BERLIN – Ocean Pines residents will have the chance to hear from this year’s candidates for the homeowners association’s board of directors in a forum next week.
On June 22, the Ocean Pines Association will host a candidate’s forum at 6 p.m. at the community center. The 12 candidates who have filed to run for three available seats on the board are expected to attend. Event organizers encourage residents to come out and meet the candidates.
“The community decides who’s going to be the leadership of the community,” said Bill Wentworth, chairman of the association’s elections committee. “They can’t make an informed decision unless they’re aware of what each candidate stands for.”
Candidates who have filed for this year’s election include Frank Daly, Slobodan Trendic, George Simon, Tom Janasek, Sharona Ezaoui, Doug Parks, Steve Lind, Brett Hill, Ray Unger, Patricia Supik, Jack Collins and Larry Perone.
“This year we’re looking at new horizons with the number of people,” Wentworth said. “It shows there’s a big interest in the governance of Ocean Pines.”
The dozen candidates are vying for three open seats on the association’s seven-member board of directors. The seats currently held by Collins, Tom Terry and Bill Cordwell are up for grabs. While Collins has filed for re-election, Terry has reached his term limit. Cordwell said he chose not to run again.
“I just don’t feel the need to waste any more of my time being around people who, in my opinion, don’t want to get anything done and then want to blame other people about it to cover their rear ends,” Cordwell said in an email. “Hopefully, the community will vote in new faces who want to take the community forward and not the same old ideas of getting rid of the general manager and then getting rid of the next general manager because they say so. It’s like a game to them. Our community is special and can be even better if we stop listening to these same people that have held us back.”
Because of the number of candidates in this year’s election, Wentworth said next week’s candidate’s forum would include fewer questions than in years past. The candidates will have the customary amount of time to share their views in opening and closing statements. Wentworth said he was hoping to have the candidates seated on risers as well so audience visibility would be improved.
The forum is set for 6 p.m. at the Ocean Pines Community Center.
