By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

Photo by Morgan Pilz
Three of the board of director candidates, from left, Tom Janasek, Larry Perrone and Camilla Rogers, listen to the questions asked at the first candidates’ forum at the Ocean Pines Community Center, Wednesday, June 12.

(June 20, 2019) Six of the seven candidates for the Ocean Pines Board of Directors met for this election’s the first candidate forum last Wednesday at the Ocean Pines Community Center.

Tom Janasek, Larry Perrone, Camilla Rogers, Paula Gray, Shawn Kotwica and Gregory Turner attended the forum. Edward Solum could not attend because of a health issue, but is expected to attend the next forum.

Among other things, candidates were asked about their priorities for the next fiscal-year budget and their thoughts on the recently released forensic audit, which had cost the association $200,000.

Forum questions were developed from homeowner emails by the Ocean Pines Elections Committee, while attendees were able to asks questions by submitting them in writing.

One of the biggest topics was the results of the forensic audit. For some candidates, the response was that changes need to be made so situations like those found in the audit will not be repeated.

“I didn’t feel it was the right thing to do, to do a $200,000 forensic audit,” Janasek said. “But after reading through it, there’s a lot of good information. I think if we take everything that’s in the audit and we go one by one in the recommendations and we actually do the work to make sure it never happens again, it will make us a stronger, financial community.

Other candidates echoed this opinion.

“We are not missing $1.6 million,” Perrone said. “[The Budget and Finance committee] knew that before the audit took place. The problem that the forensic audit told us was that the former general manager made very poor decisions while he was the general manager. The things that concerned me in that audit I know that John Viola instituted those changes almost immediately when they were discovered prior to an investigation.”

“I’d like to see a little bit different tack,” Rogers said. “I’d like to tell you about what we do with that moving forward. I think that the Ocean Pines community is entitled to know how we’re going to handle the results of that audit. I would like to make sure that you as a community know from the board of directors exactly what is happening with the financial budget and that there are published monthly reports.”

The candidates were also asked questions about a motion made by Director Frank Daly regarding a referendum to give the board the right to fine violators of the association and whether they were for or against the motion.

For Gray, the issue wasn’t with giving the board the authority to levy those fines, but how it planned to implement the motion.

“The problem that I saw with what they wanted to do was the structure,” Gray said. “You had two weeks from the time that they sent you the letter to correct it. I moved here last year; you can’t get a contractor to answer the phone in two weeks. I think we need to step back and take six months to a year. I think we need to go to the process … and then we have to look at the people who might not be in the position to do the repairs.”

Kotwica echoed these thoughts and expressed concerns about how the board would enforce these fines.

“One of the problems is the enforcement of this, the cost of this,” Kotwica said. “We go out there, we hire two or three other staff at $150,000 a year that we have to pay for to tell people to clean up their yard? I believe we do need six months to a year to talk this over and be clear on how to approach this. Maybe going section by section and saying, ‘Hey, these are the homes we need to take care of.’

There was also a question regarding whether the bylaws should be changed to require the board of directors to limit the amount they can spend without referendum to $1 million.

For Turner, this is an absolutely necessity.

“I absolutely support it,” Turner said. “I think the board of directors shouldn’t even be allowed to spend a million dollars without the approval of our community. There are certain occasions where it could be necessary if it was an absolutely emergency, but I would say they shouldn’t go over that million-dollar mark without a referendum.”

The second and final official candidate forum is scheduled June 22 at 10 a.m. in the Assateague Room of the Ocean Pines Community Center on 235 Ocean Parkway.

To submit questions for candidates, email the Elections Committee at elections@oceanpines.org.

This year, the top-three vote-getters will be elected to three-year terms on the Ocean Pines board.

Ballots will be mailed to all association members in good standing during the week of July 8. They may be returned either to the ballot box inside the police department office in the Ocean Pines Administration Building on 239 Ocean Parkway, or mailed to the Ocean Pines post office box in Berlin.

The cutoff for voter eligibility is July 3.

Additional upcoming election dates are as follows:

• Ballots counted and announced: Aug. 9 at 10 a.m. in the East Room of the Ocean Pines Community Center on 235 Ocean Parkway
• Election results validated: Aug. 10 at 10 a.m. during the Annual Meeting of Membership in the Assateague Room of the Ocean Pines Community Center on 235 Ocean Parkway

For questions about the election, email elections@oceanpines.org.