Is Ocean Pines a great place to live or what? Incredible amenities; the Atlantic Ocean in our back yard; fireworks on the Fourth; a wonderful Memorial to our country's Veterans; an overall population of predominately God-fearing, rather conservative individuals who love the United States of America.

Those with an interest in the politics of our HOA, the Ocean Pines Association, are doubly blessed. Their most valuable amenity is the OPA Board of Directors - and it is a FREE amenity!

Yearly elections for the Board of Directors are the icing on the political cake. This year the icing is thick.

Tom Stauss’ recent ramblings in the Progress bring it all into focus, albeit to some extent a replication of stuff already posted to Facebook. A monthly publication tends to have mostly old news compared to a weekly or daily paper and its online updates.

Stauss does, however, go into great depth. He is an excellent writer, covering the OPA political landscape for around 40 years. Some would say “in-depth” coverage is a gross understatement.

What Stauss possesses beyond any news reporter or commentator, including this most extremely humble of all correspondents, is the uncanny ability over those 40 years to convince members of the Board of Directors to provide him with leaks of confidential OPA information. Board presidents, especially, line up, year after year, ready to bare their souls, as if in a confessional booth.

Stauss’ last edition is a classic example. The man’s near-mystical control of board presidents and members is breathtaking.

We learn, according to Stauss’ leak hotline to the board, that there is "no legal obligation" for the board to hold a referendum to spend $3 million on a new firehouse, contrary, Stauss says, to "assertions" on OceanPinesForum.com. Stauss then says his "source" told him that OPA attorney Bruce Bright gave that legal advice to the Board of Directors. Will Bright confirm what Stauss' source claims Bright said? 

The leak is rather convenient in that Amy Peck and Sherrie Clifford, candidates in the current board election, claim fellow candidate and current board president Rick Farr is the reason for the delay in any deal with the OPVFD. Stauss reports Farr calls those two women liars. Stauss writes that Peck and Clifford call Farr a liar. Kinda like a report on the Biden/Trump debate. Are "cease and desist" letters again under consideration?

Holy fantastical leak, Batman! Let’s blame Steve Jacobs.

Someone should send a telegram to Slobodan Trendic. Trendic? You don’t remember Trendic? He is the former board member who organized a petition drive a few years ago to force a referendum for a bylaws change to limit board spending to $1 million without a referendum.

The irony here is the board rejected Trendic’s petition. Trendic took OPA to court and won. Bruce Bright was Trendic’s attorney! This is the stuff of OPA political legends.

Maybe the next board move is approving a $2 million dedicated board room without a referendum. New Beach Club? Bowling alleys? Ice skating rink? Indoor skateboard park? Without that pesky $1 million spending limitation association members voted to impose on the Board of Directors, everything is suddenly possible. Stauss sees the logic in it. 

The secret sauce Stauss claims attorney Bright concocted to reveal this miraculous method of avoiding a referendum on projects over $1 million? Classic and simplistic stuff. The board just votes to borrow any required millions for any new structure, perhaps a mini Eiffel Tower at the Yacht Club, complete with large, rotating neon signs displaying the names of board members who association members should thank for spending their millions. Oh, and those names would certainly include the board parliamentarian.

There is no way to put a price on the entertainment value of board politics. Fortunately, association members are not required to claim it as income.

I love this place we call Ocean Pines! I love this country.

Happy Independence Day. God bless America. God save John Viola.