If nothing else, the Ocean Pines Board of Directors’ consideration of a fiber optics infrastructure project that would involve Director Brett Hill’s company is awkward.
No matter how much the Ocean Pines Association and others might want blazing-fast Internet connectivity, no matter how much it might cost Hill’s company, FTS Fiber, to do the job, or how much the company might earn from it over the years, the suspicion would linger that insider dealing played a part.
FTS wants the directors to grant it easements that would allow the company to install a fiber optics network system that would, in turn, be leased to a communications provider.
That’s fine, but blazing-fast Internet access and gigabit download speed aren’t the issues. The difficulty is that Hill is not just a director, but also is the association’s interim general manager.
As both, he is the insider’s insider, who, whether or not he recuses himself from board discussions, could still guide his company’s proposal with information not necessarily available to possible competitors.
It is often the case in small communities that an official’s business interests become uncomfortably linked to his or her civic responsibilities and every effort has to be made to ensure the public that the possibility of personal gain is not lurking somewhere behind the scenes.
To be clear, no one is accusing anyone of anything at this point and no one wants that current awkwardness to grow into something more. With that in mind, the board and Hill should bear in mind what Supreme Court Justice Harlan Stone said more than 80 years ago in an address regarding the need to keep business interests separate from the responsibilities of public service: “a man can’t serve two masters.”
That’s why Hill must decide which of his two interests he will be serving before the fiber optic discussion resumes, if it resumes at all.
No matter how much the Ocean Pines Association and others might want blazing-fast Internet connectivity, no matter how much it might cost Hill’s company, FTS Fiber, to do the job, or how much the company might earn from it over the years, the suspicion would linger that insider dealing played a part.
FTS wants the directors to grant it easements that would allow the company to install a fiber optics network system that would, in turn, be leased to a communications provider.
That’s fine, but blazing-fast Internet access and gigabit download speed aren’t the issues. The difficulty is that Hill is not just a director, but also is the association’s interim general manager.
As both, he is the insider’s insider, who, whether or not he recuses himself from board discussions, could still guide his company’s proposal with information not necessarily available to possible competitors.
It is often the case in small communities that an official’s business interests become uncomfortably linked to his or her civic responsibilities and every effort has to be made to ensure the public that the possibility of personal gain is not lurking somewhere behind the scenes.
To be clear, no one is accusing anyone of anything at this point and no one wants that current awkwardness to grow into something more. With that in mind, the board and Hill should bear in mind what Supreme Court Justice Harlan Stone said more than 80 years ago in an address regarding the need to keep business interests separate from the responsibilities of public service: “a man can’t serve two masters.”
That’s why Hill must decide which of his two interests he will be serving before the fiber optic discussion resumes, if it resumes at all.