Do you have family? Do you see eye to eye on all points in Politics, Religion, Morality and Business? If you don’t have perfect accord, do you still love them? In my case, the answers to these questions would be “Yes, No and Yes.” The reasons these questions are pertinent are many. It is pertinent at this time due in part to the fact that we are in an important election year – aren’t they ALL important? – and because we as an industry need to look ahead in practical ways to determine who to support in our districts, state and why.
Let me segue to a particular candidate in a particular race to make a broader point about elections in 2010 and on the importance and value of looking not for perfection but for as much common ground as possible. Kindly hang with me on this, we will return to a national perspective after a survey of a particular state house race outlined below.
My younger brother – Tom Kovach – is running for a term-limited caused vacancy in the Oklahoma House District 44 seat. It’s a district that was gerrymandered some years ago to favor Democratic candidates. Tom joined of a field of two other candidates in the race at this time, all of them Democrats.
Months before he set up the campaign information website – which just launched this weekend – linked below…
…Tom had already gained a level of notoriety in the factory-built housing world by being the first elected official to answer the TRENDS 2010 questionnaire for our www.MHMSM.com Industry trade journal. Please find the link to that survey below.
http://www.mhmarketingsalesmanagement.com/trends-2010/271-trends-2010-questionnaire-tom-kovach
Now let’s state the obvious.
I’m sure many of your would LOVE to have someone in your district who is open to and supportive of manufactured housing running in YOUR local or state election! Having discussed factory-built home options with my brother on many occasions, and having personally exposed him to our homes product over the years, I know that Tom:
- 1. Has first hand experience with modern factory built homes. Tom knows about the older models and their image stigma. Tom also knows that today’s factory built homes are federally required to rival conventional construction and are often more energy efficient and ‘greener’ than their comparably sized site-built counterparts.
- 2. has a number of residents in his Norman City Council Ward who are residents living in factory built homes. Tom isn’t thinking NIMBY (Not in my Back Yard) as so many politicos today blindly do.
- 3. Sees opportunities to expand the use of factory built homes, to shed their stigma and would like to see more jobs created in the U.S. by using American factory built homes.
- 4. Seems open to initiatives such as the State of New York launched to ‘retire’ older, outdated pre-HUD Code ‘mobile homes’ giving credits to residents who purchase a new energy efficient manufactured home. While Tom wisely wanted to study the topic in more depth, he sees the potential for job creation, energy savings and general quality of life improvements that such a program can create for all involved.
- 5. Surprising to me, he mentioned the Solitaire Homes manufacturing facility in Oklahoma, pointing to it as a potential beneficiary of such a program, protecting or creating jobs in the State of Oklahoma while offering ‘quality affordable housing’ for residents in Oklahoma and neighboring states as well. I’m sure all of this would please some people at the Manufactured Housing Association of Oklahoma, who like so many associations want all the supporters they can get.
It has been about 15 years since I lived in Oklahoma. While I don’t claim to know all the ins and outs of Oklahoma politics, I know that if I were living in that district this would be an easy selection for me. I’d vote for my brother Tom, not because we agree on everything in politics, religion, morality or business, because we don’t. I would not vote for him because he is my brother, although that certainly would be a factor because family bonds should be strong ones. Rather, I would vote for Tom because he is the best person for the job AND he is the one candidate who has taken a positive, prudent public position on factory built housing in his district (he is).
I should note that the two opponents in the race, both of whom announced well before Tom did, are students at the University of Oklahoma. I studied at O.U. myself; it is a fine university and it is where my father taught for many years before finally retiring. My brother Tom obtained his degree from the same school. O.U. certainly carries a lot of ‘weight’ in politics in that area. That said, I recall my own college days and remember the demands of study to keep good grades plus work to pay the bills. I don’t see how a student – no matter how gifted or well meaning – can balance all of that and do full justice to a campaign or the office they seek to represent. In short, I think would be an easy voting decision.
Besides all that, Tom Kovach has represented his Ward on City Council in Norman – and was just re-elected to that post without opposition. He has made local and state wide news a number of times. He has opposed the ‘powers that be’ if the situation seemed to warrant it, including opposing members of his own party if it was ‘the right thing to do.’
I share this to demonstrate that he truly is the best candidate, because that should be the litmus test for any elective office.
Finally, while he would not say so publicly, I’d also observe that my brother has tested at 156 on an IQ test; if memory serves, the genius level is around 135. Tom is a bright guy who cares about people, is politically engaged and has the business and personal life experiences that can make for a good public servant. So I told my brother he should test this out as a slogan for the House District 44 race…
Tom isn’t just for you, Tom Kovach is 44 you.
Okay, he passed on that one, which proves the genius part I referred to previously.
I use this opportunity as the first in periodic series of articles and blogs on the 2010 election and factory built housing. I want to make a far broader point than my brother’s campaign!
We in the modular and manufactured housing industry need to organize our voices better in this 2010 election cycle! You can bet that Realtors and NAHB members are well organized!
We had better become better organized, stronger PR voices too. How often do we tell the local media that of the 1600 modern manufactured homes struck by the four hurricanes in 2004, that all of them survived! How often do we tell the media that today’s factory built homes are more energy saving, are safer against fires and the litany of benefits – including quality and affordability! – that our homes represent to the home buying public?!
We have potentially some 500,000 votes working in various aspects of factory built housing coast to coast. That is a potentially influential pool of voters. That can be enough to swing elections in many areas!
If we as an industry organized and took that 500,000 voter potential a step further, we have over 20,000,000 residents of factory built housing that we could reach out to and encourage them to vote for the most pro-Manufactured Home Industry candidates we can find.
We as industry members need to get to know the local candidates. We need to invite them to see modern factory built homes, properly landscaped and displayed. I’ve personally held ‘picnics’ and ‘cookouts’ with candidates and local officials, inviting community residents and staff to meet the candidates or officials and vice-versa.
No doubt many of you are already way past me in that process. I’d love to hear from the politically seasoned Industry members, from association leaders and others experienced in this process. Please read this is an invitation for you to do an Industry Voices Guest Blog on the topic. Perhaps share some examples, or propose some organizational principles and ideas based on your experience.
If we as an Industry organize well and exert some influence early in the election process – perhaps by inviting them to a pot luck and giving them a first hand tour at your retail center, factory, development or land lease community – we can rapidly get a feel for who these candidates are and find out one on one how they will treat our industry if elected.
Perhaps you can get candidates in your area to take a public position on factory built housing, as Tom Kovach did some months ago in the survey above. That can lead to news stories that have a favorable slant to our product. Over time, positive news stories will naturally influence people’s impression of manufactured and modular homes.
Don’t hesitate to refer local media to us for comments, besides using MHI or your state association as resources for them. You’ll find my email and phone in the About Us page.
Finally, I’d love to see emails from you on suggested questions you’d like to see for candidates to public office. They can be general questions, or specific ones about manufactured housing and modular homes. Please get involved in 2010. Encourage your team to get involved too. Learn your candidates, engage them and you will be planting the seeds for a brighter future for our Industry.##
