By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(July 23, 2026) Time is running out for Ocean Pines Association homeowners to help shape the community’s leadership team as the deadline to cast ballots for the OPA Board of Directors election draws near.

The makeup of the Ocean Pines Board of Directors will be decided in a mere two weeks. Residents intending to make their voices heard have until noon on Aug. 5 to vote for who they wish to see on the neighborhood’s governing body.

This year, five candidates are campaigning for the three seats on the seven-person board. Incumbents are Board President John Latham and Director Elaine Brady, who are seeking re-election. Director Patrick Lehnerd is running to retain the seat he was appointed to this spring following the resignation of former Director Steve Jacobs.

Additionally, residents Amy Peck and William “Bill” Pickett are hoping to secure a seat as this year’s election challengers.

The three candidates voted in next month will each serve a three-year term.

Latham, the current board president, has served as the board secretary and is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran with a master’s degree in business.

Latham said last month that among his top priorities is maintaining Ocean Pines’ infrastructure while keeping assessments affordable.

Brady comes from a career in the newspaper industry. During that time, she served on several boards, including the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association and the United Way of the Eastern Shore.

Brady said in June that she hopes to continue collaborating with General Manager John Viola on responsible budgets that allow operations staff to maintain services while pursuing homeowner-requested projects when feasible.

Lehnerd joined the board in March. The appointee has more than four decades of engineering and leadership experience in the defense and space industry.

During his career, he served in positions ranging from engineer and team lead to program manager and director.

Lehnerd has stated that communication is one of the association’s greatest challenges.

Peck is again looking to break into the OPA Board. The challenger has a background in teaching and paralegal work.

Peck served on the OPA board from October 2021 to August 2022 after being appointed to carry out the remainder of a former member’s term, who had resigned. Peck ran for the board of directors in the past, including in 2024 and 2025.

This time around, Peck’s campaign emphasizes fiscal responsibility, transparency, and resident engagement.

At an elections forum in June, she criticized what she described as unnecessary spending on projects such as a recent tiki bar expansion. She also expressed concerns about the elimination of volunteer advisory committees, which were axed last fall.

The candidate maintained that the reduction of these committees has severely limited opportunities for resident input.

Challenger Pickett has more than 40 years of experience in operations, technology, and organizational management, including 26 years as a chief information officer for Maryland private schools. He also served 20 years in the U.S. Coast Guard and previously sat on the Maryland Education Enterprise Consortium Board of Directors.

Pickett has stated that improving communication and organizational processes would be among his priorities if elected to the Ocean Pines board.

Residents may cast their votes for the three board seats up for grabs until noon on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Ballots can be dropped off at a box at the Administration Building at White Horse Park or submitted online.

The firm handling this summer’s voting cycle is the Pittsburgh-based MK Election, which partnered with OPA for their elections in 2024 and 2025. MK mailed paper ballots and emailed electronic forms late last month. The vendor will tabulate the votes on Aug. 7, which will be available for public viewing. A link for the observable count will be made at a later date.

The results are planned to be certified on Aug. 8 at Ocean Pines’ annual meeting.