By Greg Ellison

(April 22, 2021) The candidate pool for the upcoming Ocean Pines Board election recently expanded to a trio after retired Air Force MSgt. Rick Farr entered the fray.

Farr, who purchased property in the Pines roughly two decades ago and transitioned to full-time residency two years back, has consistently monitored association operations.

“I’ve followed it all along and more recently even closer,” he said.

In 2007, Farr retired from the Air Force with 22-years of service here and abroad and quickly moved to the corporate realm inside D.C.

“I’m on my second career as an executive in human resources,” he said.

The transition was a natural progression for Farr, who left the military as a human resources advisor.

“My passion was for people, so I wanted to get into a career that translated what I was doing in the military … to the corporate world, which was human resources,” he said.

Farr said during his earlier tenure as first sergeant he was entrusted with maintaining morale and ensuring the welfare of enlisted military, while also moonlighting as an instructor.

“I taught accredited courses through the Community College of the Air Force for 11 years at night,” he said. “I taught conflict resolution, situational leadership and time management.”

Since 2019, Farr has worked remotely as a HR executive while living full-time in the Pines.

“I plan on retiring there within 10 years,” he said.

Now ensconced year-round in Ocean Pines, Farr said his motivation to join the board is to provide “fresh ideas.”

“When I purchased property in 1999, things were well taken care of,” he said. “Properties were looking nice and it seems over a period of time some of that has declined.”

Besides beautification issues, Farr said a priority is providing greater board transparency to improve community involvement.

“When there are closed-door meetings, that just defeats the entire purpose and puts a black eye on the board,” he said. “They may be doing things totally legit, but when you don’t have open transparency … or discussion in meeting minutes of what transpired, you’ve already created the doubt.”

Farr advocates board accountability to counter any perception of malfeasance.

“We work at the pleasure of the people that vote us in, and we want to make sure their voices are heard,” he said.

“There needs to be more oversight on the board,” he said. “The board holding itself accountable for the things that they do in representing the residents of Ocean Pines.”

Looking at other hot-button issues, Farr supports the pending referendum to change the board’s unauthorized spending limit from a percentage of annual assessments to a set sum.

“I think it should be locked at $1 million,” he said.

Farr also feels the onus for short-term rental regulations falls to county officials.

“I do support short-term rentals, but believe Worcester County needs to lead enforcement of their own regulations,” he said. “They’re collecting $200 bucks a pop for the residents here and they’re not enforcing it.”

Due to escalating tensions in recent years, Farr is concerned the current board has lost sight of the best interests of the larger community.

“What that does is it erodes trust with the people,” he said. “I come from the military where integrity is first and foremost.”