By Greg Ellison

(Feb. 20, 2020) Members of the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors should have a greater understanding of the association’s governing documents, the Bylaws and Resolution Committee said last Friday.

Apparently, committee members concluded, board liaisons to the association’s advisory committees don’t always report a committee’s findings to the full board, or are unable to attend meetings where these findings are established.

How to counter these absences, and the break in communications between the committee and the board, could involve several different approaches, including reporting to more people instead of relying on a single board liaison, Committee Chairperson Jim Trummel said.

“There may a be need for us to communicate … to a wider audience, including the board and committees,” he said.

“I’m concerned about the lack of knowledge that people, including board members, have about resolution responsibilities, including lack of knowledge of our governance documents,” Trummel continued.

Committee member Jeff Knepper suggested establishing procedures to be employed when board liaisons don’t attend a meeting. That could include the possibility of creating a liaison alternate position.

“Normally we don’t … but maybe we need two liaison members,” he said.

Committee member Keith Kaiser said a phone-in option for board liaisons could be one answer, although Knepper countered that some committees might not need or want that.

“There are some committees that couldn’t care ever if there was a liaison and there are others that do,” he said.

He went on to say that sporadic appearances by bylaws committee board liaison Camilla Rogers have slowed its progress on procedural matters.

“Circumstances are preventing her from getting here a lot and that’s a problem,” he said. “The interactions we have to have with the board … we need that context and we’re not getting that.”

While not critical of Rogers’ efforts, Knepper said her presence at more meetings would be useful.

“If you have a pretty high, but not perfect, incidence of attendance, you have no problem,” he said. “I’m not looking for perfection.”

Kaiser suggested that board liaisons who can’t attend a committee’s session might be able to tap another director as substitute representative.

“It wouldn’t be a formal number two or back-up, it would just be their responsibility to make sure one of them attended,” he said.

But were that the case, the substitute would have to understand a committee’s work to be effective, said member

OPA Bylaws and Resolution Committee member Jeff Knepper discusses concerns related to board liaison participation, while committee members, from right counterclockwise, Audrey Wahl, Keith Kaiser and chairman Jim Trummel consider his argument during the groups meeting on Friday, Feb. 7.

.

Kaiser responded that if the alternate could be quickly educated about a committee’s work, that would offer additional benefits.

“If the board were responsible for providing either the primary liaison, or somebody else in their stead, then it becomes sort of an educational exposure issue,” he said.

“Even if they are just sitting in for the day, they get to see what the committee’s doing [and] talks about.”

Acknowledging that some committee work is not urgent, Wahl said instances do occur when immediate board attention is required. That won’t happen, she added, if the directors have no representative present when a critical decision is made.

“We have a lot of discussion, but there are certain things that we really [require] communication between us and the board,” she said.

Trummel said the committee would revisit the topic when it can discuss the situation with board liaison Rogers.