Saturday, April 26, 2008

Trustee airs beef about co-op

Petition asks that the board be reduced in number

Argen Duncan El Defensor Chieftain Reporter,aduncan@dchieftain.com

The Socorro County Com-mission has heard complaints about unequal representation on the Socorro Electric Cooperative Inc. board, but the commission said passing a resolution regarding another governing body's business was inappropriate.

A group of cooperative members has circulated a petition asking for the board to be reduced to seven trustees with 1,306 to 1,464 constituents each. The issue isn't on the agenda for the cooperative annual membership meeting today (Saturday).

At the April 22 commission meeting in the County Annex, co-op trustee Charles Wagner, who represents Magdalena and part of Catron County, wanted the commission to take action to encourage or compel the SEC board to follow its bylaws, according to his agenda request form.

Commission Chairman Jay Santillanes said he wasn't sure the conversation should happen at the commission meeting and the co-op board was elected.

"So I'm a little uneasy, I guess, about where we're headed with this," he said.

The commissioners are co-op members, and their constituents have their own voice, he continued.

Wagner said he wasn't the official spokesman of his board, and he had different views than other trustees.

Under federal law, Wagner said, electric cooperatives must not make a profit but distribute any earnings above the cost of providing electricity back to members in proportion to the amount they paid for power. Also, a bylaw requires equitable representation.

"And that's the point of my departure from my fellow trustees," Wagner said.

Socorro's cooperative hasn't had equal representation for some time, although it's not clear how long, he said.

According to handouts from Wagner, District 3, which encompasses the City of Socorro, has six trustees on the board, each representing 664 people. District 1, in the far northern part of Socorro County, has one trustee for 1,464 members.

The Polvadera and Lemitar area, District 2, has one trustee who represents 687 people. The San Antonio area, District 4, has one trustee and 618 members, while the Magdalena area and Catron County have two trustees with 1,316 constituents each, according to Wagner's information.

These numbers mean the City of Socorro has more than half of the representatives on the co-op board but 42.5 percent of the members.

At one point, Commissioner Phillip Anaya called a point of order and said the commission represents the county.

"I don't believe things like this should be brought up before this commission," he said.

Anaya said the commission couldn't do anything about the other entity's business. He also said the trustees' constituents voted them into office and could vote them out of office.

"I've been a member of the electric co-op for 40 years now, and I've had nothing but praise for the people who represent us," Anaya said.

Santillanes said he didn't know and shouldn't know enough to make a recommendation to the cooperative's board. He extended latitude to Wagner to allow him to get out his word.

Commissioner Rosie Tripp asked Wagner why he came to the commission.

Wagner said the group was responsible for county facilities that used electricity and commissioners were members.

Wagner also felt he needed to let them know the situation had changed, with the 24-member Socorro Electric Cooperative Members for Reform committee circulating a petition to reduce the number of trustees.

Tripp said the committee was a better way to go, rather than county commissioners passing a resolution that might adversely affect their constituents.

Commission Vice Chairman Stanley Herrera said he thought the commission had heard enough.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out whose problem it is," he said.

The issue is the electric cooperative's difficulty, and they must fix it, Herrera said.

Electric co-op District 3 trustee Leroy Anaya said the board had been over the bylaws.

"He keeps doing this on his own," Anaya said of Wagner.

Tripp said she thought Wagner was doing his job and cooperative members should read the bylaws.

District 3 co-op trustee Juan Gonzales said board members never broke bylaws although changes had occurred.

"I apologize to the commission for this situation, because I was trying to bring Mr. Wagner into the board and he was successful," he said.

Gonzales said the cooperative had equal representation because all trustees represented every district. Bylaws could be changed at meetings, but people can't bring issues in at the last minute, he said.

District 2 trustee Paul Bustamante said the newspaper article on the cooperatives was one-sided and apologized for the situation.

"I was born and raised in this area, and I'm not going to deface this community or take anything that's not ours," he said.

Registration for the cooperative's annual membership meeting is set for noon to 2 p.m., and the business meeting begins immediately afterward.

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