Former director addresses OPA

Editor,

Once again, I feel as a former [Ocean Pines Association] director the need to speak out.

This email is not solely focused on Colby Phillips but rather the toxic environment which has come to be again in OPA.

Let’s talk about the facts. I was a director on the board when John Bailey left OPA.

I invited John Viola to meet me at Taylor’s restaurant. It was there I asked him to consider being the interim GM. He was very reluctant to take this task on.

After further conversation and a meeting with then board president Doug Parks, he agreed to take the position with our word it would only be for six months as he mentored and trained Colby Phillips to potentially take the GM position.

No guarantee was ever made to Colby that she would get the position.

I do not pretend to be involved in the day-to-day operations but saw early on first hand there were some issues with this process.

The board that I sat on established the transition management team. With this structure, the GM would be at the top reporting to the board, and Steve Phillips and Colby Phillips would be sharing on the next level down with the staff reporting to them.

This structure allowed for OPA to never be fully reliant on the GM with the responsibilities spread further down.  For almost a year the GM and team were able to accomplish a lot.

For some reason, a decision was made after the pay study (another one) to rename and move positions around. I am aware that this is totally at the GM’s discretion.

However, what was occurring here was that Colby Phillips was systematically being demoted without calling it a demotion. The interim GM had also decided he wanted to stay on in a permanent capacity as GM.

Let me be very clear,  that was and is his right to exercise this option along with that of the board of directors.

Having worked in corporate America for many years, it was very easy to see what was occurring.

The fact that the new board President Larry Perrone and Vice President Colette Horn, unlike previous board President Doug Parks and Vice President Steve Tuttle, felt the need to be intimately involved with HR and operations.

Primarily operations that had to do with Colby Phillips role within OPA.

The culture that has now developed since the board of directors allowed Larry Perrone and Colette Horn to be the president and vice president is one of dictatorship and control.

There has been difficulty in getting communication from our association to the media as well. There was no formal mentorship program established for Colby Phillips but a lot  of criticism.

I was personally told by a board member after the election that she would never be GM. A board member in January 2020 told me since Colby didn’t have a college degree she would not be a choice for GM.

First, why would board members be involved in these conversations about an employee or even know these things?

It is very clear, in my humble opinion, that this could be perceived as targeted treatment and Colby never had a chance. Regardless, if she was to get the GM job, she never had a shot.

Why did VP Horn say the first time the board heard of the complaint was Jan. 26 after receiving a letter from Colby’s husband, when the GM notified Colby that he spoken to the board president on Jan. 21 and said there would be no further interaction between the board president and Colby?

All communication would go through the GM to her from the board. The board president should have immediately notified the rest of the board and he did not.

Why was this complaint hidden from the rest of the board.? Why did it take Colby 10 days to get a response from HR from the GM with numerous follow ups?

The board didn’t acknowledge publicly the complaint until three weeks later? When the GM had an issue with a board member it moved at warp speed and publicly! Why would an employee complaint not get the same priority? Good question!

Gossip among employees is common place in all businesses. However, why did our board agree to an investigation into Colby on the allegations she was starting a smear campaign against the GM?

Was anyone else investigated? How much did this investigation cost the homeowners? Do we really believe that no one else on our staff complains amongst themselves?

Are we now going to investigate every employee who chooses to complain about their boss or job? Oh, and by the way,  it came back unsubstantiated and no proof of claims made against her. Once again this could be perceived as a witch hunt.

We have to be fair on both sides of the table here in Ocean Pines. We have bylaws and rules for a reason. There are some directors on this board who are entirely too involved in operations. This is not allowed by our bylaws.

The board of directors are voted in by the homeowners of this association. They work for us, they are not above us. The board is made up of seven individuals.

Each has equal voice and voting rights as told to us when I was on the board repeatedly by then President Doug Parks. President Perrone and VP Horn would do well to remember that and try to foster more of a team approach and communication on this board and with the community.

We lost a great employee. Whether or not she would ever be GM is irrelevant. The current political environment and culture of OPA made her leave. With no future advancement path for her, she choose to go find one for herself and she did.

Esther Diller
Former board director 2018-2019
(Ed. Note. The author’s husband, Stuart Lakernick, declared his candidacy for the board this week.)