(Jan. 19, 2017) The bulk of the second-ever meeting of the Ocean Pines Association 50th Anniversary Committee was devoted to what one member called “the elephant in the room” – an apparent lack of support from association leadership.
According to Executive Assistant Michelle Bennett, the initial rezoning that established Ocean Pines was approved in June 1968, and the marketing campaign for the association kicked off on July 12, 1968.
A volunteer committee was formed late last year to plan a series of celebrations in 2018, and that group had apparently asked for assistance from Ocean Pines staff. Interim General Manager Brett Hill, however, denied that request in an email exchange and committee chairs Mike and Cathy Sabine promptly stepped down.
Last Wednesday, only days later, both were in attendance during the meeting, when the membership attempted to do damage control.
“I gathered from the email we received that once we have a plan and once we have a budget and once we know where we’re going, we will have staff support,” committee member Jenny Cropper-Rines said.
Director Slobodan Trendic, the board liaison to the group, admitted what he called a “slight setback” and said the confusion had occurred because advisory committees in Ocean Pines are, traditionally, not permitted to communicate directly with staff. This body, he said, was different.
“The committee is being treated like any other committee in terms of how the staff is being used,” he said. “I exchanged messages with the GM and Tom [Herrick], who is the president of the board, and I expressed my disagreement with their take on this.
“What I basically told them is that you’re just in the process of getting all this together and you need to be looked at differently from other, regular committees.”
Cathy Sabine, who has lived in Ocean Pines for almost four decades, said she was surprised by the apparent snub.
“I took it as no support,” she said. “Being a resident for 37-38 years and doing as much as we used to do in the past, I was really taken aback – and I was hurt.”
Peer pressure and some soul searching, she said, brought her and Mike back to the fold. The couple had previously planned successful events that marked the 25th anniversary of Ocean Pines.
“I never wanted to be a quitter of anything and always raised my kids never to be quitters. This is the first time I’d ever stepped down from anything,” Cathy said.
According to Mike, Herrick reached out to him by phone after the email exchange, with Trendic playing the role of mediator.
“Even though I didn’t like the answer I tried to be as diplomatic as possible,” Trendic said. “I communicated back with Tom and Brett formally via emails, expressing a strong difference of opinion and saying why I felt that way – and I haven’t given up. I really think, truthfully, this should’ve never happened. And I’m glad that Mike and Cathy are back.
“The reason I volunteered to be a part of this committee is I really felt it was going to be a lot of fun – and I still do,” Trendic added. “This is just an unfortunate thing and I am sure that if any of us could undo it we would.”
He said he believed both Hill and Herrick were 100 percent behind the volunteers.
“What I plan to do at the next board meeting is to bring this up so the full board is aware that you need extra help – we can’t treat you the way we have treated every other committee. It’s just not right,” Trendic said.
Along with philosophical support and staff assistance, committee member and former director Sharyn O’Hare said the committee would need some seed money from the association. O’Hare chaired the 35th anniversary committee and was able to turn a $5,000 investment into a more than $20,000 profit.
That money would later be used to build a community playground and to help establish the Worcester County Veteran’s Memorial in Ocean Pines.
“There’s something positive that comes out of these committees,” O’Hare said. “It’s not just the events. It doesn’t mean that this committee will make a profit, but it could … be something special.”
The committee discussed five potential events with tentative dates: a sign ceremony and kick-off party on Jan. 27, 2018; a parade on May 12, 2018; a golf tournament in June 2018; a time-capsule unveiling on Aug. 11, 2018 and a winter ball in November 2018.
Trendic and at least one member of the committee plan to present that schedule to the board during a work session on Monday, Jan. 23, and to request $10,000 in seed money.
The committee will meet again on Monday, Feb. 6 at 9 a.m.
According to Executive Assistant Michelle Bennett, the initial rezoning that established Ocean Pines was approved in June 1968, and the marketing campaign for the association kicked off on July 12, 1968.
A volunteer committee was formed late last year to plan a series of celebrations in 2018, and that group had apparently asked for assistance from Ocean Pines staff. Interim General Manager Brett Hill, however, denied that request in an email exchange and committee chairs Mike and Cathy Sabine promptly stepped down.
Last Wednesday, only days later, both were in attendance during the meeting, when the membership attempted to do damage control.
“I gathered from the email we received that once we have a plan and once we have a budget and once we know where we’re going, we will have staff support,” committee member Jenny Cropper-Rines said.
Director Slobodan Trendic, the board liaison to the group, admitted what he called a “slight setback” and said the confusion had occurred because advisory committees in Ocean Pines are, traditionally, not permitted to communicate directly with staff. This body, he said, was different.
“The committee is being treated like any other committee in terms of how the staff is being used,” he said. “I exchanged messages with the GM and Tom [Herrick], who is the president of the board, and I expressed my disagreement with their take on this.
“What I basically told them is that you’re just in the process of getting all this together and you need to be looked at differently from other, regular committees.”
Cathy Sabine, who has lived in Ocean Pines for almost four decades, said she was surprised by the apparent snub.
“I took it as no support,” she said. “Being a resident for 37-38 years and doing as much as we used to do in the past, I was really taken aback – and I was hurt.”
Peer pressure and some soul searching, she said, brought her and Mike back to the fold. The couple had previously planned successful events that marked the 25th anniversary of Ocean Pines.
“I never wanted to be a quitter of anything and always raised my kids never to be quitters. This is the first time I’d ever stepped down from anything,” Cathy said.
According to Mike, Herrick reached out to him by phone after the email exchange, with Trendic playing the role of mediator.
“Even though I didn’t like the answer I tried to be as diplomatic as possible,” Trendic said. “I communicated back with Tom and Brett formally via emails, expressing a strong difference of opinion and saying why I felt that way – and I haven’t given up. I really think, truthfully, this should’ve never happened. And I’m glad that Mike and Cathy are back.
“The reason I volunteered to be a part of this committee is I really felt it was going to be a lot of fun – and I still do,” Trendic added. “This is just an unfortunate thing and I am sure that if any of us could undo it we would.”
He said he believed both Hill and Herrick were 100 percent behind the volunteers.
“What I plan to do at the next board meeting is to bring this up so the full board is aware that you need extra help – we can’t treat you the way we have treated every other committee. It’s just not right,” Trendic said.
Along with philosophical support and staff assistance, committee member and former director Sharyn O’Hare said the committee would need some seed money from the association. O’Hare chaired the 35th anniversary committee and was able to turn a $5,000 investment into a more than $20,000 profit.
That money would later be used to build a community playground and to help establish the Worcester County Veteran’s Memorial in Ocean Pines.
“There’s something positive that comes out of these committees,” O’Hare said. “It’s not just the events. It doesn’t mean that this committee will make a profit, but it could … be something special.”
The committee discussed five potential events with tentative dates: a sign ceremony and kick-off party on Jan. 27, 2018; a parade on May 12, 2018; a golf tournament in June 2018; a time-capsule unveiling on Aug. 11, 2018 and a winter ball in November 2018.
Trendic and at least one member of the committee plan to present that schedule to the board during a work session on Monday, Jan. 23, and to request $10,000 in seed money.
The committee will meet again on Monday, Feb. 6 at 9 a.m.