(April 20, 2017) Ocean Pines Association Director Doug Parks finished ninth in an election that saw 12 men and women declare candidacy and three new faces take office last August.
He joined the board a month later, as an appointed director, after Pat Renaud resigned. This year, he’s hoping to earn reelection and stay on.
Parks, 61, is senior executive with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development – or ASCD – and has a three-decade career in the information technology sector, including stints with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Pew Charitable Trust.
The chairman of the new technology workgroup, Parks made the motion last Thursday to do away with the family night event at the adults-only Oasis pool. It passed 5-2 and had the widespread support of the several hundred homeowners who attended the meeting.
Parks said what happened during the meeting was a good thing and that he has tried to give interim General Manager Brett Hill “as much wiggle room as possible.”
“He’s been doing just an absolutely outstanding job in tackling a lot of these issues that we needed to get done,” Parks said. “I think the community first and foremost is benefitting from it, but you get into a little bit of a gray area where you get that momentum going and maybe you don’t take that proverbial step back.
“We found that it was an issue and I think, as a board, we did the right thing,” Parks added. “I don’t want to call it a watershed event, but I think it was an affirmation we weren’t doing a good enough job communicating.”
The previous election turned into a referendum on former General Manager Bob Thompson. Parks isn’t sure if the election this year, when two seats on the seven-member board will come up, would have a central issue.
“I think there’s a lot of things that need to be assessed to kind of figure out how they fit into the overall picture,” he said. “A good example is the yacht club, which is something that still needs to be looked at very closely.”
Parks said Hill has done a “yeoman’s effort” attempting to tackle issues there, but “despite his best efforts … it’s still not working.”
“We really need to look at a different approach for that, and by that I mean we absolutely have to consider closing it – period – during the offseason,” he said.
Last year Parks, Hill and Tom Janasek ran as a team. Hill finished first in the voting, while Janasek finished eighth. Parks does not have similar plans during the current election, but said former Director Marty Clarke, who also declared his candidacy, would be a major asset to the board. Clarke also favors closing the yacht club for part of the year.
He said any director would be a welcome addition “as long as they’re willing to work as a group.”
“I’ve let things go that I might not have necessarily agreed with, but felt it was more important for the overall harmony of the board and the collective thinking of how best to move forward,” Parks said. “I find myself doing, probably, a little too much of that, but [Ocean Pines needs] somebody that’s willing to listen to all of the different opinions.
“The one thing I’ve learned and value, quite frankly, is how you can take an issue and put it in front of seven different people and get a number of different interpretations,” Parks continued. “I really do enjoy listening to somebody else’s perspective because it’s a learning experience for me too.”
Parks said he still had a strong desire to serve the community, despite facing several controversial topics during the current board session.
“There’s no guarantee that it’s going to be smooth sailing from day one to the end of your term,” he said. “But despite some of the bumps in the road, it hasn’t given me a sour taste at all. In fact, it’s encouraged me to continue to work.”
He joined the board a month later, as an appointed director, after Pat Renaud resigned. This year, he’s hoping to earn reelection and stay on.
Parks, 61, is senior executive with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development – or ASCD – and has a three-decade career in the information technology sector, including stints with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Pew Charitable Trust.
The chairman of the new technology workgroup, Parks made the motion last Thursday to do away with the family night event at the adults-only Oasis pool. It passed 5-2 and had the widespread support of the several hundred homeowners who attended the meeting.
Parks said what happened during the meeting was a good thing and that he has tried to give interim General Manager Brett Hill “as much wiggle room as possible.”
“He’s been doing just an absolutely outstanding job in tackling a lot of these issues that we needed to get done,” Parks said. “I think the community first and foremost is benefitting from it, but you get into a little bit of a gray area where you get that momentum going and maybe you don’t take that proverbial step back.
“We found that it was an issue and I think, as a board, we did the right thing,” Parks added. “I don’t want to call it a watershed event, but I think it was an affirmation we weren’t doing a good enough job communicating.”
The previous election turned into a referendum on former General Manager Bob Thompson. Parks isn’t sure if the election this year, when two seats on the seven-member board will come up, would have a central issue.
“I think there’s a lot of things that need to be assessed to kind of figure out how they fit into the overall picture,” he said. “A good example is the yacht club, which is something that still needs to be looked at very closely.”
Parks said Hill has done a “yeoman’s effort” attempting to tackle issues there, but “despite his best efforts … it’s still not working.”
“We really need to look at a different approach for that, and by that I mean we absolutely have to consider closing it – period – during the offseason,” he said.
Last year Parks, Hill and Tom Janasek ran as a team. Hill finished first in the voting, while Janasek finished eighth. Parks does not have similar plans during the current election, but said former Director Marty Clarke, who also declared his candidacy, would be a major asset to the board. Clarke also favors closing the yacht club for part of the year.
He said any director would be a welcome addition “as long as they’re willing to work as a group.”
“I’ve let things go that I might not have necessarily agreed with, but felt it was more important for the overall harmony of the board and the collective thinking of how best to move forward,” Parks said. “I find myself doing, probably, a little too much of that, but [Ocean Pines needs] somebody that’s willing to listen to all of the different opinions.
“The one thing I’ve learned and value, quite frankly, is how you can take an issue and put it in front of seven different people and get a number of different interpretations,” Parks continued. “I really do enjoy listening to somebody else’s perspective because it’s a learning experience for me too.”
Parks said he still had a strong desire to serve the community, despite facing several controversial topics during the current board session.
“There’s no guarantee that it’s going to be smooth sailing from day one to the end of your term,” he said. “But despite some of the bumps in the road, it hasn’t given me a sour taste at all. In fact, it’s encouraged me to continue to work.”