(Oct. 13, 2016) When new leadership was elected to the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors in August, the directors promised sweeping changes and have moved quickly to make good on several key campaign promises.
Another thing the new board hopes to change, according to a discussion during a special meeting last Friday, was how the directors would respond to public and press inquiries.
Board President Tom Herrick promised the board would answer, “Every single email … somewhat.”
“The courtesy of an answer is important,” he said.
Exactly how that would work, however, was a matter of some discussion.
Director Slobodan Trendic suggested that, if questions related to specific areas represented by an advisory committee, that the respective committee liaison is given first rights to respond. Herrick, as president, would take “point” and would field “general questions.”
Director Doug Parks suggested that all directors be copied in all responses as “standard protocol,” and interim General Manager Brett Hill said his goal was to get responses out in hours – not days.
“If we get an email at 9 o’clock in the morning [and] we go all day and nobody sees it or does anything, the person reaching out is going to want something,” Hill said.
“It’s a different generation,” Director Pat Supik said with a laugh.
If an email has gone unanswered for some time, Executive Assistant Michelle Bennett could send a standardized reply letting the emailer know their message was received and that “the appropriate people” would respond.
Legal questions would be forwarded to OPA’s attorneys, which apparently still include Williams, Moore, Shockley, Harrison, LLP in Ocean City, as well as a firm in Montgomery County, which also serves the Parke community.
As for press questions, Herrick said each director had “the right to answer anyone with your own opinion,” but that official policy releases should come from public relations.
“That really is our own, individual decision, whether we want to undertake such things [as interviews] and if so, how we want to go on record,” Trendic said. “I would not be in favor of [not having] my freedom to have an interview with the press and my own decision to do so in whatever way I feel is most appropriate.”
Hill said there had been issues with “individuals citing opinion publically that they’re claiming to be factual about our operations” in the past.
“It’s not an issue of stifling an individual from talking, but if you’re going to talk be very well certain that you have 100 percent of the facts in your conversation, because if you make a statement that you claim to be factual as a official representation of our community, that statement will be taken as fact when it may not be true – and that causes harm to us,” Hill said.
He went on to say there had been specific discussions among the directors about “an article … where there was information claimed.”
“We need to make sure, specifically as board members, that we are very certain in any public statements that are made [and] that we are 100 percent knowledgeable on the subject and not inserting our own personal bias or opinion into something claimed as factual,” Hill said.
Resident Joe Reynolds, from the audience, noted, “There was no way you could be 100 percent certain of anything.”
“I think this is a great discussion, because the newspapers in Ocean Pines paint a picture of Ocean Pines to the broader community – that is important,” Supik said. “I think the more we do to keep that picture accurate, the better it will be for Ocean Pines.”
Another thing the new board hopes to change, according to a discussion during a special meeting last Friday, was how the directors would respond to public and press inquiries.
Board President Tom Herrick promised the board would answer, “Every single email … somewhat.”
“The courtesy of an answer is important,” he said.
Exactly how that would work, however, was a matter of some discussion.
Director Slobodan Trendic suggested that, if questions related to specific areas represented by an advisory committee, that the respective committee liaison is given first rights to respond. Herrick, as president, would take “point” and would field “general questions.”
Director Doug Parks suggested that all directors be copied in all responses as “standard protocol,” and interim General Manager Brett Hill said his goal was to get responses out in hours – not days.
“If we get an email at 9 o’clock in the morning [and] we go all day and nobody sees it or does anything, the person reaching out is going to want something,” Hill said.
“It’s a different generation,” Director Pat Supik said with a laugh.
If an email has gone unanswered for some time, Executive Assistant Michelle Bennett could send a standardized reply letting the emailer know their message was received and that “the appropriate people” would respond.
Legal questions would be forwarded to OPA’s attorneys, which apparently still include Williams, Moore, Shockley, Harrison, LLP in Ocean City, as well as a firm in Montgomery County, which also serves the Parke community.
As for press questions, Herrick said each director had “the right to answer anyone with your own opinion,” but that official policy releases should come from public relations.
“That really is our own, individual decision, whether we want to undertake such things [as interviews] and if so, how we want to go on record,” Trendic said. “I would not be in favor of [not having] my freedom to have an interview with the press and my own decision to do so in whatever way I feel is most appropriate.”
Hill said there had been issues with “individuals citing opinion publically that they’re claiming to be factual about our operations” in the past.
“It’s not an issue of stifling an individual from talking, but if you’re going to talk be very well certain that you have 100 percent of the facts in your conversation, because if you make a statement that you claim to be factual as a official representation of our community, that statement will be taken as fact when it may not be true – and that causes harm to us,” Hill said.
He went on to say there had been specific discussions among the directors about “an article … where there was information claimed.”
“We need to make sure, specifically as board members, that we are very certain in any public statements that are made [and] that we are 100 percent knowledgeable on the subject and not inserting our own personal bias or opinion into something claimed as factual,” Hill said.
Resident Joe Reynolds, from the audience, noted, “There was no way you could be 100 percent certain of anything.”
“I think this is a great discussion, because the newspapers in Ocean Pines paint a picture of Ocean Pines to the broader community – that is important,” Supik said. “I think the more we do to keep that picture accurate, the better it will be for Ocean Pines.”