February 11, 2011
Dear who it may concern (or Elizabeth M. Murphy)
As a current voluntary board member of the Saint George Place Redevelopment Authority (a TIRZ in Houston, TX), I strongly oppose what I have heard are potential new rules that would require me (and fellow board members across the country) to register as "Advisors" with the SEC and MSRB. I and other volunteers on such community boards simply do not have that level of financial advisory experience; instead we make overall community development decisions and employ others at the city-level to have that financial experience and advisory/registration burden.
Such changes would definitely cause many board members in similar volunteer situations to resign and discourage others; which would devastate such boards from being productive and attracting the right mix of community involvement.
It would clearly be wise to reconsider such rule changes, as my assumption is that forcing volunteers such as myself to resign was not the intent.
Thank you,
--Gary Baumgartner
Vice Chairman, Texas TIRZ #1