After serving three three-year terms on the Ocean Pines Association Board, Dave Stevens, the current vice president, will apparently not run for reelection this year.
Stevens was elected in 2007, 2010 and, after taking a year off because of term-limit restrictions, again in 2014.
He is known for his somewhat dry sense of humor and an affinity for tackling complex procedural matters. If there’s an issue in Ocean Pines, chances are Dave Stevens wants to commission a study or lead a work group to dissect it.
“I’ve told people I’m not going to run again and I don’t think I will,” Stevens said during a phone interview on Friday. “Enough’s enough. This is my third term. I don’t know if I’d be breaking a record or not, but I don’t really care.
“I think [the association] is turned around enough and I think we’ll be OK,” he continued. “I don’t think there’s that much more I can contribute. I’ll miss it in some respects, and in others – not so much.”
Two seats, including the one held by Stevens, will be up for grabs during the election this year. The other is held by Doug Parks, who was appointed after Pat Renaud abruptly retired last September.
Stevens joked that he did not believe his friend Marty Clarke, who recently threatened to stand for election if the board passed the fiscal year 2018 budget, would, in fact, run again.
The board passed the budget on Feb. 25.
Instead, he expressed confidence in Parks.
“[Parks] is a good thinker. He’s independent and I think all he really lacks is history and experience,” Stevens said. “I think he would be fine.”
He said Steve Lind, who ran unsuccessfully a year ago, would also be a strong director.
“He could be a little bit of a controversy, but I like him,” Stevens said. “I think those two, for sure, would be fine. Lind’s been following things in-house, so he knows what’s going on. That’s really important, actually.”
Stevens said he was impressed by what the current board has been able to accomplish, especially considering it includes four freshman directors and two others that were elected only a year ago.
He said he would still like to develop a long-term capital improvement plan, which would then inform how much the association should have in its reserves, and address the worm infestation at Wood Duck.
“It’s a finite list [of outstanding items] and we do have them identified,” Stevens said. “Unlike where we were a couple of years ago, I think we’ve got relatively good price tags on them. I’m hoping I’m able to get that list down and see it have an impact on the next budget.”
He would also like to set the table for the next general manager, whom Stevens said likely would not be hired before May. Ballots are mailed in July and the election results are announced each August, when new board members take over.
“It would be nice to have [a capital improvement plan] set up in a nice, logical way for him to get a handle on,” Stevens said. “Ocean Pines is not easy to understand.”
What he’ll miss the most, he said, is the problem-solving aspect of being a director.
“To me, it’s challenging,” Stevens said. “It’s kind of the intellectual challenge that you have to think all these things through and understand them, and there’s a pretty large variety – legal, technical, operational, personnel – all those things.
“And then, you get to meet a lot more people and talk to them than maybe you want to,” he continued. “Everybody says it’s a thankless job, but that’s not really true. The fact of the matter is people thank you all the time.”
After the firing of Bob Thompson as general manager last August, Stevens said the board has been relatively calm and free of controversy, outside of the occasional vocal minority on issues like, say, pickleball or the yacht club.
Stevens is liaison to the clubs committee and said it’s not unusual to receive an email from a committee members saying they’re “disturbed by the actions of” interim general manager, Brett Hill.
He does not take those emails too seriously.
“Have you seen the inside of the yacht club since they renovated?” Stevens said. “Pretty much, after seeing that and knowing how that was done and at a relatively low cost, I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s not always right, but [he is] pretty much over there.”
Stevens was elected in 2007, 2010 and, after taking a year off because of term-limit restrictions, again in 2014.
He is known for his somewhat dry sense of humor and an affinity for tackling complex procedural matters. If there’s an issue in Ocean Pines, chances are Dave Stevens wants to commission a study or lead a work group to dissect it.
“I’ve told people I’m not going to run again and I don’t think I will,” Stevens said during a phone interview on Friday. “Enough’s enough. This is my third term. I don’t know if I’d be breaking a record or not, but I don’t really care.
“I think [the association] is turned around enough and I think we’ll be OK,” he continued. “I don’t think there’s that much more I can contribute. I’ll miss it in some respects, and in others – not so much.”
Two seats, including the one held by Stevens, will be up for grabs during the election this year. The other is held by Doug Parks, who was appointed after Pat Renaud abruptly retired last September.
Stevens joked that he did not believe his friend Marty Clarke, who recently threatened to stand for election if the board passed the fiscal year 2018 budget, would, in fact, run again.
The board passed the budget on Feb. 25.
Instead, he expressed confidence in Parks.
“[Parks] is a good thinker. He’s independent and I think all he really lacks is history and experience,” Stevens said. “I think he would be fine.”
He said Steve Lind, who ran unsuccessfully a year ago, would also be a strong director.
“He could be a little bit of a controversy, but I like him,” Stevens said. “I think those two, for sure, would be fine. Lind’s been following things in-house, so he knows what’s going on. That’s really important, actually.”
Stevens said he was impressed by what the current board has been able to accomplish, especially considering it includes four freshman directors and two others that were elected only a year ago.
He said he would still like to develop a long-term capital improvement plan, which would then inform how much the association should have in its reserves, and address the worm infestation at Wood Duck.
“It’s a finite list [of outstanding items] and we do have them identified,” Stevens said. “Unlike where we were a couple of years ago, I think we’ve got relatively good price tags on them. I’m hoping I’m able to get that list down and see it have an impact on the next budget.”
He would also like to set the table for the next general manager, whom Stevens said likely would not be hired before May. Ballots are mailed in July and the election results are announced each August, when new board members take over.
“It would be nice to have [a capital improvement plan] set up in a nice, logical way for him to get a handle on,” Stevens said. “Ocean Pines is not easy to understand.”
What he’ll miss the most, he said, is the problem-solving aspect of being a director.
“To me, it’s challenging,” Stevens said. “It’s kind of the intellectual challenge that you have to think all these things through and understand them, and there’s a pretty large variety – legal, technical, operational, personnel – all those things.
“And then, you get to meet a lot more people and talk to them than maybe you want to,” he continued. “Everybody says it’s a thankless job, but that’s not really true. The fact of the matter is people thank you all the time.”
After the firing of Bob Thompson as general manager last August, Stevens said the board has been relatively calm and free of controversy, outside of the occasional vocal minority on issues like, say, pickleball or the yacht club.
Stevens is liaison to the clubs committee and said it’s not unusual to receive an email from a committee members saying they’re “disturbed by the actions of” interim general manager, Brett Hill.
He does not take those emails too seriously.
“Have you seen the inside of the yacht club since they renovated?” Stevens said. “Pretty much, after seeing that and knowing how that was done and at a relatively low cost, I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s not always right, but [he is] pretty much over there.”