Tacoma Housing Authority serves over 4,000 households through our rental assistance programs. We cannot do this work without solid partnerships with our local landlords. The Landlord Advisory Board, or Housing Provider Advisory Group, has been essential in informing policy change and working on solutions and increasing participation.
The advisory board began in 2004 and includes:
- Owner-operators
- Small management companies, 200+ doors
- Corporate management companies, 3,000+ units
- State lobbyist(s) for:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, this group came together with local and state governments to connect housing providers and tenant advocates to help each other understand developing and current legislation, proving that government, nonprofits, and housing providers can work together to solve housing issues.
If you are a current Tacoma Housing Authority landlord partner and want more information about joining the board, please email .
Advisory Board Members
Chris Dobler
Chris Dobler is a founder and Senior Managing Director of Dobler Management Company, Inc. She oversees the company’s legal, human resources, and training departments. She also creates company policies and procedures based on the rental industry’s best practices and local, state, and federal ordinances and laws.
Chris has over 35 years of multifamily residential property management experience and is a second-generation housing provider. She is an Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) Certified Property Manager (CPM), licensed real estate agent, a graduate of Central Washington University with a Business Finance degree, and fluent in Spanish. She is on the Board of the Rental Housing Association of Washington (RHAWA) and serves on their Legislative and PAC-Fund committees.
Chris is also active in the WA Multi-Family Housing Association’s Government Affairs Committee. In addition, she participates in the Tacoma Housing Authority’s Housing Provider Advisory Group and the Rental Housing Coalition.
Lastly, she is on the Tacoma Business Council’s Working Solutions Committee and heads a coalition of Pierce County Housing Providers. She received industry-related awards and recognition for her industry-oriented presentations and political advocacy endeavors, including the Member of the Year Award in 2019 from RHAWA.
Mandi Hansen
Mandi Hansen has worked in the multifamily industry for over 23 years. She holds her ARM®, Accredited Residential Manager Certification from IREM®. Mandi has worked in Pierce and King Counties, managing Commercial, Affordable and Conventional Properties. Mandi currently works for Allied Residential as a Community Manager.
Mandi is a very organized person and loves working with a team and making a difference. She thrives on taking on distressed properties and making them successful. She has managed several properties through divestiture and acquisitions. Mandi has several family members in the multifamily industry. Her husband also works for Allied Residential as a Maintenance Supervisor.
Mandi has lived in the Puget Sound area since the 1980’s and graduated from Stadium High School and went to TCC. Mandi has three adult boys and two grandchildren. Mandi loves being outdoors, gardening, fishing, boating, glamping, and playing with her grandkids and dogs.
Jim Henderson
After many years as a successful independent rental owner, Jim launched LandlordSolutions to provide customized solutions that give property owners and managers an edge when it comes to managing their tenants.
Jim also plays an active role in government advocacy. He is a lobbyist for the Rental Housing Association of Washington, Tacoma Pierce County Realtors Association, and the Washington National Association of Residential Property Managers.
Jim has served on THA’s Advisory group for over ten years.
Valerie Hill
Valerie Hill has been with Allied Residential since March of 2019. Valerie brings experience with conventional, low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and other affordable asset programs including HOME and homeless student housing provider.
Valerie specializes in increasing occupancy and net operating income and providing extensive training to new associates. She began in the property management industry in 1985, and has served in roles including Senior Property Manager, Occupancy Specialist, Section 504 Coordinator, Budget Trainer, and Regional Portfolio Manager.
Valerie has completed extensive LIHTC training programs with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, Spectrum, National Center for Housing Management, and Novogradac & Company, LLP. She maintains a Washington real estate broker’s license and is a certified occupancy specialist. In addition, Valerie holds a C3P designation and Specialist in Housing Credit Management. Valerie also attends Gallup and Myers Briggs leadership training courses and believes strongly in growing and supporting her team members.
Valerie is passionate about volunteering and giving back to the community. Her volunteer work includes PAWS, Villalobos Rescue Center where she spent a week in 2014 walking dogs, cleaning kennels, and doing laundry, DAWN, Paralyzed Veterans Administration, and Best Friends Animal Rescue.
Valerie joined the Advisory Committee in 2020 to participate in working with Tacoma Housing Authority to ensure that affordable housing is recognized as a needed and valued service to the community.
Mark Melsness
Mark Melsness is a Washingtonian who has lived in the South Sound area all his life. He grew up in Federal Way and Gig Harbor, serving in the US Army after graduation. Mark gained unique life experiences during his time in the military and served through the Desert Shield and Desert Storm conflicts. Returning to the area in ’91, Mark began his civilian career working in commercial sheet rock and steel stud framing. Two years later he would join his father’s residential management company. There, he began in yard work, over time rising to success as President of the company. In 2013, Mark transitioned away from this role, and with several partners, created a new company: Windermere Property Management. A few years later in 2016, Mark took full ownership of the company and recreated it into the Spinnaker Property Management that exists and thrives today.
As a property owner himself, Mark delights in caring for his client’s properties with the same level of attention that he has for his own. He credits his success to this connection he has with his clients – whether they be tenant or property owners. Mark prides Spinnaker’s ability to work seamlessly within the real estate and property management community members, even if it means referring out to others in the same line of work. Getting people into homes is the goal at the end of the day!
Now, as a 30-year veteran of property management in the South Sound area, Mark has become a fixture in local real estate and property management culture. When Mark is not working, you will find him taking road trips with his daughter or hunting and fishing with other family and friends.
Marie Pettie
As a realtor, Marie Pettie was elected as Washington state president for the Women’s Council of Realtors (WCR). She is a unique property manager as she has been in the trenches as a multi-family manager and realtor most of her career.
She now is the designated broker/owner of Safe Harbor Property Management, LLC, and brings her 29 years of management experience to the single/multi family home and real estate development arena. She is currently working on several affordable housing development projects.
She has served on the Advisory Committee for 4 years. She has enjoyed the opportunity to work on committee projects with property management professionals to stay on the cutting edge of developing and understanding new legislation.
Audrey Riddle
Audrey Riddle joined Goodman Real Estate in 2018 as the IMPACT Program Ambassador. She brings a wealth of service experience to the role, with years of experience contributing to the growth of her community through philanthropy and engagement.
Prior to joining GRE, she worked for the Catholic Housing Services as a Program Manager and managed an apartment building for low-income working families and families coming out of homelessness. Throughout her career, she has kept her goal of bringing dignity and compassion to all residents as her north star. Audrey believes listening and asking questions are essential to creating a creative and holistic strategy. Energetic and compassionate, Audrey strives to be a positive influence in everything she does.
Audrey holds a BA in Psychology from Seattle Pacific University (SPU) with minors in Leadership Studies, Reconciliation Studies, and Women’s Studies. Born and raised in Western PA, Audrey moved to Seattle to attend SPU. While there, she worked with Tent City 3 during their second stay on SPU’s campus. Through that experience, she developed a passion for service and combatting homelessness.
In her free time, she is active and enjoys running as well as participating in a year-round indoor soccer team and kickball team.
Audrey Riddle joined the Advisory Board to learn how to be a resource to Pierce County; as GRE houses many participants in the program, she found this to be a way to share successes and opportunities to build on the great work that THA does for the community.
Dan White
Mr. White is the owner of Whitehouse Properties, LLC, focusing on rental homes and small multi-family properties in the greater Tacoma area. He has served on the advisory board since 2004.
Mr. White, a former CPA, became a housing provider in Tacoma in 1996, realizing the great potential of this developing city. Since the beginning, Mr. White has partnered with the Tacoma Housing Authority to assist underserved families in their housing needs. Mr. White has assisted THA in an advisory capacity for over 15 years and previously provided land for the development of the Bay Terrace property.
Mr. White has a long history of redeveloping under-producing properties and partnering with builders to produce quality housing for our community. Mr. White has been a 20-year board member of the Washington Landlord Association and personally focuses on governmental affairs to promote affordable housing. A native of Walnut Creek, CA, Mr. White has lived in the Gig Harbor area since late 1995.
Mr. White has three children. The two youngest are in college, with a son at Gonzaga (go ZAGS) and a daughter at the University of San Francisco (go DONS). His older daughter lives in California with 3 beautiful kids, with whom he spends a great deal of time enjoying.