(Sept. 28, 2017) There was little doubt before last Thursday’s meeting that the Ocean Pines Association (OPA) Board of Directors would select Ted Moroney to fill a director vacancy, and the board wasted little time in confirming it.
There were no public comments, no debate between the directors and no other nominations as Moroney was unanimously selected to replace Brett Hill, who resigned on Sept. 18.
Moroney, 63, ran a heavy construction business with his brothers in Washington, D.C. for more than three decades. In May, he left the company and started working for an insurance brokerage.
He said the change allowed him to spend more time in Ocean Pines. Moroney previously served on several advisory committees in the community.
Board Vice President Cheryl Jacobs made the formal motion to select Moroney.
“Mr. Moroney brings both the appropriate experience from his business career as well as his multiple prior endeavors assisting Ocean Pines through his service as a member on various task-force groups and committees,” Jacobs said, reading from a prepared statement. “He has no agenda other than to help Ocean Pines be the best community it can be.”
With no discussion, the question was called and the vote was unanimous, 6-0. One Director, Colette Horn, telecommuted.
Moroney took his seat at the front table of the Assateague Room in the community center, the usual setting for OPA Board meetings, and the session was quickly adjourned.
Following the meeting, Moroney said he was appreciative of all of the support he’s received. He also admitted there was plenty of work to be done.
“We face a lot of hurdles, financially and otherwise,” he said. “My goal here is building a consensus from a varied group. There’s no one who can heal all the wounds and all the bad feelings.”
Moroney said “spirited arguments and discord” are inevitable, but the directors should show unity once a vote is cast.
“We can’t be re-litigating or holding a series of bad feelings or grudges,” he said. “Having a 6-0 vote [to approve his nomination] indicates to me that there might actually be an opportunity to move us forward.”
He said he was excited to work with a new general manager and a board that is essentially starting from scratch after the August election.
“To me, the biggest [thing] that we have to make sure we do is have good communications, not only from us to the GM, but back. And it has to be more of a partnership,” Moroney said. “He takes … direction from us, but he has to be the implementer. We need to stay out of the weeds, but we need to hold him accountable.”
Moroney said his initial goal was to give new General Manager John Bailey “some time to breath,” while also working to get himself up to speed as a director.
“The second thing would to be just get organized,” he said. “We used to have a pending action list here and I’m going to ask that we bring that back. That lists everything that we’ve approved, everything that we want and everything that we have coming up.
“It’s not real work, it costs no money, but it keeps the board focused on board business,” Moroney added. “That’s what we have to do.”
The prior board and general manager faced no small amount of contention and controversy. Despite being well aware of that, Moroney said his trepidation in joining the board was minor.
“I kind of felt, we’ve got a president [Doug Parks] who is middle-of-the-road and is interested in [moving forward] and … I looked at it and thought this was a time when I could possibly make a difference,” he said. “We see what the financials are and we see what the turmoil on the board is and the turmoil internally – I don’t want to look back. We’ve gotta look forward.”
For now, Moroney said he was focused on serving the one-year duration of his appointed term. He would be eligible to run for a three-year term, next year.
“In the spring if I think I’m making a difference and if we’re heading in the right direction, then I’ll reconsider,” he said. “Knowing that I don’t have a huge desire to serve on the board beyond this gives me an opportunity to, hopefully, affect things without bringing in an agenda or running for reelection.”
There were no public comments, no debate between the directors and no other nominations as Moroney was unanimously selected to replace Brett Hill, who resigned on Sept. 18.
Moroney, 63, ran a heavy construction business with his brothers in Washington, D.C. for more than three decades. In May, he left the company and started working for an insurance brokerage.
He said the change allowed him to spend more time in Ocean Pines. Moroney previously served on several advisory committees in the community.
Board Vice President Cheryl Jacobs made the formal motion to select Moroney.
“Mr. Moroney brings both the appropriate experience from his business career as well as his multiple prior endeavors assisting Ocean Pines through his service as a member on various task-force groups and committees,” Jacobs said, reading from a prepared statement. “He has no agenda other than to help Ocean Pines be the best community it can be.”
With no discussion, the question was called and the vote was unanimous, 6-0. One Director, Colette Horn, telecommuted.
Moroney took his seat at the front table of the Assateague Room in the community center, the usual setting for OPA Board meetings, and the session was quickly adjourned.
Following the meeting, Moroney said he was appreciative of all of the support he’s received. He also admitted there was plenty of work to be done.
“We face a lot of hurdles, financially and otherwise,” he said. “My goal here is building a consensus from a varied group. There’s no one who can heal all the wounds and all the bad feelings.”
Moroney said “spirited arguments and discord” are inevitable, but the directors should show unity once a vote is cast.
“We can’t be re-litigating or holding a series of bad feelings or grudges,” he said. “Having a 6-0 vote [to approve his nomination] indicates to me that there might actually be an opportunity to move us forward.”
He said he was excited to work with a new general manager and a board that is essentially starting from scratch after the August election.
“To me, the biggest [thing] that we have to make sure we do is have good communications, not only from us to the GM, but back. And it has to be more of a partnership,” Moroney said. “He takes … direction from us, but he has to be the implementer. We need to stay out of the weeds, but we need to hold him accountable.”
Moroney said his initial goal was to give new General Manager John Bailey “some time to breath,” while also working to get himself up to speed as a director.
“The second thing would to be just get organized,” he said. “We used to have a pending action list here and I’m going to ask that we bring that back. That lists everything that we’ve approved, everything that we want and everything that we have coming up.
“It’s not real work, it costs no money, but it keeps the board focused on board business,” Moroney added. “That’s what we have to do.”
The prior board and general manager faced no small amount of contention and controversy. Despite being well aware of that, Moroney said his trepidation in joining the board was minor.
“I kind of felt, we’ve got a president [Doug Parks] who is middle-of-the-road and is interested in [moving forward] and … I looked at it and thought this was a time when I could possibly make a difference,” he said. “We see what the financials are and we see what the turmoil on the board is and the turmoil internally – I don’t want to look back. We’ve gotta look forward.”
For now, Moroney said he was focused on serving the one-year duration of his appointed term. He would be eligible to run for a three-year term, next year.
“In the spring if I think I’m making a difference and if we’re heading in the right direction, then I’ll reconsider,” he said. “Knowing that I don’t have a huge desire to serve on the board beyond this gives me an opportunity to, hopefully, affect things without bringing in an agenda or running for reelection.”