CAMDEN, Maine – A ROC leader has been appointed by the governor to serve on the state’s Manufactured Housing Board.
Margaret Jones, Board President at Mountainside Community Cooperative in Camden, has been appointed by Gov. Janet Mills.
“I am excited to serve in a position where I can hopefully be an advocate for manufactured homeowners and communities,” Jones said.
The Manufactured Housing Board was established to ensure that manufactured homes are safe from hazardous defects, provide uniform performance standards for construction and installation of manufactured housing and provide a safe and sanitary environment for occupants residing in manufactured home communities, according to the state’s website. The Board’s primary responsibilities include examining and licensing qualified applicants, promulgating rules defining the qualifications and professional standards of manufacturers, dealers and installers of manufactured homes, investigating complaints against its licensees, and taking appropriate disciplinary action against noncompliance with its statute and rules.
Jones is no stranger to state lawmaking. She recently testified to support Maine’s Opportunity to Purchase legislation, and her voice was instrumental in the passing of the bill which allows manufactured home owners a short window of time to purchase the land beneath their community when it comes up for sale.
Jones and her community were also instrumental in supporting the PRICE Fund after hosting a tour for lawmakers and policymakers in October 2022. During the tour, Jones walked a group of Congressional leaders around Mountainside Community, focusing on the community’s $3.5 million deferred sewage infrastructure needs the 52-home community inherited when becoming a ROC in 2019.
After the tour, Jones was thankful she was able to host the staffers, and said, “It’s so much better when people can see and touch things. They came and were interested in what they saw and understood that these are real people. Taxpayers. These are voters. These are families like yours and mine and they need help, and they are a big part of affordable housing in the United States today.” Her hard work paid off. In December 2022, Congress passed the $225 million PRICE Fund.
In addition to her appointment on the Manufactured Housing Board and her position as Board President for her ROC, Jones is also a Maine ROC Legislative team member and is always thinking about how to advance the ROC movement in Maine and nationwide.
“We are thankful for her service to the ROC movement and to the state of Maine,” said Pat Schwebler, co-director for Cooperative Development Institute’s New England Resident Owned Community Program. (CDI is the ROC USA affiliate in Maine and provides technical assistance to Mountainside.) “And we look forward to hearing about all of the wonderful things she will be engaged with.”