By Greg Ellison

(June 24, 2021) New means to publicize the upcoming Board of Directors election and increase attendance at the annual Homeowners’ Meeting were discussed about during the Ocean Pines Communication Committee meeting last Thursday.

Committee Chairwoman Cheryl Jacobs asked how the group could help promote both the election ballot due date on Aug. 11 and the annual meeting on Aug. 14.

“How can we play a role in the community, making them understand the importance of voting for board director candidates?” she asked.

Committee member Marlene Ott inquired about mailing postcards to highlight the need for residents to cast votes for two of four board candidates running this year.

Board liaison Dr. Colette Horn asked what wording Ott envisioned for a voting mailer.

“Vote, vote, vote,” Ott said.

Horn countered that lot owners in good standing already receive an election packet, which in addition to a ballot, also includes candidate profiles.

“People just throw it in the trash,” Ott said.

Ott said the committee bolstering its efforts to raise awareness could lead to increased involvement in the election process.

Ott suggested the association could produce road signs reminding the community about the board election or even plug the contest on local television news programs.

“It’s all a matter of getting out there and talking,” she said.

Committee member Elaine Brady suggested that incorporating community message boards, which could be done in time for the Aug. 11 ballot due date, would also help reach part-time residents converging on the shore for the summer.

“At this juncture it may be the best way to reach them,” she said. (Brady is the publisher of Bayside Gazette).

Ott said election promotional efforts would only require a small section of marquee signs and would not prohibit advertising upcoming events simultaneously.

“Just put down there, ‘your vote matters,’” she said.

Jacobs asked Horn to confer with General Manager John Viola about placing less than a dozen yard signs in high traffic areas.

Horn proposed placing advertisements at various association amenities.

“Somewhere where people are going to be stopping and actually reading what you put on your poster,” she said.

Regardless of venue, Ott said the outreach has a clear goal.

“The message that we want to get out is we care and we want you to care,” she said.

Marketing and Public Relations Director Josh Davis said social media could also be deployed.

“Once ballots go out, we could add a banner to our weekly E-blast … which is sent to 7,000 people on Mondays,” he said. “Just saturate it.”

Committee member Josette Wheatley endorsed the use of marquee signs.

“I always feel compelled to read them as I go,” she said. “I don’t drive that fast but I catch half coming in and half going out.”

Wheatley said the other signs located throughout the community would remind homeowners to vote.

“They should be heard,” she said. “It’s their tax dollars at work so make it work.”

Jacobs also stressed the need to drum up attendance at the annual homeowners meeting.

Davis said 2018 was the last time that a required forum of 100 lot owners attended the annual meeting in August.