The board of directors of the San Antonio Board of Realtors (SABOR) voted in a special meeting Wednesday to terminate its CEO after less than three months in office.
Shane Johnson, who was hired in May following a nationwide search that began in 2017, stepped into the role of CEO June 18. He was among 75 potential candidates identified by a search firm. A SABOR CEO search committee interviewed eight candidates, and the decision came down to two finalists, one of whom was Johnson.
It became evident over the past two months that Johnson and the organization had different visions for the real estate advocacy organization’s future and mission, a statement from SABOR said. The decision to terminate Johnson was made by a majority vote by the board and announced Thursday.
SABOR Board Chairwoman Lorena Peña said she could not elaborate on the decision as it was a personnel matter.
“I do think it was a difference in vision for the board and something the board of directors really felt we needed to act swiftly on so there would be minimum disruptions to our members and the community and everything we have going,” Peña said.
She added that the board is currently negotiating with the second finalist but would not identify the individual. “We’ll be super excited to hopefully announce that sooner versus later,” Peña said. “So hopefully we can keep moving forward to private property rights and homeowners matters and continuing the other initiatives we have going.”
One longtime local realtor who knew of the termination said on Friday the “philosophies didn’t mesh, but I don’t know the specifics.”
Johnson previouly served as chief operating officer of Cape Fear Realtors in North Carolina. In May, the president of that association is quoted in a news report as saying, “As a direct result of his leadership in both advocacy and community engagement, we received the National Community Outreach Award last year from the National Association of Realtors.” Johnson is also the former CEO of the Quad City Area Association of Realtors in Iowa.
From 2004-05, Johnson served as deputy chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Jim Nussle (R-Iowa), according to his LinkedIn page, and prior to that, he was CEO of the St. Charles County Association of Realtors in St. Charles, Missouri, for three years. His position at SABOR is not listed.
On Twitter, Johnson describes himself with: “Christ 1st. Wife 2nd. Adventurist 3rd: 21 countries, 40-horse hitch driver, White House staffer, lumberjack, Grand Canyon kayaker, lawyer, author, and pilot.”
The Rivard Report was unable to reach Johnson for comment.
Peña was named board chair in 2017 following turmoil at SABOR that saw Chairwoman Michele Bunting Ross ousted by the board after only three months in the role. “This matter and that matter do not correlate,” Peña said.
San Antonio is currently hosting the annual Texas Realtors Conference which has convened 2,000 realtors from across the state at the Henry B. González Convention Center for four days of meetings. The 11,000-member SABOR is one of numerous sponsors of the conference.
This is really comical. Their “philosophies” should have been discussed at the interview stage. That is a crucial point of the interview process to determine if they are a good “cultural fit” for the organization. Coming from North Carolina and the Quad Cities, you would expect him to be pretty conservative. Also, his self-described Christ-first would lend itself to conservative values as well. It’s obvious from these two key turnover events that there is something going on behind the scenes at SABOR. A few possibilities come to mind:
1. There is a power struggle taking place
2. Someone in a leadership role there is completely incompetent. If this were a privately-held organization or publicly-traded, this type of nonsense would never be tolerated. SABOR has a job to do. Quit screwing around and do your job.
3. Other…
It is mandated by the San Antonio Board of Realtors that to be a “Realtor” and have access to MLS, a real estate agent must join the San Antonio Board of Realtors and pay their hefty dues, in addition to quarterly MLS dues. Of course, it is impossible for a non board member to do business without access to MLS and its lockbox system. Why cant a real estate agent simply pay MLS dues without joining the board and paying all the other dues? The answer is, you cant wear the badge of honor to be called a “Realtor” if you dont!! Who cares, it doesnt make a real estate agent any more honest or increase their integrity to be called a “Realtor”. SABOR has an ethics code, but it is NOT enforced.
SABOR also mandates that all real estate agents hanging their license under a real estate Broker pay dues also. These dues include membership to the Texas and National board of Realtors and “optional” dues to TrePAC. TrePAC pushes political agendas that a real estate agent might not agree with, but too bad, it is for the good of all board members! Sorry to see you released Mr. Johnson, by the new liberal philosophy board members of SABOR. But go away knowing there are lots of SABOR “Realtor” members and “plain” real estate agents that are non members that agree with your philosophy.
maybe a closer look at Pena needs to be taken.
Christ first should mean Christian values first. And if that equates to conservative values, maybe we all need to become conservatives……..!
Right, only conservatives believe in Christ. Give me a break.
What are the goals and objectives of SABOR other than controlling real estate agents and collecting dues? Can’t imaging how Johnson’s views could be so radical as to warrant his firing.
“Shane T. Johnson, fired just three months into a four-year contract to be CEO of the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors, has sued the group for $645,000 in foregone wages. Johnson was hired Oct. 2 and fired Feb. 13 “without reason or cause” in violation of the contract, he claims in a lawsuit filed last week in state District Court… ”
https://newsok.com/article/3778861/fired-ceo-sues-oklahoma-city-metro-association-of-realtors
It would have been real helpful Shane T Johnson to all of the San Antonio Realtors here if you had been honest and previously revealed that you were in the process of suing another Real Estate Association. That is blatant dishonesty and you should have been fired by the SABOR for withholding that information.
I don’t believe SABOR is forcing anybody to join the association and pay dues .The agents have a choice to take advantage of all the benefits that come from becoming a member. The agents want the benefits for free.