Candidate eligibility focus of several Daly proposals

By Greg Ellison

(Jan. 27, 2022) Ocean Pines Bylaws and Resolutions Committee members discussed proposed rules revisions for director elections currently under review by legal counsel with board liaison Colette Horn on Friday.

During the committee meeting on Jan. 7 numerous language changes aimed at clarifying bylaws section 5.02 election eligibility requirements for board candidates were examined.

Chairman Jim Trummel said OPA legal counsel Jeremy Tucker is on the verge of completing a review of potential language changes forwarded by the committee, as well as tweaks recommended by Director Frank Daly.

“Daly and Tucker recently met and reviewed [his] proposals and ours … submitted at the last meeting,” he said.

Trummel said Tucker would combine the efforts for board review.

“Tucker will blend both.”

Horn said the finalized language would likely be presented during a special meeting before the regular board meeting on Feb. 23 to assure changes are enacted before the next board election.

“The idea being that we want to proceed timely towards getting a referendum started,” she said. “It should be done speedily to have bylaws changes done before the next election.”

Trummel said committee recommendations for updating section 5.02a included specifying that candidates be listed as property owner on Worcester County land records and Maryland Department of Assessment taxation rolls.

Further proposed language changes would block people, like current Director Rick Farr, whose property is not personally owned by them but by a corporation or partnership from running for office.

The board disqualified Farr as a candidate for that reason midway through the election, but he successfully sued the association to have his candidacy and vote totals reinstated.

“The Daly proposal goes beyond what the Bylaws Committee has proposed,” Horn said.

In addition to requiring candidates be current property owners in Ocean Pines, Daly has proposed including a three-year minimum residency, dating from Jan. 1 of the election year.

“Unless for the purposes of duration of ownership they have served on an [advisory] committee for a period of no less than 12 months prior to May 1 of the election year,” Horn said.

Daly also recommended restricting anyone involved in pending legal action involving the association from becoming a board candidate.

“The candidate may not be a plaintiff or a defendant in a pending action in a Maryland or federal Court in which the association is named as defendant or plaintiff,” she said. “Jeremy is cleaning up that language, but that’s the concept.”

Other Daly proposals include blocking candidates if they or their spouse have a felony conviction within 10 years of May 1 for that election year.

“Jeremy does not like the spouse thing,” she said. “He believes the members will reject that.”

Horn said Tucker is drafting referendum language to separate voting on criteria for candidates and spouses.

Committee member Steve Jacobs noted the proposed restriction for candidates involved in litigation with the association could cause problems if a board member running for re-election is named in a lawsuit.

Any changes to bylaws provisions would require a majority vote of residents through a referendum. The next Bylaws Committee virtual meeting is scheduled on Feb. 11 at 1 p.m.

As for the Farr case, the board of directors announced this week they will not appeal the Circuit Court’s ruling in Farr’s favor.