Mid may 2016 ocean pines progress

Mid-May 2016

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Jack Collins

Frank Daly

Tom Janasek

Steve Lind

Doug Parks

Slobodan Trendic

THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY COVER STORY

THEY’RE OFF!

OPA Board of Directors’ candidate slate at 12 Collins seeks re-election; Trendic trying again after last summer’s third place finish; four current and former advisory committee members seek seats

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Budget and Finance Advisory Committee, where she forged a close working relationship with Thompson in annual budget preparation. She subscribes to a school of thought that says OPA reserves are under-funded and should be increased to prepare for major capital projects and the effects of inflation on the cost of replacing major assets.

Another candidate to emerge on the final full week before the filing deadline is businessman Tom Janasek, who frequently attends board meetings and has been known to mix it up with Thompson.

Other candidates to file include Brett C. Hill, Sharona Ezaoui, and George Simon Jr. Their resumes were not released as part of an OPA news release issued May 12 announcing the slate.

Rounding out the slate include the first two candidates to file, perennial candidate Ray Unger and Larry Perrone.

Thompson’s recent three-year contract extension and his five and a half years as general manager – he was given the position by the board in the fall of 2010 – probably will be an election issue this summer.

Of the 12 candidates who emerged last week, Trendic says for sure that he would have voted with Director Tom Herrick to oppose the extension. Lind told the Progress in an email that he, too, would have voted against the extension.

“Don’t read too much into this folks, and don’t interpret my hypothetical ‘no’ vote as an indication of any pre-determined attitude toward the General Manager’s employment status,” Lind

said, adding that he would have voted no “simply to send the message to my colleagues and to the community that I agree with director Herrick’s common sense suggestion that the board should research options to determine if this community would be better and more efficiently served by a management firm.”

Daly made it clear he was not running on a campaign to replace the general manager. Both Janasek and Parks said they weren’t sure how they would have voted, saying they didn’t have enough information to form a definite opinion.

Neither seems firmly entrenched in the pro-Thompson camp, however.

Unger and Daly are the two candidates that, based on their comments, seem supportive of the general manager. Supik is firmly in the pro-Thompson camp, comparable in loyalty to retiring director Bill Cordwell and former director Sharyn O’Hare, who retired from the board after one term last August.

Collins was one of six directors who voted for Thompson extension, but he told the Progress he was sympathetic with the reasons that Herrick voted against it. Collins said there were three options available to the directors, and extending the 2014 contract for three years seemed the least objectionable.

He also said there four firm votes for an extension and that having a divisive debate trying to renegotiate the contract did not seem worthwhile. He said the contract remains “at will,” which means the board can abrogate the contract at will but must honor a nine-month severance package specified in the contract.

The three seats on the board to be

Ray Unger contested this summer are held by Collins, Tom Terry and Cordwell. Terry is term-limited and can’t run for re-election under the bylaws, while Cordwell told colleagues he didn’t plan to run for re-election.

Jack Collins

“On a national level, there seems to be a deep dissatisfaction with our representative government at all levels. I believe this dissatisfaction is reflected at the Board of Directors level in Ocean Pines. What our members desire is a Board that can compromise and work harmoniously together for the welfare of all members. Not special interest groups.

So do I. The members want a cooperative and open relationship between the Board and the General Manager, working together to accomplish projects that benefit all of us. So do I. “What our members want are affordable and effective budgets that address the needs of our community. So do I. “What our members want is a community that is a well maintained and respectable community that anyone would be proud to live in. So do.

“During my years on the Board, I have voted for and sponsored motions

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By TOM STAUSS Publisher welve Ocean Pines property owners have filed as candidates in this summer’s race for three seats on the Board of Directors. The term is for three years. The candidate slate is the largest ever to compete for seats on the board.

One incumbent director, Jack Collins, has filed for re-election. The announced slate includes one well-known candidate from last summer, Slobodan Trendic, who is seeking a rematch after placing a close third in last summer’s balloting with 1,179 votes.

Also running are four candidates who are current or former members of OPA advisory committees, which sometimes has been a steppingstone to the board.

Steve Lind is a former long-time member of the Clubs Advisory Committee, who was in the headlines for engaging in a contentious debate with General Manager Bob Thompson at a recent town meeting. He staked out positions often at odds with colleagues on the clubs committee, advocating for consideration of leasing out Yacht Club food and beverage operations as an alternative to in-house management.

Information technology executive Doug Parks is chairman of the Bylaws and Resolutions Advisory Committee and businessman Frank Daly is a member of the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee, which has run into a buzzsaw of controversy of late over sluggish progress in drafting an updated comprehensive plan for Ocean Pines.

Pat Supik is chair of the influential

From Page 1 that I felt were the wishes of each and every one of us.

While serving the members to the best of my ability, I offer the following examples: “I developed and was able to pass a motion broadening the input on the budget process by the Budget and Finance committee working with the GM and the Board. I referred to it as “a sense of the Board” designed to broaden the budget process.

“In every budget cycle, I focused on necessary economies that would keep our assessments stable or reduced while voting against unnecessary expenditures.

“I focused the attention of the Board, the GM and the members on the drainage challenges in our community. Working with the GM, the county and community volunteers through a committee effort, we addressed and solved some of these problems. However, there is additional work to be done.

“I worked to improve the management of a major amenity that had cost the membership over a million dollars in a 4 yr. period. Our new management group is working toward improving the golf experience while bringing revenue and expenses into line.

“I have sponsored a motion and worked toward the renovation of the Beach Club Bathhouse.

“This motion passed our Board with a 7-0 vote.

“In the future, if I am re-elected, I pledge my efforts to bring the Board, the administration and the GM into an amicable and positive working relationship. I would suggest the establishment of a Beautification committee to improve the landscape and eye appeal of our community entrances, amenities, and community open spaces.

“Work toward solutions to incent members to maintain their property in a neat and orderly fashion. Remain dedicated toward responsible budgets reducing assessments if possible. Keep the renovation of the Beach Club Bathhouse on track. I pledge to work toward the improvement of our physical needs such as our Police facility, our Country Club, our roads, bridges and continue our drainage project.

“Yes, being a Board member has it challenges and it does require a considerable amount of time. However, I have always had a keen interest in community governance. In college I was a member of the student government with a major in Government and Politics.

I believe I have the interest, knowledge and experience to be re-elected to the Board.”

Frank Daly

“Ocean Pines homeowners enjoy a very safe, generally well maintained, affordable community that offers a wide range of social and recreational activities that provide all residents with an outstanding lifestyle.

“We are in a critical juncture as a community. We are 40+ years old. We have an aging infrastructure. A small, but noticeable, percentage of properties are in disrepair. Some community facilities and critical infrastructure are also in this condition. We have a Golf Club house that is, for all practical purposes, unusable.

The Beach Club house, arguably the crown jewel of our community and a truly unique amenity, is showing its age. And we also have the issue of bridges that need critical repairs.

“My interest in running for the Board of Directors is to work with fellow Board members and the Association Management to address the critical issues facing our association so that we can maintain and improve the lifestyle, affordability and public safety that we enjoy moving forward into the future.

“Public safety to me is a core issue. I want to work with my fellow board members and the Association Management to assure all homeowners, residents and visitors that when they dial 911 with a life threatening emergency the response time is as short as possible and that the first responders on the scene have the ab-

BOARD OF DIRETORS solute best training and equipment that the Association can provide.

“Maintaining and improving homeowner value is also a core issue. I intend to work with fellow board members and the association management to aggressively address properties in disrepair that diminish the value of adjacent properties. If we need to change the governing documents of the community via a referendum to achieve this goal I will pursue it. I also intend to work with my colleagues and management to assure that we have a coordinated effort with the county to eliminate the ‘boarding houses’ that are appearing in certain areas of the community. I respect the right of any homeowner to rent their property. But in renting that property that homeowner should be accountable for making sure that nothing happens to devalue adjoining properties in the neighborhood.

“It is also important to me to work with the Board and Association Management to make sure that all OP facilities and assets are well maintained.

“In my mind the issue of balancing affordability with the needs of the association to maintain its facilities and amenities is a critical to the future of the association.

“The current board is reviewing the reserve study recently completed by DMA. The preliminary assessment is that the reserve accounts of the association are currently underfunded, perhaps by as much as 10 million dollars. But the actual amount of underfunding, if any, can only be determined by digging in to the detail of the study, assessing the condition of each asset, and using that to determine when it needs to be replaced.

It is absolutely critical that this be right. Because if it isn’t we will be either collecting money that we don’t need, which I would agree with, or not collecting enough money to maintain our core assets which will lead to continued deterioration and decay.

“We also need a detailed capital improvement plan.

It needs to be developed by the association management, it needs to include schedules and costs, needs to give full consideration to renovating existing facilities whenever possible, and needs to be submitted to the homeowners for their approval.

“I am not running on a platform to replace the GM. I am running on a platform to work with him and the other Board members to make OP an even better place to live and to keep it affordable.”

Tom Janasek

“I have been a non-resident property owner in Ocean Pines for over 31 years. I have been an independent contractor my whole life in real estate/construction/ sales. I am lucky enough this year to be able to devote time to being on the board and look forward to bringing a different perspective.

“I was raised in Laurel, MD and have been active in Ocean Pines since 1984. I am the father of a very accomplished son who is teacher in Howard County.

My better half, Barbara and I have been together for 15 years. We tele-commute for work, half our time in West River, MD and half in the Pines.

“I have made my best effort to attend every board meeting and am not shy about offering my opinion when appropriate. Now because of changes in my work schedule I am able to spend more time here in the Pines and can participate in all the board meetings, with your permission, from the other side of the table.

“This brings me to some of my reasons for running for the board this year. I think it’s time to stop talking and get things done especially with the infrastructure of the Pines. Also, Ocean Pines needs to be more fiscally responsible we spend money like its endless! It’s OUR money let’s put is to use wisely!

“I am asking for your vote to allow me the opportunity to bring my business experience and fiscal responsibility to the board.

“As you know from past board meetings, Bob (Thompson) and I don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things.

The biggest being the ‘amenity based community’ issue where it is just fine to lose money as long as our amenties are open to everyone. Personally, I don’t know why we are not doing both, making money and being avaiable for the community.

“As for (Thompson’s) contract extension, I don’t know what other contract options were available so I can’t say whether I would have voted yes or no.”

Steve Lind

“My motivation for running is simple: some on the current board have forgotten that they represent the interests of the property owners and instead they seem to represent the interests of the general manager, many times resulting in one unelected person determining - - without challenge, oversight or accountability - - the kind of community Ocean Pines should be, and how much we should spend in getting there.

“Anyone who has been paying attention is aware of the turmoil and contentiousness that some on our board have subjected this community to, and the vote always seems to be the same four directors supporting whatever the GM proposes. One of said majority had even threatened another director with physical harm - - disgraceful.

“Directors voting lock-step as a pro-spending block - - no matter what the issue or how much it will cost the property owners - - is harmful to this community.

For the last two elections we have voted for change, but the change hasn’t come due to an uncompromising majority.

“I won’t be so bold as to say that I’ll “hit the ground running”, but because I have been immersed in the politics of this community since I arrived in 1998, there will be no ‘wait and see’ period at the beginning of my tenure. (Some of you may have read my commentaries in the Progress, some of you may have heard my remarks during the public comments segments of the board meetings, or my comments at GM town hall meetings.)

“I’ve lived in Ocean Pines since ‘99 and have been lovin’ every minute of it . . . until I pick up the local papers and read about the antics of the current board.

This is a board that has members who exhibit disdain for property owners who disagree with them, and according to numerous property owner remarks made during public comments at board meetings, this is a board that ignores emails sent to the directors via the OPA site. Even emails from advisory committees are ignored according to a recent story in this paper. (Both as a resident and as a member of the Clubs Committee I too found this to be the case in many instances. Of course I understand that the board has more things to consider than just “it’s a good idea”, but at least extend the courtesy of a response.)

“As a board member I will consider the opinions and arguments of fellow board members and of advisory committees, I will get as much community feedback as I can on each major issue that comes before the board, and of course I will familiarize myself with facts relevant to the issue at hand. I am always willing to ‘be convinced’ to compromise with someone else’s viewpoint, but one thing that I will not budge on is my responsibility as a steward of the property owner’s money.

“And as far as individual Ocean Pines issues, I hesitate to express specifics because any such statements would be made without knowledge of all the facts that a board member is privy to, and would thus merely be opinion and/or personal preference . . . as it is, too many board members promote their personal preferences rather than the preferences of the property owners.

“As a NYC Police Officer (Brooklyn) in the 70’s and 80’s, decisions had to be made quickly and wisely. And when I retired, as a small business owner fiscal responsibility kept me afloat. If elected I will strive to contribute to a fiscally responsible board.

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2 Ocean Pines PROGRESS May 2016 Candidate statements

From Page 2 “Let’s get our house in order. “(Regarding the recent Thompson contract extension), two of the minority - - who have otherwise done a good job looking out for the financial interests of the property owners - - basically stated that because we all knew what the vote of the majority was sure to be, it would have been a futile effort to vote ‘no’, so they joined the majority and approved the contract. But if they knew that opposing the contract renewal was futile (and yes, it was), then why not vote ‘no’ anyway even if it was just a symbolic vote? It would have been 4-3 approve, case closed, but at least they would have taken a definitive stand on the issue. And yes, there were other contract options that could have been discussed and debated, but considering the make-up of the current board that would have been a waste of time.”

Doug Parks

“I decided to run after extensive research of the position, talking both with members of the board and members of the community.

“I have been a homeowner in Ocean Pines since 2007.

“I am winding down as an executive in business IT and will have time to focus on Ocean Pines. I work for educational publishing company; I head the IT organization.

“I believe I can be of assistance in the IT and business sides of running the OPA. “I offered in November of 2004 to assist the OPA in setting up its infrastructure. Nothing materialized from that offer, and I’ve not seen much progress since.

What we have needs upgrading.

“I’ve been following the governance of Ocean Pines in some detail, as chairman of the Bylaws and Resolutions committee.

“I disagree with and support some actions of the board and GM. “The Manklin project was “absolutely wrong.”

It started out as an ‘ask’ for pickleball courts and became a $750,000 project for pickleball, platform tennis, stormwater mitigation, parking expansion, and playground relocation. More recently the board reduced $207,000 down to $150,000 for playground equipment and a parking lot and a few other items.

Pickleball, the original ‘ask,’ was excluded.

Where is the benefit to property owners?

“I support the move to fixing the bathrooms at the Beach Club. That building is a good example of putting money were it needs to be spent. It was a very good, focused approach, and a very thoughtful investment by the board. The Beach Club is an amenity that is extremely popular among the membership, and we need to keep it well maintained.

“On Thompson’s contract extension, I don’t have enough information on whether it was a good or bad idea. Can’t say nay or yea.

“On Thompson performance generally, I can see on both sides of the fence. Some things he’s done I agree with, others not so much.”

“I wanted to share some additional information regarding my desire to represent Ocean Pines and its members as a director on the OPA board.

“I graduated from the University of Maryland, cum laude with a degree in Information Systems Management and a minor in Business Administration.

Over my 30 year career, I have held director and executive level positions in the information technology field at various organizations including the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, one of the largest biomedical research organizations in the country, the AES Corporation, a holding company that owns power generation and distribution companies around the globe, and The Pew Charitable Trusts, a high-wealth,

May 2016 Ocean Pines PROGRESS non-profit organization in the areas of advocacy, government policy, global environmental initiatives and its well know Pew Research Center.

“I have been part of the strategic and business planning efforts within these organizations and helped deliver solutions that met their respective organizational goals. In my current role as the IT Executive for an organization in the education market, I am responsible for the effective management of multi-million dollar budgets in support of the revenuegenerating business components of the company that include e-commerce, publishing and marketing. I am also on the executive team along with the CFO and COO in leading an effort to engineer a business transformation and a return to profitability for the organization.

“My volunteer efforts have been with a number of organizations, most notably, USA Hockey at the national level. Initially I served as the President of the Bowie Hockey club here in Maryland, and was then elected as the Commissioner of the Capital Beltway Hockey League where I served for 3 years.

Subsequently I was appointed as the Southeastern District Director working directly with the national office on many of the issues associated with growing the sport and supporting the membership. Overall, serving in each of these positions and carrying out their related duties, was an extremely rewarding experience for me.

“My wife Stevie and I purchased a home in Ocean Pines back in 2007 as one of the first steps in our plans for retirement. We chose Ocean Pines based on its overall appeal, proximity to the ocean, the wonderful community amenities, and the glowing endorsement I received from friends and acquaintances who already lived here. My wife exercised her option to retire in 2013 so we sold our other home in Bowie and have moved here full time. I still work for an organization and am on the “other side of the bridge” a couple of days a week, but maintain a home office here in Ocean Pines, where I spend a majority of my time.

“OPA members want to know what motivates someone to run for the board and what their position is on various important issues. My motivation to run has been fueled by several sources. First is that I have a keen interest in the issues that affect our community from both a functional and financial perspective, and have been following these issues closely for the past several years. This interest led me to my current level of involvement as the Chairman of the By-Laws and Resolutions Advisory Committee. Another source of motivation came from the numerous conversations that I had with fellow OPA members, colleagues on advisory committees and current and past board members. Those discussions in support of my stance on important issues, and the insistence from several folks that a position on the board was the best way I could benefit the community, influenced my decision to run for the board.

“I can no longer sit on the sidelines and hope things get better, when I know I can help the community get pointed in the right direction. Although there are many important issues we face as an organization there are several that stand out. In my opinion some of the most important are the maintenance and upkeep of our existing amenities, the effective long-term planning and the appropriate funding levels for our reserves, and the effort required to build a collaborate team of board directors that makes decisions based on the needs of all of us as members of OPA. “As a board member, financial responsibility and practical actions will be a main focus for me. One of the most important duties I would have as a director would be to exercise effective stewardship of the finances of the OPA and promote a level of accountability that in some cases does not currently exist.

“Over the past several years I have seen a “tax and spend” approach to running Ocean Pines, that I am

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absolutely convinced is not representative of what we as members need both in the short and long term. The current administration seems to have time to devote to large projects and I am not convinced the same amount of time and priority is available to support the required operational aspects of Ocean Pines. My efforts will be to work with fellow board members to eliminate irresponsible and unnecessary spending, to reprioritize our approach to maintaining the community and to ensure that both the board and administrative staff are aligned with the direction being established going forward.

“There are many other topics to cover regarding the important issues that we, as members, face in Ocean Pines. Over the course of the next 8-10 weeks I will take all opportunities available to share my position on specific issues and provide additional details on my approach to serve our community. I am always open to discussion, comments and opinions regarding the OPA and encourage members to share their thoughts with me to help get everyone’s perspective on the various issues we face.

“In summary, my position is to refocus on the needs of the membership, and to employ financial responsibility and practical actions in support of the OPA both in the short and long term. If elected I am also committed to building a more collaborative board of directors, not to create a faction, but to craft a more complete team who, at the end of the day, acts in the best interest of the membership and can re-establish the required leadership tenets for the organization.”

Slobodan Trendic

“In last year’s election, I was humbled with an overwhelming endorsement from the community. 1179 homeowners entrusted me with their votes.

“Since last summer we watched the general manager’s and Board’s performances go from bad to worse.

Many residents in our community are upset with this situation. The destructive, disruptive and disrespectful conduct displayed by the general manager and some Board members is disturbing. Just consider what transpired during the general manager’s recent town hall meeting. Thompson got upset for being questioned by a homeowner about the Yacht Club problems and asked him to leave the meeting. This kind of management conduct is unprofessional. We need to rebuild the partnership and regain the trust among the homeowners, the Board and management. We have to do a better job in the way our community is governed. This is what motivated me to run last year and why many residents asked me to run again.

“During my 30-year career with the IT industry my responsibilities required me to travel all over the world.

I’ve encountered a broad spectrum of social, economic and political concerns during my work in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. This experience, along with my proven skills and knowledge, enables me to deal with many current and future challenges facing Ocean Pines.

“It is no secret that many homeowners still wonder why the Board majority continues to tolerate the general manager’s underperformance. Just consider these examples: the Java Bay Café fiasco; the 5 Million dollar Yacht Club (YC) that became a major disappointment and continues to bleed money; and a total destruction of the YC swimming pool. One year ago I spoke publically about the neglected maintenance of bridges on Ocean Parkway and Clubhouse Drive. The 2011 Worcester County Inspection Report found the superstructure on Ocean Parkway Bridge in poor condition. The same Report recommended “replacement” of this bridge and advised OPA to perform specific immediate and priority repairs in the mean time.

“It took almost five years for our general manager and the board to act, to begin to address these long

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Candidate statements

4 Ocean Pines PROGRESS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

May 2016

Candidate statements

consider me as a candidate of choice.”

From Page 3 overdue repairs. Fixing superstructure alone could easily exceed $400,000 dollars; the cost of fixing substructure problems is still an unknown. Has our general manager done cost analysis of bridge repairing vs. replacement? Has he asked for guarantees that these costly repairs will make the two bridges structurally safe and will pass the next inspection? Do we know if the county government will still insist on the bridge replacement? Millions of our money was spent on the golf course and the Yacht Club yet our manager plans to apply a band aid solution to 45-year old bridges. I rather see OPA accept the County’s recommendation and begin immediate plans for bridge replacement. It is a best use of homeowners’ money, a smarter financial decision and a better long-term solution to addressing OPA’s 45-year old aging infrastructure.

“These are all very disturbing examples of poor management and bad decisions that have caused OPA to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. Of all the challenges facing our community the general manager’s performance has been at the center of controversy for far too long. When elected I will work with my board colleagues to begin to address this issue immediately.

I will propose the Board starts looking for competitive alternatives and begin searching for more experienced management resources.

“My other major concern is the wasteful and out of control spending.

“There are many examples of bad fiscal decisions so where do I begin? Let’s start with the fact that our general manager is extremely overpaid. The previous Board under Tom Terry’s presidency awarded Mr. Thompson with an outrageous base salary of $165,000.

This was an absurd decision made by that Board majority. To illustrate my point consider the following official data. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics the 2015 national median wages for “community association managers” was $55,380. The same source reports that only top 10% of community managers earned an average of $123,790. Yet four of the board members felt strongly that Mr. Thompson is worth more, much more. Here is another proof that OPA pays our general manager way too much. The city manager of our state capital, Annapolis, makes $130,000. The Worcester County Administrator’s reported salary for previous year was around $145,000.

“Another example of bad fiscal behavior is the proposed construction of a multimillion dollar administration building and the controversial Manklin Meadows project that can cost as much as $750K. We as the homeowners have to be more involved, demand full disclosure and make sure our money is spent wisely.

Just consider this. Our general manager now has a slush fund of $10 million dollars at his disposal as a result of the Board’s absurd policy regarding the Reserve Fund “Finally, as many of you know from my campaign last year, I am a strong proponent of the outsourcing model. This has been a common business practice in the private and public sector for years. Outsourcing enables us to offer best service in the most cost-effective way so we can avoid raising HOA dues. This is why we need new management and board members that are in touch with today’s business reality and have the experience to apply best practices.

“In summary ask yourselves this question: Do you want our community to continue to be governed by the Board and the general manager the same way it has been for the past six years? You and your vote control the future of this community. This year, perhaps more than ever before, who you elect will determine the long-term success of Ocean Pines!

“I would like to thank 1179 homeowners that voted for me last year and so many of you for encouraging me to run again. I hope you and other homeowners will

NOTE: Other candidate statements will be posted as they become available.