Harmony Communities, the property management company that purchased a troubled Fresno mobile home park, appears to have used a prank name as it worked on its PR issues.
The Stockton-based company interfaced with Fresno-based media under the pseudonym “Heywood Jablóm,” presented as the director of communication and marketing, but a report from The Business Journal revealed that he does not exist and that the name is merely a play on a play-on-words sex joke .
The backstory: Harmony Communities stepped in as the buyer of the troubled Trails End Mobile Home Park in north Fresno last year for $1.7 million.
- But the company faced stiff opposition and a failed legal fight from residents fearing rent hikes and evictions.
The big picture: Someone acting as Jablóm issued a press statement from Harmony Communities in an official capacity and also created a LinkedIn profile.
- The LinkedIn profile said Jablóm was an alumnus of UCLA and a regional board member for the American Cancer Society, yet the report from The Business Journal confirmed that Jablóm does not appear in the records for the university and the nonprofit.
State of play: Harmony Communities previously featured Jablóm on its employee directory and included a biography along with a company email and phone number.
- The biography is no longer on the website as of Monday.
- According to the biography, the company said that Jablóm joined Harmony Communities in early 2022 and has two decades of extensive background in communications and marketing.
- The biography asserted that Jablóm, a supposed Burlingame native who relocated to Lathrop, enjoyed traveling, spending time perfecting his Italian cooking skills and staying active by doing yoga and chasing after his two golden retrievers.
What they’re saying: Matthew Davies, the son of Harmony Communities CEO Bruce Davies, sought to highlight the fake employee in a LinkedIn thread.
- “Let’s get Heywood trending,” the younger Davies wrote. “He is our hardest working employee and best communicator.”
