OCEAN PINES – The Ocean Pines Association’s elections committee announced the winners in this year’s board of directors election immediately after a ballot count Friday.
After a not-quite two-hour ballot counting process, Steve Habeger, chairman of the elections committee, announced the four winners in this summer’s election. Candidates Steve Tuttle, Frank Daly, Ted Moroney and Esther Diller were the top four vote-getters. Election results will be validated at Saturday’s annual meeting.
“We’d like to thank all of the candidates who have volunteered to serve our association,” Habeger said.
He said that roughly 7,600 ballots were sent out and 3,105 were returned. Election results showed that Tuttle received the most votes, earning 2,322. Daly received 2,048 votes while Moroney, the only incumbent, received 1,809 votes. Diller received 1,549 votes. Candidate Paula Gray received 1,526 votes while Arie Klapholz received 833 votes and Gregory Turner received 771 votes.
Tuttle, the only candidate who attended this year’s ballot count, said he was pleased with the results.
“I feel it’s a great challenge that I’m facing,” he said. “It’s a steep learning curve but I’m committed to putting the time and the effort in.
Tuttle said he knocked on a lot of doors during the campaign process and spent time listening to the concerns of residents throughout the process. He said hot topics among Pines members included annual assessment rates and the recent removal of close to 300 Canada geese from the community.
“The board did the right thing,” he said. “They were between a rock and a hard place.”
