I wrote a commentary about an association member who contacted the Ocean Pines Board of Directors seeking information/assistance about public office campaign signs that were on lots in his area of Ocean Pines years after the presidential election.

You are a member of the Ocean Pines Board of Directors.

You responded to the association member in your official capacity as a member of the Board of Directors.

You said you agreed with a response from another board member that OPA had no authority in the matter. However, you went beyond that, quoting the Maryland HOA Act as the source of your reasoning.

The only problem is, the Maryland HOA Act section 11B-111.2 "Candidate or proposition sign" section of the Act does not say OPA cannot do anything about public office campaign signs, as you and another board member told the inquiring association member.

First, note that OPA Board elections are not for "public office" and board candidate signs are not the issue. However, 11B-111.2 specifically states that an HOA can indeed regulate the time period during which "public office" campaign signs can be on a property, the exact issue the association member wrote to the Board of Directors about.

The Maryland HOA Act specifically allows OPA to limit the placement of public office campaign signs to no less than 30 days before the primary or general election, and no less than 7 days after the primary or general election.

You then came to the forum, posting a response to my commentary, and injected some extraneous comment about me asking you a medical question. Lest anyone think I came to you for medical advice, what transpired was you and I had a chance encounter on the sidewalk outside Walgreens. Our conversation lasted all of 30 seconds. It had nothing to do with OPA business.

In the broadest aspect, if there is anything sad or pathetic about all this, it is how a dysfunctional Board of Directors deals with legitimate inquiries from association members.