OSTA: Empowering Park & Marina Residents
If you are an Oregon Manufactured Home Park or Marina resident who owns their home, but rents the space or slip in which your home is located, then we are here for you.
OSTA is your support network, a trusted source of information about your rights, and your advocate for more secure housing through improved legislation.
Through these efforts and initiatives, we enhance your quality of life.
OSTA is a nonprofit, grassroots organization that seeks direction from members, avoiding a top-down approach, regarding decision-making on critical issues affecting members’ lifestyle choices, quality of life, and rights as residents in manufactured housing and floating home communities.
OSTA works to provide an expanding array of programs, information, and services to its members. It is an organization focused, not only on protecting the rights of homeowners as residents in parks and marinas but an organization that supports all aspects of manufactured and floating home living.
To enable this to happen we rely on members, teams, and colleagues, across the state who support this common vision. This work requires time, investment, and dedication to serve our 80,000+ residents and we rely solely on memberships and donations to achieve our goals.
Join OSTA Link
https://oregontenants.com/membership-account/membership-levels/
OSTA: Empowering Park & Marina Residents
OSTA Update: Last Call for Letters and an Alert!
With HB 3054 on the horizon, there's an urgent call to action for rent stabilization and moderation. We are sharing techniques to craft heartfelt letters that can make a real difference in influencing legislative change. As the hearing date nears, your voice matters more than ever, even when the weather tries to keep you indoors. Hear practical tips and strategies for reaching out to committee members and local media like the Rogue Valley Times, using personal stories and structured reasoning that connect to the heart of decision-makers.
But the discussion doesn’t stop there. Imagine being offered a "$20 discount" in exchange for your silence on political matters—it's a scheme that questions the integrity and value of your voice. We urge you to stay informed and uphold your integrity.
Links to share:
Committee Member addresses:
- Pam Marsh, chair Rep.PamMarsh@oregonlegislature.gov
- Tom Anderson vice chair, South Salem, rep.tomandersen@oregonlegislature.gov
- Vicki Breese-Iverson, vice chair, Prineville, rep.vikkibreeseiverson@oregonlegislature.gov
- April Dobson Rep.AprilDobson@oregonlegislature.gov
- Darcey Edwards Rep.DarceyEdwards@oregonlegislature.gov
- Lisa Fragela, Southwest Eugene Rep.LisaFragala@oregonlegislature.gov
- Marka Gamba, Milwaukee, Rep.MarkGamba@oregonlegislature.gov.
- Jeff Helfrich, Hood River, Rep.JeffHelfrich@oregonlegislature.gov
- Cyrus Javadi, Tillamook, Rep.CyrusJavadi@oregonlegislature.gov
- Emerson Levy, Bend, Rep.EmersonLevy@oregonlegislature.gov
- Kevin Mannix, North Salem, Rep.KevinMannix@oregonlegislature.gov
- Nathan Sosa, Hillsboro, Rep.NathanSosa@oregonlegislature.gov
Letters to Rogue Valley Times; letters@rv-times.com
OSTA Statewide Survey 2024 Results
House Bill 3054 (Testimony Pages) https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Measures/Overview/HB3054
For both Team Viewer and Written submissions.
Going to Salem? Here is a video with some additional information
https://youtu.be/rrQFiizGIg4?si=_wccU4j6-pRj0KEl
Join OSTA Link
Comments or Questions for the Podcast
Email: bbateman@oregontenants.com
Copyright OSTA2045,2025 Not for rebroadcast w/o express written permission. Please share and download for educational purposes with attribution.
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Well, you know that sound. That sound tells us it's time for another Osta update and things are happening pretty fast, ladies and gentlemen, so I'm going to try and be as brief as I can. This is about writing letters. Monday, february 3rd. One o'clock is when the hearing begins. That's going to be in hearing room F as in Frank. So if you're going to go, I'm sure you've already got your planning well underway.
Speaker 1:Today at my house and I'm in Southern Oregon, here in Medford, today at my house, it is raining and it is cold. And what a perfect day. What a perfect day to maybe have a cup of soup or a grilled cheese sandwich and get yourself some letters written. And this podcast is designed to provide you with everything you're going to need. When you logged in, you noticed that there was a list of addresses, there are some links, and it is really everything you need to get your letters to where they need to be. And it's important that we support HB 3054 by having letters filling up the inboxes. Now, ideally, you can go and you can testify. That's not possible for everybody, especially with cold, wet, rainy weather, but you can write a letter and you're going to have the links of where to send your letter where to sign up if you'd like to try and be one of those who can testify via a team viewer link. That's very similar to a Zoom, if you have not done it before.
Speaker 1:Suggestions on writing. This is everything you're going to need to compose those letters and we even have links to the survey. So if you want to have accurate facts and figures Now, I know that the opposition is already sending out letters and comments against the bill out letters and comments against the bill I would like to remind you that a letter to the editor in your local paper is an important addition to all of those letters we're going to be writing. So I'm going to include the email address for the Rogue Valley Times in the area up front. Naturally, you would do a little due diligence and find out. If you're up in the Portland area or maybe in Eugene, reach out to your local paper and if you've got friends at the TV or radio station, somebody you might call on a regular basis. That would be a good use of your time this afternoon. And don't forget that if you're going to be out this weekend and braving the weather, or maybe you're going to church, you've got a meeting of one of your clubs.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about HB 3054. This is going to change our lives, folks. This is not an intrusion, this is an important announcement. So let's talk about writing letters in general. You have all the resources of where to send things at the front, where you're going to sign in. Give those links a click and you can drop off your finished products and get them sent in. Let's talk about what you're going to be writing.
Speaker 1:Any letter you write, especially on something this important, honesty is the key, as is sincerity. Don't try and butter up a representative or state something that's not factual. These are smart individuals, folks. I've worked with them. They are sharp and they're not going to buy the BS.
Speaker 1:What is the goal of these letters? The committee members we are writing to are going to determine if this measure gets advanced to the floor for further consideration. Now, some are already with us and some are not. Now we know that Representative Marsh, of course, is behind us, as she's sponsoring the bill. As she's sponsoring the bill as new information becomes available, we'll begin to find out who's going to need extra attention and we'll be sharing that with you and asking you again, perhaps, to reach out with a phone call or a letter, but the goal is to convince as many people on the committee as possible that this is a valid and useful opportunity proposition, and I can understand how business can influence decision making. I was in business my entire life. I'm a big believer in profit. I think it's a great idea. I do think some of the way things are happening and we'll talk about that in a minute but the way some of this profit is being taken is not a good idea, and that's why we need not rent control but rent stabilization and rent moderation. So, as I mentioned, we got the OSTA survey up front, providing you facts and information that's up to date. You may want to look that over before you write your letter.
Speaker 1:And a key in speaking I have found with elected officials Make this like a conversation with a friend. Don't make this sound like you're speaking to a judge when you're on trial for speeding or something Direct, not casual, because you don't want to be disrespectful, but you're not speaking to the king. If you know something about the area that the representative serves for example, you vacation at Diamond Lake often Well, okay, a casual mention can help establish a connection to the representative. Now, this should be real and not made up. We want to be honest in every instance. If you don't have a connection, just use the facts. Looking at some ideas.
Speaker 1:First, a proper introduction. It should be respectful. Rep Dobson, rep Marsh is appropriate. That's how they address each other. If you want to go the full, formal, legal way, you may of course do that. Introduce yourself, let them know you're a resident of the park, how long you have lived there and, if relevant, your former career, and then ask directly for their support on Measure 3054.
Speaker 1:Then I like to use first reason. Second reason, third reason the first and biggest reason I have I have trouble buying food due to the rent. You're using I statements, you're using personal experience and again, we are being truthful. No hyperbole, please. But the biggest and most significant reason is the first reason. You're asking for their support. The second reason Okay, well, the rent continues to go up, no maintenance is done and there are no lights on my street at night. Second reason, the final reason Now some people can go with four, five, six, seven. I suggest limiting the overall lengths or use your final reason.
Speaker 1:I have been a victim of bullying and threats on numerous occasions by the manager and office staff. The final part of the letter is where you're going to close and summarize. Above all, we all deserve dignity after a lifetime of hard work. In addition to the reasons I've mentioned, we have problems A, b and C, just short, little statements. I'm urging you to support HB 3054. I'm available to speak with you or a member of your staff and I'm happy to supply additional information Sincerely name, address and phone number.
Speaker 1:Now I have a sample letter I have written and I am going to supply a link to that. It's a Google Doc with a Google link to it. If you're not a Google person, I'm sorry. That's about the best I can do. Okay, we've got the letter ideas, we've got some templates, we've got some general suggestions and we're almost ready to drop them in the electronic mailbox. Now I do urge you to go to the links I'm providing to submit written documents electronically. If you're not that technical person, if you're not the tech-savvy dude at the bingo game, that's all right. Ask one of your friends. I just came from a letter-writing party at our park on Friday. We had a whole room full of people working on letters and talking about how to copy and paste resident helping resident on how to ensure this information gets sent in. So that's a really big part. And, above all, stay tuned, because on monday I will have a report, I'll be testifying, I'll be reporting and letting you know what's going on as soon as I have something substantial and accurate to share.
Speaker 1:Now one final piece of information, and this is in the cautionary area. We've talked about how other information is being put out, some very strange or some very misleading advertisements and some things just, quite frankly, I disagree with. Okay, that's life. I received a letter, an actual letter, showing that one of the large companies as part of the rate increase letters. Now I got mine from my company on Friday in the mail and it said my rent is going up X amount. Okay, I expected that In some letters and I've seen this personally, this is not hearsay people are being told we'll give you a discount on your rent increase if you don't get involved in protests or political activity activity.
Speaker 1:We have made quite an impression. If they're trying to buy off people with hush money, don't complain, we'll give you a little bit off. Oh and, by the way, the amount I saw on the specific letter I'm referring to your integrity folks is worth around $20. Keep those things in mind. Keep an eye on what you hear and who you hear it from. Be honest, have some integrity. It's refreshing. Let your representatives know you're behind them. You appreciate their support and you don't appreciate thinking you can be bought off for 20 bucks. More as it's available, be safe, stay warm.
