(Aug. 4, 2016) Beset by criticism from residents and candidates, members of the Ocean Pines Elections Committee gave voice to their frustrations last Wednesday, with Chairman Bill Wentworth going after OPA Director Tom Herrick for not standing up for the committee during an association board meeting in June.
Just before the start of the meeting, Wentworth confronted Herrick, who is the board’s liaison to the committee. Wentworth was apparently angry that Herrick did not aid the committee when the board in June considered removing the words “in closed session” from Resolution M-06, which explains vote-counting procedures in Ocean Pines.
Herrick asked Wentworth to explain exactly what was bothering him.
“Be quiet long enough for me to tell you,” Wentworth replied.
“Are you going to make this personal?” Herrick said.
“I’m going to tell you what happened. Now, are you going to listen or aren’t you going to listen?” Wentworth asked.
“I would love to listen, because I want to hear what’s wrong,” Herrick said.
Wentworth said Herrick had a responsibility to let members of the committee know that resolution was on the meeting agenda. Herrick, however, said he was not sent the agenda in advance.
“If that’s an issue, then a meeting has to have been set up between the committee and the board of directors – an open meeting – to give the election committee an opportunity to explain exactly how the ballot counting occurs. That didn’t happen,” Wentworth said.
Herrick suggested Wentworth had the opportunity to do just that during the public board meeting, and said he was in favor of counting votes during open session because it was more transparent.
“I’m allowed to have that opinion just like you have your opinion. I respect your opinion, and I told you that after the meeting,” Herrick said. “You know what, I don’t make it personal because you have a different opinion than me … that shouldn’t affect our relationship, which you’re allowing it to do.”
Wentworth said the accusations were affecting the current election cycle, and that the issue should have been dealt with after the election. Officially, the board of directors tabled the issue, but several candidates have discussed showing up when votes are being counted.
“It’s all geared up now. These people are nuts,” Wentworth said. “It’s become personal with me … because of all the B.S. I’ve got to put up with, with all these goofballs.
“I hope they show up and try to do something, because half of them are going to get locked up,” Wentworth added.
Committee member Judy Butler said that, as the appointed board secretary, Herrick needed to “support the current rules for this election committee.”
“Anything that is stated in those bylaws for the election is stated for the secretary also,” she said. “Until this rule is changed – if it ever is changed, and I don’t personally agree that it should be … you need to support this election committee because we have to deal with this.
“It’s not going to change before this election is over, and we have to face that, that morning that we count those votes,” Butler added. “As the secretary of the board you should be saying to these candidates, this year this remains the rules. This is the way it is.”
Because of the controversy, Butler said the elections committee was being portrayed as “the bad guy.”
“We are not the bad guy,” she said. “We are owners and occupants of this Ocean Pines Association. We chose to help do this election. We are not the ones who made these rules, and we are the ones who have to take care of this.
“If in the end, we don’t do our job, guess who gets blamed again? The elections committee,” Butler continued. “We need to know that when we go in that room and count those votes that we have everybody’s support, because we are going to try our best to never, ever allow an error.
“If nobody can stand up for us, then nobody is going to do this job in the future and you can just contract out the whole thing, which is maybe what should be done,” Butler said. “Now, is that good, or would you rather have five members of this community who care about this community enough to do this job, to be in this room and count those votes? It is very discouraging to think that this board doesn’t support us.”
If the rules had been changed by the board in June, Wentworth said, “There wouldn’t have been any election.”
“The election committee would have resigned,” Butler added.
“If the board does something you don’t like you’re just going to walk away?” Herrick asked.
“Yeah,” Wentworth said. “Next year, I don’t give a hoot in a hail storm how it’s going to happen. If I decide I’m going to resign at the end of this year [as chairman], this is just a small part of it. I’m tired of being micromanaged.”
In addition to its apparent problem with the board of directors, the committee also is subject of a complaint filed with the Maryland Attorney General’s Office that alleges the committee’s closed-door vote counting process violates the Maryland Homeowners Association Act.
Candidate Brett Hill, who filed the complaint, said he was disappointed the board tabled the motion to change its rules.
“Everything in the law was manmade and then is subject to opinion,” he said. “In my opinion, the closed session is not adhering to the laws of Maryland, and I disagree with the supposed reasoning of it being a personnel issue as to why they can go into a closed session to count ballots.
“Personnel are employees, and board members, in general, report to the homeowners. They are not an employee of any capacity – they’re volunteers,” Hill added.
Because the board tabled the issue, Hill said the next logical step was to file a complaint with the state.
“I will be at the vote count with my attorney, and I expect the vote count to be open,” he said. “I would hope that the board and the elections committee would do what I feel is the right thing and just do not go into closed session. Leave it open and leave it transparent.
“If they want to postpone making changes to the resolution until after the election, that’s fine, but at least for this election I would hope that they would concede this to transparency and push this through until there’s a better long-term solution to the problem.”
Reached for comment, Board President Pat Renaud said no changes in procedure were planned.
“Our position is that we’re not changing our position,” he said. “We would be willing to review it after the election, but not during the election.”
Renaud said that was also the position of the elections committee.
“The majority of the board supports that,” he said.
Just before the start of the meeting, Wentworth confronted Herrick, who is the board’s liaison to the committee. Wentworth was apparently angry that Herrick did not aid the committee when the board in June considered removing the words “in closed session” from Resolution M-06, which explains vote-counting procedures in Ocean Pines.
Herrick asked Wentworth to explain exactly what was bothering him.
“Be quiet long enough for me to tell you,” Wentworth replied.
“Are you going to make this personal?” Herrick said.
“I’m going to tell you what happened. Now, are you going to listen or aren’t you going to listen?” Wentworth asked.
“I would love to listen, because I want to hear what’s wrong,” Herrick said.
Wentworth said Herrick had a responsibility to let members of the committee know that resolution was on the meeting agenda. Herrick, however, said he was not sent the agenda in advance.
“If that’s an issue, then a meeting has to have been set up between the committee and the board of directors – an open meeting – to give the election committee an opportunity to explain exactly how the ballot counting occurs. That didn’t happen,” Wentworth said.
Herrick suggested Wentworth had the opportunity to do just that during the public board meeting, and said he was in favor of counting votes during open session because it was more transparent.
“I’m allowed to have that opinion just like you have your opinion. I respect your opinion, and I told you that after the meeting,” Herrick said. “You know what, I don’t make it personal because you have a different opinion than me … that shouldn’t affect our relationship, which you’re allowing it to do.”
Wentworth said the accusations were affecting the current election cycle, and that the issue should have been dealt with after the election. Officially, the board of directors tabled the issue, but several candidates have discussed showing up when votes are being counted.
“It’s all geared up now. These people are nuts,” Wentworth said. “It’s become personal with me … because of all the B.S. I’ve got to put up with, with all these goofballs.
“I hope they show up and try to do something, because half of them are going to get locked up,” Wentworth added.
Committee member Judy Butler said that, as the appointed board secretary, Herrick needed to “support the current rules for this election committee.”
“Anything that is stated in those bylaws for the election is stated for the secretary also,” she said. “Until this rule is changed – if it ever is changed, and I don’t personally agree that it should be … you need to support this election committee because we have to deal with this.
“It’s not going to change before this election is over, and we have to face that, that morning that we count those votes,” Butler added. “As the secretary of the board you should be saying to these candidates, this year this remains the rules. This is the way it is.”
Because of the controversy, Butler said the elections committee was being portrayed as “the bad guy.”
“We are not the bad guy,” she said. “We are owners and occupants of this Ocean Pines Association. We chose to help do this election. We are not the ones who made these rules, and we are the ones who have to take care of this.
“If in the end, we don’t do our job, guess who gets blamed again? The elections committee,” Butler continued. “We need to know that when we go in that room and count those votes that we have everybody’s support, because we are going to try our best to never, ever allow an error.
“If nobody can stand up for us, then nobody is going to do this job in the future and you can just contract out the whole thing, which is maybe what should be done,” Butler said. “Now, is that good, or would you rather have five members of this community who care about this community enough to do this job, to be in this room and count those votes? It is very discouraging to think that this board doesn’t support us.”
If the rules had been changed by the board in June, Wentworth said, “There wouldn’t have been any election.”
“The election committee would have resigned,” Butler added.
“If the board does something you don’t like you’re just going to walk away?” Herrick asked.
“Yeah,” Wentworth said. “Next year, I don’t give a hoot in a hail storm how it’s going to happen. If I decide I’m going to resign at the end of this year [as chairman], this is just a small part of it. I’m tired of being micromanaged.”
In addition to its apparent problem with the board of directors, the committee also is subject of a complaint filed with the Maryland Attorney General’s Office that alleges the committee’s closed-door vote counting process violates the Maryland Homeowners Association Act.
Candidate Brett Hill, who filed the complaint, said he was disappointed the board tabled the motion to change its rules.
“Everything in the law was manmade and then is subject to opinion,” he said. “In my opinion, the closed session is not adhering to the laws of Maryland, and I disagree with the supposed reasoning of it being a personnel issue as to why they can go into a closed session to count ballots.
“Personnel are employees, and board members, in general, report to the homeowners. They are not an employee of any capacity – they’re volunteers,” Hill added.
Because the board tabled the issue, Hill said the next logical step was to file a complaint with the state.
“I will be at the vote count with my attorney, and I expect the vote count to be open,” he said. “I would hope that the board and the elections committee would do what I feel is the right thing and just do not go into closed session. Leave it open and leave it transparent.
“If they want to postpone making changes to the resolution until after the election, that’s fine, but at least for this election I would hope that they would concede this to transparency and push this through until there’s a better long-term solution to the problem.”
Reached for comment, Board President Pat Renaud said no changes in procedure were planned.
“Our position is that we’re not changing our position,” he said. “We would be willing to review it after the election, but not during the election.”
Renaud said that was also the position of the elections committee.
“The majority of the board supports that,” he said.