CONCORD, N.H. – John Egan was recently appointed as Director for the Mountain West region of the ROC Association. John will succeed Lorie Cahill of Green Acres Co-op in Kalispell, Mont., who recently stepped down from the Association Board.
John is a leader, an organizer, a meeting facilitator and a believer of equality and social justice. He and his wife live in Animas View MHP Cooperative, in Durango, Col., where he was instrumental in helping his community purchase Animas View.
“I really enjoyed the work and challenge of turning the park into what it is,” John said. “I liked the work and moving from a corporate-owned park to a community-owned park. When the position (at ROC Association) came up, I applied for it, never thinking I would get it, but I did. I have been an elected official three times, and I have served on a board in the past. I bring organizational abilities to this position. That’s what I do.”
John was elected city councilor in Santa Fe, N.M., where he also John served as President of the Santa Fe Lodgers Association, the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, Santa Fe Chapter of SKAL (a restaurant club), and New Mexico North Association. As the Director of Transportation for Archuleta County, Colorado, he worked to make public transportation for the disabled, low-income and working-class population more available and reliable. He led an effort to rebuild and rebrand the local bus system revenues and ridership increased.
“I think I have always been someone who wants to foster equality and goodwill for people,” John said. “Living in New Mexico with a population that is low income, I saw a lot of people in need. I think that’s what got me on the idea of working for people who need help. I feel like I had the facility to do that.”
John also served as a Pagosa Springs, Colo., Town Councilor and as County Commissioner in Archuleta County, Colo. While developing the transportation system, John got into affordable housing issues there when he was asked to take over directorship of a county-managed affordable senior housing facility in Pagosa Springs.
John currently sits on the Boards of Directors for the Archuleta County Housing Authority and Housing Solutions for the Southwest in Durango and was President of the Animas View Mobile Home Park Co-op Interim Board of Directors when the residents of the community successfully purchased their manufactured home community from a corporate owner with help from Thistle ROC, ROC USA and local stakeholders in June 2021. John’s skills are in organization, meeting facilitation, writing and leadership. John is a graduate of Regis University in Denver with a degree in creative writing and mass media communications.
John said he thinks outreach and education for affordable housing and mobile home park laws should be a priority of the Association.
“What we witnessed in Colorado, neither the owners of the mobile home parks or residents of mobile home parks really understand the law of mobile home parks,” John said. “It resulted in sellers not always following the law and notifying residents of the sale and not giving residents a choice to buy the park themselves.
ROC Association Directors are a vital part of the way ROC USA operates, providing ROC residents — those directly served by the work of ROC USA and its affiliates – with three peers, who they elect, on ROC USA’s Board of Directors.
Additionally, ROC Association Directors are spearheading new initiatives for the Association, including the Outreach & Education and Policy & Advocacy Committees, as well as the Better Together monthly calls.
The ROC Association is made up of all ROCs that are or once were under contract with a Certified Technical Assistance Provider trained and certified by ROC USA® Network. One Director is elected from each of three regions and serves a three-year term. Staggered elections are held every other year, and each Director may serve for a maximum of two terms.
The Association was started by two ROC leaders, Natividad Seefeld and Lois Parris, both former appointees to the ROC USA Board of Directors.