Is Esther supporting Lakernick and Farr in this summer's election? Yup, no debate there, either. Do certain current directors support Daly and Hardy over Lakernick and Farr? Hardly surprisingly if they do. Let's not get too exercised about people exercising their rights as property owners to support whomever they please.

Of course, if OPA resources have been used to send out anonymous emails about Esther's legal difficulties, under the ironic banner of Truth and Justice, in the hope that it would tarnish Lakernick's candidacy, that would be a whole different ballgame. There are indications that some forensic investigators are getting close to the source of these anonymous emails. The Ocean Pines Progress will report on that when and if there's anything to report. 

Did Esther ask Lisa Romersa to drop her candidacy in order to help Stu's candidacy? If she did --  Esther denies that she did -- it's hardly the first time something like that has happened in the annals of Ocean Pines. Lisa was back and forth on running, and in the end decided not to, for reasons of her own. Yes, worthy of a follow-up interview. Didn't get to it in our last last edtion, sorry. Unless someone can produce a transcript of conversations the two had on the subject, though, it might come down to the difference between a "hard" ask and a nuanced suggestion or "what if?", but nothing close to strong-arming by Esther. 

My commentary, that Joe so generously published under a headline of his own invention, rebutted his conspiracy theory that the objective of electing Farr and Lakernick is to oust John Viola as GM. Ending alleged board dysfunction may be a target of those hoping to see them elected, which should not be conflated with wanting or trying to oust the GM. He's not the problem. On the contrary, he's a part of what's right about how the OPA is functioning right now.

In my opinion, Frank Daly hasn't been the problem, either. He's shown dexterity in navigating between the two competing factions on the board that on occasion have been in evidence this past year. The cause of some of the flare-ups have been Larry Perrone's conduct as OPA president, which at times have annoyed directors Janasek and Parks. Daly's been his own man in his three years on the board and a good source of information about the goings-on behind the scenes. He jokes about being assigned to Guantano Bay by Colette Horn for alleged breaches of "confidentiality" provisions of the dysfunctional B-08 directors' ethics and conduct policy unanimously repealed by the board last month. It was Daly who worked to get this piece of junk off the books.

Lakernick, Farr and Daly have all responded in the affirmative to a recent Progress inquiry whether they supported an effort to renew Viola's contract next year, while Hardy responded that he didn't have enough information to know if he would or not. Just more evidence rebutting Joe's conspiracy theory about Esther's objective in supporting the candidacies of Lakernick and Farr.