Appointed replacement for Brett Hill announces run; cites recent achievements

Ted Moroney

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(April 5, 2018) Ted Moroney, appointed to the Ocean Pines Association Board last September after the resignation of Brett Hill, announced this week he is running for election on the seven-member panel.

Virginia native Moroney, 64, was CEO and treasurer of subcontracting firm Superior Foundation Inc. in northern Virginia from 1982 to 2017, overseeing contract negotiations, human resources, risk management, and legal and insurance matters.

He and his wife, Sue, have owned a home in Ocean Pines since 2006. They have one son, Mike, and a 5-year-old granddaughter, Allie.

Moroney served on several committees and advisory groups in the Pines before joining the board last year.

He cited “the fact that we’re actually getting things done” as the deciding factor in running for office.

“We’re making some progress,” he said. “We actually implemented, instead of just talking about, the first step in a two-step process to address employee benefits in a fair, rational manner that will get benefits and wages into alignment in the marketplace – we’re the first board to do that.

“We’re the first board to actually ensure that an HR (human resources) person was hired in Ocean Pines. It’s been talked about in budgets for years and it’s actually occurred,” Moroney continued. “We’ve been able to enter into a contract to outsource the yacht club and beach club to an experienced third party in an incentivized contract that also protects OPA.”

Moroney said the board also “returned to a system where the board makes policy and the GM implements policy.”

“That ended some of the unilateral decision-making process and restored some checks and balances,” he said. “And I think we’ve been able to slow, and in some cases stop, the hemorrhaging of the budget we’re currently under, and I think we’ve adopted a realistic budget for going forward.”

The current board also approved a forensic audit to clear up accusations of impropriety and, if necessary, correct years of what some have labeled as questionable practices.

Moroney admitted he had been on the fence about running this year.

“I think what really changed my mind was, I was jotting down the eight or nine things that happened in less than six months,” he said. “In six months we’ve taken a lot of things that people have talked about and actually gotten them done.

“I felt like, if we were able to make progress and get some things done, it was something I think we can continue,” he added. “I also get along with all of the board members right now – obviously some better than others – but infighting on the board for the most part has disappeared.”

Ocean Pines meetings a year ago were famously contentious.

“Now, that’s the exception rather than the rule,” Moroney said. “I think we’re in something right now where everybody is reacting and acting on both getting the forensic audit done and on the poor budget performance, and while five of the members of this board where there the last time, the reality is this is a new board. And this board is saddled with working through those issues.

“The thing that I’m happy about is we are working through those issues and we are making some progress. It’s not always pretty and it’s not always approved by 8,452 people, but the process is moving forward, I think, pretty well,” he added.

Moroney said two things particularly struck him after joining the board. One, the amount of work “is tremendous,” and two, “having the discipline to not react to every single comment, every single statement” by the public.

“I think, in the past, if someone yelled ‘fire,’ everyone was turning a hose on without really knowing whether it was on fire or not,” he said.

If elected, Moroney said he was not looking into the duration of a three-year term, but instead has a priority list of near-term items.

He wants to see the reserve study, commissioned several years ago, finished within the next three months. Then, he wants to take the next step in bringing Ocean Pines wages and benefits in line with the regional marketplace.

“The third thing is I’d like to ensure that we have all of the safeguards in place to modernize our computer systems, whether it’s in-house or outsourced,” he said.

“I wouldn’t, at any point, look out more than a year,” he continued. “Something else will pop up or something else will change. I think you should target a 12-month period and then reassess – that’s probably a better and more realistic view of what ­­­can and can’t be accomplished.”

Because two incumbents will not run for reelection, the board is bound to see at least two new members after the August election. Moroney said he hopes to see “a sense of conciliation and openness and fairness” in any new directors.

“In other words, you’re not always going to get your way. You’ve got to find a way to get a consensus to move forward,” he said. “Also important are the ability to adapt and change and, I think, probably a thick skin.

“We have a very diverse board right now that brings a series of different talents. I think that’s good,” he continued. “I think if we were all contractors or all attorneys or all psychologists we wouldn’t have the right kind of board we need to move forward. I think we want to continue to have a mix or different opinions and different ideas.

“My intent is to continue to make decisions that are in the best interest of protecting homeowner’s values and do what is the right thing to move the association forward,” Moroney said. “I’m not going to promise reduced assessments or anything I can’t deliver. What I’m going to promise is I’m going to try and make each decision based on what is best for Ocean Pines – that’s what the duty of a board member is.”