Former director and interim GM make letters public

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(March 8, 2018) A war of words between the Ocean Pines Board of Directors and former director and interim general manager Brett Hill escalated last week, as Hill forwarded to local media a letter from the board to him and his nearly 2,000-word response.

In his March 1 letter of rebuttal, Hill addressed multiple theft allegations potentially worth more than six figures and presented a timeline of events that vastly differed from a board timeline given during a public meeting on Feb. 25.

“It is perfectly clear that the board was notified on multiple occasions of multiple issues, which is exactly what was stated publicly by me,” Hill said in the letter. “Further, the board did NOT take action, as I stated, on several of these issues.”

Hill said criminal charges in one instance were not pursued “not by choice, but because of the fact that the party in question provided a confession to an officer of the law without being read their Miranda rights, making the confession inadmissible, and greatly hampering our case against them.”

Ocean Pines Police Chief David Massey, however, said that’s just not so in an online response posted on March 2.

“As Mr. Hill has left the impression that a prosecution for theft was not undertaken at the Yacht Club because we failed to advise the suspect of his rights, I state the facts,” Massey said. “I personally asked Mr. Hill if he wanted us to proceed as a criminal investigation or an internal investigation (civil). I told him that if we handled it internally, without criminal prosecution, that nothing in our interview could be utilized in a criminal proceeding.”

In a separate interview this week, Massey said a detective witnessed his conversation with Hill.

“Mr. Hill, as acting general manager adamantly stated he did not want a criminal investigation into this matter, we proceeded as directed. I cannot let the false impression that we were the cause of non-prosecution stand. Unlike some people, we accept full responsibility for our actions,” Massey said.

Association President Doug Parks on Monday forwarded an official board response to Hill’s correspondence.

“We requested Mr. Hill provide additional information regarding his allegations and he has done so,” Parks said. “The upcoming board-approved forensic audit should provide answers to lingering questions and allegations, and we will share all information provided to the forensic auditor once retained.”