Realtors Trade Group Buys Out Top Lobbyist, Ending 11-Year Tenure

In the midst of a heated legislative campaign, the housing industry's most influential trade group and its chief lobbyist have parted ways.

The National Association of Realtors bought out the remaining two years on the contract of Stephen D. Driesler, its senior vice president of government affairs for 11 years.

Mr. Driesler, 50, said goodbye to his co-workers at an office party Friday. On Monday he and his wife prepared to spend a month on the South Pacific island of Bora Bora.

His immediate agenda, he said, is "working on my tan, working on my scuba diving, reading a lot." He said he left the association on amicable terms.

Announcing the news to the trade group's staff last month, Terrence McDermott, executive vice president, said Mr. Driesler "will be leaving to pursue other opportunities."

Mr. McDermott, who assumed the top staff job at the group in September, said the search for Mr. Driesler's successor is expected to take 60 to 90 days.

The trade group-along with the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Home Builders-is in the thick of a campaign to build support on Capitol Hill for the Clinton administration's proposal to expand the FHA mortgage insurance program. They are up against two powerful lobbies-private mortgage insurers and Fannie Mae - and observers say the outcome is too close to call.

Mr. Driesler would not comment on why he was leaving in the middle of a legislative battle. "I'm not the person who can address that," he said in an interview Monday. "When new leadership comes in the organization, there's a desire to put your stamp. That's a right, a prerogative of new leadership."

Mr. McDermott is said to be revamping the group's operations. One trade group source said Mr. McDermott is "pretty much applying corporate philosophy to the whole outfit-creating a more efficient operation, getting the fat out."

Both the home builders' and mortgage bankers' trade groups have had high-profile staff changes in the past year and a half, after years of apparent stability. Warren Lasko, the Mortgage Bankers Association's top staff member, stepped aside last year for Paul Reid, a former mortgage banker.

The National Association of Home Builders fired its top lobbyist, Robert Bannister, in a snafu related to ads against the flat tax during the 1996 presidential campaign that irritated powerful Republicans like House Majority Leader Richard Armey.

Mr. Driesler leaves a lobbying shop that is admired for quickly mobilizing members to write, call, and e-mail lawmakers on Capitol Hill. It was recently ranked 11th by Fortune magazine on a list of Washington's top 25 lobbying organizations, which included powerhouses like the American Association of Retired Persons and the National Rifle Association.

Mr. Driesler spoke Monday about how technology has changed the grass roots aspect of lobbying.

"When I first got to NAR, to do a call for action we had to rely on mail" to alert Realtors of issues, he said. But that was a slow and expensive way to communicate. Now, fax and e-mail have made calls to action instantaneous, he said.

Mr. Driesler said he expects to return to the lobbying business after a hiatus.

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