Brooklyn-born Steve Lind, 68, served as a police officer for about two decades in New York City. He also ran a successful small business on the side before selling it and using the proceeds from to buy a large waterfront lot in Delaware.
Now, Lind is looking to turn his diverse background into a successful bid on the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors.
“I have a combination of formal education, experience as a former and very successful small business owner, and real-world street smarts derived from my career with the PD,” he said. “I think I bring to the table a lot more of a well-rounded background than a lot of people that are running.”
Lind said he is not running on his “resume and rhetoric,” but rather on his track record when it comes to Ocean Pines politics.
“I’ve been involved, as a property owner, in board matters since settling down in the Pines full time in 1999,” he said. “I’ve attended and commented at board meetings and general manager town halls, I’ve written letters to the editor, I’ve had my guest commentaries published in local papers and, most recently, I served on the clubs advisory committee for several years here in Ocean Pines.”
After about 17 years of involvement, Lind said he was finally compelled to run for the board because he was fed up with the status quo.
“Each election, candidates come before us with impressive resumes and they tell us how they’ll make everything better, and when they get to sit at the board table they don’t perform the basic function of a board member – that is representing the property owners,” he said.
“Much too often I’ve seen board members making decisions based on their own personal vision – and I mean vision – of this community, no matter what the cost, no matter what the need and with absolutely no sense of priority,” he continued.
This year, he said, “was the worst” example of that kind of behavior. Moreover, he said board members often showed each other disrespect and “out and out animosity” during public meetings.
“It was disgraceful,” he said. “During the last couple of years that self-interest decision making couldn’t be more obvious and distinct. That has to come to an end, and we have to start representing the people.”
Lind said the current board majority does not represent the “fiduciary interest” of the property owners in Ocean Pines. Most importantly, he added, the board does not provide the proper amount of supervision and oversight of General Manager Bob Thompson.
“That seems to be a toxic statement to say – that we should provide supervision and oversight – because some of the other candidates will use those terms and interpret it as being micromanaging,” Lind said. “That’s nowhere near true. Those are the candidates who I’m assuming will continue the big-spending policies of the status quo.
“I think that’s the perfect indication of what we’re up against here,” he continued. “We have folks that just want to change what’s going on when it comes to spending the property owner’s money, and folks that just want to keep it going the way it is. Those candidates see nothing wrong with spending big bucks on the grandiose – the big, glitzy stuff – while ignoring the basic maintenance, the basic beautification and the basic safety issues.”
This election, Lind said, is not about candidates who are “anti-GM” or “pro-GM.”
“It’s about anti-frivolous spending and pro-frivolous spending,” he said. “The GM just happens to be in the middle of that debate, and that simply comes with territory of being the GM. It’s as simple as that.”
In March, Lind was asked to leave a town hall meeting led by Thompson, after he challenged him on the operations at the yacht club.
When Lind said, “But Bob, that’s not true” Thompson replied, “Don’t tell me I lied … don’t call me a liar in my own meeting.”
Thompson warned that “one more time and I’ll ask you to leave,” at which point Lind voluntarily left.
“It wasn’t an altercation because an altercation takes the involvement of two people,” Lind said. “I was just sitting there baffled at what was going on. I was totally surprised.”
In retrospect, he called the incident “absolutely meaningless” in terms of the big picture.
“I’ve had a career where I’ve been shot at, I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been bitten, I’ve been punched, I’ve been spit on, I’ve been kicked. You think this is going to bother me? This doesn’t bother me at all,” he said.
“I think he overacted because I was challenging him on issues such as the definition of an amenity, the yacht club losses, the food truck – stuff like that,” Lind continued. “I had the facts to back me up because I’m paying attention, and I think he just got flustered at that.”
As for the yacht club, Lind said the answer to the financial woes of the amenity is not necessarily to close it during the down months, as some have suggested, but rather to run it better and extend profits during the busy summer months.
If elected, he said he would give Yacht Club Manager Jerry Lewis “what he needs” to make that happen.
“We have a waterfront resort facility with an outside tiki bar with a huge outside porch – we should be making a lot more money in the summer,” he said. “If we made the money we’re supposed to be making in the summer we could stay open on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday like we’re doing now in the winter and still break even.”
Ultimately, Lind said it is the responsibility of every board member to determine the facts on each issue for themselves, and not to rely too heavily on what they’re told by any single person in the administration – including the general manager.
“No issues matter if a board member or a board collectively does not research issues themselves, and if the board members don’t challenge, supervise and provide oversight when it comes to the GM,” he said. “If that’s the case they should give back their amenity passes and step aside.
“Of course it’s a double-edged sword. If a GM is providing false or misleading info to a board just to have things his or her way when it comes to spending, he or she should also be sent packing,” Lind added. “The point is, it’s up to the board to make sure that doesn’t happen. If the board gets snookered, shame on them – they should be doing the research. Everything they know about every project shouldn’t be what they learned from the general manager. They have to look at things for themselves.”
Now, Lind is looking to turn his diverse background into a successful bid on the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors.
“I have a combination of formal education, experience as a former and very successful small business owner, and real-world street smarts derived from my career with the PD,” he said. “I think I bring to the table a lot more of a well-rounded background than a lot of people that are running.”
Lind said he is not running on his “resume and rhetoric,” but rather on his track record when it comes to Ocean Pines politics.
“I’ve been involved, as a property owner, in board matters since settling down in the Pines full time in 1999,” he said. “I’ve attended and commented at board meetings and general manager town halls, I’ve written letters to the editor, I’ve had my guest commentaries published in local papers and, most recently, I served on the clubs advisory committee for several years here in Ocean Pines.”
After about 17 years of involvement, Lind said he was finally compelled to run for the board because he was fed up with the status quo.
“Each election, candidates come before us with impressive resumes and they tell us how they’ll make everything better, and when they get to sit at the board table they don’t perform the basic function of a board member – that is representing the property owners,” he said.
“Much too often I’ve seen board members making decisions based on their own personal vision – and I mean vision – of this community, no matter what the cost, no matter what the need and with absolutely no sense of priority,” he continued.
This year, he said, “was the worst” example of that kind of behavior. Moreover, he said board members often showed each other disrespect and “out and out animosity” during public meetings.
“It was disgraceful,” he said. “During the last couple of years that self-interest decision making couldn’t be more obvious and distinct. That has to come to an end, and we have to start representing the people.”
Lind said the current board majority does not represent the “fiduciary interest” of the property owners in Ocean Pines. Most importantly, he added, the board does not provide the proper amount of supervision and oversight of General Manager Bob Thompson.
“That seems to be a toxic statement to say – that we should provide supervision and oversight – because some of the other candidates will use those terms and interpret it as being micromanaging,” Lind said. “That’s nowhere near true. Those are the candidates who I’m assuming will continue the big-spending policies of the status quo.
“I think that’s the perfect indication of what we’re up against here,” he continued. “We have folks that just want to change what’s going on when it comes to spending the property owner’s money, and folks that just want to keep it going the way it is. Those candidates see nothing wrong with spending big bucks on the grandiose – the big, glitzy stuff – while ignoring the basic maintenance, the basic beautification and the basic safety issues.”
This election, Lind said, is not about candidates who are “anti-GM” or “pro-GM.”
“It’s about anti-frivolous spending and pro-frivolous spending,” he said. “The GM just happens to be in the middle of that debate, and that simply comes with territory of being the GM. It’s as simple as that.”
In March, Lind was asked to leave a town hall meeting led by Thompson, after he challenged him on the operations at the yacht club.
When Lind said, “But Bob, that’s not true” Thompson replied, “Don’t tell me I lied … don’t call me a liar in my own meeting.”
Thompson warned that “one more time and I’ll ask you to leave,” at which point Lind voluntarily left.
“It wasn’t an altercation because an altercation takes the involvement of two people,” Lind said. “I was just sitting there baffled at what was going on. I was totally surprised.”
In retrospect, he called the incident “absolutely meaningless” in terms of the big picture.
“I’ve had a career where I’ve been shot at, I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been bitten, I’ve been punched, I’ve been spit on, I’ve been kicked. You think this is going to bother me? This doesn’t bother me at all,” he said.
“I think he overacted because I was challenging him on issues such as the definition of an amenity, the yacht club losses, the food truck – stuff like that,” Lind continued. “I had the facts to back me up because I’m paying attention, and I think he just got flustered at that.”
As for the yacht club, Lind said the answer to the financial woes of the amenity is not necessarily to close it during the down months, as some have suggested, but rather to run it better and extend profits during the busy summer months.
If elected, he said he would give Yacht Club Manager Jerry Lewis “what he needs” to make that happen.
“We have a waterfront resort facility with an outside tiki bar with a huge outside porch – we should be making a lot more money in the summer,” he said. “If we made the money we’re supposed to be making in the summer we could stay open on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday like we’re doing now in the winter and still break even.”
Ultimately, Lind said it is the responsibility of every board member to determine the facts on each issue for themselves, and not to rely too heavily on what they’re told by any single person in the administration – including the general manager.
“No issues matter if a board member or a board collectively does not research issues themselves, and if the board members don’t challenge, supervise and provide oversight when it comes to the GM,” he said. “If that’s the case they should give back their amenity passes and step aside.
“Of course it’s a double-edged sword. If a GM is providing false or misleading info to a board just to have things his or her way when it comes to spending, he or she should also be sent packing,” Lind added. “The point is, it’s up to the board to make sure that doesn’t happen. If the board gets snookered, shame on them – they should be doing the research. Everything they know about every project shouldn’t be what they learned from the general manager. They have to look at things for themselves.”