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R C Edition OCEAN PINES • WEST OCEAN CITY • BERLIN MD
August 18, 2025
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER
Volume 2, Issue 16
Ocean Pines board certifies election results, elects officers and confirms fire station referendum By Sherrie Clifford ROC Edition Publisher The Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors held a special meeting Aug. 12 to certify the results of the 2025 election and elect officers for the coming year. The session confirmed three incumbents to new three-year terms, validated a referendum to fund a new fire station and set the organizational structure of the board for the next 12 months. This year’s board election drew four candidates for three available seats. Incumbents Monica Rakowski, Steve Jacobs and Stuart Lackernick all won reelection. Rakowski
See RESULTS page 5
MONICA RAKOWSKI
STEVE JACOBS
STUART LAKERNICK
Ocean Pines Forum, founded by Joe Reynolds, to close after more than 20 years By Sherrie Clifford ROC Edition Publisher One of the longest-running sources for local discussion and documentation in Ocean Pines will soon close. According to an announcement from founder and administrator Joe Reynolds, much of the information in this article is based on details he provided about the site’s history and its planned closure. Reynolds said Ocean Pines Forum will end new postings after more than 20 years of continuous operation. “For over twenty years, OceanPinesForum.com brought news, discussion and commentary related to issues in and around Ocean Pines to members of the Ocean Pines Association,” he said. “For better or worse, all things come to an end.” The forum will remain online for an undetermined period as a readonly archive containing more than 300,000 messages along with over 1,000 images, videos and articles— a collection that reflects two decades of local history, debate
and community interaction. OceanPinesForum.com opened April 27, 2004, and from the start served as both a discussion board for residents and a platform for Reynolds to publish original coverage of OPA business. In August 2004, just months after its launch, the forum produced the first publicly available video of an OPA Annual Meeting. Those early recordings were followed by videos of all OPA board meetings, creating an accessible record for property owners unable to attend in person. The forum launched “Focus on the Pines,” an online interview program hosted by Jack Barnes, and in 2006, it was named Outstanding Business of the Year by the Ocean Pines Area Chamber of Commerce. In 2009, it created Citizens for Ocean Pines Equity, which successfully secured 10% of slots revenue for the OPA, funding that continues to generate more than $500,000 annually for the association. Over time, the forum became a digital gathering place for residents to debate budgets, weigh in on
ROC Edition • Submitted
After more than 20 years of dedicated service, the Ocean Pines Forum will be retired by its owner Joe Reynolds.
capital projects and discuss association rules. The exchanges were often spirited and sometimes contentious, but many valued the space as one of the few venues where a range of views could be expressed outside official OPA channels. Reynolds’ own investigative reporting and commentary added another dimension to the site,
offering documents, analysis and opinion pieces that provided more context than meeting minutes alone. In his closing statement, he thanked those who participated or simply read along over the years, saying their involvement kept the site alive for more than two decades. The shutdown of the forum
See FORUM page 2