New co-op general manager welcomed, warned
Socorro Electric Cooperative’s new general manager, Joseph Herrera, was welcomed while he sat in on his first board of trustees meeting on Wednesday — first early in the meeting during the public comment period.
“I want to welcome the new general manager, but I also want to make some comments about what you’re stepping into,” said Herb Myers, a co-op member-owner from Socorro.
Myers’ comments were directed at Herrera’s bosses, the board of trustees — what is now a 10-member panel charged with overseeing the operation of the public, non-profit organization and elected by the co-op’s member-owners. Myers said Herrera should “look out for” such things as abuse in accounting for travel expenses, kickbacks, what he called the “cozy” relationship the board has with its auditors, “lucrative deals” with contractors and playing “politics” in a small town.
“There are a number of red lights you should be careful to watch out for,” he told Herrera.
Myers said the trustees were “selfish” and didn’t act with the best interest of the member-owners in mind.
“The board is operating without an understanding of its mission,” Myers said. “Some have adopted the idea that their mission is to obstruct Mr. Wagner.”
Myers was referring to Charlie Wagner, the District 5 trustee who was a leader in the movement to reform the co-op and constant critic of how the board goes about its business. And later in the meeting Herrera had a front row seat to the squabbling between Wagner and some of the other trustees that is common at board meetings.
Down to Details
Co-op President Paul Bustamante later apologized for neglecting to introduce Herrera at the outset of the meeting. When he did make an introduction prior to Herrera giving his manager’s report, the new manager received a round of applause.
Herrera didn’t get far into the expenditure report before some of the bickering started.
Wagner was questioning a $32,000 payment in January to SGS Engineering, a consulting firm that performs several services for the co-op.
“It doesn’t say what services were provided,” Wagner complained. “If we’re going to be informed by this form, we need a little more information.”
Herrera, who started his new job Jan. 31, offered to look up the payments, but Wagner said it could wait.
“No, let’s do it now and be done with it,” insisted trustee Donald Wolberg, agitated by Wagner’s scrutiny of the report.
While Herrera was looking up the numbers, Wolberg spoke up again.
“It would be nice if Mr. Wagner, who is asking to explain a $32,000 expenditure, that Mr. Wagner would explain how he spent $210,000 of the member’s money,” he said, referring to the approximate amount of expenses Wagner incurred during his first four years on the board.
“If we had a breakdown, that would suffice,” Wagner said, “and we wouldn’t have to go through all this paperwork.”
Bustamante told Wagner he could have asked for the paperwork earlier.
“I have asked in the past for trustees to ask these questions before the meeting. You get the expenditures in advance. They’re in the packet,” Bustamante said.
By then, Herrera was able to itemize the payment. He said the bulk of it was $18,000 for a full-time SGS inspector on-site at the Quemado substation currently under construction and another $10,000 was for materials.
Earning Praise
Herrera, who said in an interview earlier this month that his top priority was to get the co-op’s financial situation under control, reported to the board about some of the financial procedures he was trying to tighten up. He said he was directing his staff to follow a bidding process for purchases, provide receipts for credit card purchases and to record expenditures in detail. He also reported that further progress was being made in collecting delinquent accounts and that job descriptions were being drawn up for each employee.
Toward the end of the manager’s report, Herrera received praise from Richard Lopez, who served as interim general manager for five months and has since gone back to his old job as head of engineering.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with Joseph,” he told the board. “He has good ideas, he’s inquisitive … I believe he’ll do a good job.”
“I think we have an excellent team,” Wolberg said. “One that’s good for the co-op and good for the members.”
In Other Business
• Lopez gave the outage, safety and construction reports. He said the co-op weathered the snowstorm that blew through the area last month, when only a few outages were reported and in each case power was restored quickly.
Lopez said the worst outage occurred as the result of vandalism. An outage that affected some areas from Lemitar to the Sierra County line was the result of someone firing gunshots at a substation owned by Tri-State Generation and Transmission, the company that provides power to the co-op. He said a report had been made to the Sheriff’s Department and that a reward was being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the culprits.
In his safety report, Lopez said there were not any on-the-job injuries to report, but one employee did have what appeared to be a seizure while off the job that required medical attention.
Finally, Lopez said that he met with Tri-State and Tucson Electric Co. officials about connecting with the Quemado substation, which he said is now about 95 percent complete.
• The board passed three resolutions, though Wagner said he’d file protests with the USDA Rural Utilities Service and the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission over one of them.
The resolution in question had to do with the planned refund to members to be paid in the form of patronage capital for overcharges that took place over the past five years. The overcharges were the result of a miscalculation made to rate adjustments beginning in 2006.
Wagner said the co-op’s consultant, accounting firm and possibly even the board of trustees were responsible for the mistake and members shouldn’t have to pay for it. Paying it back through patronage capital was “like paying them back with their own money,” he said, adding that he’d file protests if the resolution was passed.
Wolberg again grew irritated with Wagner and cited the famous quote by Will Rogers that a man should “never miss a good chance to shut up.”
Wolberg said the error was an accident that has happened before with other co-ops. The overcharges were minimal, he said, amounting to $1.20 for every $100 a customer paid and that the co-op had a responsibility to correct the mistake and was in the process of doing that.
“To do this is the rational thing to do,” he said of approving the resolution. “And now I will abide by Will Rogers’ rule and shut up.”
When it came up for a vote, the motion passed 7-1, with Wagner casting the lone no vote.
The other resolutions were met with no resistance. One had to do with loans the co-op takes through the Rural Utilities Service and the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation. The other was to designate Herrera, Bustamante and board secretary Luis Aguilar as RUS certifier and security administrators.
• The board heard a presentation from Trans World Network, a company that has offered to lease property and a tower atop M Mountain from the co-op. Trans World is a high-speed Internet provider looking to expand into central New Mexico.
• The board approved the agenda for the special meeting in District II on March 16. The purpose of the meeting is to consider the recall of Bustamante as trustee. The meeting will be held at Midway Elementary School, registration will take place from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and the meeting will start when registration ends.
• Trustee Leroy Anaya, chairman of the bylaw committee, said the plan for realigning districts will be up for approval at the annual meeting on April 9. Anaya also reported on plans for the annual meeting, which this year will not include door prizes or entertainment.
• The board agreed to select the co-op’s representative and delegate to Tri-State at its next meeting, which is scheduled for March 23.
Contact T.S. Last