FROM THE PRESIDENT
MIKE HOLT | LEGACY PARTNERS
A year worth celebrating, a bear worth naming
L
ast July, when I started as AAMD
President, I had an idea to get
more people off the sidelines and
comfortably plugged in as volunteers
for committees and roundtables. Since
then we've had several events which have
attracted people to begin volunteering for
AAMD.
Volunteering allows our Association to
utilize the gifts and strengths of extremely
talented leaders to accomplish tasks and
tackle challenges that are happening
in the industry. A perfect example of
how this came into play was our Rent
Control War Cabinet which was formed
a few months ago when word that a rent
control bill was headed to the legislature.
A team headed up by industry leaders
and AAMD Hall of Fame members Mark
Windhager and Lauren Brockman was
formed, and with the help of this task
force, Novitas Communication PR team,
our lobbyist team at Axiom Strategies, the
National Apartment Association (NAA)
and the National MultiHousing Council
(NMHC), the bill was effectively killed
prior to its second reading in the State
Senate.
The bill would have repealed a 1981
law banning rent control in Colorado.
Decades of rent control in cities like New
York and San Francisco has shown that
the policy hurts renters in the cities in
which it is imposed and has significant
negative spillover effects to neighboring
non-rent controlled cities.
6 | TRENDS
MAY 2019
There were several days where the
reading of the bill got delayed multiple
times, and many folks who showed up
were waiting for hours - sometimes into
the early hours of the morning - for
their chance to represent the apartment
industry.
I want to personally thank the
following people for volunteering
their time and expertise by either helping
prepare for or testifying against the rent
control bill: Bob Alldredge, Dori Brewer,
Lauren Brockman, Lynett Brockman,
Darrell Brown, David Birnbaum, Honor
Bulkley, Brian Fritz, Drew Hamrick,
Bobby Hutchison, Zack Jacobs, Scott
Kirkwood, Chris Leggee, Steve Leaffer,
Andy Mutz, Teo Nicolais, Larry Queen,
Brandon Rich, Jordan Robbins, Terry
Simone, Rocky Sundling, Mark Tschetter,
Debbie Wilson, Jarvie Worcester, Mark
Windhager and Mike Zoellner. Thank
you all for your efforts in helping defeat
this dangerous legislation.
that our industry does in not just
providing housing to millions of
Coloradans, but giving back through our
philanthropic efforts.
We have a lot to celebrate in the
coming months as AAMD closes out its
year, culminating in our June Awards
celebration, where we will have some
fun at the Stampede! We'll wrap up the
year in our blue jeans, boots and bling
and install Scott Kirkwood as the 2019-
2020 President. The Apartments Giving Back
campaign is going to move into phase
two in the next few months (more on that
to come), but to close out phase one, this
bear needs a name! So we're having a
contest, and if we choose your suggestion
as the name for this bear, I'll take you to
lunch and give you a nice gift basket as a
thank you! Be creative and have fun with
it! Details on how to submit your name
suggestion is at www.aamdhq.org/agb.
We will also reveal the name of our
new Apartments Giving Back mascot
(pictured here). This bear represents the
positive nature of our industry - the good Looking forward to seeing you all at
the Trade Show on May 22 and at the
National Show in June. If you see me
there, please say hi!
www.aamdhq.org