KYLE PHILLIPS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
An organizational chart shows the new chain of command in Ocean Pines, following the departure of General Manager John Bailey on Tuesday.
GM Bailey departure follows rocky 2019 budget process
By Josh Davis, Associate Editor
(Feb. 21, 2019) Ocean Pines General Manager John Bailey has departed that post, following a tumultuous six-month budget process that had yet to conclude as of the middle of the week.
According to a statement released Tuesday by the association, “The Board of Directors of Ocean Pines Association Inc. and its General Manager John Bailey have mutually decided to part ways. Mr. Bailey intends to pursue other professional opportunities. The Board thanks Mr. Bailey for his hard work and dedication to Ocean Pines and wishes him well in the future.
“The Board will conduct a thorough search to identify a replacement for Mr. Bailey,” the statement said.
Two department heads in the top tier of the administration, Finance Director Steve Phillips and Aquatics and Parks and Recreation Director Colby Phillips, are expected to fill in for some of Bailey’s duties during the interim.
Officially, board members declined to comment.
Bailey is the third Ocean Pines general manager to part ways with the association since 2016.
Bob Thompson was fired in August 2016 and replaced, on an acting basis, by then director Brett Hill. Hill served in that role from Aug. 26, 2016 until Sept. 11, 2017, when Bailey came on board after being selected from a pool of roughly one hundred applicants developed during a yearlong search. Hill resigned from the board of directors on Sept. 15, 2017.
Before his service in Ocean Pines, Bailey was the general manager of the Skyline Plaza condominium association, a community of two 26-story residential towers in Falls Church, Virginia.
He was the general manager of the Brandermill, Virginia development in Richmond, Virginia from 2013-2016, and general manager of the Lake of the Woods homeowner’s association in Locust Grove, Virginia from 2001 to 2009.
Bailey’s immediate assignment was to put out fires. The association reported about $1.6 million in losses during fiscal years 2017 and 2018, with a large portion attributed to overly optimistic budgeting for food and beverage operations.
The board of directors on March 29 last year unanimously approved a two-year contract with the Matt Ortt Companies to run the yacht and beach clubs, and results have been overwhelmingly positive. Based on the most recent estimates, fiscal 2019 projects to finish at or near break-even, largely thanks to improved food and beverage performance.
However, board members and those serving on the budget and finance committee have quarreled with Bailey publicly regarding the fiscal 2020 budget.
Officially, budget deliberations began in August of last year, with the budget and finance committee providing Bailey with a budget guidance document.
Bailey released his budget draft, called the “proposed” budget, on Jan. 4 with a zero assessment increase. Three weeks later, the Jan. 25 “recommended” budget was published with a near-record $127 assessment increase, and several board members said they were caught off guard.
Director Esther Diller, in a Feb. 7 interview in this paper, said Bailey in releasing the Jan. 4 budget draft made “a terrible, terrible decision.”
“He sent it out without having discussions with B&F [the budget and finance committee] and the board. It was foolish to put something like that out there without having all your facts,” Diller said at the time.
“When you’re a … GM, you have to have the understanding and knowledge to find ways and cut and cut, and not put everybody in front of the bus. And that is what I’m tired of,” she added.
In the same issue, Director Ted Moroney agreed the budget process could have been smoother, saying rather than having the budget and finance committee verify initial work done by general manager and department heads, much of the budget process this year amounted to “adding missing pieces [and] updating calculations.” Moroney said the capital portion of the fire and EMS budget was “simply missed” by Bailey in the Jan. 4 draft.
Bailey, meanwhile, during a Feb. 2 public meeting said of the assessment increase, “I certainly got your attention.”
The directors set a deadline to approve the fiscal 2020 budget last Saturday, but instead tabled a motion to do so because more work had to be done.
A special meeting to attempt to finalize the budget is scheduled this Saturday, Feb. 23, at 9 a.m. in the Ocean Pines Community Center on 235 Ocean Parkway.