Socorro Electric Cooperative's Board of Trustees will consider dropping the co-op's lawsuit against its member-owners when it meets today (Wednesday) for its regular meeting.

The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., in the co-op's boardroom, 310 Abeyta St.

Paul Bustamante, the board president, said members of the board have expressed interest in taking a different avenue in an attempt to resolve the dispute with member-owners.

"At this point, the board is considering dropping (the lawsuit) and going into mediation," Bustamante said in a July 26 phone interview. "That's an option that was thought of afterwards. We don't want any cost to the members."

Last month, the co-op filed a request for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief from three new bylaws — all of which address transparency of governance — passed by member-owners at the annual meeting in April. Named as defendants are "all unnamed member-owners of the Socorro Electric Cooperative," which includes more than 10,000 individuals, businesses, and public and private entities that purchase electricity from the non-profit corporation.

Bustamante said the majority of the trustees may not have fully understood what would come from their action when they unanimously voted to contest the bylaws at their May 26 board meeting.

"I think everyone thought a judge was going to give a ruling; they didn't think there would be defendants," he said.

An alternative to a lawsuit, Bustamante said, would be mediation.

"Someone, a judge or someone, would have to be chosen — someone that's neutral," he said. "That was an option that was thought of after the fact. That should have been looked at first."

Complicating the matter is the fact that some member-owners have already answered the complaint (see story, Page 7). Bustamante said it was his understanding that those parties would have to agree to the terms before the co-op could drop the lawsuit.

Bustamante then referred El Defensor Chieftain to the co-op attorney, Dennis Francish, for clarification.

Francish declined to speak with a Chieftain reporter, saying the newspaper's attorney has already filed an entry of appearance — a formality notifying the court that they are answering the complaint.

El Defensor Chieftain was named as a defendant in the lawsuit, individually and as a member of the co-op.

"Based on the way the rules are structured, at this point I can't speak to you except through your attorney," Francish said.

Francish has said at past board meetings, and it is stated in the complaint, that the board can't effectively conduct business with co-op members or the press in attendance.

Bustamante said the board filed the lawsuit so they "would have something to fall back on."

"I think the board got to the point they couldn't conduct business; they thought they could get a ruling that they could conduct business without interruption," he said. "That's all the board wants. The way it's been going, the board is afraid to even have any meetings."

The last meeting of the board, on June 23, was cancelled soon after it started when more than a dozen member-owners refused to leave when the board moved to go into executive session.

One of the bylaws the co-op is contesting requires the board to follow the guidelines of the Open Meetings Act. The OMA states executive session can only be called for one of several specific reasons, and none were provided when the board took the vote.

Bustamante acknowledged that there is a trend toward electric cooperatives moving toward transparency all across the country. He said Socorro Electric has already taken some steps to satisfy the wishes of member-owners since April's annual meeting. Board meetings are being advertised in the newspaper and a portion of each meeting has been set aside for public comment, he noted.

Bustamante said he thought mediation could help resolve the conflicts the board is having with member-owners.

"I think the majority of board, right now, wants to conduct business and go forward," he said. "They don't want the negative publicity or for members to incur costs or any grief."

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