SEC meeting goes on without quorum
The informational meeting conducted to educate Socorro Electric Cooperative member-owners about the resolutions that will appear on the ballot for the Saturday, April 17, annual meeting was met with mixed reviews.
Some people felt the meeting was beneficial and provided good information about whether change is needed on such issues as realigning districts, voting methods, reducing the number of trustees serving on the board of trustees and limiting their expenses.
“It’s a good first step,” said one woman randomly selected as she exited Finley Gym.
Another woman, Thelma Slaton, of Socorro, said she was glad she came.
“It was longer than I hoped, but I think it was pretty good,” she said. “I was glad for the handout. That helped to see what it is we’re voting on.”
But others felt they could have found a better way to spend their Saturday afternoon.
“It was a waste of time,” said a member-owner who declined to give a name.
“It was a lot of propaganda,” said another. “We came here for an informational meeting and not a cheerleading session for the co-op.”
Herb Meyers, of Socorro, agreed and wasn’t satisfied with the responses given to questions member-owners were required to submit in writing.
“I was disappointed with the perfunctory answers they gave and the dismissive attitude,” he said.
Seventy-one member-owners registered for the meeting. Although it would take 294 members to achieve a quorum, the business session addressing the resolutions went on as planned.
The meeting was for informational purposes only and no voting was to take place.
SEC President Paul Bustamante turned the business session of the meeting over to Donald Wolberg, a newly elected trustee who has made it his mission to mend what has sometimes been a contemptuous relationship between the SEC board and the member-owners.
“We’re trying to encourage openness and transparency and give you the information for you to make conclusions and make an informed decision,” he said.
Wolberg, who headed the informational meeting committee and also sits on the bylaw committee, first shared some of the information he’s learned since joining the board less than three months ago.
Some of it came from a National Rural Electric Cooperative Association survey. Wolberg noted:
• Eight percent of cooperatives in the country have term limits for board members.
• Thirty-five percent of co-op boards have fewer than nine members, and nine is the most common size.
• Thirty-seven percent of co-ops allow voting by mail, while 12 percent offer absentee voting and 4 percent conduct electronic voting.
• Average compensation for a board member is a little more than $11,000.
• About 40 percent of board members receive health benefits.
Wolberg said in some cases, he was surprised by what he learned from the data.
“We come out in between — in about the right place for a co-op our size,” he said.
Wolberg then went over each resolution and offered explanations for why the board chose to introduce alternatives to those passed by members at district meetings last fall. He said some of the member-sponsored resolutions were problematic.
For instance, one resolution calls for elections to be conducted by mail.
“You can’t vote by mail at the district level — it’s against state law,” he said.
Wolberg said a resolution that calls for the board to voluntarily agree to abide by the Open Meetings Act and Inspection of Public Records Act would also be illegal.
“It’s a matter of state law. We don’t come under the Open Meetings Act,” he said. “We can talk about the spirit of the law, but the language must be precise in order to be included in the bylaws.”
About 20 minutes of the two-hour meeting addressed the questions members asked.
Wolberg said the board countered the member-sponsored resolution to reduce the number of trustees to five with alternatives of seven, nine and 11 to give people a choice.
“You have options A, B, C and D. You pick one,” he said. “It’s up to you to determine if five is enough to get the job done. There are 10,000 votes our there. Let’s get 10,000 people in here to vote.”
There were several questions Wolberg couldn’t answer, including how much the SEC would save by reducing the number of trustees to seven, how much has been spent on district elections in recent years and the cost of the informational meeting.
Although some questioned the transparency of the SEC board, Wolberg disagreed.
“So far as I know, this will be the most transparent election any co-op has ever undertaken,” he said, and added the resolutions cover a broad range of topics. “We’re trying to make it as transparent and as democratic as possible.”
The meeting became volatile at times.
Phillip Anaya, a Socorro County commissioner, yelled from the back of the gym at Wolberg just prior to the question and answer period.
When Wolberg said he was only addressing the written questions, Anaya persisted.
“Since there’s no quorum, I’d think it’s open for questions,” he shouted. “If there’s no quorum, how can you continue?”
Wolberg contended with a few catcalls, as well.
“You’re standing there preaching to us,” complained Charlene West, who has been barred from board of trustees meetings for disruptive behavior.
When trustee Charlie Wagner, who is often at odds with his fellow trustees, called for a point of order from the floor, Wolberg would not let him speak.
“I don’t like sloganeers,” said Wolberg, who also suggested that Wagner should write a check to reimburse the SEC for the $190,000 in compensation he’s received the last four years.
A spreadsheet of board expenses distributed outside the gym by members of a co-op reform group, including Wagner’s wife Charlene, shows Wagner’s 2009 expenses to be $54,217.99 — fourth highest among the 11 trustees behind Manny Marquez ($62,011.04), Leroy Anaya ($57,080.07) and Milton Ulibarri ($54,235.74).
In all, the board’s expenses totaled more than $482,000, according to the spreadsheet. The totals include travel expenses and per diems, registration fees and insurance coverage.
Prior to the business session, Richard Lopez, the SEC’s engineer and operations manager, gave a presentation on the history of the Socorro Electric Cooperative and his recent trip to Haiti to help restore power to the earthquake ravaged country. SEC employees were also introduced. Robert “Mac” MacLennan of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Inc. was the guest speaker.
Contact T.S. Last