I am excited about the opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors of the Marin Association of REALTORS®. Over the past few years, I have served on a number of committees at the association, most recently as the Chair of the Local Candidate Recommendation Committee. However, not until the spring of 2011 while attending the CAR conference in Sacramento, did I see the full value of the association. It was an exciting experience and inspired me to pursue a leadership position with MAR.
As a broker-associate with a small boutique firm in Marin, I see our industry in a time of change. By integrating technology into our well-established service industry, I believe that the way we connect, build and maintain a client base is in a state of change. I look forward to being a part of molding this change as a member of the MAR board.
Marin is home; I have lived here since 1976 and am a graduate of Marin Catholic (1990). Currently, I live in Fairfax with my wife, Kendal, and our daughter, Violet. I love this county; I love my career as a REALTOR® and am thrilled to participate as a member of the MAR board.
Erika has been a member of MAR, CAR and NAR for the past 8 years. Coming from the high energy high tech business in the Silicon Valley, she combines her technology skills with traditional real estate practices to elevate her client’s real estate experience. By serving on the Board and on the Education Committee at MAR, her hope is that the future of MAR will foster REALTOR® collaboration to enhance best practices among it’s members which will ultimately result in better serving clients, property owners and the greater community.
Erika lives in San Rafael with her husband and two pug dogs. Her hobbies include trail running on Mt. Tam, cooking for family and friends and traveling. She also enjoys community events that serve others.
Margaret Deedy was appointed to serve an unexpired term as MAR Treasurer in 2012 and was elected to serve as treasurer in 2013, a position she also held in 1989. She served several years in the late 80’s and 90’s on MAR’s Board of Directors, committees and as a CAR director prior to her service as MAR president in 1991. Currently, she serves on the Budget & Finance and Governmental Affairs.
Margaret was raised in Marin, earned a B.A. in political science and minor in international business and has been practicing real estate full time since 1978. She earned her broker’s license in 1981 and has earned several designations including Certified Real Estate Specialist (CRES), Graduate REALTOR® Institute (GRI) and Senior’s Real Estate Specialist (SRES). Her professional affiliations have included Board of Directors of College of Marin Alumni, member of Marin General Foundation Board, Rotary Manor Board, Marin Economic Commission, Corte Madera Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and College of Marin Foundation Board of Directors.
Margaret Deedy is a REALTOR® with the Coldwell Banker, Greenbrae office. She was awarded MAR’s distinguished service award (1999) and REALTOR® of the Year award (1993), and was inducted into the Women’s Council of REALTORS® Hall of Fame (Marin).
Kathleen Freitag has been a REALTOR® member of the Marin Association of REALTORS® (MAR) since 1990 and is serving her third year on the MAR Board. She is a Novato Leadership graduate (1994), and past chair of the Novato Brokers’ meeting. She has a Masters in Business (MBA), University of San Francisco, a Bachelors of Science (BS) and Honors Graduate of State University of New York at Stony Brook. Kathleen is a member of the American Association of University Women and a volunteer religious education teacher at St. Anthony’s.
Kathleen is a REALTOR® with the Novato office of Frank Howard Allen.
Jill Hill has been a member of MAR for over 30 years. She served on MAR’s Board in 2004 and 2005 and has served on both the Education and Community Service Committees. She earned the designations Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) and Senior’s Real Estate Specialist (SRES). She was also recognized by MAR as the 2007 REALTOR® of the Year.
Prior to real estate Jill was in sales and marketing to retailers and was a high school teacher. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Ohio University. She participates in Habitat for Humanity, and was a member of the Family Works Board for nearly 10 years.
Jill Hill is a REALTOR® with the Greenbrae office of Coldwell Banker.
I live in San Anselmo with my wife and 2 kids, my oldest attending Brookside. We spend a lot of time outdoors, and I have volunteered with many of Marin’s land managers to help maintain the beauty we all enjoy.
I spent over 15 years cooking professionally, with a focus on hotel management. That career took me on a tour of the Western States, briefly in Ireland, then to San Francisco via a 12-month “layover” in Utah. I gained my real estate license in 2005, after leaving the hospitality business in 2004.
I see the future of our business having a foundation built on traditional methods, balanced with the tools and technology of our day and age. Whether it is social media, online business forums, education through webinars, maintaining a blog, or the latest organizational app, these tools have proven to be powerful and widely used.
I am honored to continue my service on the Marin Association of REALTORS® Board and I look forward to doing my part to help each of us grow and succeed.
Yoko Kasai is a Partner/Owner of Front Porch Realty Group, a boutique real estate firm based in Marin. After graduating from Saint Mary’s College, she spent 10 years in the Hospitality business before transitioning into real estate in 2004 which she loves. She has served on MAR’s Education committee for the past two years and previously was on the Community Service committee. Yoko was the President of the Marin Chapter of the Women’s Council of REALTORS in 2010. She is an EcoBroker and has the SRES designation.
Yoko lives in San Rafael with her husband Rick and their son, Max. They love to be outside and enjoy cycling, running and exploring Marin’s amazing open space. She loves to cook and exercises simply in order to eat more.
Judy LeMarr joined MAR in 1998 and serves as Secretary on the MAR’s Board of Directors. She serves as a member of the Governmental Affairs and Executive Committees. Judy has been a REALTOR® with Frank Howard Allen Mill Valley for over ten years.
As a long-time resident of Marin County, she is involved in several community organizations, most notably Marin Advocates for Children, Children’s Theater Association and the Junior League of San Francisco.
Current and past professional affiliations include Marin Association of REALTORS®, Marin Platinum Group, Top Agent Network, Women’s Council of REALTORS® serving as Marin County Chapter President and then state District Vice President, National REO Brokers Association and the Right Move Group relocation company. In addition, she is a certified Weichert relocation agent, Certified Residential Specialist and a certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist®.
I am both pleased and honored for the opportunity to serve my fellow REALTORS® and our Marin community in 2013 as the MAR President-elect. I have enjoyed my time as a member of the Board of Directors of MAR and look forward to increased opportunities to contribute to our Association. MAR is a proud cornerstone of our county’s real estate history, while also serving the complex requirements of today’s changing professional landscape.
After graduating from the University of Utah, I spent the first 14 years of my career in sales and management in the technology industry, working for large companies such as NYNEX and Oracle along with several small software startup companies. I started my real estate career in 2003 when I joined the Greenbrae office of Frank Howard Allen, where I work to this day.
In addition to my time this year on the Board of Directors, I have served on the Local Candidate Recommendation Committee for MAR for the past two years, and have recently served on the Strategic Planning Committee. Also in 2012, I participated in Legislative Day and the CAR Spring meetings in Sacramento, and was selected to serve as a 2013 CAR Director. I was invited to present my business practices to the members as part of an MAR panel forum of the “new generation” of REALTORS® in 2010. I also served on the Frank Howard Allen Agent Advisory board from 2007-2008.
My hope is to bring fresh and useful insight to the Board’s decision-making process and the future vision of our association.
A MAR member since 1974, Marilyn Riede served as a member of the MAR board in 1986, and was MAR Treasurer in both 2002 and 2003. She currently serves on the Budget and Finance and Governmental Affairs Committees, and has served on Strategic Planning, Housing Opportunity and as chair of LCRC (formerly BORPAC).
Marilyn’s alma mater is the University of Kentucky, Business. She and her husband, Rick, have lived in Ross for the past thirty years. They have two children and two grandchildren. She is a long-time member of the Sausalito Woman’s Club, a member of the Ross Auxiliary of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and is a member of the Rotary Club of San Rafael. She enjoys golf and traveling.
Marilyn Riede is a REALTOR® broker associate with Coldwell Banker in Greenbrae.
David Smadbeck joined MAR as a REALTOR® in 2003. He served as ex-officio on every MAR committee during his presidency in 2012, and as a member of the Governmental Affairs Committee, Local Candidate Recommendation Committee, Budget & Finance, Executive, Strategic Planning (2012 chair) and Web Sites Management committees for multiple years. In 2012 he was appointed to serve on the Marin County Advisory Committee on Regulatory Improvements. In 2009, he served as president of the Women’s Council of REALTORS®, Marin County. He is also a CAR director representing MAR at the state level.
Smadbeck holds a Bachelors degree of fine arts in music composition; serves on the Parks & Rec. commission for the Town of Fairfax, is currently the Co-president of the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, has served on the loan committee for the Marin Housing Authority and Board of Directors for Rebuilding Together Marin. Smadbeck also works on the Fairfax festival and Eco Fest committees and is a member of the Rotary Club of San Rafael where he organizes the ice cream booth at the Marin County Fair each year. He and his wife, Iseult, are part owners of The Sleeping Lady Restaurant in Fairfax.
David Smadbeck is a REALTOR® with the Coldwell Banker office in Greenbrae.
I began to practice residential real estate as what I thought to be a brief transition between positions in my career as an academic and non-profit manager. Twenty-two years later it is clear my “transition” was actually a permanent change into a rewarding new career.
Doing real estate is more interesting, stimulating, challenging and creative than I had expected. Clients are a window onto evolving social mores. Colleagues are smart, energetic and exciting to work with. Putting together and shepherding transactions calls on one’s intelligence, patience and diplomacy. This is—in other words–a field I’ve learned to love and value.
If service on the Association’s Board can contribute to maintaining and increasing the well-being and professionalism of Marin’s REALTORS® then I feel privileged to have this opportunity. I am currently serving on MAR’s Disclosures Advisory Form Committee and Local Candidate Recommendation Committee and look forward to serving on the MAR Board.
My son, daughter-in-law and grandson live in the San Diego area. I enjoy traveling, biking, swimming and working out at the Marin JCC.
Prior to real estate and after earning degrees from Brown in American Civilization, I taught at Brown and North Dakota State, followed by being a Program Officer at the Nat’l Endowment for the Humanities. After founding and running the Corporation for Public Humanities and Museum-in-the-Mall, I was Executive Director of both the New Mexico Humanities Council and the California Historical Society.
I’m a REALTOR® with Coldwell Banker and have been a member of MAR since 1990.
A commercial real estate broker and member of MAR for over 35 years, Jack earned the Graduate, REALTORS® Institute (GRI) designation and is a certified private postsecondary and vocational education instructor. He has been a part-time instructor for Kaplan Professional Schools since 1990 and is a contributing editor to the new student workbook, California Real Estate Practice: Blueprint for Success, published in 2007.
Jack served as 2002 President of MAR and has been co-chair and chair of many committees, including Governmental Affairs, Environment & Ecology, Strategic Planning and BORPAC (now LCRC). He served as Secretary and Team Leader of the 1988 San Rafael General Plan Review and has served as a director of the California Association of REALTORS®. He is currently serving on MAR’s Budget & Finance and Governmental Affairs committees.
His community service includes membership in the San Rafael and Vallejo Chambers of Commerce. He is a past Chair of the San Rafael Chamber’s Ambassadors and has served as a fundraiser for the American Heart &Lung Association. He served as Secretary of the College of Marin Foundation Board and is a Director of the Santa Margarita Neighborhood Association and on the Board of Directors of the Summit Ridge HOA.
Raised in San Francisco, Jack has lived in Marin County since 1976. His education includes courses in Mechanical Engineering at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and a degree in marketing from San Francisco State University. Jack lives in San Rafael and has one married son and two grandchildren.
