Ocean Pines Board resolving racquet committee is on the members; Berlin staff bonuses fair

Committee’s mistake

The decision to dissolve the Racquet Sports Advisory Committee shouldn’t have been that difficult for the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors considering the committee’s metamorphosis from an advisory group to a body of confrontational activists.

The committee’s departure from the organizational scene was not because it disagreed with the directors’ decisions on racquet sports matters, but was because it became fiercely oppositional and, instead of advising the board, attempted to dictate to it.

The right or wrong of its stances are beside the point. The committee’s mistake was that some of its members began to think that the size and enthusiasm of the club’s membership gave it the ability to challenge the board.

The fact is, however, a group that attempts to thwart the decisions of the body that created it is asking for trouble.

About those bonuses

Although some members of the public might see the longevity bonuses the Berlin mayor and council will be giving their employees as redundant, since they’ll be getting pay increases anyway, they do make sense.

In the course of establishing a step pay structure like many governments use, some of the town’s employees landed in the same pay grade as someone with less time in service. Although there’s something to be said for the “that’s-the-way-the-cookie-crumbles” argument, that doesn’t keep affected employees from grumbling and doesn’t acknowledge their loyalty.

The one-time bonus the mayor and council have approved is a financial patch to cover that step pay donut hole, and it shows employees they do appreciate their years of service.

These things happen sometimes when pay structures are rearranged, and the town’s decision in this instance was a perfectly acceptable way of handling it.