About those benefits
Are the insurance benefits Socorro Electric Cooperative Board of Trustees members receiving too much?
And are they rightfully getting the annual benefits they currently enjoy?
Those are questions member-owner Don Steinnerd of Socorro would like to have answered.
Steinnerd addressed the SEC Board of Trustees at the outset of their regular meeting on Tuesday and expressed his concerns how it came about trustees were awarded insurance benefits more than 40 years ago.
Steinnerd prefaced his remarks by saying he was not expressing an opinion on the matter, and that he had respect for all the trustees and their desire to present SEC member-owners. He did say, however, that he thought the resolution passed at the annual meeting in 1967 was “ambiguous.”
“I am here to ask for clarification on the bylaws and the 1967 resolution, and to inquire whether or not the current trustees compensation is in compliance,” he said, reading from a prepared letter he distributed to the board of trustees.
Steinnerd then quoted from Article 5, Section 7 of the bylaws, which addresses compensation and insurance for the trustees. The section fixed “the sum of $15 plus insurance as compensation to be paid to each member of the board of trustees for each day or portion thereof spent on cooperative business.”
“The resolution does not define the types of insurance compensation, however, both the $15 and insurance are stated as ‘the compensation’ to be paid on a ‘per day’ basis,” he said. “This is in conflict with the current ‘annual’ insurance policies.”
Steinnerd wanted to know if records from the 1967 meeting were available for review in order to provide better insight on the types of coverage that the member-owners approved.
“Was the term ‘insurance’ in 1967 intended to include anual health, dental, vision, etc., insurance?’ he asked. “Did the resolution intend for coverage extended to trustees’ family to be paid for by members? Did members in 1967 intend for Medicare-eligible trustees to be provided coverage?”
Steinnerd asked the board to commission an independent study to compare trustee compensation packages with other comparable member-owned cooperatives and make it available to member-owners. He also asked that the SEC attorney provide a response to the board concerning his inquiry as to whether the compensation is in full compliance with the bylaws and the 1967 resolution.
In summary, Steinnerd suggested that existing insurance coverage be left intact for the current trustees until their terms expire.
“Pending clarification and/or voting on a new trustee compensation resolution, all future elected and/or re-elected trustees should be provided with compensation in accordance with the existing bylaws,” he said. “I believe this would be the fairest way to handle current ambiguous insurance compensation issues.”
The trustees made no comment regarding Steinnerd’s concern. However, SEC President Paul Bustamante directed SEC attorney Dennis Francish to research the matter.