Staffing changes made at Jefferson-Lewis, St. Lawrence Realtor boards
May 29—WATERTOWN — The Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors have made some major staff changes with the April retirement of longtime executive officer Lance Evans.
For almost 27 years, Evans handled the duties for the Jefferson-Lewis and St. Lawrence boards out of a Court Street office in Watertown.
But with Evans' retirement, the Jefferson-Lewis board is sharing services with the Ithaca Board of Relators and St. Lawrence has joined forces under a similar arrangement with the Adirondack Champlain Valley Realtors Board.
Jefferson-Lewis board president Karen Peebles noted that both her organization and the St. Lawrence board are small, so going with shared services made sense. It was also difficult to find an executive officer with the needed experience that Evans had for so many years, she said.
"I've been with the board for almost as long as Lance was," she said, adding that she joined a year after he started working for the organization.
He was hard to replace, she said.
The Jefferson-Lewis board will no longer have an executive officer working full time out of the Watertown office.
Instead, that board has arranged for contracted shared services for Sarah Wisdorf to work on the executive officer duties.
Wisdorf, the chief executive officer for the Ithaca board, will be working out of the Watertown location about three days a month and cover the responsibilities through Zoom meetings, telemessaging and other communication.
As CEO, she will oversee the daily operations of the Jefferson-Lewis board, focusing on financial and legal oversight, public relations and compliance. She will be responsible for executing the organization's strategic plan, ensuring the smooth functioning of the association, and fostering growth and development within the real estate industry in the region.
Meanwhile, the St. Lawrence board has contracted services for Mike Coughlin to work in the associated officer position, handling it on a part-time basis as he continues to head the Adirondack Champlain board as its CEO.
Jefferson-Lewis and St. Lawrence have their own governance boards. St. Lawrence closed its Canton office at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the past, the St. Lawrence board has worked with Coughlin in many capacities, so they knew him for a number of years, board president Tracy Bernard said.
"It's been an easy and seamless transition," Bernard said.
He works out of Adirondack Champlain's Plattsburgh office. Coughlin helped the Adirondack and Champlain valley boards to combine services a couple of years ago.
Wisdorf has been with Ithaca since 2022 and worked in Minnesota previously. She has worked in the real estate industry in senior management positions since 2003, with membership growth, staff management and community outreach experience. She's also a REALTOR Association certified executive and holds bachelor and master's degrees in business administration.
Her contract with Jefferson-Lewis extends to the end of the year.
The Jefferson-Lewis board will look at the arrangement in October and November "to see how it's going" to determine whether to continue with it, Peebles said.
Coughlin could not be reached for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
How to keep infections and germs from spreading at the gym
(WKBN) – If you joined a gym or plan to this summer, it's important to clean any equipment you use. Some people might not know that germs can spread this way. Doctors say you can get infections from touching skin or using shared equipment. To lower your risk, wipe down any equipment with disinfectant spray. Most gyms have spray and wipes available. It's also a good idea to shower when you get home. Dr. Donald Dumford, an infectious disease specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, warns that we should be careful of other germs, too. 'We do have to think about the fact that the gym is a shared airspace, so you do put yourself at risk for the possibility of viruses such as flu, cold viruses, COVID, RSV. So really, if you are feeling ill, if you're having a fever, if you're having a cough, consider staying home from the gym until your symptoms are improved,' he said. Dumford says if you see anything unusual on your skin, like redness, itching or swelling, it's best to see a doctor. There are different treatments you can try. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Over 70 cats, 3 dogs rescued from ‘biohazard' hoarding conditions in Ohio
72 cats and three dogs were seized from a person accused of hoarding them in two 'biohazard' houses in Ohio, according to our CBS affiliate WOIO-19 TV. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: Local man arrested on child molestation warrant after 'intensive investigation' Robocaller behind millions of illegal calls in Ohio permanently banned, attorney general announces Man with filet knife arrested after standoff in Mercer County The complaint reported that several cats were living in inhumane conditions in an Ashtabula house. On May 15, an ACAPL officer and an Astabula dog warden responded to the house and found biohazardous conditions, according to a social media post from the league. 'With urine soaked floors, and a flea infestation and the majority of the cats requiring urgent veterinary care it was decided to remove the animals,' the post said. Over 40 cats were rescued from the house. The ACAPL told WOIO-19 that many of the cats were suffering from an upper respiratory infection from the fecal matter and ammonia odor. Some of the cats were blind or only had one healthy eye, ACAPL said. Two of the cats had to get surgery to remove their entire eyeballs and optic nerve, WOIO-19 reported. While investigating the animal hoarding, authorities found a second location this week where the same person kept pets in unsanitary conditions. 28 cats and three dogs were rescued from this location. The league reported the property to the health department because conditions were 'uninhabitable for both animals and humans.' The ACAPL told WOIO-19 that these cats were in better health than those rescued from the first property. Some have already been treated and cleared for adoption, the league added. The conditions of the rescued dogs were not immediately available. 'This case has led to an overwhelming number of cats now in our care,' the league said on social media. WOIO-19 reported that the league must take all strays and animals seized by the warden due to a contract with the county. On May 20, the league posted to social media asking other rescues and shelters to help out and accept transfers. According to WOIO-19, most of the cats and kittens rescued in this investigation can't be adopted yet due to age or health. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Chicago Tribune
2 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
South Shore Line fares increasing July 1 in first jump since 2018
Fares for South Shore Line riders will increase an average of 10% on July 1 after a 4-1 vote by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District board. Gary Mayor Eddie Melton voted no Wednesday, explaining he had more questions about it before he could support it. General Manager and President Michael Noland said the fare increase comes after the railroad has depleted its savings following the COVID-19 pandemic. 'We have not had a fare increase on this RR since 2018,' he said. Planned increases were skipped when the pandemic caused ridership to plummet. As the railroad went to the Statehouse looking for additional funding, Noland said, state officials asked, 'What are you doing with respect to self-help?' The railroad has been conservative with its operating expenses and partnered with labor unions to find ways to reduce expenses and turn that into wages, he said. Still, a fare increase was needed. Noland said the fare increase will bring in about $1.25 million to $1.5 million in additional revenue annually. The fare increase is a big jump, at an average of 10%, but it's been a long time coming. The consumer price increase has gone up 'something like 35%' since 2018, he said. Future fare increases are likely, perhaps 5% every other year beginning July 1, 2027, if inflation is around 2.5% per year, he said. The railroad held five public hearings on the fare increases in April and May and solicited comments in writing and by email as well. 'We received feedback. No one ever raises their hand and says please, please, please raise our fares,' Noland said. The hearings in Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph counties didn't draw any attendees, Director of Strategic Planning and Grants Kelly Wenger said. 'We did not have a tremendous opposition to it,' Noland said. In implementing the fare increase, the railroad is eliminating its buy-one-get-one-free promotion for monthly tickets. 'We heavily discount our monthly tickets,' which have historically been the railroad's bread and butter, Noland said. 'They're still important riders to us,' but ridership trends are changing. The pandemic taught companies that employees working at home could still be productive. Fewer people working in an office five days a week means fewer riders each day. Now a lot of workers are in the office just two or three days a week, Noland said. They're not necessarily working 9 to 5 in the office, either. Some just need to be there in time for a 9:30 a.m. staff meeting and can leave earlier, affecting rush hour demand for trains. 'The monthly ticket doesn't make sense to them. They're not getting the value out of it,' Noland said. Instead, they might opt for a 10-ride or 25-ride ticket. With the new fare structure, a 10-ride ticket is discounted 10% over the single-ride rate. It previously was discounted 5%. A 25-ride ticket now will be discounted 20%, rather than 10%. The monthly ticket price is going up 10%. 'We're going to keep it. We're not going to get rid of it,' Noland said. It will be up to riders to decide which ticket best serves their needs. The railroad's overall ticket sales have jumped 32.4% for the first four months of this year, compared to the same period last year. One-way tickets are up 33.2%, and monthly tickets are up just 8%, the lowest increase of any type of ticket. 25-ride ticket sales are up 11.6% and 10-ride tickets are up 11.7%. The railroad offers reduced-price fares for senior citizens, active duty military, children under 13 and riders with disabilities. In addition, up to three children 13 and under can ride free when accompanied by a parent on weekend, holiday and off-peak weekday trains. Wenger, whose many duties include compliance officer for Title 6, which affects low-income and minority communities, said they're not adversely affected by the fare increase, based on 2024 ridership data. Hudson Lake, the one community showing a disparate impact for the new fare structure, was based on insufficient response for that community. Only one person responded to the survey. 'Hudson Lake on a good day has four riders,' Noland said. The last passenger count was three, Wenger said. 'We must have lost someone somewhere along the way.' On-time performance has improved dramatically in the past year even as more trains are operating. Weekly trains reporting on-time performance increased 142% and trains arriving within 10 minutes of scheduled arrival time are up 85%. Noland, looking at a chart on the performance increase, remarked, 'I wish my stock portfolio looked like that.' The board discussed potential impacts on ridership from external events. If the state decided to turn the Borman Expressway into a toll road, that 'likely would drive, from an economic standpoint, ridership to the South Shore Line,' Noland said. 'That shifts their mentality: Maybe you know what, I'm going to take the train,' he said. When the Dan Ryan Expressway was under construction, ridership hit an all-time high. Board chair Lyndsay Quist, who heads the Indiana Department of Transportation, said her agency did some preliminary work when the General Assembly talked this past session about tolling on the state's expressways but hasn't submitted a formal request to the federal government yet.
