Rick Farr, a candidate for the Ocean Pines Board of Directors has been accused of not being a property owner as of Jan 1, 2021 by an anonymous tip. The board after receiving this anonymous tip gave Rick Farr and his attorney only 2 days to provide proof of ownership. The OPA attorney sent Mr. Farr's attorney a list of clarifying questions at 7:29 pm Friday night 7/30/21. The next day, without waiting for further clarification or  a phone call to discuss the matter, OPA Board Secretary, Camila Rogers put out a notice that Rick Farr was disqualified from the election. Mr. Farr's attorney sent the answers to the clarifying questions and his legal opinion as to Mr. Farr's legal status as an Ocean Pines property owner on 8/2/21.  No one from the OPA Board of Directors contacted Farr's attorney or even acknowledged receipt of the clarification, without even talking to Rick or his attorney, OPA Director and Board Secretary issued the following formal statement:

“In my role as OPA Secretary, based on all available documents, I have determined that Richard Farr did not meet the requirement for qualification to be a candidate for election to the Board of Directors of Ocean Pines. This means, Mr. Farr is ineligible for election to the OPA the Board of Directors.

“The 2021 Board election and Annual Meeting will proceed as scheduled, but the Election Committee will be instructed that any vote for Mr. Farr will be invalided, and the Election Committee is to count the remaining votes consistent with OPA’s Bylaws and Resolutions. If a Member has submitted or submits a ballot voting for Mr. Farr and another candidate, the Member’s vote for Mr. Farr will be invalidated, but the vote for the other candidate will remain valid.

Mr. Farr's attorney stands by the fact that Mr. Farr is and was a legal owner prior to January 1, 2021.

Therefore, since the board is not acting in good faith to resolve this issue fairly and this action effectively disenfranchises one vote of every OPA voter who cast ballot for Mr. Farr and effects all of us who voted, we, the undersigned demand an immediate suspension of the elections, prior to counting of any ballots to allow time for this matter to be legally revised.

This is about being fair and running ethical elections in our town.