The Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association: A Q&A with Doug Johnson, WMA’s Senior Regional Representative

One individual who is working hard to promote attractive, high-quality, affordable mobile home communities is Doug Johnson, WMA’s Senior Regional Representative. In a recent interview, Doug shared WMA’s mission and its recent attempts to close the affordable housing gap in California through education and advocacy. 

Join us as we meet Doug and learn more about his work with WMA.

Where are you from? 

I was born and raised in Los Angeles but moved to Sacramento about 24 years ago to join the WMAteam.  

What is your educational and career background? 

I graduated from the University of Southern California, where I majored in political science. I was always interested in politics. After college, I worked for a California state senator and a U.S. congressman, but I have a strong background in local government — having served two members of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. When WMA was looking for a regional representative for local government and public affairs, I knew I was interested. 

What does your job entail as a Regional Representative for WMA? 

There are three regional representatives for local government and public affairs within WMA. I represent Northern California and I have two colleagues who cover Central and Southern California. There are about 5,000 mobile home parks in California, so we are very busy. Our primary job is to defend against rent control — an enormously expensive, failed public policy.

What is the mission of WMA? What does the organization primarily do, and how does it help mobile home community owners?

WMA has been advancing and protecting the manufactured housing communities industry since 1945. We are one of the oldest, largest, and most respected nonprofit trade associations of our kind in the United States. We proudly represent our California members at the federal, state and local levels of government. WMA offers professional, comprehensive educational and advocacy services to our members.

What is the WMA Foundation? What kind of work does it do?

The WMA Foundation was founded in 2005. It is affiliated with WMA and funded by generous contributions from our members. Since its inception, it has provided assistance to more than 1,000 mobile home park residents and has given a total of $411,750. Our members really care about the folks that live in the communities they own and manage.

Recently, we provided checks to help more than 300 mobile home park residents who were displaced by the devastating Camp Fire in Paradise, California — a total of $75,250 in financial assistance was donated. These checks went directly to residents who literally lost everything. The Camp Fire is California’s deadliest, most destructive fire in state history. Weare so proud of the assistance our members were able to provide.

What are some gaps in the affordable housing landscape that WMA is seeking to address?

Affordable housing is definitely an issue in California. It’s very expensive to live in the Golden State. The median price for a traditionally built home now exceeds a whopping $600,000. Mobile home park living offers seniors, professionals and first-time homebuyers an attractive, attainable housing alternative.

According to the California Manufactured Housing Institute, the installation of a brand new two to three bedroom (1,700 sq. ft.) manufactured home costs approximately $142,000, and used homes are even less. Our industry is uniquely positioned to help California solve its housing crisis. Now is the time for the state to expand housing opportunities by removing barriers to expanding new parks, or building new ones.

Where can we learn more about WMA?

From announcements about HUD disaster relief assistance for homeowners impacted by the California fires to information on the Fee and Tax Waiver Program for unregistered mobile homes and other news, our websitehas lots of useful information. We also have a Resource Centeras well as a Facebookpage.

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At Harmony Communities, we feel strongly that each resident has a sense of home. That they come home from work and feel pride in their environment and in their place in the greater community. That families are comfortable raising children in our neighborhoods, and that couples and singles know that they belong to something bigger than their four walls. In other words, we seek to create harmony within each community, making our communities not just passable, but peaceful, safe, functional, and beautiful.