Commentary by Joe Reynolds

Henry "Henny" Youngman (1906 – 1998) was a British-born American comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners", short, simple jokes usually delivered rapid-fire.

One of my favorites was his quick story about the man who went to the doctor. The doctor gave him six months to live. When the man couldn't pay the bill, the doctor gave him another six months.

How about when Henny’s wife suggested they go on vacation somewhere she had never been. Henny suggested the kitchen.

Former General Manager Tom Olson came to the OPA Board of Directors and announced the smallest operational loss in the history of the Yacht Club, about $10,000. The board fired Olson.

General Manager Bob Thompson recently came to the board and announced the projected operational loss at the Yacht Club this year would be $205,000. The board gave Thompson another year.

Looking at the Yacht Club management team when the loss was $10,000, OPA had Tom Olson and Joe Reinhart; the management team this year, with a projected loss of $205,000, was Bob Thompson and Joe Reinhart. What's changed?

Reinhart was fired near or at the end of the season due to mounting losses, and what was called a failure to fully embrace Thompson's management plan.

After firing Reinhart, Thompson came to the board and explained that sales were up but he needed to get a handle on costs, essentially blaming Reinhart. That was many months ago. It isn't working.

Numbers for January 2012, with the facility open only three days a week, suggest costs are far from under control. The Yacht Club operational loss in January was $40,000. Interestingly, at the last board meeting Ray Unger went to great lengths to say how crowded the Yacht Club has been and how everyone is having a great time. That may be so, but losing $40,000 in one month during a period when the facility is open only three days a week and a major focus of the General Manager is reducing costs, is rather sobering.

Now Thompson recommends a new $2.5 million Yacht Club and there still is no viable business plan for the facility. The $2.5 million doesn't include demolition of the old building, all the associated new decking and landscaping, first floor enclosure, furniture, and who knows what other costs. The completed, total, open-for-business cost for the new building is most likely to hit $3.5 million or more, assuming the board is honest with association members when the referendum goes out.

In other financial news, the board recently approved spending $1 million on new golf greens, only to hear at Wednesday's meeting of a projected loss on the golf operation for the current year - a whopping $284,000.

In the just-passed budget, the board also approved borrowing $450,000 for some drainage work on two golf fairways . This caused Dave Stevens to vote "no" during the board's budget approval vote. Former director Marty Clarke wonders how "stupid" the board can be to borrow money at 5% or more when OPA has, according to Clarke, about $6.5 million in the bank earning perhaps 1.5%.

You gotta love this place, for the entertainment value, if nothing else.

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