Letters to the Editor
Come out and vote
Editor:
The old guard on the SEC Board of Trustees is up to another loathsome strategy to tilt the vote. Not legality, fairness, nor ethics have any bearing on their manipulation of the upcoming votes set up for Saturday, April 17.
Their desired ends justify any and all means they can bring to bear. Someone very wise once said, “Follow the money,” to solve a dubious activity, and there’s no doubt what motivates these so-called “trustees.”
Their requirement in the election this coming Saturday is that members vote by a public show of hands. They will surely be watching closely to see how each member votes. Intimidation of voters who are indebted in any way to board trustees will be quietly, but surely, achieved.
Will the Board be filming the proceedings? Will they be counting who voted “right” and who didn’t? There will be no protection of the secret ballot afforded anyone who’d like to see a change, but is beholden. This is not even “thinly veiled.” It is overt and, I’m sure, legal per counsel’s advice.
So, let’s have a massive turnout of members who aren’t shills for the long-standing SEC board expense-account junkies. Come and show your hand, your vote, and your desire to bring financial improvement to the Socorro Electric Co-op.
Don’t be intimidated. Don’t let them wear you down with their juvenile delaying tactics, their Made in China novelties, and door prizes. Register and vote. Vote for cleaning house and an objective examination of the co-op’s spending.
We’ll find out there are savings and credits for members. Lower electric bills would be nice, too.
The only way to “Vote the Rascals Out” is to outlast them. They may have the money, but we do the voting. A ratio of 1 trustee for every 3.5 co-op employees is a bit outrageous. Some of those employees might even be eligible for a raise if we weren’t paying out all those fat expense checks.
Be there. Saturday night, from 5 p.m. on. Register and register your vote. It’ll be a memorable Saturday night. We can dance in the streets afterward.
It won’t be like the Trustees spending our money in Las Vegas, Orlando, or San Diego, but we can celebrate with a clear conscience.
Herbert Myers
Socorro
About those meter readings
Editor:
On the day before Easter, I received an extra special reason to celebrate — my utility bill from the City of Socorro. Am I celebrating that the gas meter reading of units used is an astounding 108, when it was only 45 last month, and 33 the month before that? No, that would be ridiculous. What I am celebrating is the fact that someone finally read my meter.
I have known for years that most months my meter is not read but “guestimated.” I know this because the meter readings from month to month follow no rhyme or reason and, occasionally, truth-in-meter-reading is actually reflected on my bill when (under units used) there is nothing at all. Then, every few months, I will get a bill just like this one which shows an unbelievable amount of units used for one month, unless I had a major gas leak of some kind.
I am also celebrating the fact that my meter was actually read before the amount due reached astronomic proportions. At least this is a bill I can pay. It’s twice what it was last month, but it’s still doable. I do, however, have some heartburn with the fact that I received the bill on Saturday, April 3, and it’s due Sunday, April 11.
The truly aggravating part is, according to my calculations, the rate per unit is steadily and sharply increasing. So, what happens when I get billed in April for gas that I actually used in December, January, or February? I end up paying substantially more for that gas.
I do not understand why the City of Socorro can’t seem to get its act together on something as simple as reading gas meters. There is never an explanation when I call the City of Socorro, and complaints fall on mostly deaf ears.
Occasionally, I will get an apologetic-sounding employee. But the message conveyed is terse and always the same. There’s nothing we can do. You owe it. Pay up. Or else.
Maybe this is the way things have always been done around here — but it is unacceptable, especially coming from a public entity, which is supposed to work for and be accountable to us.
Brenda Ford
Socorro
Confusion still part of equation
Editor:
We all know that SEC deprived us of having a member meeting in 2009 by arbitrarily changing the number of people in attendance. The same for previous years: no quorum.
But last year, there WAS a quorum until they changed the figure. We remember there were 322 registered members that suddenly became 266 when the meeting looked like the board wasn’t going to be in control.
This year they are also being quite creative. They have added a huge number of THEIR proposals to the ballot and to further confuse the issue, there won’t be a ballot!
So then, how do you count votes? The same way as last year? Magic numbers? Where are the people we elected to stand up for us? I know they are a minority but apparently they won’t speak up for the membership that elected them. What happened?
Go to the Saturday, April 17, meeting and cry. Or maybe cry out for fairness and honesty!
Oh, I forgot … there will be a security force there to throw us out if we’re “rowdy” — and we get to pay for that, too! Plus the usual party, entertainment and prizes!
What has changed?
Answer: nothing.
Barbara Moore
Magdalena