In some respects, a forensic audit, such as the Ocean Pines Association is about to undergo, is like an autopsy and executive physical rolled into one: the autopsy shows what went wrong, while the comprehensive physical determines whether that same thing is likely to happen again … if left untreated. But also like the executive… Read more »
Editorial
OPA GM purchases do not add up
By Josh Davis, Associate Editor (April 12, 2018) The rules of depreciation and gravity are similar: what goes up must come down, which was the case with a huge surge in capital purchases in the 2016-17 business year in Ocean Pines followed by the similarly sized thud of deprecation that dwarfed the write-downs of the… Read more »
Hard truths of software
Getting more information before calling for proposals to upgrade the association’s financial software, as the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors agreed last week, is the right thing to do. Buying software isn’t like it once was, when buyers had fewer options and, consequently, fewer opportunities to get the wrong thing. Now, however, the market… Read more »
Gazette Editorial: South county edition ends
The Bayside Gazette is ending its southern Worcester County edition after this week, but not before acknowledging the support it received from readers and the leadership in that area. Officials and residents of Snow Hill and Pocomoke were not only receptive to our venture, but did whatever they could to help us establish ourselves. Readers… Read more »
Gazette Editorial: Deficit, audit unrelated
If there’s one thing people know how to do, it’s to hypothesize by drawing on an assumption born of speculation. In other words, people often arrive at the conclusion first and work backwards to build an argument to support whatever they believe to be true. That’s what is happening with the discussion of the $1.9… Read more »
Weighing public, private
The Berlin mayor and Town Council don’t want to be the bad guys in denying the request of the child educational program Tinkergarten to operate in town park space. At the same time, however, they do have weigh that situation against the need to maintain a consistent policy that covers all private functions on public… Read more »
City finally taking action
It’s always good to see local government acknowledge a bad situation and then immediately get into the business of fixing it. That’s exactly what has happened in Pocomoke City, where a decades-old water problem is being resolved comparatively quickly under the direction of a new administration. Pocomoke’s water woes were recognized years ago, about 40… Read more »
Audit is right thing to do
Before Ocean Pines Association members get too excited over the prospect of finding real dirt via a forensic audit of the association’s finances, they should consider a variation of what is known as Hanlon’s Razor rule of reasoning. It postulates, “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” In this case, the… Read more »
A matter of trust in OPA
As rumors swirled for almost a year about the possibility that several key personnel were offered contracts by then acting Ocean Pines General Manager Brett Hill, some board members elected not to talk about it. Presumably, they hoped the matter would just go away, eventually, but, once again, that strategy is coming back to haunt… Read more »
It’s a small world after all
When looking at expenses and debt, as the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors has been doing during the current budget process, it’s easy to miss the smaller things that will, when taken in total, make a difference. A recent patron of an Ocean Pines lunch spot, for instance, noticed that the liquor bottles at… Read more »