(Feb. 18, 2016) Cheryl Jacobs and Tom Herrick won election to the seven-member board of directors in Ocean Pines last August. Both ran with the promise of being independent thinkers, while the board was perceived as being divided into two factions, and each declined requests for interviews early into their terms.
Now, six months into her three-year first term, Jacobs said she is ready to talk. On Monday, between periods of snow and rain and sleet, she did just that.
“I’ve limited my communication with the media for, originally, what I believed was an agreement that the board had come up with at our orientation [in September],” she said. “I later learned that was tossed out the window.
“I felt like, now, it was important for people who voted for me to have a look behind the scenes at what’s been going on,” Jacobs added.
Coming onto the board, Jacobs said she had high hopes that she could help bring about a new level of fairness and civility. She said she wanted to be a “professional, reasoned voice” for the majority of Ocean Pines residents.
“I, like everybody, read what’s in the papers,” she said. “The majority of the press is always negative, because the characters that have been on the board – and some that continue to be – are great fodder.
“I really wanted to make a difference in the community and do more things that I felt had been languishing,” she continued. “I wanted to learn as much as possible about the inner workings of the community, and, while you can read the papers and show up at the meetings or watch the videos, it’s not at all like being a part of the board and seeing firsthand what goes on.”
She also wanted to work closely with Ocean Pines General Manager Bob Thompson for two reasons – so she could judge his performance better, and to “try to understand why he is so controversial.”
“Sometimes, I think he’s his own worst enemy,” she said. “There is also a history with some people who won’t let it go. No matter how much good he would do, they’re not going to recognize that and they’re going to hold onto whatever it was that made them feel negative about him.
“I think he does a tremendous job here,” Jacobs added. “This is a great place, and you can’t say he’s terrible for it to still be a great place. He’s only enhanced the community.”
Jacobs said she worries about any director who operates with a strict agenda, especially those who have fixated on removing Thompson. Instead, her focus is on making Ocean Pines “as good a community as possible.”
An early sign of success, in her mind, is that she is still viewed as an independent.
“Both sides of whatever clique exists think they have me on their side,” Jacobs said. “Perfect. That means I’m doing exactly what I want to do.
“I’m on nobody’s side, except for the residents of this community,” she added. “I’ve definitely been cast as the swing vote and that’s really unfortunate, because that says there are still distinct factions.”
Later this month, Jacobs will retire from her position as special counsel to the Office of Child Support Enforcement under the Attorney General’s Office in Baltimore. It’s a job, she said, that has helped her probe the personalities of the different board members “both from a psychological and a personal perspective.”
“I want to know how to best deal with people and their little quirks, because if I want to try to win somebody over to my position about something, I need to understand what’s going on with them and how they’re thinking and reacting to things,” she said. “It continues to be challenging.”
She said the complexity of the job has surprised her, with a large amount of information coming at each director in a short span, especially during budget season.
“While I’m an attorney and I’m used to rules and regulations, we have our own set of things here that impact how you make decisions,” she said. “You’re trying to come up to speed with all of that. At the same time, you’re hit with the budget process. It’s a lot.”
The board has also had to digest a new reserve study and a capital facilities plan. A comprehensive planning document is also on the way.
Jacobs said it was intriguing that some budget items – a $55,000 allotment for a food truck, for instance – became so controversial, while others, like creating a multiyear funding plan went largely unnoticed.
She is unsure if the board will be able to pass a fiscal-year 2017 budget before the Feb. 25 deadline, which she called “artificial,” and said she was concerned with some aspects of the comprehensive plan, which was approved by the previous board.
“I definitely would not have voted for that,” she said.
The recent contract with Sandpiper Energy, which will allow the company to convert propane lines in Ocean Pines to natural gas, is one of Jacobs’ proudest early accomplishments. While she wouldn’t go as far as saying she offered legal advice during the negotiations, she did admit to giving her “opinion as a lawyer” during the process. She also recommended a local attorney who looked over the contract before it was signed in December.
Repairing or replacing a pair of bridges tops her remaining list of priorities, followed by addressing the country club, which she favors replacing with a smaller, more efficient building.
“It is ridiculous,” she said, citing the January budget meetings, when several board members could be seen wearing hats, coats and scarves inside the building. According to Jacobs, Thompson has developed a concept for the building that resembles a “very scaled-down version of Lighthouse Sound with a cart barn underneath.”
“If you build new – shrink it. Bring the cost down,” she said. “It makes all the sense in the world to me.”
She would also like to streamline the Compliance, Permits and Inspections [CPI] violations process, fill information technology and human resources positons, improve marketing and public relations efforts and see certain enhancements at the yacht club. Specifically, she has been pushing for the restaurant to give out comment cards with each check.
“That is a big investment that we all made, and I want it to be successful. I want people to want to go there,” she said.
Also important, she said, are funding maintenance at the golf course, addressing the Beach Club bathrooms, and finding an interim solution for the lack of space at the police department. She does not support building a new station, as Thompson proposed in the capital facilities plan.
Jacobs prides herself on seeming dispassionate during meetings, although she admitted her emotions got the better of her when Herrick recently introduced a motion that, on the surface, asked the directors to explore alternatives to the current general manager system, in case Thompson abruptly decided to resign.
“I did not think he was being genuine about his motivation, and I call people out on it when I think that they’re being, from a legal perspective, pretextual,” she said. “This is not what’s really behind making this motion. This is not one bit about [Herrick] caring about the association being left holding the bag if Mr. Thompson decides to up and leave us. That’s not at all what was going on there and everybody knew it.
“It was totally political and that’s upsetting to me,” she continued. “Be your own person. If you think Bob Thompson ought to be fired, then you take whatever steps you think are appropriate and try to get him fired. If you build a case and everybody goes for it and that’s the outcome, well, then that’s what happens. But don’t do this kind of crap.”
Overall, Jacobs said she feels bullish about the strength of the association – with one caveat.
“I feel very good about it if – and it’s a big if for me – the board will continue to fund the reserves sufficiently to address our immediate needs, as well as making sure that we maintain all of our facilities and infrastructure going forward, and not let things deteriorate around us,” she said. “Every decision the board makes should be for the purpose of making people feel happier, safer, and making the community a better place to live.”
With another election cycle starting soon in Ocean Pines – three seats are up for grabs, with a vote due in August – Jacobs said she would love to see another woman on the board. She has at least one candidate in mind.
“I’m hopeful that I can convince one woman – who would be outstanding – to agree to run,” she said. “There’s no doubt in my mind she would be elected if she ran, and there’s a real need for someone of her caliber to replace some of the outgoing members of the board. I’m doing my best – but so far, she’s not biting.”
At the same time, Jacobs said she was concerned that “prior members of the board” might attempt to run again in order to “create chaos.”
“This community doesn’t need that, and I hope that’s not the case. I worry that some people are recruiting [candidates] with agendas, versus people who could be independent thinkers. That’s not good for the community at large,” she said. “I worry some new board members will attempt to derail some of the things that I believe are best for the community at large, and create a climate of immature, uncivil behavior.”
Following the election, Jacobs was named vice president of the board by a 5-2 vote. Perhaps ironically, Herrick nominated her to the position.
As for the speculation that she could be tapped to succeed Pat Renaud as president in August, Jacobs said she is not seeking the position.
“Of course, that will be totally dependent on who gets elected,” she said. “I have no desire, necessarily, to be the president, but I have very much enjoyed being the vice president.
“This is a wonderful place to live. Sure, we have some problems and we have some issues that have been languishing over time, but now’s the time to get them done,” Jacobs added. “I also don’t think we do a good enough job of marketing ourselves and getting our message out there, and I urge people to talk about the positive things and what are we doing right, as well as the things we think are our problems.”
Now, six months into her three-year first term, Jacobs said she is ready to talk. On Monday, between periods of snow and rain and sleet, she did just that.
“I’ve limited my communication with the media for, originally, what I believed was an agreement that the board had come up with at our orientation [in September],” she said. “I later learned that was tossed out the window.
“I felt like, now, it was important for people who voted for me to have a look behind the scenes at what’s been going on,” Jacobs added.
Coming onto the board, Jacobs said she had high hopes that she could help bring about a new level of fairness and civility. She said she wanted to be a “professional, reasoned voice” for the majority of Ocean Pines residents.
“I, like everybody, read what’s in the papers,” she said. “The majority of the press is always negative, because the characters that have been on the board – and some that continue to be – are great fodder.
“I really wanted to make a difference in the community and do more things that I felt had been languishing,” she continued. “I wanted to learn as much as possible about the inner workings of the community, and, while you can read the papers and show up at the meetings or watch the videos, it’s not at all like being a part of the board and seeing firsthand what goes on.”
She also wanted to work closely with Ocean Pines General Manager Bob Thompson for two reasons – so she could judge his performance better, and to “try to understand why he is so controversial.”
“Sometimes, I think he’s his own worst enemy,” she said. “There is also a history with some people who won’t let it go. No matter how much good he would do, they’re not going to recognize that and they’re going to hold onto whatever it was that made them feel negative about him.
“I think he does a tremendous job here,” Jacobs added. “This is a great place, and you can’t say he’s terrible for it to still be a great place. He’s only enhanced the community.”
Jacobs said she worries about any director who operates with a strict agenda, especially those who have fixated on removing Thompson. Instead, her focus is on making Ocean Pines “as good a community as possible.”
An early sign of success, in her mind, is that she is still viewed as an independent.
“Both sides of whatever clique exists think they have me on their side,” Jacobs said. “Perfect. That means I’m doing exactly what I want to do.
“I’m on nobody’s side, except for the residents of this community,” she added. “I’ve definitely been cast as the swing vote and that’s really unfortunate, because that says there are still distinct factions.”
Later this month, Jacobs will retire from her position as special counsel to the Office of Child Support Enforcement under the Attorney General’s Office in Baltimore. It’s a job, she said, that has helped her probe the personalities of the different board members “both from a psychological and a personal perspective.”
“I want to know how to best deal with people and their little quirks, because if I want to try to win somebody over to my position about something, I need to understand what’s going on with them and how they’re thinking and reacting to things,” she said. “It continues to be challenging.”
She said the complexity of the job has surprised her, with a large amount of information coming at each director in a short span, especially during budget season.
“While I’m an attorney and I’m used to rules and regulations, we have our own set of things here that impact how you make decisions,” she said. “You’re trying to come up to speed with all of that. At the same time, you’re hit with the budget process. It’s a lot.”
The board has also had to digest a new reserve study and a capital facilities plan. A comprehensive planning document is also on the way.
Jacobs said it was intriguing that some budget items – a $55,000 allotment for a food truck, for instance – became so controversial, while others, like creating a multiyear funding plan went largely unnoticed.
She is unsure if the board will be able to pass a fiscal-year 2017 budget before the Feb. 25 deadline, which she called “artificial,” and said she was concerned with some aspects of the comprehensive plan, which was approved by the previous board.
“I definitely would not have voted for that,” she said.
The recent contract with Sandpiper Energy, which will allow the company to convert propane lines in Ocean Pines to natural gas, is one of Jacobs’ proudest early accomplishments. While she wouldn’t go as far as saying she offered legal advice during the negotiations, she did admit to giving her “opinion as a lawyer” during the process. She also recommended a local attorney who looked over the contract before it was signed in December.
Repairing or replacing a pair of bridges tops her remaining list of priorities, followed by addressing the country club, which she favors replacing with a smaller, more efficient building.
“It is ridiculous,” she said, citing the January budget meetings, when several board members could be seen wearing hats, coats and scarves inside the building. According to Jacobs, Thompson has developed a concept for the building that resembles a “very scaled-down version of Lighthouse Sound with a cart barn underneath.”
“If you build new – shrink it. Bring the cost down,” she said. “It makes all the sense in the world to me.”
She would also like to streamline the Compliance, Permits and Inspections [CPI] violations process, fill information technology and human resources positons, improve marketing and public relations efforts and see certain enhancements at the yacht club. Specifically, she has been pushing for the restaurant to give out comment cards with each check.
“That is a big investment that we all made, and I want it to be successful. I want people to want to go there,” she said.
Also important, she said, are funding maintenance at the golf course, addressing the Beach Club bathrooms, and finding an interim solution for the lack of space at the police department. She does not support building a new station, as Thompson proposed in the capital facilities plan.
Jacobs prides herself on seeming dispassionate during meetings, although she admitted her emotions got the better of her when Herrick recently introduced a motion that, on the surface, asked the directors to explore alternatives to the current general manager system, in case Thompson abruptly decided to resign.
“I did not think he was being genuine about his motivation, and I call people out on it when I think that they’re being, from a legal perspective, pretextual,” she said. “This is not what’s really behind making this motion. This is not one bit about [Herrick] caring about the association being left holding the bag if Mr. Thompson decides to up and leave us. That’s not at all what was going on there and everybody knew it.
“It was totally political and that’s upsetting to me,” she continued. “Be your own person. If you think Bob Thompson ought to be fired, then you take whatever steps you think are appropriate and try to get him fired. If you build a case and everybody goes for it and that’s the outcome, well, then that’s what happens. But don’t do this kind of crap.”
Overall, Jacobs said she feels bullish about the strength of the association – with one caveat.
“I feel very good about it if – and it’s a big if for me – the board will continue to fund the reserves sufficiently to address our immediate needs, as well as making sure that we maintain all of our facilities and infrastructure going forward, and not let things deteriorate around us,” she said. “Every decision the board makes should be for the purpose of making people feel happier, safer, and making the community a better place to live.”
With another election cycle starting soon in Ocean Pines – three seats are up for grabs, with a vote due in August – Jacobs said she would love to see another woman on the board. She has at least one candidate in mind.
“I’m hopeful that I can convince one woman – who would be outstanding – to agree to run,” she said. “There’s no doubt in my mind she would be elected if she ran, and there’s a real need for someone of her caliber to replace some of the outgoing members of the board. I’m doing my best – but so far, she’s not biting.”
At the same time, Jacobs said she was concerned that “prior members of the board” might attempt to run again in order to “create chaos.”
“This community doesn’t need that, and I hope that’s not the case. I worry that some people are recruiting [candidates] with agendas, versus people who could be independent thinkers. That’s not good for the community at large,” she said. “I worry some new board members will attempt to derail some of the things that I believe are best for the community at large, and create a climate of immature, uncivil behavior.”
Following the election, Jacobs was named vice president of the board by a 5-2 vote. Perhaps ironically, Herrick nominated her to the position.
As for the speculation that she could be tapped to succeed Pat Renaud as president in August, Jacobs said she is not seeking the position.
“Of course, that will be totally dependent on who gets elected,” she said. “I have no desire, necessarily, to be the president, but I have very much enjoyed being the vice president.
“This is a wonderful place to live. Sure, we have some problems and we have some issues that have been languishing over time, but now’s the time to get them done,” Jacobs added. “I also don’t think we do a good enough job of marketing ourselves and getting our message out there, and I urge people to talk about the positive things and what are we doing right, as well as the things we think are our problems.”