(Dec. 8, 2016) Members of the Ocean Pines Association Racquet Sports Committee apparently are not getting along.
During a public work session on Monday, Board President Tom Herrick said a recent request for advice from committee Chairwoman June Freeman “spiraled out of control, which subsequently led to personal attacks [and] verbal abuse.”
“I’m not happy with this conduct,” he said. “I don’t think it serves the committees well nor does it serve the community well.”
Herrick said part of the problem is that the committee was tasked with issues related to “three distinct and separate racquet sports each with different needs and interest.” That is, tennis, platform tennis and pickleball.
“It does not produce a climate conducive to good sport camaraderie … but produces inner turmoil and unrest, which hinders the core function of the committee.”
He added that six members of the committee have resigned since it was formed two years ago.
“I believe that each sport should be able to address their own needs on an individual basis, which they have a current system setup through their own board of directors, which served each sport very well in the past, very successfully,” Herrick said. “My recommendation is to dissolve the [racquet sports] committee and allow each separate racquet sports to individually address their needs, wants and recommendations directly to help their own respective sport.”
Herrick said the committee members had difficulty finding “one voice” that served all three sports simultaneously. Moreover, he said he “couldn’t subject a volunteer to such abuse,” referring to the chair.
During a committee meeting in which Herrick was acting as board liaison, he said Freeman presented an idea she felt “would be helpful to the operation and the entire community.”
“Because it didn’t fit in one other racquet sport that person was chastised, blasted at the meeting [and] told to resign,” he said. “They wanted to impeach the chair, right there, and in further discussion they ignored her completely.
“Personally, I couldn’t tolerate it any longer and I suspended their activity until we can have this discussion,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fair to the individuals that want to do well for their particular sport and I don’t think it reflects well on the committee to allow that to continue in that manner.”
Interim General Manager Brett Hill said, in his experience, the level of interaction between that committee and association staff “has been way out of bounds, over the top compared to any other committee.”
He said a proposed Manklin Meadows Racquet Sports Center expansion had “reared its ugly head” during three different staff meetings.
“The committee was having multiple staff members on different paths to try and resurface part of that project [and] I had two $250,000 proposals that got thrown on me,” he said. “All of them want a lot and can’t be satisfied. If one gets something and the other doesn’t, it’s like we’re back into preschool.”
Director Cheryl Jacobs wondered if there was not a more unifying solution.
“In the words of Rodney King, can’t we all just get along?” she said. “We have to disband a committee because people can’t act like adults and show respect for one another? I mean, it’s ridiculous.”
Jacobs said she was concerned that dissolving the committee would only exacerbate the apparent division between members of each sport.
“I just have a concern that we’re fracturing as opposed to working together,” she said. “I just see fracturing a process to accommodate people’s bad behavior.”
Not so, according to Herrick, who said representatives from each committee told him they would be “fully willing to get along” during a mutual racquet sports function, such as an open house.
“For the separate needs and interest of each individual sport, they will be better represented by being able to come to the board and staff on their own, requesting what they need individually,” he said.
A vote on a formal motion to dissolve the committee is expected during a public board meeting at the community center on Friday at 10 a.m.
During a public work session on Monday, Board President Tom Herrick said a recent request for advice from committee Chairwoman June Freeman “spiraled out of control, which subsequently led to personal attacks [and] verbal abuse.”
“I’m not happy with this conduct,” he said. “I don’t think it serves the committees well nor does it serve the community well.”
Herrick said part of the problem is that the committee was tasked with issues related to “three distinct and separate racquet sports each with different needs and interest.” That is, tennis, platform tennis and pickleball.
“It does not produce a climate conducive to good sport camaraderie … but produces inner turmoil and unrest, which hinders the core function of the committee.”
He added that six members of the committee have resigned since it was formed two years ago.
“I believe that each sport should be able to address their own needs on an individual basis, which they have a current system setup through their own board of directors, which served each sport very well in the past, very successfully,” Herrick said. “My recommendation is to dissolve the [racquet sports] committee and allow each separate racquet sports to individually address their needs, wants and recommendations directly to help their own respective sport.”
Herrick said the committee members had difficulty finding “one voice” that served all three sports simultaneously. Moreover, he said he “couldn’t subject a volunteer to such abuse,” referring to the chair.
During a committee meeting in which Herrick was acting as board liaison, he said Freeman presented an idea she felt “would be helpful to the operation and the entire community.”
“Because it didn’t fit in one other racquet sport that person was chastised, blasted at the meeting [and] told to resign,” he said. “They wanted to impeach the chair, right there, and in further discussion they ignored her completely.
“Personally, I couldn’t tolerate it any longer and I suspended their activity until we can have this discussion,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fair to the individuals that want to do well for their particular sport and I don’t think it reflects well on the committee to allow that to continue in that manner.”
Interim General Manager Brett Hill said, in his experience, the level of interaction between that committee and association staff “has been way out of bounds, over the top compared to any other committee.”
He said a proposed Manklin Meadows Racquet Sports Center expansion had “reared its ugly head” during three different staff meetings.
“The committee was having multiple staff members on different paths to try and resurface part of that project [and] I had two $250,000 proposals that got thrown on me,” he said. “All of them want a lot and can’t be satisfied. If one gets something and the other doesn’t, it’s like we’re back into preschool.”
Director Cheryl Jacobs wondered if there was not a more unifying solution.
“In the words of Rodney King, can’t we all just get along?” she said. “We have to disband a committee because people can’t act like adults and show respect for one another? I mean, it’s ridiculous.”
Jacobs said she was concerned that dissolving the committee would only exacerbate the apparent division between members of each sport.
“I just have a concern that we’re fracturing as opposed to working together,” she said. “I just see fracturing a process to accommodate people’s bad behavior.”
Not so, according to Herrick, who said representatives from each committee told him they would be “fully willing to get along” during a mutual racquet sports function, such as an open house.
“For the separate needs and interest of each individual sport, they will be better represented by being able to come to the board and staff on their own, requesting what they need individually,” he said.
A vote on a formal motion to dissolve the committee is expected during a public board meeting at the community center on Friday at 10 a.m.