Grassroots
The president's year really begins with Grassroots, AIA National's convocation of chapter presidents, president-elects and executive directors. Our main order of business is to meet the national staff, understand how the different chapters serve their areas, represent their members and how they work together to create one AIA. We also meet the new candidates for national office and hear their first speeches.
Legislative issues
One of the most rewarding activities we do is meet our U.S. Representatives and Senators and discuss upcoming legislation that will affect funding of architectural projects or business issues that affect architects. The national Government Affairs Committee has done well in the last two years preparing us to talk on legislative issues that are timely, affect architects, and resonate as responsible positions for legislators on both sides of the aisle.
This year we lobbied for tax credits for school buildings, brownfield cleanup funding and ADA compliance. We learned that there is a backlog of $200 billion worth of deferred maintenance in the schools of our country and that currently we are attacking this backlog at about $17 billion per year. The tax credits will accelerate the speed with which school districts can bring our schools up to code. The brownfields legislation is aimed at polluted sites that are dirty, but do not fall within the Superfund legislation guidelines. This legislation is to help urban land get back on the tax roles, playing an important part in the redevelopment of the inner city.
ADA compliance issues are more complicated because they are not a funding issue, but a judicial issue. Texas is in the forefront in complying with the intent of the ADA by being one of only four states to have a Department of Justice approved State compliance board which administers the Texas Accessibility Standards. These standards are reviewed and inspected by the state for the federal government. In the past year a case has arisen where the federal Department of Justice has litigated against its own approved state board in Texas. We have asked our legislators to be aware of this problem and look for a way to get clearer and more reliable information on accessibility standards to the architects of the country.
Membership and marketing
Two other issues at Grassroots were membership categories and a new company called AECdirect.com. We can expect a motion at the convention in Philadelphia in May on restructuring dues, especially for Government architects, educator architects and graduates of accredited schools of architecture. These discussions are in the formative stages. The new company was created by the National Board in December 1999 to market web-based documents and a web-based MasterSpec. It is a separate for profit business whose profits will benefit the AIA. I expect we will be hearing more about it as it markets its services to the architects of the country.
These notes show that AIA National is taking its AIM taskforce seriously and is beginning the initial discussions and moves to bring this organization into the information and e-commerce age. Expect more discussion and changes to come our way before the AIA can say that it has responded to the way that the computer and the internet are changing our business.
Home tour
This month AIA Houston is sponsoring a home tour on the 25th and 26th of March. I hope to see you all out there meeting your fellow architects and their clients. It's a fun activity and a great way to see some of Houston's best houses designed by your colleagues.
Ernesto Maldonado, AIA
