By Greg Ellison

OPA treasurer gets post by 4-3 margin, as Tuttle  declines to return as VP

(Aug. 20, 2020) Split camps were evident during the post-election OPA Board organizational meeting last week, following a 4-3 vote to select Larry Perrone as association president.

Besides appointing other officers, the board also established a meeting schedule for the next 12 months during the meeting held last Wednesday at the Ocean Pines Golf Clubhouse.

The secret ballot vote for president saw Director Tom Janasek nominate now former Vice President Steve Tuttle, while Director Colette Horn put forth Perrone for the position.

After the Tuttle nomination for president fell one vote shy, Janasek moved to reinstall him as vice president.

“He’s held that position very well,” he said.

For his part, Tuttle declined the nomination to return as vice president.

“I’m not taking it, sorry,” he said.

Camilla Rogers then moved for Colette Horn to take the role, with the sole nomination for vice president unanimous.

Seemingly returning the favor, Horn then nominated Rodgers to remain as secretary, a role she assumed during the recently completed election cycle.

The trend of sole nominations continued with Doug Parks being selected to serve as treasurer.

Board-approved appointments included Michelle Bennett returning as assistant secretary and Steve Phillips remaining as assistant treasurer.

Potentially finding new legal counsel was also debated.

Although ultimately voting to retain current Bethesda-based law firm Lerch Early and Brewer, future changes were considered.

Horn, while in accord with the nomination, suggested researching alternatives to the present firm.

“They have been retained for a number of years,” she said.

New OPA President Perrone proposed delaying the selection of legal counsel until the next board meeting on Sept. 9.

“At the September meeting, we can discuss whether or not we want to move forward with looking into any separate counsel,” he said.

Parks suggested the ideal procedural move would be to retain current counsel, while noting the board could later opt to direct General Manager John Viola to issue a RFP for alternatives.

“It should be pointed out that we do use Joe Moore and his firm here locally as well,” he said. “Although they’re not our primary legal counsel … a lot of local matters are parsed out to them, especially CPI violations and other things of that nature.”

Lastly, the board meeting schedule was set through July 2021, with the next gathering planned for Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.