There appears to be a public debate of some sort at the board level regarding who may succeed John Viola as General Manager of the Ocean Pines Association. Of course, Viola has not indicated he is going to leave anytime soon. Hopefully, Viola will remain GM for a few more years.

The two leading candidates to replace Viola appear to be Colby Phillips (Director of Amenities and Logistical Operations) and Steve Phillips (Director of Finance and Operational Logistics). These two titles were created out of whole cloth by a recent board. The titles should not have been created. The board at the time decided it would fill the GM vacancy left by the departure of John Bailey with some sort of a co-equal management duo of Colby and Steve and thus handed out these new titles. Yet another terrible move by an OPA board and one that actually violated the OPA bylaws.

The bylaws state: "In the event the General Manager shall not be available for more than fifteen (15) consecutive working days or in the event the General Manager resigns or is removed from office, the Board of Directors may authorize the President of the Association, any other Director, or any other person to assume the duties of the General Manager on a temporary basis." There is no provision for two people to share the GM position.

A recent article in a local paper contains some comments from OPA board candidate Stuart Lakernick on the issue. Lakernick says Colby Phillips should be appointed GM if Viola leaves, and then "choose among current department heads to replace her as amenities and logistical operations director." Lakernick, however, almost in contradiction, then suggests he would prefer a return to the dual GM management team approach of Colby Phillips and Steve Phillips as co-GMs.

Does anybody even bother reading the bylaws anymore?

Colby Phillips should be a preferred choice in any succession plan for Viola's replacement. At the same time eliminate the useless titles of Director of Amenities and Logistical Operations and Director of Finance and Operational Logistics. This would save labor costs of over $80,000 a year.

Colby Phillips deserves the opportunity to be General Manager of OPA with at least a two-year contract for the same money as the prior GM. However, Colette Horn (and possibly others), based on reporting in a local paper, apparently opposes Colby's hiring as GM because she does not have a college degree. This at a time when even the White House is pushing the idea that people should be hired for positions based on their background and experience and not their college degree.

One can only speculate if any opposition to Colby Philips would exist if she was a man with the same background and experience.