(April 6, 2017) Members of the Ocean Pines Association Bylaws and Resolutions Committee may not agree with a recent decision by the board of directors on proposed election reforms, but they are not willing to step on the toes of the committee that wrote the amendment.
By a 3-2 vote with two directors absent, the board rejected a first reading last month on an amendment to Resolution M-06 that would have allowed votes to be counted during an open meeting and announced immediately.
The elections committee composed the draft, with assistance from the bylaws committee.
During a bylaws meeting on Monday, committee member Jeff Knepper said he believed the only objection to the reforms was whether election results could be announced prior to the annual meeting, as has been the practice for decades.
“The rest of the work that the committee did, I didn’t hear any objection from anyone on the board about. So I think it was a pretty good body of work,” Knepper said. “I think the question that the board has to decide now is how strongly do they feel about this issue?
“That’s for the board to do – we, here, don’t get to do anything,” Knepper added.
Committee Chairman Marty Clarke agreed.
“I don’t think we have any charge to change the elections committee’s [amendment],” Clarke said, adding that he was baffled by the board vote to reject it.
Several candidates complained about Ocean Pines election rules last year, citing a lack of transparency. Brett Hill, now a director and the interim general manager, went as far as to lodge a complaint with the Maryland Attorney General.
Clarke said he was asked, at the time, by the board president to sit down with former elections committee Chairman Bill Wentworth.
“If I’d brought four terrycloth towels it wouldn’t have been enough for all the crying that went on at lunch, because everyone was accusing him of this and that,” Clarke said. “I just gave up, and then [the committee members] all quit rather than fix it.”
The elections committee was reconstituted with new members last September, when work on reforms started in earnest.
“They [put in] countless hours in trying to solve the transparency problem” Clarke said. “This committee’s got a lot of time in on this. The board rejected it. This is now up to the board.”
Director Cheryl Jacobs, the liaison to the committee, disagreed.
“This committee has the ability to take an amendment of any bylaw … back to the board with a recommendation. Now, you can choose not to do that, as a committee, and I’ll do it myself,” Jacobs said. “But I don’t agree that you don’t have the ability to do that as a committee.”
“Well, I’m not going to override another committee’s workload,” Clarke said.
Clarke moved for the committee to recommend the board accept the changes to M-06 as written by the elections committee. The motion did not receive a second.
Committee member Jim Trummel then shifted gears, stating he was concerned that Ocean Pines governing documents did not spell out a process for holding a recount in the case of a close election.
Rather than hold an open vote count, he said, the association might be better served by farming out the operation entirely.
“My personal feeling is we’re far better served by an independent agency … that will witness the closed counting,” Trummel said. The agency could also handle or assist with the announcement and certification of elected officials in Ocean Pines.
Trummel said he would make comments privately to the board of directors. No formal committee motion was proposed.
Also during the meeting, the committee agreed to wait on review of Resolution M-01, on compliance procedures, until a new general manager is hired. The committee will begin reviewing M-02, which deals with amenity policies, during May 1 meeting at 10 a.m.
The members consented to recommend the board remove all references to the general manager and Ocean Pines staff from committee resolutions C-1 through C-15, excepting resolutions related to the elections committee, search committee and architectural review committee.
By a unanimous vote, the committee recommended the board accept changes to Resolution M-09, related to the search committee, as introduced during a first reading last month. The changes would eliminate the appointment of a liaison to that committee. The board postponed a vote on the first reading.
By a 3-2 vote with two directors absent, the board rejected a first reading last month on an amendment to Resolution M-06 that would have allowed votes to be counted during an open meeting and announced immediately.
The elections committee composed the draft, with assistance from the bylaws committee.
During a bylaws meeting on Monday, committee member Jeff Knepper said he believed the only objection to the reforms was whether election results could be announced prior to the annual meeting, as has been the practice for decades.
“The rest of the work that the committee did, I didn’t hear any objection from anyone on the board about. So I think it was a pretty good body of work,” Knepper said. “I think the question that the board has to decide now is how strongly do they feel about this issue?
“That’s for the board to do – we, here, don’t get to do anything,” Knepper added.
Committee Chairman Marty Clarke agreed.
“I don’t think we have any charge to change the elections committee’s [amendment],” Clarke said, adding that he was baffled by the board vote to reject it.
Several candidates complained about Ocean Pines election rules last year, citing a lack of transparency. Brett Hill, now a director and the interim general manager, went as far as to lodge a complaint with the Maryland Attorney General.
Clarke said he was asked, at the time, by the board president to sit down with former elections committee Chairman Bill Wentworth.
“If I’d brought four terrycloth towels it wouldn’t have been enough for all the crying that went on at lunch, because everyone was accusing him of this and that,” Clarke said. “I just gave up, and then [the committee members] all quit rather than fix it.”
The elections committee was reconstituted with new members last September, when work on reforms started in earnest.
“They [put in] countless hours in trying to solve the transparency problem” Clarke said. “This committee’s got a lot of time in on this. The board rejected it. This is now up to the board.”
Director Cheryl Jacobs, the liaison to the committee, disagreed.
“This committee has the ability to take an amendment of any bylaw … back to the board with a recommendation. Now, you can choose not to do that, as a committee, and I’ll do it myself,” Jacobs said. “But I don’t agree that you don’t have the ability to do that as a committee.”
“Well, I’m not going to override another committee’s workload,” Clarke said.
Clarke moved for the committee to recommend the board accept the changes to M-06 as written by the elections committee. The motion did not receive a second.
Committee member Jim Trummel then shifted gears, stating he was concerned that Ocean Pines governing documents did not spell out a process for holding a recount in the case of a close election.
Rather than hold an open vote count, he said, the association might be better served by farming out the operation entirely.
“My personal feeling is we’re far better served by an independent agency … that will witness the closed counting,” Trummel said. The agency could also handle or assist with the announcement and certification of elected officials in Ocean Pines.
Trummel said he would make comments privately to the board of directors. No formal committee motion was proposed.
Also during the meeting, the committee agreed to wait on review of Resolution M-01, on compliance procedures, until a new general manager is hired. The committee will begin reviewing M-02, which deals with amenity policies, during May 1 meeting at 10 a.m.
The members consented to recommend the board remove all references to the general manager and Ocean Pines staff from committee resolutions C-1 through C-15, excepting resolutions related to the elections committee, search committee and architectural review committee.
By a unanimous vote, the committee recommended the board accept changes to Resolution M-09, related to the search committee, as introduced during a first reading last month. The changes would eliminate the appointment of a liaison to that committee. The board postponed a vote on the first reading.