JOSH DAVIS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Ocean Pines Director Slobodan Trendic, left, introduced five budget-related motions last Saturday, but went 0-5 in attempts to have them approved. Also pictured are directors Esther Diller and Frank Daly.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Feb. 21, 2019) Ocean Pines Director Slobodan Trendic went 0-for-5 Saturday on motions related to the fiscal 2020 budget, with one failing to get a second, two defeated by 6-1 votes, one falling short in a 4-3 vote after being amended, and one motion withdrawn.

Closest to adoption was Trendic’s motion to instruct the general manager to reduce his proposed budget by at least 2.5 percent across all departments.

Trendic said doing so was a directive given to General Manager John Bailey last November.

Two directors, Frank Daly and Association President Doug Parks, said they agreed in concept, but would prefer to see a “targeted” 2.5 percent reduction.

Daly, who said he helped author a motion for such cuts, added the association had “lost [its] way for cost management.”

Parks, meanwhile, said he was now against the motion because of its “timing and applicability.”

Director Ted Moroney said asking for a reduction was one thing, but understanding the impact was another. He compared it to cutting 2.5 percent of fuel for police cars while waiting for service on a Friday night.

“It’s not quite that simple,” he said. “What are you giving up when you cut?”

Trendic said payroll costs were increasing at an alarming rate, including a 60 increase in the finance department, 75 percent increase in marketing, and 90 percent increase in general maintenance.

“I’ve got serious issues with these numbers,” he said. “We have a responsibility … to be fiduciarily responsible to the membership. The question is how do you solve this problem?

“I wonder if we even should be entertaining the idea of approving the budget this year” Trendic continued. “You’ve got a $1.6 million deficit – $600,000 of that has been collected this year from the homeowners, so we are left with a balance of about $1 million, according to our treasurer, that we are asking the homeowners to pay. And then, we’ve got a PR and marketing department that’s basically planning to spend $47,000 in radio and TV commercials, and $50,000 in media advertising. I question our priorities.”

Daly offered an amendment to direct the general manager to reduce his proposed budget by at least 2.5 percent with targeted cost reductions across all departments.

A vote for the amendment was 6-1 with Moroney opposed, but the original motion as amended fell 4-3, with only Trendic, Daly and Director Esther Diller in favor.

Two other motions fell 6-1, with only Trendic in favor. One would have directed the general manager to adjust his proposed budget so the yacht club would show a positive net, and the other would have set employee health insurance rates at a 86/14 percent split for single coverage and 78/22 for family coverage.

A motion to instruct the general manager to adjust the golf operations and maintenance budgets so golf would show a positive net failed to garner a second.

Trendic withdrew a motion to set the bulkhead differential charge at $200.

In two prior years serving on the board, Trendic has voted against overall budget adoption both times. He and former director Tom Herrick voted against the budget last year, and he and Parks opposed the budget in 2017.