The Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors welcomed new president Cass Chies during the first conference of the year at the Woodstone Country Club and Lodge in Danielsville on Thursday.

"I am very proud - and humbled - to be the new president of the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors," Chies said during her speech at the installation of officers and directors. "It should be stressed that I do not think of myself as the first president from Carbon County. Even though his tenure was short-lived, that title forever belongs to our friend, Jim Zurn."Zurn, the owner and associate broker for the Coldwell Banker Hearthside branch in Jim Thorpe, unexpectedly passed away two weeks into his term as president in 2016. Former president Christopher Raad stepped in to fill the role for the year, and was at Wednesday's event to pass the torch on to Chies.Chies maintains a unique perspective on the association's market, being that she grew up in Allentown, a "Center City girl," as she puts it, and grew her real estate business, RE/MAX Diamond 1st in Palmerton. In 2008, Chies was elected to the Carbon County Association of Realtors board of directors and served as the board's treasurer in 2011 and 2014. Chies served as secretary of the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors in 2015.Chies's speech to the Realtors in attendance emphasized two key goals for her term - regional expansion of services and property tax reform."We need to reach out to our neighboring associations and show them what we have to offer," she said. "I can honestly say, as a Realtor from the now-former Carbon County Association of Realtors, that regionalization should not be feared. At the end of the day, it's about sharing services, saving money, and finding better ways to do our job professionally. We are stronger together."Chies said that the safety of home ownership should not be threatened by overbearing property taxes."As we all know, property taxes are crippling many of our clients, whether it is the elderly neighbor who is struggling to pay her taxes so they can stay in their homes, or if it's a first time homebuyer who realizes the dream of home ownership is out of reach due to ever-increasing fees," Chies said. "Property tax elimination has been our number one priority and we will continue to work with our state legislators, county commissioners and school board members to gain a grip on bloated budgets that impact all taxpayers."