www.OceanPinesToday.com
June - Early July 2015
Vol. 11, No. 3
443-359-7527
www.issuu.com/oceanpinesprogress Complaints abound about Yacht Club at Town Hall meeting
THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY COVER STORY
Clarke, Stevens question Renaud’s neutrality in Ocean Pines election Board secretary denies quid pro quo to obtain OPA presidency By TOM STAUSS Publisher t’s still very early in the annual Ocean Pines election season, but already rumors are circulating about which directors are supporting which candidates in this summer’s Board of Directors’ contest. This year, the maneuvering seems to be causing some hard feelings among the directors and is dividing erstwhile allies. It has even generated a contention from the OPA President Dave Stevens and Vice-president Martin D. Clarke that OPA secretary Pat Renaud is supporting two of three female candidates running for the board this summer and, if one or both are successful, they will vote to elect him president in September. Renaud is disputing both contentions. In last summer’s election, Renaud and Stevens were the top two vote-getters, with the active support and endorsement of STOP (Stop Taxing Ocean Pines), an advocacy group founded years ago by Martin D. Clarke, an OPA director who is retiring this year. The group supports curbs on OPA spending and assessments and strong oversight of General Manager Bob Thompson. Stevens was elected president with the support of Renaud and a new majority bloc of directors that included Clarke and Jack Collins, the OPA treasurer. Another candidate last summer, Slobodan Trendic, dropped out of the race to endorse Stevens and Renaud, with the understanding that STOP, Stevens
Left to right: Pat Renaud Dave Stevens Marty Clarke Slobodan Trendic
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and Renaud would support his election bid this summer. The support for Trendic of STOP and Stevens seems assured. Stevens told the Progress that he will not issue a public endorsement and will limit himself to behind-the-scenes assistance for candidates he favors. What will not happen, however, is any kind of meaningful support for Trendic’s candidacy by Renaud, and that has led Stevens and Clarke to conclude that Renaud has reneged on a promise made to Trendic last summer and instead is, or soon will be, actively supporting two of the three female candidates running for the board, most likely Cheryl Jacobs and Carol Ludwig. Stevens and Clarke contend they have it on good authority that Renaud recently hosted in his home all three female candidates, Jacobs, Ludwig and former director Teri Mohr. Also attending were OPA Directors Tom Terry and Bill Cordwell, whom Renaud invited, because they, like him, “wanted to give the candidates advice on how to run a campaign” for the Ocean
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Seven candidates competing for two seats on OPA board ~ Page 31
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Pines board. Renaud said he’s been working closely with Terry on some issues – he cited the OPA budget for 2015-16 – so it was only natural that he would invite him to attend a meeting with candidates who had reached out. Stevens made it clear he’s not inclined to accept any of Renaud’s explanations. “I believe it will prove out that if any of these candidates (who attended the meeting with Renaud) get elected, they will make Pat president in the fall,” Stevens told the Progress. “And everyone will know what happened.” Taking a page from STOP’s playbook from last summer, one of the three female candidates, most likely Mohr, probably will be persuaded to drop out to help out the other two at some point during the campaign, Stevens said. Clarke slammed Renaud for hosting three candidates and two of his fellow directors in his home while maintaining a pretense of neutrality. “In spite of the fact that Pat Renaud
After weeks of negotiations that iroAnyone expecting relentless cheerleading for the year-old Ocean Pines Yacht Club at General Manager Bob Thompson’s June 3 town hall meeting must have been sorely disappointed. To say that Thompson’s typical emphasis on the positive was drowned out by complaints understates the obvious. Nearly half of the two-hour long town hall meeting hosted by the Ocean Pines Association’s general manager was devoted to a question and answer session about the status of theYacht Club. ~ Page 6
Thompson back in as lead negotiator with Sandpiper
Ocean Pines Association director Bill Cordwell, unhappy with the apparent lack of movement in discussions between the OPA and Sandpiper Energy for a new natural gas franchise agreement, recently suggested that General Manager Bob Thompson be given the task of checking out whether negotiations that could lead to an agreement can be jump-started. ~ Page 9
Boaters oppose draft use policy for Community Hall
A least one major Ocean Pines community group – the 400-member (give or take) Ocean Pines Boat Club – is resisting a proposed new Community Center use policy unveiled during a special meeting May 20 by General Manager Bob Thompson and a group of Ocean Pines residents advising him. Walt Lischak, fleet captain of the boat club, called the proposed use policy “unworkable” for his organization. He said club members might have to donate between “1,200 and 2,000 hours of community service annually” to meet the policy requirementgs. ~ Page 28
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