The Silicon Valley Association of Realtors and other members of the real estate community congratulated the Vietnamese National Association of Real Estate Professionals (VNARP) at the installation of the organization's new president, officers and directors on Feb. 2.
KTVU Fox 2 investigative reporter Candice Nguyen served as master of ceremony. Former San Jose mayor and president and CEO of the Hispanic Foundation Silicon Valley Ron Gonzales administered the oath of office to VNARP's 2018 leadership group.
VNARP's 2018 president is Jeff Vo, senior vice president at GD Commercial. Joining his leadership team are Keith Wong (Intero Real Estate Services Silver Creek), vice president; Evan Huynh (Keller Williams Silicon City), past president; Will Nguyen (Wells Fargo Home Mortgage), treasurer; Katie Chang (Wells Fargo Home Mortgage), secretary; and board directors Tam Quach (Keller Williams Silicon City), Lan Rupf (Keller Williams Silicon City), Paige Nguyen (Metis Real Estate), Sadaf Amiri (Avery Interior Home), Thiro Lim (Network One Insurance/Bill Corley Insurance) and Larry Giang (Keller Williams Silicon City).
The reception included the special appearance of pop singer Ngoc Anh Vi and keynote speaker Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Addressing the more than 200 real estate professionals gathered at the Silver Creek Valley Country Club, Guardino spoke about the assets of the Bay Area, the challenges it faces and ways to fix them, such as support for transportation infrastructure projects to provide traffic congestion relief and maintaining jobs in the South Bay through Regional Measure 3.
RM3 is a resolution placed on the June 5 ballot in all nine Bay Area counties that calls for a sweeping $4.45 billion package of congestion relief projects. If approved by a majority of voters, these projects would be financed by a $1 increase in tolls on the Bay Area's seven state-owned toll bridges beginning Jan. 1, 2019, followed by a $1 increase in January 2022 and another $1 increase in January 2025. This would bring the toll on the Bay Bridge to $9 and to $8 on other state-owned bridges. Money generated from the toll hikes will be used to increase capacity on the Dumbarton Bridge, add BART trains and expand BART to Silicon Valley, extend Caltrain into San Francisco, fix the region's worst freeway bottlenecks, among other projects. These major projects are valuable, urgently needed investments in traffic relief, said Guardino.
Guardino also mentioned the placement of a $4 billion obligation bond on the November 2018 general election ballot to fund low-income housing development and provide home loans for veterans.
In his message to members, Vo highlighted the organization's past year achievements, which included top producer panels, seminars on flipping homes and urban development, a trade mission to Vietnam, and the "Taste of Vietnam," where members and guests enjoyed delicacy dishes from three regions of Vietnam from famous chefs and a fashion show of the Vietnamese "Ao Dai" dresses. All these programs, said Vo, allowed the association to contribute to the real estate community here and abroad.
Vo reaffirmed VNARP's commitment to values, raising higher standards of practice and conduct. "Together we have a voice in the Vietnamese community and a representation for the real estate community as a whole," said Vo. "We challenge ourselves as an organization to take on the vision and mission that can create a difference and (be) most impactful for you and our community."
Congratulating Vo from the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors were president Bill Moody and president-elect Alan Barbic.
The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 4,000 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. SILVAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in Silicon Valley.
The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.
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