Johnson County supervisors clashed at their Wednesday work session over a proposed resolution to improve conditions in manufactured home communities and ensure a consistent, safe water supply after Modern Manor residents lost water for three days between Jan. 19 and 21.

The proposed resolution called on the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to remind manufactured home park owners of their legal responsibilities, while the county explores emergency water preparedness plans, new permitting processes, and potential annexation.

Supervisor Mandi Remington, who prepared the resolution, acknowledged the county has limited power over private rental agreements due to state laws that, Remington said, primarily protect property owners. However, she urged the board to pass the resolution as a public commitment to the residents of manufactured home communities.

“I am looking to provide the many, many community members who have come to us and talked about these concerns and these issues with concrete public commitment to taking specific action steps to address them,” Remington said.

Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz, a vocal advocate for affordable housing as a human right, supported Remington’s proposed resolution and echoed frustrations over the county’s limited power in this area.

“I’m so appreciative that it is brought forth, and I’m also incredibly frustrated and angry that it is because we have a situation like this that arose,” Fixmer-Oraiz said of the recent water loss. “Nobody should have had to suffer and continue to suffer for this to rise to the level that it has. But I do think that we are trying to do everything that we can, and there’s always more to do.”

However, Supervisor Rod Sullivan did not support the proposed resolution.

“I like the ends, I really don’t like the means,” Sullivan said. “I don’t think a resolution is the way to handle this.”

Sullivan stated his preference to focus on the actions detailed in the resolution rather than the passage of the resolution itself.

“Frankly it just feels a little bit performative to me as opposed to just going to work on this stuff,” Sullivan said.

Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass also voiced concerns about the proposed resolution, specifically its directive for the county’s grant team to seek funding to purchase manufactured home communities. While supporting other actions in the resolution, Green-Douglass said the county lacks the capacity to manage such communities, even with grant funding.

“That seems we would be getting into the business of basically landlord-ing,” Green-Douglass said.

Sullivan said small disagreements like this are why he believes a resolution is not the right vehicle for the actions included. He also expressed concern that passing Remington’s proposed resolution could lead the board down a slippery slope that ultimately would not be helpful.

“I just think this is going to open the Pandora’s box of, ‘We’re going to have a resolution every week because a supervisor has a pet project,’” Sullivan said.

Fixmer-Oraiz challenged Sullivan’s characterization of the proposed resolution as performative and emphasized the importance of making a public-facing commitment.

“I think it would be performative if there weren’t actual actions in here,” Fixmer-Oraiz said.

Two residents of manufactured home communities in Johnson County addressed the supervisors, raising concerns about landowners increasing rents while reducing services. Board members said they were “painfully aware” of the issue.

One resident said to the supervisors that many of their community members lack the means to attend the board of supervisors’ work sessions and suggested the county create an online system for manufactured home community residents to file complaints directly.

The other resident, who said she lived in Modern Manor for 25 years, broke down in tears while describing her experience during the recent water outage. She said the park’s owner has no concern for residents and that issues with water access and rising rent have persisted since she moved in.

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She emphasized the residents of her community do not have a loud voice, but the county supervisors do.

Jessica Andino, the executive director of the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition, also addressed the board to emphasize the urgency of this matter.

“I’m passionate about this cause, passionate about these people that I go into their homes every single day that they are proud of,” Andino said.

She also pointed out that the communication with residents about water access was inadequate and did not take into account that many residents do not have cellphones nor speak English fluently.

“We all have the right to live in safe and decent stable housing, and that includes halfway homeowners that are in manufactured homes in Johnson County,” Andino said.

Chairperson Jon Green said he did not want to pass the resolution with a 3-2 vote considering Supervisors Sullivan and Green-Douglass raised concerns. While acknowledging the county is limited by budget and state laws, Green emphasized the board is committed to the issue at hand.

Instead of holding a vote, Green proposed using the resolution as a to-do list, addressing the issues one by one during work sessions. Remington said she is open to this approach if the board prioritizes the action items.

“I don’t want it to be something that we talk about, and we say we all agree on these ideas, and it ends up on a back burner, and we don’t actually take action,” Remington said.

The board agreed to add specific action items from the proposed resolution to work session agendas going forward.