SEC voting to be show of hands
There will be no ballots and no voting machines for voting at this year’s Socorro Electric Cooperative annual meeting of member-owners on Saturday, April 17.
Member-owners will be voting on a dozen proposed changes to the bylaws at the meeting to be held at Finley Gym in Socorro. All but one of the resolutions were passed at meetings in districts 3 and 5 last October. The board of trustees last month offered competing options to those approved by the member-owners.
Instead of voting during the two-hour registration period, as has been the practice in recent years, the resolutions will be decided during the business session that follows.
“This one is going to be different, said SEC President Paul Bustamante said in an April 8 phone interview. “(The resolutions) will be explained and then we’ll have voting on it by a raise of hands.”
Bustamante said the logistics haven’t been completely worked out. Those matters will be worked out when the annual meeting committee meets on Tuesday, April 13, and the board has its regular meeting on Wednesday.
“I think we have a fair idea about how we’ll keep the voting clear and explain the resolutions well enough and will insure transparency,” he said. “The resolutions will be brought up, like they were at the informational meeting, and then voted on.”
Bustamante said members will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the proposals before they are voted on. He noted that people will be allowed to speak more than twice, which was a restriction at the March 27 informational meeting.
In the past, member-owners will be issued a wrist band when they register. In order to assure an accurate count, judges will be assigned the task of counting raised hands.
Bustamante said that it’s likely someone will have to be appointed to administer the judging. He was reluctant to use co-op employees as judges so they are not subject to censure.
In the event of a very close vote on a given resolution, Bustamante said it may be necessary to separate into groups people voting for the same option.
The decision to discard machines and ballots came down to cost and at the suggestion of trustee Charlie Wagner, Bustamante said.
Wagner, who won reelection in District 5 (Magdalena to the Arizona border) last October, has pushed for co-op reform and most of the resolutions to be considered on April 17 were proposed by member-owners in his district.
Many of the resolutions call for radical change in how the co-op is managed, including reducing the number of trustees from 11 to five, redistricting for more equitable representation, assurances for transparency by conducting open board meetings and allowing for inspection of SEC records, books and audits provided there is proper purpose and the Privacy Act is not violated.
Registration for the April 17 annual meeting takes place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The meeting is set to be called to order at 7 p.m.
Contact T.S. Last