(July 21, 2016) “I think Thomas Jefferson would be proud of this,” moderator Steve Habeger said at the conclusion of a candidates forum at the Ocean Pines Library on Saturday morning.
Jefferson, Habeger said, “sought a well-informed public. I think we’re trying to do that,” he said.
The forum was the third and possibly final gathering of candidates in the 2016 Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors election. The first, sponsored by Ocean Pines and held in the community center, took place in June. A second forum was held at the Parke community earlier this month.
Ocean Pines resident Steve Tuttle organized the most recent gathering, with six of the 11 candidates and about 75 members of the public attending.
Tuttle said four candidates had other obligations. Incumbent Jack Collins was visiting family in Baltimore, Budget and Finance Chairwoman Pat Supik and businessman George Simon had prior commitments, and former New York City Police Officer Steve Lind was volunteering at the Ocean Games fundraiser in Ocean City, which raised money for victims of traumatic brain injuries.
A fifth candidate, former Director Ray Unger, was scheduled to attend, but did not.
Carrying over on the theme of the Parke forum, Saturday’s debate started with a question about Ocean Pines General Manager Bob Thompson. Habeger asked if the candidates would have supported his contract renewal, which was approved by a 6-1 vote earlier this year.
Five of the six candidates answered “no.”
“We’re all on the same page here,” Tom Janasek said. “I would never support the contract.”
Instead, Parks suggested adopting a motion introduced by Director Tom Herrick that would have explored other options, including outsourcing the position.
“I think [Thompson] makes way too much money,” Janasek said. “He’s the highest-paid GM around.”
By-Laws & Resolutions Chairman Doug Parks said “performance-based metrics” needed to be put into place regarding the general manager, and agreed that he would not have voted for the contract renewal.
“The idea of providing a level of leadership for the staff is consistent with what the membership needs – not what the board wants – is one of the areas that we could have improvement,” he said. “I don’t know that the current GM is capable of doing it.”
Slobodan Trendic called Thompson’s contract “outrageous,” and said the average community manager salary was about $63,000 in the U.S., and that the top 10 percent had average salaries of $123,000. Thompson has a base salary of $165,000.
“The numbers speak for themselves. These are the things we need to correct,” he said.
Larry Perrone also said he would not have voted for the contract – but for a different reason.
“I don’t think a decision needed to be made at the time,” he said. “I think it’s unfair to the current board … to renegotiate a contract when, as you can hear from all the candidates, there’s a lot of issues that needed to be discussed. I think it should have been tabled until the new board is elected.”
Only Comprehensive Planning Committee Chairman Frank Daly answered “yes.”
“But only because the board failed to have proper plans and preparations in place to do otherwise,” he said. “We need a compensation and benefit evaluation in place to make sure we pay this person correctly. We need performance measurements in place to make sure that they get paid based on performance … and we need an interim person in place to be able to function this organization should we elect to terminate the GM.”
Asked if Ocean Pines should continue to operate a golf course, many suggested the current leadership was meddling with management company Landscapes Unlimited.
“We’re micromanaging the new management company,” Janasek said. “I think we need to let the management company work the way it’s supposed to.”
Parks said golf was a “wonderful amenity” that the community needed to keep.
“LU has an opportunity to step and put together a sound business plan,” he said. “I think that the board needs to give them an opportunity and mandate that they present that business plan in such a way that it shows that they’re focused on the things going forward.”
Perrone, however, had a different view of Landscapes.
“LU’s position was that they had a plan that was proprietary that would bring the members back to this course. Quite honestly, that’s a bunch of crap,” he said. “That plan can not be so proprietary that they couldn’t share it with the board, and quite honestly the board should have pushed for that.
“LU should have never been given this contract … until they provided that written plan,” he added. “We’re the ones that are funding it, we’re the ones that should have known … what that plan was.”
Brett Hill used the question to address a statement made by Daly, during the previous forum, that none of the candidates had the experience to run a community with police and public works. He added managing a golf course to that list.
“I’m kind of offended by that statement,” he said. “Yes, I have never run a golf course or a police department or a public works department, but a good executive and good leader can run anything because they know how to ask for help, they know how to make people accountable and they know how to follow through.
“Maybe some of the candidates don’t know how to do that – I believe I do,” Hill added.
While the first two forums largely ran on prepared questions, the debate on Saturday asked members of the audience to fill out questions in real time. Habeger said several of those involved whether renovation or replacement is the right approach to take with the Ocean Pines Country Club.
Daly said the existing club was essentially unusable, but that he would prefer renovation unless the building was found to be structurally deficient.
Perrone said a 2011 study on the building could be updated for about $5,000, and that the results of that would inform his decision.
“Anyone standing up here and telling you we need to refurbish … I’m sorry, we need to have more information to make that decision,” he said. “That’s the type of thing that goes on with the board, that they’re making decisions without knowing whether or not it’s more cost-effective to repair or replace. Fiscal responsibly sometimes means spending a little bit more now so that five years from now we’re not spending another $5 million to do what needed to be done in the first place.”
Trendic said his view of the club was simple.
“Imagine if Europe tore down every building that was more than 50 years old,” he said. “I don’t think we would want to go back again and look at Rome and other places.”
Instead, he suggested the community learn a lesson from the recently replaced yacht club, which he said was rebuilt instead of performing “smart maintenance.” Moreover, he recommended Ocean Pines address two issues at once by outsourcing golf and tying in the club.
“That’s probably the best way to handle homeowner’s money. Instead of collecting up front, really bring the pros in and let them run it the way it should be run,” he said.
Another popular question, according to the moderator, was a perceived lack of civility during board meetings.
Janasek said the meetings were a pet peeve of his because weekday meetings were not easy to attend. He compared the tone of the meetings to a “sixth grade class.”
He suggested the board bring back work sessions before holding public meetings.
“It’s just unbelievable watching how they bicker back and forth,” he said. “It’s nothing you’d really want to see [and] you can’t understand how anything gets done.”
Trendic said board members needed to remember, “Why they’re there to begin with.”
“It’s not about them – it’s really about representing the community, representing the homeowners,” he said. “If we keep that in mind and remind ourselves that it’s not about us, I think the whole humanity aspect of civility and other things will be a lot easier to do.”
Daly insinuated conflicts where somewhat unavoidable.
“It’s not whether you’re going to fight … It’s how you fight,” he said. “I might tell you that your idea is BS, but I respect you as a person. You’re fighting over ideas that advance the will of you, the homeowner, not over personality issues of whether I like you.”
During closing statements, Thompson again became the focus of several candidates.
Trendic said the general manager was the cause of most controversies in Ocean Pines. He drew a line between candidates who believed “all is well,” and those who did not.
“Within [the latter] group of candidates, the key difference is at which speed some of us will move to address these issues,” he said. “As your new board member, I will move promptly to address the concerns related to the general manager’s performance.”
Perrone said the board should share some of the blame, and that he would not move to fire Thompson on day one, “because there’s no plan in place to run on day two.”
He also addressed what he saw as a “lack of integrity” on the current board – and by some of the candidates.
“People will get up and say one thing, and then when they get on the board they do absolutely another thing,” he said. “When you’re considering who you’re going to vote for I think you need take a look at and consider the integrity of the candidates who are in front of you. It’s a very important issue for any election.”
Jefferson, Habeger said, “sought a well-informed public. I think we’re trying to do that,” he said.
The forum was the third and possibly final gathering of candidates in the 2016 Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors election. The first, sponsored by Ocean Pines and held in the community center, took place in June. A second forum was held at the Parke community earlier this month.
Ocean Pines resident Steve Tuttle organized the most recent gathering, with six of the 11 candidates and about 75 members of the public attending.
Tuttle said four candidates had other obligations. Incumbent Jack Collins was visiting family in Baltimore, Budget and Finance Chairwoman Pat Supik and businessman George Simon had prior commitments, and former New York City Police Officer Steve Lind was volunteering at the Ocean Games fundraiser in Ocean City, which raised money for victims of traumatic brain injuries.
A fifth candidate, former Director Ray Unger, was scheduled to attend, but did not.
Carrying over on the theme of the Parke forum, Saturday’s debate started with a question about Ocean Pines General Manager Bob Thompson. Habeger asked if the candidates would have supported his contract renewal, which was approved by a 6-1 vote earlier this year.
Five of the six candidates answered “no.”
“We’re all on the same page here,” Tom Janasek said. “I would never support the contract.”
Instead, Parks suggested adopting a motion introduced by Director Tom Herrick that would have explored other options, including outsourcing the position.
“I think [Thompson] makes way too much money,” Janasek said. “He’s the highest-paid GM around.”
By-Laws & Resolutions Chairman Doug Parks said “performance-based metrics” needed to be put into place regarding the general manager, and agreed that he would not have voted for the contract renewal.
“The idea of providing a level of leadership for the staff is consistent with what the membership needs – not what the board wants – is one of the areas that we could have improvement,” he said. “I don’t know that the current GM is capable of doing it.”
Slobodan Trendic called Thompson’s contract “outrageous,” and said the average community manager salary was about $63,000 in the U.S., and that the top 10 percent had average salaries of $123,000. Thompson has a base salary of $165,000.
“The numbers speak for themselves. These are the things we need to correct,” he said.
Larry Perrone also said he would not have voted for the contract – but for a different reason.
“I don’t think a decision needed to be made at the time,” he said. “I think it’s unfair to the current board … to renegotiate a contract when, as you can hear from all the candidates, there’s a lot of issues that needed to be discussed. I think it should have been tabled until the new board is elected.”
Only Comprehensive Planning Committee Chairman Frank Daly answered “yes.”
“But only because the board failed to have proper plans and preparations in place to do otherwise,” he said. “We need a compensation and benefit evaluation in place to make sure we pay this person correctly. We need performance measurements in place to make sure that they get paid based on performance … and we need an interim person in place to be able to function this organization should we elect to terminate the GM.”
Asked if Ocean Pines should continue to operate a golf course, many suggested the current leadership was meddling with management company Landscapes Unlimited.
“We’re micromanaging the new management company,” Janasek said. “I think we need to let the management company work the way it’s supposed to.”
Parks said golf was a “wonderful amenity” that the community needed to keep.
“LU has an opportunity to step and put together a sound business plan,” he said. “I think that the board needs to give them an opportunity and mandate that they present that business plan in such a way that it shows that they’re focused on the things going forward.”
Perrone, however, had a different view of Landscapes.
“LU’s position was that they had a plan that was proprietary that would bring the members back to this course. Quite honestly, that’s a bunch of crap,” he said. “That plan can not be so proprietary that they couldn’t share it with the board, and quite honestly the board should have pushed for that.
“LU should have never been given this contract … until they provided that written plan,” he added. “We’re the ones that are funding it, we’re the ones that should have known … what that plan was.”
Brett Hill used the question to address a statement made by Daly, during the previous forum, that none of the candidates had the experience to run a community with police and public works. He added managing a golf course to that list.
“I’m kind of offended by that statement,” he said. “Yes, I have never run a golf course or a police department or a public works department, but a good executive and good leader can run anything because they know how to ask for help, they know how to make people accountable and they know how to follow through.
“Maybe some of the candidates don’t know how to do that – I believe I do,” Hill added.
While the first two forums largely ran on prepared questions, the debate on Saturday asked members of the audience to fill out questions in real time. Habeger said several of those involved whether renovation or replacement is the right approach to take with the Ocean Pines Country Club.
Daly said the existing club was essentially unusable, but that he would prefer renovation unless the building was found to be structurally deficient.
Perrone said a 2011 study on the building could be updated for about $5,000, and that the results of that would inform his decision.
“Anyone standing up here and telling you we need to refurbish … I’m sorry, we need to have more information to make that decision,” he said. “That’s the type of thing that goes on with the board, that they’re making decisions without knowing whether or not it’s more cost-effective to repair or replace. Fiscal responsibly sometimes means spending a little bit more now so that five years from now we’re not spending another $5 million to do what needed to be done in the first place.”
Trendic said his view of the club was simple.
“Imagine if Europe tore down every building that was more than 50 years old,” he said. “I don’t think we would want to go back again and look at Rome and other places.”
Instead, he suggested the community learn a lesson from the recently replaced yacht club, which he said was rebuilt instead of performing “smart maintenance.” Moreover, he recommended Ocean Pines address two issues at once by outsourcing golf and tying in the club.
“That’s probably the best way to handle homeowner’s money. Instead of collecting up front, really bring the pros in and let them run it the way it should be run,” he said.
Another popular question, according to the moderator, was a perceived lack of civility during board meetings.
Janasek said the meetings were a pet peeve of his because weekday meetings were not easy to attend. He compared the tone of the meetings to a “sixth grade class.”
He suggested the board bring back work sessions before holding public meetings.
“It’s just unbelievable watching how they bicker back and forth,” he said. “It’s nothing you’d really want to see [and] you can’t understand how anything gets done.”
Trendic said board members needed to remember, “Why they’re there to begin with.”
“It’s not about them – it’s really about representing the community, representing the homeowners,” he said. “If we keep that in mind and remind ourselves that it’s not about us, I think the whole humanity aspect of civility and other things will be a lot easier to do.”
Daly insinuated conflicts where somewhat unavoidable.
“It’s not whether you’re going to fight … It’s how you fight,” he said. “I might tell you that your idea is BS, but I respect you as a person. You’re fighting over ideas that advance the will of you, the homeowner, not over personality issues of whether I like you.”
During closing statements, Thompson again became the focus of several candidates.
Trendic said the general manager was the cause of most controversies in Ocean Pines. He drew a line between candidates who believed “all is well,” and those who did not.
“Within [the latter] group of candidates, the key difference is at which speed some of us will move to address these issues,” he said. “As your new board member, I will move promptly to address the concerns related to the general manager’s performance.”
Perrone said the board should share some of the blame, and that he would not move to fire Thompson on day one, “because there’s no plan in place to run on day two.”
He also addressed what he saw as a “lack of integrity” on the current board – and by some of the candidates.
“People will get up and say one thing, and then when they get on the board they do absolutely another thing,” he said. “When you’re considering who you’re going to vote for I think you need take a look at and consider the integrity of the candidates who are in front of you. It’s a very important issue for any election.”