OCEAN PINES – Residents came in droves to Mumford’s Landing this week to welcome the Ocean Pines Association’s new general manager.
At a meet and greet event held Monday evening, residents were introduced to John Bailey, the new general manager, and were given the opportunity to hear his thoughts on the community’s future.
“We are not here to just get by,” he told the crowd. “We are here to thrive. That’s what I hope we can do together.”
Bailey, who began his job on Monday, thanked community members who attended the event and expressed his excitement for their interest.
“This shows a lot, that you are engaged in the community, that you want to be engaged in the success of the community,” he said. “We have great opportunities in virtually every capacity here.”
In a separate interview, Bailey said his background with municipal work and experience with large-scale homeowners associations have prepared him for the position as Ocean Pines’ new general manager.
Bailey comes to Ocean Pines with more than 15 years of experience as a manager. Bailey said he previously served as general manager of two large-scale homeowners associations, Lake of the Woods, near Fredericksburg, Va., and Brandermill community association, outside of Richmond, Va.
In addition, Bailey said he also worked as a golf professional, town manager, county administrator and as an executive director for Keep Virginia Beautiful, an organization with a mission to improve the natural and scenic environment.
Bailey said his experience in managing golf courses, roads, public works departments, pools and other amenities translates to his role as the new general manager.
“All of those things that make Ocean Pines what it is, I’ve done a lot of that stuff,” he said. “I’m not an expert or anything, but I know a lot.”
Bailey said he is no stranger to the area. His wife’s sister lives in Ocean Pines and he and his family have vacationed in the community.
Bailey acknowledged that he wanted to be a general manager for Ocean Pines for many years, but waited for the right opportunity.
“I want that job at some point and it just so happens that the timing worked out and I applied,” he said. “The process was really interesting. I’m glad I ended up at the top of the pile, so to speak, and we are really excited to be here.”
Though he explained it’s too early to tell just how he plans to address residents’ concerns, particularly those regarding poor financial performance of the community’s amenities, Bailey said he was excited to hear from attendees.
“Turnout tonight has been excellent and it’s encouraging that people are wanting to be engaged and that’s all extremely helpful,” he said. “I’m an open door, both for the staff as well as for the residents and the board. We are going to work on communications. We are going to work on strategic planning.”
Bailey told residents on Monday of his dedication to the job.
“I’ll be blunt,” he said. “Becoming the general manager of Ocean Pines has been on my list. I wanted this job. I told the board that. Something I did say to a few today was … I intend to be here 15 years … Let’s be honest, in this line of work that’s a long time. I recognize that, but that’s what we are shooting for.”
Bailey will fill the general manager position that has been vacant since Bob Thompson was fired last August.
Thompson, who served as general manager for six years, was terminated weeks after three new members were elected to the board.
According to the Ocean Pines Association, Bailey has moved to the area with his wife Meredith and his two children, Chase, 21, and Augusta, 15.
“We were extremely excited to get in here and get going,” Bailey said.
