Petitions seek return
of ousted CEO

A group wants to reinstate
Judy Sobin, who was dismissed
as head of the Honolulu
Board of Realtors

"I was getting ready to celebrate my one-year anniversary, then this." Judy Sobin She was let go as head of the Honolulu Board of Realtors after a year on the job

The recent dismissal of the Honolulu Board of Realtors' chief executive -- its third CEO in as many years -- has sparked a counterattack by the ousted CEO, Judy Sobin, and her supporters.

A group calling itself the Committee to Reinstate Judy and Restore Our Reputation has been circulating a pair of petitions among the board of Realtors, the state's largest trade organization, calling for Sobin's reinstatement and the removal of six members of the organization's 15-member board of directors, which dismissed her on Oct. 1.

The committee has presented the petition on ousting the directors to the trade organization's president, Judith Kalbrener. Under the Realtor board's bylaws, the petition triggers a meeting of the board of directors in which the petition demands will be voted on. Kalbrener has set the meeting for Dec. 17. A separate petition on reinstating Sobin is to be presented to the board this week.

Sobin was let go as head of the roughly 5,000-member group after just a year on the job for reasons that have not been divulged by the board of directors.

"I was getting ready to celebrate my one-year anniversary, then this," Sobin said. "But it's gratifying to see that there are people who believe in my leadership and want to move the organization forward."

Sobin's supporters call her an effective leader who brought a steady hand during a glitch-plagued conversion to a new computer system that stores Oahu's real estate listings, and say she has improved communication between members and the board's leadership.

However, a September review of Sobin's performance by an outside consultant indicates that Sobin has been a polarizing presence at the board since taking over in October 2003.

Some board of Realtors employees interviewed by the consultant praised Sobin for bringing energy to the post, but others complained about her abrasive management style.

The review ultimately found Sobin in compliance with the bylaws of the board, which provides licensed real-estate sales professionals with educational seminars, access to Multiple Listing Service data on available property listings and other services.

Kalbrener declined comment on Sobin's removal, saying the board does not discuss personnel issues.

Alluding to the high turnover in her post, Sobin said certain directors were to blame.

"They have a tendency to micromanage. That needs to be brought under control," she said.

The directors targeted for removal are Bob DeYoung of Ena Road Realty, Berton Hamamoto of Property Profiles Inc., Allison Lum of Plum Associates Inc., Joyce Nakamura of Premier Realty 2000 Inc., Alice Saul of Alice Saul Real Estate Broker and Liz Moore of Realty Group, who also is the board of Realtors' secretary.

All the directors in question either did not return phone calls or declined comment.

Sobin's supporters said her removal was the result of a personal vendetta by some members of the board of directors.

"When the board goes through as many CEOs as it has and then they terminate someone of high caliber like Judy, it makes you wonder what is really going on," said Marilee Lyons, a Realtor with Prudential Locations LLC and a member of the reinstatement committee. "This was wrongly done and we feel it is damaging to the board and its members."

Under the organization's bylaws, a petition that gains 25 signatures supporting the removal of directors triggers a board of directors meeting for a vote. However, Kalbrener said she was unsure of the exact voting procedure and was consulting with the organization's lawyers on the matter.

Those lawyers did not return phone calls.

The petition had around 80 signatures.

The reinstatement committee said it plans to submit the separate petition to restore Sobin this week. That petition must have 250 signatures to trigger a general membership meeting. It had 303 as of yesterday. Kalbrener said any vote or action during a meeting on the reinstatement petition is nonbinding and purely meant for the board "to consider."

The board of Realtors already has begun looking for a replacement for Sobin.

"We are committed to finding the best qualified candidate to lead our organization forward, and we hope to identify that individual soon," Kalbrener said. "We know this is a difficult time for our members, and we are doing all that we can to help guide the organization through this period of change. We want to assure everyone, however, that we remain committed to serving our 5,000 Realtor members, and to conducting business as usual."

Sharon Ogata, the board's director of operations, is serving as acting CEO.

Sobin, who previously served as executive director for Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii, had replaced Curtis Uno, who resigned as CEO in May 2003 after about six months on the job. Uno's predecessor, Peter Freeman, had been in the post for about four years.

Sobin called on the board to "drop the secrecy" and reveal the details of her dismissal.

"The confidentiality surrounds information that is mine, and I chose openness. Anything less reflects poorly on the organization," she said.

The reinstatement committee has set up a Web site at www.judyceo.blogspot.com.