Voters give board chance for repeat

The Ocean Pines Association has reached the Goldilocks level, General Manager John Viola said Saturday at the association’s annual meeting, and not only does that appear to have happened, but it also looks as if the community’s fiscal and physical circumstances will continue in that direction for another year.

What Viola means, of course, is that all the factors contributing to the association’s positive performance last year were not too hard, were not too soft, but were just right. Everything aligned in just such a fashion that what was good turned into better and what had been better became the best yet.

There’s no argument that Ocean Pines homeowners got more than their money’s worth out of the OPA leadership in the past 12 months, considering that their assessments went down, the fund balance went up, and money was available to spend on maintaining and improving the community’s amenities.

The year ahead, meanwhile, looks equally promising with the return of Directors Rick Farr and Jeff Heavner to what has been an uncharacteristically quiet but fully engaged board.

The absence of change in its composition suggests the new challenges it will inevitably face will be handled in the same moderate manner instead of in the brawls of earlier times.

Clearly, voters appreciated the style and substance of last year’s board — give or take a minor kerfuffle — otherwise they wouldn’t have seen fit to authorize this encore.

To be sure, the association has come a long way since the bad old days when it was wallowing in debt and personality clashes often dominated board meetings.

Although tradition demands that the winners of this year’s contest be congratulated on their victories, the voters themselves should be applauded for acknowledging last year’s positive results by giving the OPA leadership the opportunity to repeat that success.