JOSH DAVIS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Ocean Pines General Manager John Bailey speaks during a recent board meeting. The directors have tasked Bailey with looking at the association’s organizational structure and recommending whether any changes are needed.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Dec. 13, 2018) A special Ocean Pines Board meeting on Friday was short-lived, as the directors said they had already discussed the lone agenda topic, board priorities, at length.

The top priority that emerged was an exploration of the organizational layout of the association, with directors tasking General Manager John Bailey to deliver a formal report by the early part of next year, just in time for consideration in the next fiscal-year budget.

Director Ted Moroney, in introducing the topic, said the board had “indirectly taken a shotgun approach to directing the administration to chase and address multiple issues concurrently, without prioritizing and staying focused on the most important problems or needs facing our association.”

Last year, Moroney said, the board and Bailey tackled a record budget deficit and addressed “pressing issues” related to food and beverage operations blamed for much of the deficit. Directors also approved a forensic audit after theft allegations were made that the association was missing thousands of dollars.

“By concentrating on these priorities, we were able to address each and every one to the betterment of the operation,” Moroney said. “We need to follow that formula that worked last year and collectively attack the critical issues, without regard to individual or group agendas.”

Moroney said in November board members each submitted their three top priorities. He said all seven directors listed “organization,” while five named the budget, four cited the country club, and three said new financial systems were a top priority.

Association President Doug Parks said the meeting was “the culmination of a lot of discussion that we’ve had amongst ourselves,” adding the directors were now largely “all on the same page.”

“The bottom line is this – the community wants some decisions,” Director Esther Diller said. “We’ve been beating to death the country club and IT before I got here … I think we can get to some resolutions on some of these issues that have been lingering for two years.”

Parks reiterated the top-four priorities and said the meeting served to establish those publicly. The meeting was adjourned after just 10 minutes.

Afterwards, Association Vice President Steve Tuttle explained just what was meant by the top priority: organization.

“What the board has asked [General Manager John Bailey] to do, is take a look at the current organizational chart and … come up with some recommendations of how that might need to be reworked to be more effective in the management of the association,” he said.

Asked for an example, Tuttle said, “Potentially, it could be something as simple as an assistant general manager” or “it could be repurposing some of the staff into different roles.”

“It’s really a blank canvas right now,” he said.

Tuttle said Bailey spent the better part of his first year on the job “putting out all these little fires everywhere around the organization.”

“I think we’ve resolved a lot of issues that were there when he came in … and now we’re ready to move forward,” he said. “And he’s got a lot of experience. This is not his first time being the general manager for an HOA.”

Parks said Bailey was somewhat encumbered by a management structure he inherited in September of 2017. The board has asked him for a report on whether any changes need to be made to make him more effective in his role.

“If it requires a change in the organization [and] a change in the resources, then you have to consider that,” Parks said. “The GM should be … the front-face, that executive that’s interfacing with the county, interfacing with the press, and kind of general oversight rather than, ‘I’m over here in the weeds.’

“Our intent was to try to make sure that we support that,” he continued. “The takeaway is, if you think a change is required, let us know because we’re not going to the ones who say, ‘no, it can’t be done.’”

Bailey, for his part, said a lot had been done over the past year, including an improved budget, finalized reserve study and communitywide survey.

“At 50 years old, as an association, a lot of things are going really well, [but] there’s some things that we can tweak and make better, both operationally and structurally,” he said. “The board is interested in … how do we position ourselves, organizational-wise, to best meet the needs not just now, but five years from now [and] 10 years from now.

“It’s not something that I had not been thinking of and looking at – I just hadn’t fully implemented it yet,” Bailey continued. “Now that there’s a little emphasis by the board on that, I can put that in a more formal [report].”