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Controversy-Manufactured Housing Institute-Lesli Gooch-Mark Bowersox

MHI Lesli Gooch and Mark Bowersox Assert via Op-Ed that Troubling News Involving Institute Members Should be 'Disallowed' Media Narrative.

L. A. "Tony" Kovach, Neighbor

Posted Thu, Oct 17, 2024 at 5:17 pm ET|Updated Thu, Oct 17, 2024 at 5:21 pm ET

Collage credit MHProNews. ELS, and ELS owned MHV and MHInsider logos MHI's parody logo are shown under fair use guidelines for media.

A report on MHProNews on 10.17.2024 unpacks “contributed content” by Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) controversial CEO Lesli Gooch, Ph.D. and MHI President Mark Bowersox in an article posted on MHI endorsed MHVillage’s MHInsider. What follows is adapted from that fisking and fact check. But to set the stage for just how controversial Gooch's history is, the following items from third-parties about MHI CEO Gooch can help paint the picture.

Before joining MHI, Gooch was a failed candidate for Congress. The photo above is a screen capture from TimeToast at the link shown. That image reveals a crowd protesting her campaign. They said in part: "Watching this scandal [involving then-candidate Gooch] unfold has moved us from outrage to bewilderment." Other elements of that TimeToast presentation about Gooch are shown below, including the point that she represented individuals who were indicted.

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Given that a decent Google search brings these and other issues involving Gooch up, how is it possible that the 'search committee' with MHI missed such evidence-based allegations involving Gooch before she was hired? Was she hired despite these issues or because of them?

Notice that one of the items shown via TimeToast by those protesting Gooch referred to: "Gooch Campaign Staff Falling Apart."

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Per Buzzfeed and PRLog are the following. Per that second source is the following.

Jeff Corless, Gooch's campaign spokesman, goes on "epic rant" in Buzzfeed article

By: San Bernardino Citizens for Public Integrity

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - April 9, 2014 - PRLog -- The San Bernardino Citizens for Public Integrity issued a warning to Jeff Corless, campaign spokesperson for Lesli Gooch, late Tuesday night."We've never met Jeff before, but reading his remarks makes us sick. We saw the Buzzfeed piece about Lesli and Facebook, and read in horror as Jeff placed all the blame on Lesli's opponent, calling him ugly names. This is exactly the type of dirty politics that people are sick of," said Elsa Keeling, SBCPI president, referring to this article on Buzzfeed:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrew... the Buzzfeed article, Jeff is quoted as saying, “Everybody knows Paul Chabot is a joke who plays Facebook games and attacks women – he’s total bushleague [sic] and not fit for Congress. Its [sic] completely sexist for Chabot to condone an attempt to link his female opponent to the prostitution capital of the world."

"We call on Jeff to apologize and tone it down, or bow out as Lesli's consultant," Keeling said.

Corless has a history of lashing out against his client's political opponent. On March 28, SBCPI called on Gooch to resign from the race, following revelations that she had worked as a paid Washington lobbyist for Jeffrey Burum, a real estate developer indicted on 29 public corruption counts including bribery, extortion and misappropriation of public funds. (He plead not guilty and has not been convicted). The information was verified on OpenSecrets.org, a database of lobbying and campaign contributions run by the Center for Responsive Politics.

A day later, Gooch announced on her website that she had received the endorsement of the San Bernardino County Republican Party. Within a few hours, the Los Angeles Times ran a story, "GOP candidates battling to succeed Rep. Gary Miller”, saying that Gooch’s challenger, Dr. Paul Chabot, had called on Gooch to withdraw from the race. According to the Los Angeles Times article, "Gooch campaign spokesman Jeff Corless called Chabot's statement "sour grapes by a desperate candidate" who was angry because the county GOP backed Gooch's candidacy instead of his.”

The San Bernardino Citizens For Public Integrity (SBCPI) is a community action group of citizen volunteers formed in 2010 in response to a surge in public corruption allegations around San Bernardino.ContactSteve Gutierrez***@gmail.com ##

This is but one of several evidence backed scandals involving Gooch that reported by MHProNews, which editorially has repeatedly called on MHI's board to ask for her resignation or to terminate her as being unfit to lead the largest national trade group in the Manufactured Housing Industry.

But in fairness to Gooch, the data reveals that MHI's performance in the 21st century isn't just a poor reflection on her. It is also troubling with respect to Bowersox and the entire MHI leadership team.

From 2001 to 2023 the manufactured home industry collectively produced a total of 2,230,400 per data collected by IBTS under a contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which is official data deemed accurate.

During that 23-year period from 2001 to 2023, MHVille (a term that reflects the diminished size of the manufactured home industry in the 21st century) produced an average of only 96,974 new homes per year.

By sharp contrast, from 1995 to 2000 the manufactured home industry produced per HUD data 2,033,545 new manufactured housing units of all sizes. During that 6 year timeframe the HUD Code manufactured home industry from 1995 to 2000 averaged 338,924 new housing units annually. So, that’s a 71.4 percent drop.

Recently, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) poured salt on that wound by pointing out that in 2023, the manufactured home industry’s production retreated sharply. That retreat in sales during a well documented affordable housing crisis is obviously in the Gooch-Bowersox era at MHI.

With that vexing backdrop in mind is the following is adapted from a more detailed fact check or 'fisking' of MHI's op-ed by Gooch and Bowersox. It is in the item below that they duo wrote.

Elevating Manufactured Housing and Land-Lease Communities Among Policymakers

By Contributed Content | October 11, 2024
By Lesli Gooch and Mark Bowersox

From the White House to Congress to state and local legislatures, solving the nation’s housing supply shortage has become a critical priority. Policymakers at all levels of government are hearing about the rising cost of housing and they are eager to explore policy solutions. In this environment, MHI’s efforts to engage policymakers about manufactured housing has placed the industry at the forefront of recent discussions about solving the nation’s housing supply crisis.

MHProNews notes: The opening paragraph above is arguably true in some respects but is also misleading and thus revealing. That MHI engages to some degree with policy makers about various issues is true. That there is a critical shortage of affordable housing is also true. It is disputed if policymakers are all “eager” to “explore solutions” involving manufactured homes, something notorious MHI member Frank Rolfe has argued with evidence that supports his claim that “special interests” have no intention of solving the affordable housing crisis. As MHProNews and MHLivingNews have reported several times in recent years, HUD’s Pamela Blumenthal and Regina Gray have demonstrated that for 50 years the causes and cures for the housing crisis have been known. The implication is that showboating by Gooch, Bowersox and MHI leaders are at work, people who raise an issue often with little or no intention of solving it in the manner that the public might broadly want or expect. If MHI's board didn't embrace Gooch, Bowersox and their tepid results, then why do they keep them as the CEO and president of the Institute?

Back to their op-ed.

A recent announcement by the White House about actions the administration is taking to address the nation’s housing supply shortage included HUD’s actions around manufactured housing, noting that “manufactured housing provides an essential path to increasing overall housing supply and offers significant savings over site-built housing.”

True but problematic for MHI CEO Gooch and President Bowersox and their joint argument. Manufactured housing production sharply declined in 2023, as NAHB recently pointed out in an apparently embarrassing report for MHI leaders.

Back to their op-ed.

The bottom line is that the importance of the manufactured housing industry is being recognized — when policymakers talk about housing supply, manufactured housing is discussed as an important part of the solution.

Exaggerated and thus misleading. There are times that manufactured housing is not raised at all by policymakers as part of the solution for the affordable housing crisis as thousands of articles and reports about the affordable housing crisis found online attest. The fact that MHI may get manufactured housing mentioned in media or by public officials is apparently not the same as causing manufactured home production or development to increase. Despite the potential for manufactured housing, production of new HUD Code homes was demonstrably lower in 2023 than it was in 2021 or 2022.

Back to their op-ed.

The national building code, the HUD code, that manufactured¬ homes are constructed to has emerged as a federal seal of approval for quality, ensuring buyers receive resilient, energy efficient homes at prices within reach thanks to the economies of scale that the federal building code facilitates.

Exaggerated, plus ignores the problems caused by the pending DOE energy rule case. The Manufactured Housing Assocation for Regulatory Reform’s Danny Ghorbani has pointedly accused MHI of fostering the problems caused by the DOE regulations because documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests revealed that MHI cooperated with DOE and ‘energy special interests.’

Back to their op-ed.

Advocacy for Attainable Homeownership

In addition to elevating the homes themselves, though, MHI’s work ensures that policymakers understand the range of locations where homes can be placed. The variety of designs that exist for today’s HUD code manufactured homes, such as single-section, multi-section, CrossMod, duplexes, and ADUs allow manufactured homes to meet a wide range of needs around the country. MHI’s work includes highlighting the importance of land-lease communities as a critical affordable housing model. About 30 percent of the manufactured homes produced are placed in communities. The financial and lifestyle benefits of owning a manufactured home in a land-lease community have resulted in millions of individuals and families choosing this housing option.

That MHI keeps mentioning CrossMods is in itself laughable. There are so few CrossMods built and sold that MHI apparently won’t give a total number. It may be more or less than 100 units total over the course of several years – and MHI admitted in a complaint letter that developers may be moving away from CrossMods. With interest rates up, payments are higher, and prominent MHI members Cavco Industries (CVCO) and Skyline Champion (now Champion Homes) have said that their average selling prices for manufactured homes are falling because people are buying lower cost single and multi-section units. MHI fails to mention that there is an array of negative news about manufactured home communities (MHCs). Furthermore, MHI’s own annual report indicated that manufactured home communities have in some years been roughly half of total industry production. When MHCs bought fewer manufactured homes in 2023, industry production declined. Put bluntly, MHI’s Gooch and Bowersox claims above are contradicted by their own members and their own data.

Back to their op-ed.

The desirability of land-lease communities is evidenced in both U.S. Census data and independent research conducted by MHI, showing manufactured housing community residents report high levels of satisfaction and that they are likely to recommend land-lease community living to others. The research shows that the satisfaction levels are increasing. Low vacancy rates and waiting lists also demonstrate the strong appeal of this hybrid-homeowership option.

Higher profile MHI member Darren Krolewski, a c-suite staffer at MHVillage/Datacomp/MHInsider, contradicted the above, as have MHI members Frank Rolfe, Joanne Stevens and pages of evidence on MHLivingNews, MHProNews and untold numbers of articles, posts and litigation that can be found online. SECO linked community owner David Roden politely asked MHI earlier this year why they won’t do an image and education campaign? MHI’s own members and an array of evidence debunks the rosy picture Gooch and Bowersox attempt to paint above and below. Merely saying something that sounds nice that is easily debunked ought to undermine the so-called credibility of Gooch and company.

Back to their op-ed.

For those who have visited or have lived in a land lease community, it is no surprise to see such strong satisfaction and demand. MHI research shows that affordability is consistently a key reason for choosing a land-lease community over other options, including:

Having more space
Not having to share walls with a neighbor and, having an immediate outdoor space
Pools, walking paths, and trails
Parks
Fitness centers
Lawn Care

Other areas that residents and potential residents favor are the social events, such as summer barbecues and movie nights.

This is occasionally true, but thus is also often misleading. For example. Rolfe and Reynolds have advocated for removal of amenities, as the Denver Post and others have reported.

Back to their op-ed.

Value of Community Living

With U.S. housing costs universally skyrocketing, MHI research shows that the majority of community residents believe their rent is the same or lower than other housing options.

In some ways true but ignores the array of bad news that has dogged prominent MHI members, often for years. Beyond zoning and financing barriers, image and education barriers too. MHI’s so-called Code of Ethical Conduct, per Copilot, has apparently gone unenforced. That Code of Conduct presumably exists precisely to bolster the image of manufactured home, and manufactured home community, living. By allowing that code of conduct to go unenforced it results in more negative news than positive about MHCs.

Back to their op-ed.

It is critical that the land-lease segment of the industry disallows the anecdote to be the narrative about community living. The facts are clearly on the industry’s side, and through continued advocacy efforts MHI will continue to communicate the positive housing option that land-lease communities offer, with desirable homes at price points within reach, and with a community setting that offers more than a house, but a lifestyle.

This segment above: “It is critical that the land-lease segment of the industry disallows the anecdote to be the narrative about community living” sadly is also laughable and troubling. While it is true that many of the bad news ‘anecdotal’ stories dominate the news about manufactured home community living, it is shocking how often those bad news stories are tied to prominent MHI members and/or to prominent MHI linked state association members. Furthermore, prior MHI chairman Tim Williams (CEO 21st Mortgage Corporation) said close to a decade ago that the industry should push back on those bad news stories. Where is that pushback Williams said was coming 9 years ago? Where is the long-promised industry’s image and education campaign Kevin Clayton spoke of in during a video interview with Berkshire-friendly Robert Miles? Where is the GoRVing style campaign that MHI commissioned via what became the Roper Report some 20 years ago? As Copilot recently observed: ‘the behavior of large companies can tarnish the image of an entire industry.’ There is thus an evidence-based case to be made, ironically based on this article by MHI’s Gooch and Bowersox, that MHI knows that the misbehavior of several of their major brands are harming the industry as a whole. Now, they want to posture that they are going to do something about it when MHI has given awards to members accused of predatory behavior? This pitch by MHI via MHInsider is industrial scale Orwellian doublespeak and doublethink on display.

Back to their op-ed.

While there is strong demand by consumers and exceptionally positive resident feedback, the growth of the land lease community sector is hindered by barriers, such as zoning, which limit the expansion of the model. Across the country, there are countless examples of state and local zoning, planning, and development restrictions that either severely limit or outright prohibit the placement of a new manufactured home or the development of a new community.

Note that nowhere in this article is the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 and its enhanced preemption provision mentioned, even though Lesli Gooch sent a letter (that may have been read by no one in power) to HUD while she was still an EVP. Cavco’s Bill Boor in 2023 raised this subject in testimony to Congress, so why won’t Gooch and Bowersox mention it in an article in MHInsider? The answer is suggested by the point that for years, neither MHInsider nor MHI’s website mentions “enhanced preemption” which Gooch claims (with little apparent sincerity) is MHI’s goal. MHI is demonstrably duplicitous. MHI’s IRS Form 990 claims are apparently a perjurious fraud. Thus, Samuel Strommen for Knudson Law and others have credibly accused MHI leaders of antitrust violations involving market manipulation that in Strommen’s view is an example of a “felony” violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. This is why MHProNews, affordable housing and manufactured home related posts on the Patch, MHLivingNews, MHARR, and the op-eds or press releases from those sources are routinely the only places online that such information is found. If MHI truly wanted to ‘elevate’ manufactured housing and land-lease community living, they would strictly enforce their code of ethical conduct. But there is no known evidence, per Copilot, that they have done so. Google’s AI powered Gemini has said similarly. Given repeated opportunities to respond to such evidence backed claims and concerns, MHI’s leadership and attorneys have repeatedly declined to do so over a period of years.

Back to their op-ed.

The recent increased attention to manufactured housing has helped raise awareness about these barriers and MHI has expanded engagement with policymakers to address the barriers.

Even if true, which this analysis by MHProNews is obviously debunking, MHI’s own “contributed content” to MHInsider reveals how pathetically weak their effort is. Furthermore, who are they talking to with this post? A demonstrably small audience of mostly MHI-leaning industry pros. But such articles can be used potentially with public officials, by attorneys trying to defend against predatory behavior claims, and by publicly traded firms that may hope that potential or current investors believe this self-serving tripe.

Back to their op-ed.

Beyond federal-level advocacy to address barriers, partnerships with state associations and National Community Council members have allowed MHI to provide support for conversations at the state and local levels about expanding access to manufactured housing and land-lease communities. To do this work effectively, we constantly are updating the research and information MHI uses to provide the clearest picture, and dispel misconceptions or misperceptions about homes and communities our industry creates.

Again, even if this were true, the acid test is annual production levels not how many times MHI makes a pitch to some group. In the business world, KPIs are objectives tests of performance. In sports, it is the scoreboard, not intentions or self-praise, is how success is measured. It isn’t the number of shots taken, it is the number of points on the board that counts. In MHVille, those points on the board are the number of new homes sold, the number of times zoning board say yes not no, and the number of new communities being developed that are better measures of the industry’s health. By making much ado over their outreaches, MHI leaders are using a red-herring tactic of attempting to distract from the sad reality that their efforts don’t produce their claimed goals.

Back to their op-ed.

MHI leaders are using a red-herring tactic of attempting to distract from the sad reality that their efforts don’t produce their claimed goals.

Furthermore, by working with our members, MHI has had the opportunity to bring manufactured homes and other dwellings our industry builds to events where policymakers are able to personally tour the homes, see the depth of quality housing our industry creates, and hear about the benefits of land-lease community living.

Same point as above. If this was working, then prior president and CEO of MHI, Richard “Dick” Jennison’s admission that 500,000 new homes a year is an attainable goal ought to be a reasonable benchmark. 500,000 new manufactured homes a year vs. less than 100,000 actual HUD Code manufactured home shipments average annually throughout the 21st century is a key test. By Jennison’s standard, presumably ok’d by Tim Williams, the industry is doing less than 20 percent of its potential. 1 out of 5 is a failing grade in any objective test scoring system.

Back to their op-ed.

Through constant and diligent engagement MHI strives to elevate and grow awareness and understanding of the vital role of manufactured housing and land-lease communities.

Blah, blah, blah. More self-serving fluff. More posturing, paltering, preening without performance.

Back to their op-ed.

Convene with Industry Colleagues

MHI’s work does not end with the policymakers. Providing support and resources for community owners to create high quality communities is equally as important as raising awareness with lawmakers. Through events like our National Communities Council forums in the Fall and Spring, MHI provides spaces and opportunities for community owners and operators to learn from one another, build connections, and improve their businesses.

Flagship Communities IR Pitch said that off-market opportunities for acquisitions is part of their business model. ‘Education’ is often just an excuse to bring together smaller and larger players where the consolidators may create a connection that results in yet another deal. If the “education was worth two cents, then why did the industry retreat in 2023 from sales levels in experienced the prior 6 years. The excuses used for that poor performance in 2023 were just that, excuses that anyone who knows manufactured housing history can quickly debunk. Often overlooked is the fact that during those higher demand years (2021 and 2022) Skyline Champion (for instance) kept several plants shuttered that might have been opened to keep the backlog shorter.

Back to their op-ed.

MHI’s 2024 National Communities Council Fall Leadership Forum will take place on Nov. 13-15 at the Westin Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Top-notch speakers will share real-world strategies that attendees can put into action now to strengthen their businesses. The program focuses on topics most relevant to manufactured home community leaders — owners, managers, manufacturers, service providers, brokers, lenders, and consultants.

MHI events are a profit center, per their form 990. The other purposes are to foster deal making, tax deductible fun, and purposes that have little to do with education and industry growth. Again, the proof is in the production levels and the all-too few numbers of new developments. Both ELS and Sun have made that clear in their respective IR pitches, so this isn’t speculation. It is their own claims.

Back to their op-ed.

Beyond events, MHI works to support communities through education programs. Through MHI’s two-part Accredited Community Manager education program, land-lease community owners, managers, and workers can expand their skills on a host of topics related to managing communities, from best practices for resident relations to federal and state laws that govern community operations to budget analysis.

LOL! What bold nonsense. Anyone who believes that needs to read and re-read this article and the linked evidence until the scales fall off their eyes.

Back to their op-ed.

It is undeniable that manufactured housing communities play an important role in addressing the national housing crisis. As Rep. Marc Molinaro — (R) N.Y., put it when he toured manufactured homes on the National Mall in June… “these homes build a community.”

As the only national trade association that represents every segment of the factory-built housing industry, MHI seeks to elevate housing innovation and expand attainable homeownership in America. At a time when policymakers on both sides of the political aisle and from all across the country are seeking ways to address the housing supply shortage, MHI welcomes the opportunity to support land lease community owners and operators by facilitating homeownership through manufactured housing for more people. Together, MHI and its members will harness the opportunities before and continue to elevate the industry to grow the market across the country. ##

Dr. Lesli Gooch is the CEO of the Manufactured Housing Institute, the national trade organization representing all aspects of the factory-built housing industries. Mark Bowersox is a seasoned trade association executive with experience leading nonprofits at both the state and national levels. In his role as president of the Manufactured Housing Institute he is dedicated to elevating housing innovation and expanding attainable homeownership. Bowersox is a federally registered lobbyist and regularly speaks on behalf of MHI and the industry to a variety of constituent groups and industry associations. ###

By trying to make themselves look so smart and good, one need not look beyond the KPI’s of performance, development, and mainstream media reports about manufactured housing to see that this is self-serving nonsense is meant to create what the Mark Weiss, J.D., President and CEO of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) called an “illusion of motion.” See the above, linked, and what follows.

Part II

Perhaps among the reasons that MHProNews has become the dominating trade media in manufactured housing is that we are both pro-industry but also pro-truth. Part of the article linked here and further below said this.

Tony, Congratulations on the 15th Anniversary of MHProNews, and more specifically, congratulations to you for initiating, maintaining and preserving this important service, against all odds, for our great industry and our deserving consumers. I say this because before you started MHProNews, our industry was in dire need of a hard-hitting, truth-seeking and truth-telling independent investigative journalist and publisher who would spend time to understand not only the complicated business structure of our industry, but also the complex regulatory and legal matters which distinguish it and drastically impact its members, while reporting such information accurately and objectively, regardless of who may be pleased or offended. This is quite important because, as an industry that is comprehensively regulated by federal, state and local governments, both industry members and consumers need and deserve this vital information. You understood this need and acted accordingly by creating the MHProNews, and the rest is history.

Congratulations again,

Danny

Danny D. Ghorbani
Founder and First President & CEO of MHARR.

That has hardly been the only praise for this publication for doing the hard work of telling it like it is.

https://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/celebrating-15-years-serving-manufactured-housing-i-would-like-to-congratulate-tony-and-soheyla-kovach-on-the-15th-anniversary-of-mhpronews-and-former-hud-secretary-dr-ben-carson-i/

“There are many kinds of journalism, but at the heart of their constitutional responsibilities, journalists are in the business of monitoring and keeping a check on people and institutions in power.” Trade media can and should be a ‘cheerleader’ when it is appropriate to do so. But authentic trade media also holds the powers that be to account. Who says? The American Press Institute. It is hoped that MHI leaders will either clean up the mess that they have allowed to fester at that trade group, see the added details linked here, or that public officials at the state and federal level will launch an investigation into the shocking number of problems associated with MHI. Some of the prior reports on the Patch shed more light on these as well as parallel American issues. ###