By: Tia Politi, ORHA President
June 2024

Hermiston Palooza
We had a fantastic time in Hermiston putting on our annual Property Management Palooza for our members in Eastern Oregon. Planning meetings started late this year due to the ice storm in the Willamette Valley, but we’d done it twice before, so it all worked out despite the delay. Four of our associations participated and reaped a nice reward (almost $1,000 each) to assist in their stability and growth. The Palooza not only boosted their finances but helped in raising awareness about the benefits of belonging to a chapter of the Oregon Rental Housing Association. Thanks to all who donated their time! We received a very warm welcome from our in-person attendees and the Executive Committee is committed to returning to the east every year.

Instructors Jason Miller, ORHA Education Chair, ORHA Legislative Director, and ORHA Past-President, Christian Bryant, President of the Portland Area ROA, Violet Wilson, ORHA Executive Committee Advisor, and myself donated our time to teach. ORHA’s Independent Contractor, Ben Seamans, and Education Vice Chair, Rain Maryott of Lane ROA coordinated our online attendees to allow participation from around the state.

Leigh Ann Prummer, and Joel and Leslie Hasse of ROANEO helped with planning, coordinated snacks, brought some great door prizes for in-person attendees, and helped wherever they could. ORHA Vice President and Technology Chair, Cloud Miller and Treasure Valley Rental Association Treasurer, Veda Bell handled sign-ins from in-person attendees as well as tracking licensee’s continuing education credits.

Mid-Columbia ROA Secretary/Treasurer, Tanya Dean, and ORHA Secretary, Chuck DeSeranno of Salem RHA, helped with planning and pitched in wherever they were needed on the day of the event. Umatilla RHA members Bruce Hendricks and Robert Fale attended bringing forms to sell to attendees, and Joe Bachmeier also with Umatilla RHA set up our Delegate Dinner on Friday night at the Hermiston Brewery. With twenty-two of us attending it made for a lively group - all talking about property management.

When I invited my husband to attend a meeting years ago, he asked, “Don’t you guys ever get tired of talking about this stuff?” Nope! In fact, during our conversations at the Bistro Bar over the weekend, we started planning for more seminars around the state, discussed ways to meet in Eastern Oregon once a year and continue to travel to more far-flung areas to provide education and opportunities for involvement.

Thank you so much to Randy Randall of Preferred Property Management, Inc. in Hermiston, who treated the in-person attendees to a fantastic dinner and invited us to his “Redneck Boathouse” at the private Walla Walla Yacht Club on Saturday after the board meeting. Fourteen of us got treated to a boat ride on the Columbia River with BBQ afterwards. It was an unexpected invitation from a generous guy – a great time was had by all. I think he wants us to come back!

We have moved our annual calendar scheduling to July from September and will be announcing our 2025 meeting and Palooza schedule near the end of this year. A lot goes into planning these meetings and the bigger head start, the better.

Education Committee Change in Leadership
Thank you to Education Chair, Violet Wilson, for her longtime service to ORHA. She’s not going anywhere, and will continue to teach and advise the committee, but felt she could no longer serve as chair. Violet’s longtime service to the Oregon Rental Housing Association, her local chapter, the Salem Rental Housing Association, and other associations around the state is much appreciated. She continues to serve as an Advisor to the Executive Committee, other committees, and teaches classes to landlords around the State of Oregon.

With a new opening for a change in leadership, Legislative Director and ORHA Past President, Jason Miller, is stepping up to fill that role. The committee is looking at ways to incorporate more state-sponsored training and distributing proceeds as profit-sharing to the locals the same way we do with online forms. We’re also looking at offering online videos and eventually, a method for video training to offer CE credits to real estate licensees in Oregon.

July board meeting in Silverton at the Oregon Gardens Resort
One of the best meetings of the year, I hope delegates from every chapter will join us for our ORHA Board Meeting in Silverton the weekend of July 20^th – details were emailed to all delegates on June 1^st from the ORHA Office and RSVPs are due no later than June 18^th. We’ll certainly find some fun things to do. We’ll tour the beautiful gardens after committee meetings on Friday and enjoy the outdoor pool and hot tub, but a few of us are arriving early to hike the magnificent Silver Falls State Park boasting an eight-mile loop that takes you through the only temperate rain forest in Oregon past glorious waterfalls - some you can walk behind to feel the incredible power of the falling water. There are shorter loops, but the hike is relatively easy if you take your time. If you want to join us for that we will leave from the Oregon Gardens Resort at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 18th. Contact me if you want to join us or just show up on Thursday at 10 ready to hike!

We love meeting at this beautiful, charming venue. The hotel restaurant is fantastic, and they serve the best hotel breakfast ever. The rooms all have a private outdoor deck or patio, and the beds are super comfy. Please join us for more work and fun, and remember, if you are a delegate from an association in the mentoring program (with less than 100 members), ORHA will reimburse your travel (mileage) and lodging expenses. We want you there!

Thanks to all of you who work to make ORHA a success. It is a joy and a privilege to be a part of such a talented, enthusiastic and fun group who work to help others throughout the state build financial stability and generational wealth through rental property ownership.