At the Idaho Housing Alliance Annual Meeting on May 27th, the following Board members were elected:
President – Chuck Bleth, Manufacturer, Champion Homes Vice-President – Don Kiehl, Manufacturer, Nashua Homes Supplier - Doug Strunk, TJT, Inc. Installer/Supplier – Jack Walker, Proset Retailer - Dwayne Ward, For-Ward Homes, Inc. Retailer – Jerry Inouye, Treasure Valley Homes Retailer – Larry Skinner, Clearwater Homes Lender – Michael P. Veselik, US Bank Community Manager – Mona Peterson, The Meadows LLC Community Owner - Bob Mortensen, A-Bar-M MHC Community Owner – Karyn Felix, Latigo Property Service
Due the harsh economic realities in our industry and after months of budget revisions that have significantly reduced the size of Idaho Housing Alliance, the Idaho Housing Alliance Executive and Budget Committees and Linda Lindholm have mutually agreed that Linda will be relinquishing her responsibilities as Executive Director of IHA. The IHA Officers have decided that, as of August 1st, Jack Lyman will begin service as the lobbyist/ executive director for the association. Linda will continue to consult on some projects and make the transition as smooth as possible. New contact information will be featured in the July newsletter. As Chairman of the IHA Board of Directors, I want all our members to understand the sacrifice that Linda has made on our behalf and as always, she has conducted herself in a professional and dignified manner. For this and for three years of hard work and exemplary service, we give her our heartfelt thanks and wish her well.
Chuck Bleth
Calendar of Events
Calendar of Events
June 15-17—MHI Capitol Visits, Washington, D.C.
July 12-14— Western States Summit, by MHCO in Henderson, Nevada
July 15— Utah Board of Directors, Grand America Hotel, Salt Lake City
August 6—Idaho Board Meeting, Boise, Idaho
September 23—Utah Board Meeting, Grand America, Salt Lake City,
September 27-29—MHI Annual Meeting, San Diego,
October 27-29—Idaho Continuing Education
December 9—Utah Board of Directors Meeting, 10-2 Salt Lake City, Utah
For information email
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Join fellow industry members for a Golf Tournament at the Falcon Ridge Golf Course and Welcome Reception May 12th and all day May 13th for the Annual Meeting, Elections, Awards, Practical Skills Classes, Motivational Speakers, Exhibitors, Roundtables, Gourmet Meals, Networking, Lots of Door Prizes and Entertainment. Not to be missed!
We read about “Housing Stimulus” packages, “Housing Rescue” plans, “Home Buyer Tax Credits” every day.
Additionally, “affordable housing” is one of the phrases receiving more attention at the national, state and local government levels. There is an acceptance growing in even the most affluent communities that their teachers, nurses, police and other service providers need to live in the same community. The subject of how to make affordable housing work is on the table. Representatives of the manufactured housing industry need to be involved in the discussion so that when the final decisions are made, factory built housing is included in its rightful place as one of the viable options and solutions.
Our industry must be ready beforehand to address the housing issues and even be proactive in proposing solutions to the current and future housing needs of our nation. Your state Housing Alliance association and national Manufactured Housing Institute work fulltime to prepare for the state legislative sessions and congressional sessions. The staff and board members are doing advance planning and strategizing to influence the outcomes and impact on the industry members.
It is widely accepted that people have emotional intelligence, which is defined as a balance between selfawareness and social awareness. Associations have an “intelligence” too. “Strategic Intelligence” is defined as a balance between association selfawareness and marketplace awareness. The new state and federal regulations will impact thousands upon thousands of manufactured housing businesses.
Strategic intelligence is especially needed in these extraordinary times. This type of intelligence is a constant cycle of learning and then creating or revising plans. One can’t just think about the association or a business plan once a year and call it strategic planning. We have to regularly discuss issues having the greatest impact on future business, have the right people involved at the right time, determine the right planning cycles and take action.
The proposed new state and federal regulations will impact thousands upon thousands of manufactured housing businesses. Yet with intelligent planning, together we can help the industry rebound and progress.
Linda Lindholm
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Government Relations
Government Relations
by Jack Lyman
The legislative session is progressing as expected. The state's fiscal situation continued to deteriorate and legislators have an almost singular focus on budgets, taxes and spending. This has resulted in a significant reduction in proposed legislation and many committees have cancelled meetings because they don't have enough work to do. One major issue that is starting to get attention is transportation funding. Governor Otter has proposed a program of increased taxes and fees in an attempt to continue his efforts to address serious transportation needs. Conservative Republicans are generally opposed to tax increases and Democrats have so far been united in opposition to such increases while education funding is being slashed. It's too early to tell whether or not the Governor will be able to cobble together some kind of coalition that can get the 36 votes in the House and the 18 votes in the Senate that are necessary to pass his legislation.
Linda Lindholm and I met several times with Rep. Phylis King to discuss the Landlord/Tenant Act. Rep. King also invited a number of tenant representatives to participate in a discussion of her draft legislation. We were successful in getting her to back off of some of her most egregious provisions and worked with her to clean up the language she had proposed for other provisions. We made it clear that our participation should not be viewed as an endorsement of her efforts or of her bill.
Rep. King continued to make changes in her bill following these meetings and it hasn't improved. She will try to get it introduced by the end of February but I can see no scenario that would result in a committee hearing on her bill. We will have to decide whether we want to pursue our own legislation or continue discussions this summer with her and tenant groups.
Linda and I also met with the Department of Finance to discuss its proposed legislation to implement the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement Act (S.A.F.E.). We were concerned that the proposed language contained definitions that would require our retailers to be subjected to onerous regulations and required to be licensed under the act. We successfully got the department to agree to a specific exemption for our industry. States are required to enact this legislation or be subjected to federal regulation so I expect the bill to be approved before the session concludes.
I now expect the legislature to adjourn by the end of March (Friday, March 27 is the most likely date). Given the rapidly changing economic situation and federal stimulus efforts, there may be a special session of the legislature late this summer or early fall to make further adjustments to the budget they will approve in March.
We read about “Housing Stimulus” packages, “Housing Rescue” plans, “Home Buyer Tax Credits” every day.
The legislative session is progressing as expected. The state's fiscal situation continued to deteriorate and legislators have an almost singular focus on budgets, taxes and spending. This has resulted in a significant reduction in proposed legislation and many committees have cancelled meetings because they don't have enough work to do. One major issue that is starting to get attention is transportation funding. Governor Otter has proposed a program of increased taxes and fees in an attempt to continue his efforts to address serious transportation needs. Conservative Republicans are generally opposed to tax increases and Democrats have so far been united in opposition to such increases while education funding is being slashed. It's too early to tell whether or not the Governor will be able to cobble together some kind of coalition that can get the 36 votes in the House and the 18 votes in the Senate that are necessary to pass his legislation.
