(June 23, 2016) Israeli-born Sharona Ezaoui wants to bring a little common sense to the 2016 Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors election.
After working in communications for the Israel Defense Forces, Ezaoui, 56, moved to Ocean Pines in 1992 and became a homeowner in 1994.
She and her family – a husband and two children – originally moved from Israel to California and then decided to relocate to the East Coast after surviving a pair of serious earthquakes.
Since 1992, she has helped supervise operations at Sunsations, a job that gave her decades of experience handling budgets, complex contracts and overseeing a large workforce.
She said there is an old Hebrew saying for what she does there, which loosely translates to “everything.”
“Everything that needs to be done, I do it,” she said. “Basically I take care of the whole corporation – not only specifically in Ocean City, because we have locations in Virginia and North Carolina and Florida and Rehoboth and Fenwick Island.”
During her nearly 25 years of residency in the area, Ezaoui has seen an extreme amount of growth both in Ocean Pines and Ocean City. Today, it’s the little things in the community that worry her the most.
That includes covering the stormwater ditches in the Pines that run along the front yards of many homes, and increasing public works efforts in grass cutting and roadside clean up.
“I have some stuff that I would like to change,” she said. “I always told my kids that if you don’t exercise your right to vote and do something, then you can’t complain. If you want to do something, if you want to improve – do it.”
Rather than spend hundreds of thousands dollars on racquet sports improvements at Manklin Meadows, Ezaoui recommended restriping the existing courts different colors so they could accommodate both pickleball and standard tennis play.
“I would like to know exactly what happened that [raised estimates] from $25,000 it was supposed to be originally to $750,000,” she said. “I’ve done construction and I know how it is – it doesn’t cost $750,000 to do some tennis courts.”
Ezaoui suggested Ocean Pines entertain bids from outside vendors to run the beach club, and said the yacht club could benefit from some of the expertise of homeowners in the Pines.
“We are around so many restaurant owners. If we get everybody’s head together maybe we can come up with a plan on how to improve it,” she said. “I just think if the community would have more impact and more say it in they will have more option of improving it. There’s no harm in requesting help of other restaurant owners that are in the area that do good. Maybe we can do something together.
“If we can get the community more involved, more people will care, more people will be aware, more people will know,” she added.
Of the current board, Ezaoui is reluctant to place blame, instead opting for an “everyone is human” viewpoint.
“Maybe they did some bad decisions – we all do as people,” she said. “Sometimes we [make] bad decisions as parents, as brothers, as sisters, as coworkers. We all make decisions that sometimes cost us more than we plan to. We’ve all been there.”
That also extends to General Manager Bob Thompson. While some candidates have openly called for Thompson’s head, Ezaoui said blame should be shared – and taken with a grain of salt.
“Sometimes management needs some new tools,” she said. “I’m sure everybody does the best we can, but sometimes we need somebody new that comes and moves things around just so there’s another opinion – another option.
“I know that some of [the candidates] are very upset. But, you have to give people good tools to do a good job. And you have to give them the chance, because not everybody sees the same thing at the same time in the same way,” she continued. “If I nominate somebody to be a manager of something, I trust his judgment. And if I don’t trust his judgment, then he needs my guidance. That’s why I’m there.”
Overall, Ezaoui said she brings a straightforward approach to problem solving and is not afraid to ask others for help if she does not immediately know the answer to a question.
“I like to try and solve stuff instead of pointing fingers,” she said. “I also like to get ideas – maybe some other people have ideas. Maybe somebody who does landscaping will find a different way to solve some issues. I’m sure there are people that are more expert in that field than me. I’m good with numbers. I’m good with HR. I’m good with making decisions.”
After working in communications for the Israel Defense Forces, Ezaoui, 56, moved to Ocean Pines in 1992 and became a homeowner in 1994.
She and her family – a husband and two children – originally moved from Israel to California and then decided to relocate to the East Coast after surviving a pair of serious earthquakes.
Since 1992, she has helped supervise operations at Sunsations, a job that gave her decades of experience handling budgets, complex contracts and overseeing a large workforce.
She said there is an old Hebrew saying for what she does there, which loosely translates to “everything.”
“Everything that needs to be done, I do it,” she said. “Basically I take care of the whole corporation – not only specifically in Ocean City, because we have locations in Virginia and North Carolina and Florida and Rehoboth and Fenwick Island.”
During her nearly 25 years of residency in the area, Ezaoui has seen an extreme amount of growth both in Ocean Pines and Ocean City. Today, it’s the little things in the community that worry her the most.
That includes covering the stormwater ditches in the Pines that run along the front yards of many homes, and increasing public works efforts in grass cutting and roadside clean up.
“I have some stuff that I would like to change,” she said. “I always told my kids that if you don’t exercise your right to vote and do something, then you can’t complain. If you want to do something, if you want to improve – do it.”
Rather than spend hundreds of thousands dollars on racquet sports improvements at Manklin Meadows, Ezaoui recommended restriping the existing courts different colors so they could accommodate both pickleball and standard tennis play.
“I would like to know exactly what happened that [raised estimates] from $25,000 it was supposed to be originally to $750,000,” she said. “I’ve done construction and I know how it is – it doesn’t cost $750,000 to do some tennis courts.”
Ezaoui suggested Ocean Pines entertain bids from outside vendors to run the beach club, and said the yacht club could benefit from some of the expertise of homeowners in the Pines.
“We are around so many restaurant owners. If we get everybody’s head together maybe we can come up with a plan on how to improve it,” she said. “I just think if the community would have more impact and more say it in they will have more option of improving it. There’s no harm in requesting help of other restaurant owners that are in the area that do good. Maybe we can do something together.
“If we can get the community more involved, more people will care, more people will be aware, more people will know,” she added.
Of the current board, Ezaoui is reluctant to place blame, instead opting for an “everyone is human” viewpoint.
“Maybe they did some bad decisions – we all do as people,” she said. “Sometimes we [make] bad decisions as parents, as brothers, as sisters, as coworkers. We all make decisions that sometimes cost us more than we plan to. We’ve all been there.”
That also extends to General Manager Bob Thompson. While some candidates have openly called for Thompson’s head, Ezaoui said blame should be shared – and taken with a grain of salt.
“Sometimes management needs some new tools,” she said. “I’m sure everybody does the best we can, but sometimes we need somebody new that comes and moves things around just so there’s another opinion – another option.
“I know that some of [the candidates] are very upset. But, you have to give people good tools to do a good job. And you have to give them the chance, because not everybody sees the same thing at the same time in the same way,” she continued. “If I nominate somebody to be a manager of something, I trust his judgment. And if I don’t trust his judgment, then he needs my guidance. That’s why I’m there.”
Overall, Ezaoui said she brings a straightforward approach to problem solving and is not afraid to ask others for help if she does not immediately know the answer to a question.
“I like to try and solve stuff instead of pointing fingers,” she said. “I also like to get ideas – maybe some other people have ideas. Maybe somebody who does landscaping will find a different way to solve some issues. I’m sure there are people that are more expert in that field than me. I’m good with numbers. I’m good with HR. I’m good with making decisions.”