THE HOME BUILDER 2022 Year in Review: Opening New Doors January 2023 Page Five
need your help though. Therefore, be sure to mark your calendars for Rally Day on March 29. You don’t need me to tell you that today’s market is different from what we had a year ago. While history may call it the great normalization, it is not a pain-free adjustment. Consequently, it is important for us to tell our story with the candor and perspective of a trusted local source. We’ve fortunately had that oppor- tunity more so now than ever before. Last year, I told our Communications Director Barcie Vilches that, in my 15 years with the Dallas BA, I can - not recall receiving as many media inquiries as we did. Somehow 2022 managed to top that. In Barcie’s estimation (which means this is absolutely the case), we are more visible than we have ever been. This year’s coverage included all of the major local print and televi - sion stations and also the Washington Post , AP News International and Fox Business. Being a visible, relevant and trusted local source is probably our most improved area in recent years. A huge part of that success is owed not only to Barcie, but also to Creative and Marketing Coordinator Holly Pember - ton. Our evolution continued in 2022 which saw our official publication since 1947, The Home Builder , become an interactive flip book. Making the transition from print to digital allows staff to include more timely content and direct links to email addresses, event registrations, web pages and supporting documents. We can also reach a much larger distribu- tion list via email and on social media. The list of members who contrib- uted to all our milestones in 2022 is too
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Director of Government Affairs David Lehde, pushed our housing first mes - sage into the policy arena. The tough- est job for us here involved helping the City of Dallas through their two- year battle with permitting mediocrity. At long last, we did finally make some progress. Thanks to the strong collective voice of our Dallas Divi- sion, the city filled the long-vacant Chief and Deputy Building Official positions and added an Assistant Di- rector for Land Development. Each of these officials and others have taken ownership of the problem, cleared the backlog and are working with us to make processes and policies more efficient and effective. David remains extremely active in Denton, where the city is reviewing its roadway impact fees. Earlier in the year, his efforts reduced the city’s park fee proposal by $1,500 per lot. With the pandemic behind us, it was time to take the show on the road to Washington, DC. In June, As - sociation leaders met with our local Congressional delegation on Capitol Hill addressing supply chain concerns, rising interest rates and other afford - ability challenges. Our political action committee, HOMEPAC, had a critical role to play in the year’s midterm elections. Nearly every candidate the PAC supported, 98 percent in fact, prevailed in November. This success and our ability to support so many candidates was made pos- sible by dozens of donors and a very successful clay shooting competition in August. With the state legislature conven- ing comes a prime opportunity to take our affordability issues head on. We’ll
Dallas BA Past President Jerry Carter was inducted into the Texas Housing Hall of Honor in November. On hand to cheer him on were Adam Lingenfelter, Andrew Pieper, John Porizek, Michael Turner and Phil Crone.
numerous to list is this already-lengthy column. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t name a few. First there’s Matt Walls and his wife Susan with Winston Custom Homes. They stepped up for a second time to build a mortgage free home in partnership with our charity of choice Operation Finally Home. Every proj - ect is special in its own way, this one was especially touching. U.S. Navy Corpsman Luisa Velez and her son Spencer opened their new doors after a long journey following her service as a medic. The connection those two share is magical and it warms my heart when I think about everyone who helped Matt and Susan enable them to spend the holidays in their new home on a lot provided by the City of Irving. We hope to get them a couple of neighbors here soon as the city has generously donated the adjoining lots to OPFH as well. In November, we had quite a bit to celebrate at TAB’s Fall Board of Directors meeting. First, our very own Donnie Evans with Altura Homes was installed as President of TAB. Donnie was one of the best presidents I’ve had the opportunity to work with at the local level. I have no doubt that he’ll leverage that experience along with more than 40 years in the industry to successfully lead TAB through a criti- cal legislative year. We also honored living legend, Jerry Carter, as he was inducted into the Texas Housing Hall of Honor. I have written several applications for the Hall of Honor over the years. Not
all were successful, as it is very hard to receive this prestigious distinction. That said, Jerry’s application essen - tially wrote itself. You’d be hard pressed to find a more passionate advocate for the hous- ing industry or a better volunteer role model at the local, state and national levels. Like hundreds of others, I have learned so much from Jerry over the years. He’s eager to share his wisdom yet retains an immense amount of humor and humility. We also recognized one the best at the local level. Past President Alan Hoffmann with Hoffmann Homes was honored in October with the Hugh Prather Trophy. Alan is a housing advocate in ev-
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Donnie Evans of Altura Homes became the 12th Dallas BA mem- ber to take the helm as president of the Texas Association of Build- ers.
2022 saw the completion of the Association’s eighth Operation Finally Home project as U.S. Navy Corpsman Luisa Velez and her son were gifted a home to call their own.
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