By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer
(July 11, 2019) Ballots in this year’s Ocean Pines Board of Directors election were scheduled to be mailed to voters this week, as seven candidates vie for three seats on the board.
Running this year are Tom Janasek, Larry Perrone, Camilla Rogers, Paula Gray, Shawn Kotwica, Edward Solum and Greg Turner, with the top three vote getters winning three-year terms.
The newly elected directors will replace temporary board members Jeff Knepper and Thomas Piatti, and fill the seat vacated by Esther Diller, who resigned her post in the spring.
The cutoff for voter eligibility was July 3. Ocean Pines homeowners not eligible to vote are “not in good standing,” because they have outstanding violations or unpaid assessments. Under current Ocean Pines bylaws, homeowners on a monthly payment plan are ineligible to vote.
Last year, 7,614 ballots were mailed and 3,119 were counted, a return rate of about 41 percent. Eighty ballots were rejected, with 66 of them disqualified because they were received after the voting deadline.
With that in mind, the Elections Committee reminded property owners through its “Your Vote Counts” campaign to pay close attention to election deadlines and to ballot instructions.
Ballots may be returned either to the ballot box inside the police department office in the Ocean Pines Administration Building on 239 Ocean Parkway or mailed to the Ocean Pines post office box in Berlin. They must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
Ballots will be counted and vote totals announced on Aug. 9 at 10 a.m. in the East Room of the Ocean Pines Community Center on 235 Ocean Parkway. The election results will be validated on Aug. 10 at 10 a.m. during the annual meeting of membership in the Assateague Room of the Ocean Pines Community Center on 235 Ocean Parkway.
For questions about the election, email elections@oceanpines.org. For questions about voter eligibility, contact Membership and Assessment Supervisor Ruth Ann Meyer at 410-641-7717 ext. 3031, or email rmeyer@oceanpines.org.