevy Volt.

I have driven almost 19,000 business miles in 2012, so I will get to deduct about $10,500 on my federal tax return in April. About half those miles were driven in a Lexus hybrid, costing me $1,144 for gas. The rest of the miles were driven in my Volt, costing me only $145 for gas (and no oil changes). The electricity consumed by the Volt would have cost me another $235 if it weren’t generated by the solar panels on my home and office. Being able to deduct 55.5 cents/mile is a nice windfall, and a nice reward for buying the Volt!

As mentioned in a previous post, I'll also get to claim $13,500 in tax credits (half on my federal return, half on the state return) for buying this amazing car.  

 

Here's another unexpected, though minor, windfall... Rita and I shop at King Soopers and, like other customers, get 10 cents off per gallon for each $100 we buy in groceries.  With my Lexus hybrid, that reward rarely built up to 20 cents per gallon because of all the gas I was buying.  Now that I'm buying only 8 gallons of gas once a month, Rita is getting 40, 50 and sometimes 60 cents off per gallon when she buys 20 gallons for her car! 

Denver Metro Association of Realtors Takes Plunge Into Rating of Realtors

[Published Dec. 27, 2012, in the Denver Post and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers]

There is a long and dismal history of online rating of real estate agents.  With so many of us chasing so few transactions — the average agent only has about three per year — we agents eagerly search for ways to stand apart from our colleagues. 

Many agents boast about their “Five Star Real Estate Agent” rating from a prominent Denver magazine. However, you won’t find either the program or the agents on the magazine’s website. Why? Because it’s not the magazine’s editorial product, but rather an advertising feature in which agents pay different rates for different size write-ups.  (Basic listings are free.)  Once published, agents routinely claim they were “named a Five Star Agent” by the magazine.  But that’s not quite true.

Years ago, I lost a listing in Wheat Ridge to another agent.  The seller cited the agent’s Five-Star rating by that magazine as one of the reasons for selecting her. Since I hadn’t heard of this agent, I checked the MLS for her transactions over the past three years.  She had had no listings and had only had three buyer transactions in the last three years, yet she had been selected as a “Five-Star” agent. I was stunned.

If you Google the phrase “rating real estate agents” you’ll find many websites claiming to recommend highly rated agents.  Since I know the top agents in my area, it is amusing to search on sites like Zillow or Angie’s List for my area’s “best” agents.  On Angie’s List, the agent with the most reviews when I searched “Golden” had 10 glowing reviews, all dated November and December 2012, but on the MLS I found only two sold listings in the last 12 months, both of them in Park County, and nothing in the metro area.

On Zillow, I didn’t even recognize the names of most of the top 20 agents listed for Golden, and didn’t find myself or the three other top listing agents for Golden among the top 50 agents listed.

Many websites that help you find the “best” agent in a geographic area are really just referral sites.  They sell your contact info to the first agent they can find who will pay for the lead, usually asking 30% of the commission earned by the agent.  I used my wife’s name to test one such website, and she got a quick referral to an agent in Denver who has been on the buyer side of 15 sales in the last 12 months but not one in Jeffco, much less Golden. (When that agent spoke with Rita on the phone, he claimed that he was one of Golden’s top real estate agents!)

I had given up on the idea of online rating of real estate agents, but last month the Denver Metro Association of Realtors (DMAR) was invited to participate in the Realtor Excellence Program, or REP.  DMAR is the first and, so far, only Realtor association in Colorado to sign up for REP.  Starting in 2013, members like me will be able to use REP to send post-closing surveys to every buyer and seller client and have the results appear on the website www.RatedAgent. com. If you want to see what the ratings will look like, go to that website and search in California, where it’s already up and running.

The biggest brokerages in DMAR have already signed on to REP, and my company will definitely sign on, too.

The way it will work is that on the 15th of each month, an email survey will be sent to every client who had a closing in the previous month. If no email address is provided, a printed survey and return envelope will be mailed to the client. We won’t be able to exclude any client — all will be surveyed.

Both the agent and his (or her) broker will be notified of each returned survey, and once more than one response is received, an overall rating (with comments) will be posted on www.RatedAgent.com, unless the agent opts out.

In addition to providing a useful — and accurate — guide for consumers, REP could help us agents improve our professionalism thanks to the detailed feedback received from our past clients.

This Week's Featured New Listing - 5-Bedroom Lakewood Ranch With Oversized Detached Garage

 

7520 W. Oregon Drive, Lakewood CO 80232

This modest-looking home is a real gem. It has three main-floor bedrooms with hardwood floors and new paint, plus two more bedrooms (non-conforming) in the fully finished basement.  The oversized (20' x 30') 2-car garage has both 110 and 220-volt electric service, and there's a 10' x 16' storage shed with 110V service in the spacious backyard.  No fixer-upper here -- this home is fresh, clean, and ready to live in, with no deferred maintainenance. Take a narrated video tour at www.YouTube.com/jimsmith145, then call your agent for Jim Smith at 303-525-1851 for a private showing. Buyer gets free use of moving truck and free moving boxes, even if you have your own agent. Full info available at http://www.jimsmithrealtor.com/ListNow/Property.aspx?PropertyID=2246677.  Priced to sell at only $200,000.

Santa and his HOA

[My HOA management company has a sense of humor. Our HOA manager sent this in an email today.]

NORTH POLE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION

c/o Mr. B.A. Humbug

Glacial Management Company

December 21, 2010 

Dear Mr. Claus:

We are instructed by the Board of Directors to inform you of the following violations:

Your sleigh is a recreational vehicle, which is prohibited by the covenants. When we told you to move it from your yard, we clearly did not intend for you to place it on your roof. Please remove it from your premises.

Red and green colors on your house clash with the common scheme of the neighborhood. You must choose colors from our approved color list and submit an application for repainting to the Architectural Review Committee.

You are feeding wild animals which appear to be diseased. The sickest is the one with the shiny red nose. Some would even say it glows. You must discontinue this practice immediately, or we will call animal control.

You are storing toys and games in a huge canvas sack in your yard. Be advised that all outdoor storage must be approved by the Architectural Review Committee, and must be of the same style and finish as your house.

It appears that you are operating a day care center and/or workshop in violation of the CCRs. Through the fence, we hear the sound of laughing, playing games and shouting out with glee. There are numerous small persons on your property and the clatter and activity is disruptive.

The amount of mail you are receiving exceeds what will fit in your architectural approved mailbox, so you must make arrangements with the postal service for alternate delivery at a post office box or a business address.

You have made unauthorized modifications to your home which allow you to enter and exit through the chimney. You must submit an architectural request for your new entry, including evidence that this modification meets all state and local codes and is in harmony with other homes.

You have been observed making a list and checking it twice, finding out who is naughty or nice. You have no authority to do that, and it is divisive. It is the function of the Compliance Committee to determine who is naughty or nice.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. If you do not comply within ten days, we will refer these violations to our attorney.

Respectfully,

North Pole Homeowners Association

Fannie Mae's Underwriting Rules Are Driving Buyers to Credit Unions

[Published Dec. 20, 2012, in the Denver Post and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers]

Credit Unions are too often overlooked by buyers as a place to obtain a home mortgage, but they are becoming increasingly attractive — in part because of the underwriting nightmare created by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

I have written in the past about how most loans are sold to Fannie and Freddie, and if the lender’s underwriter fails to meet those entities’ underwriting guidelines, the lender could be forced to buy back the mortgage. Buying back just one big mortgage can put a small lender out of business, because they must sell their loans to free up capital to make new loans.

As a result, the underwriters at mortgage companies commonly make absurd demands on their clients to meet the absurd demands of Fannie/Freddie underwriters, such as to document every deposit to their checking account, no matter how small.  A client told me that he was asked to document a $50 deposit to his account from several months ago. Can't blame the underwriter for making the request -- if Fannie Mae found in a post-closing audit that this hadn't been documented property, they could make the lender buy back the loan.

Here’s where credit unions provide a refreshing change — that’s because, typically, they make what are called "portfolio" loans, meaning that they hold their loans instead of selling them to someone else. Thus, they are freed from that underwriting tyranny and can use that rare commodity — common sense. They are non-profit, too. They deserve buyers’ consideration -- and are getting it.

2013 Brings Big Change in How Inspection Issues Are Handled in Contracts

[Published Dec. 20, 2012 in the Denver Post and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers]

Every January, real estate professionals need to familiarize themselves with changes in the state-approved real estate contracts and forms. For 2013, the biggest change will be in how inspection objection and resolution are handled.

Until now, we have all been taught that the inspection notice is not part of the contract. Thus, when resolution of inspection issues involves a price adjustment or a concession by the seller, that resolution has to be implemented through an amendment to the contract.  And that amendment never indicates why the price adjustment or concession is being made — for example, because some major defect was not repaired by the seller.

Starting in January, the inspection resolution document (which will no longer be part of the inspection objection notice) will be considered part of the contract.

When real estate professionals first heard about the Real Estate Commission’s desire to make the inspection notice part of the contract, the industry rose as one in protest.

We were primarily concerned that the inspection notice would now have to be shown to appraisers and underwriters and might kill some transactions. Many lenders joined our protest, saying, “we don’t want to know!”

However, according to attorney Kent Jay Levine, analyzing the form for a local real estate school, “The lender does not need to receive the items that the Buyer wanted to be fixed if the Seller did not agree to do the work. However, if there is a resolution between the parties, whether by repairs performed by Seller, an adjustment to the Purchase Price or a credit from Seller to Buyer, the Buyer will need to disclose this to the lender.”

Indeed, only the Inspection Resolution form has the following note just above buyer’s signature: “This document amends the Contract. Buyer must provide a copy of this Inspection Resolution to Buyer’s Lender.” The Inspection Objection form is now considered merely a “notice” to seller and is signed only by the buyer.  Even if the seller agrees to make every repair listed in this “notice to correct,” this must be embodied in the Inspection Resolution form, which then becomes part of the contract.

Even if the buyer submits the full inspection report with his objection notice, that document (which could scare an underwriter) does not get attached to the resolution agreement and therefore is not part of the contract and is not submitted to lender.

Given these clarifications, I think that both real estate agents and loan officers can relax.

Inspection Issues Bring Second Round of Negotiation Between Buyer & Seller

[Published Dec. 13, 2012, in the Denver Post and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers]

Getting a home under contract is only the beginning of the negotiation process between buyer and seller. After the buyer has had the home professionally inspected, a whole new round of negotiations can begin.

Ideally, the seller will acknowledge the problems identified by the buyer and agree to fix them, but often that is not the case.

Like most active real estate agents, I have been on both sides of this drama, and it really helps if the agent for the other party — whether buyer or seller — is also experienced at negotiating inspection issues. Why?  Because the buyer and seller in any transaction need guidance on what is and is not a reasonable inspection demand.

Health and safety issues top the list of items that the seller should be expected to address. Examples could be anything electrical; gas leaks; radon levels over 4 pCi/L; clogged sewer lines; plumbing leaks; dirty or faulty forced air furnaces; hot water heaters that are obviously beyond their rated life span; rotted or cracked trusses or joists (such as on a deck); or certain foundation issues.

The professional inspector, who charged the buyer $300-400 for his report (plus $100 for radon testing and another $100 for a sewer scope when appropriate), wants the buyer to think that this was the best money he has spent because of the value of the repairs that his report might produce for the buyer. The defects listed can be very long.

Only once have I seen a buyer’s agent write in the inspection notice that “Seller shall correct all the items in the attached inspection report.”  That is simply not reasonable.  The buyer’s agent should work with the buyer to identify only those issues which are particularly important and ignore the ones that the buyer can take care of after closing.

The seller, upon receiving the Notice to Correct, can do one of several things: 1) accept all demands; 2) accept some and refuse others; 3) offer a price reduction or monetary concession in lieu of making certain repairs; or 4) refuse the buyer’s demands altogether.  The last response could signal that the seller has a back-up offer and is trying to get the buyer to terminate the contract, which the seller cannot do. The buyer's only options at this point are to let the contract die (and get earnest money back) or withdraw the Notice to Correct and proceed with the contract.  Choices 2,3 and 4 will be expressed in what’s called a “Seller’s Alternative Resolution.”  At this point, the buyer can accept seller’s response or begin negotiation. If the two parties don’t reach agreement, the contract terminates and the buyer gets his earnest money back. It is in this process that an agent’s negotiating skills are put to the greatest test.  Personally, I enjoy that part of my job.

Bringing Democracy to Jeffco's Board of County Commissioners

[Published Dec. 6, 2012, in the Denver Post and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers]

     I had a chance to sit down with Jeffco Commissioner-elect Casey Tighe last week, and we discussed an important issue which is nothing less than bringing democracy to the Board of Commissioners. There are three commissioners, each representing a third of the county, but each is elected at large — that is, by the entire county.

     Why aren’t they elected only by the residents of the district they will supposedly represent? There are two major consequences of electing all the Commissioners at large. The first is that each commissioner does not need to worry about being accountable to his (or her) district. John Odom was the perfect example of this, because his “district” was Golden, which is adamantly against completing the Beltway. If he answered only to his district constituents, do you think he’d have been so pro-Beltway?

      The second impact of the current at-large voting is that potential candidates are discouraged from running because they have to campaign across the entire county instead of just in their own district.  I suspect that’s why the Democrats failed to find a candidate to run against Faye Griffin this year.  She ran unopposed.

      The current board, when asked, wouldn’t even consider doing away with at-large voting or enlarging the board to five Commissioners. "We don't have the office space for two more commissioners," was the response.  Casey Tighe told me he’ll make sure the Board considers these proposals and bring more democracy to Jefferson County. Adding two more commissioners does cost money, but changing from at-large to district voting should cost nothing.