(Sept. 15, 2016) Looking to fill the general manager slot following the dismissal of Bob Thompson in late August, the Ocean Pines Association posted a want ad for the position on its website last week.
The job is described as a “full-time onsite management position,” indicating that Ocean Pines would not pursue hiring a management company, as some candidates had suggested during the recent election and as Board President Tom Herrick theorized during a public meeting earlier this year.
In January, Herrick introduced a motion to “investigate and provide information relative to the feasibility and value of employing a professional community management firm to provide executive management of our association.”
That motion fell, 4-3.
“All I’m asking for is information at no cost to the association,” Herrick said at the time. “Any information is a benefit to the board. Why any board member would want to turn a blind eye to information and just rubber stamp one of the options in the contract without exploring the other options – I don’t understand that.”
Asked last week if outsourcing the position was now off the table, Herrick said, “I believe that will be a discussion topic for our entire board of directors to consider during the ‘working session’ scheduled for Sept. 19.”
During that meeting, acting General Manager Brett Hill said the entire board reviewed the ad, and that the association had already received three responses.
However, he added that a request for information would likely be released during the following week, including exploring the use of an outside management company to hire a “placed general manager.”
That “scared some of the staff members,” he said.
“We’re not talking about turning the whole organization over to some outside third party and walking away,” Hill said. “We’re talking about having a management company help us provide the best fit for a general manager in here and having a support mechanism for that manager, so that when there are industry-specific questions, they have a resource beyond our legal counsel to go to for industry support and backing, to help better run the organization.
“That’s a structure that was not in place in the past and we’re evaluating [that],” he added.
The ad described the position as “responsible for providing the overall supervision of a community association. This position is also responsible for managing the relationships with the Board of Directors and homeowners and oversees maintenance of the grounds, common areas and other property assets. The General Manager interacts with homeowners, vendors, the board and committees’ members.”
Minimum qualifications listed prior experience “in the management of a community or a town of similar size and scope,” including five years “with increasing responsibility in community association management or a town similar in size and scope” and three years “as Assistant Manager or General Manager for a community or a town similar in size.”
A bachelor’s degree is required – master’s preferred – along with “CMCA (Certified Manager of Community Associations) and/or other related industry designations.”
Salary would be “commensurate upon education and/or relevant experience,” medical, vacation and 401K benefits were offered, and the start date was listed as Jan. 1 or “sooner if mutually agreeable.”
Ocean Pines also posted a request for proposals (RFP) for legal services, following a 5-2 board vote last month that effectively ended the association’s long-time relationship with attorney Joe Moore.
That vote also required an RFP for an auditor, which Hill said would likely be released this week.
To apply for the general manager position, email resumes to mbennett@oceanpines.org, or visit www.oceanpines.org/administration/work-here to view the full ad.
To view the RFP for legal services, visit www.oceanpines.org/rfp/legal-services.
The job is described as a “full-time onsite management position,” indicating that Ocean Pines would not pursue hiring a management company, as some candidates had suggested during the recent election and as Board President Tom Herrick theorized during a public meeting earlier this year.
In January, Herrick introduced a motion to “investigate and provide information relative to the feasibility and value of employing a professional community management firm to provide executive management of our association.”
That motion fell, 4-3.
“All I’m asking for is information at no cost to the association,” Herrick said at the time. “Any information is a benefit to the board. Why any board member would want to turn a blind eye to information and just rubber stamp one of the options in the contract without exploring the other options – I don’t understand that.”
Asked last week if outsourcing the position was now off the table, Herrick said, “I believe that will be a discussion topic for our entire board of directors to consider during the ‘working session’ scheduled for Sept. 19.”
During that meeting, acting General Manager Brett Hill said the entire board reviewed the ad, and that the association had already received three responses.
However, he added that a request for information would likely be released during the following week, including exploring the use of an outside management company to hire a “placed general manager.”
That “scared some of the staff members,” he said.
“We’re not talking about turning the whole organization over to some outside third party and walking away,” Hill said. “We’re talking about having a management company help us provide the best fit for a general manager in here and having a support mechanism for that manager, so that when there are industry-specific questions, they have a resource beyond our legal counsel to go to for industry support and backing, to help better run the organization.
“That’s a structure that was not in place in the past and we’re evaluating [that],” he added.
The ad described the position as “responsible for providing the overall supervision of a community association. This position is also responsible for managing the relationships with the Board of Directors and homeowners and oversees maintenance of the grounds, common areas and other property assets. The General Manager interacts with homeowners, vendors, the board and committees’ members.”
Minimum qualifications listed prior experience “in the management of a community or a town of similar size and scope,” including five years “with increasing responsibility in community association management or a town similar in size and scope” and three years “as Assistant Manager or General Manager for a community or a town similar in size.”
A bachelor’s degree is required – master’s preferred – along with “CMCA (Certified Manager of Community Associations) and/or other related industry designations.”
Salary would be “commensurate upon education and/or relevant experience,” medical, vacation and 401K benefits were offered, and the start date was listed as Jan. 1 or “sooner if mutually agreeable.”
Ocean Pines also posted a request for proposals (RFP) for legal services, following a 5-2 board vote last month that effectively ended the association’s long-time relationship with attorney Joe Moore.
That vote also required an RFP for an auditor, which Hill said would likely be released this week.
To apply for the general manager position, email resumes to mbennett@oceanpines.org, or visit www.oceanpines.org/administration/work-here to view the full ad.
To view the RFP for legal services, visit www.oceanpines.org/rfp/legal-services.