10.27.09

PEC Directors Continue the Assault on Member Rights

Posted in Central Texas, Commentary at 9:08 am by PECmember

(This is the second post by PECmember on the happenings at the Pedernales Electric Cooperative.)

A number of concerned members showed up at the Pedernales Electric Cooperative’s  October 19, 2009 Board Meeting to address the Board and speak to their support of Single Member District Voting and Term Limits. Multiple members also staged a peaceful display of public support for these same issues outside the PEC headquarters and reportedly turned in approximately 100 member signatures on a petition.

After the Board’s failure to support the timely resolution of these issues last month, the motion was renewed with a proposal that Single Member District Voting and Term Limits for Directors be returned from the slow-moving Governance Committee with a report and recommendation for the November 16, 2009 Board meeting.

Board Members Ignore Past Promises

After a presentation was made to the Board by Directors R.B. Felps and James Williams outlining the two-plus-year history of member demands and cooperative research on Single Member District voting and Term Limits for Directors, the Chairman of the Governance Committee, District 7 Representative Patrick Cox merely uttered “I motion that this be placed in the Governance Committee to follow the same timeline as bylaws reforms.” (Meeting videos can be viewed at http://pec.coop/CorpProfile/BoardVideos.aspx) The Bylaws reforms Director Cox refers to are currently on his slow track plan for Board re-presentation sometime in the summer of 2010…just in time to not be applicable for the 2010 Board elections. Additionally, Director Cox once again chose not to explain his failure in the past 10 months to address this issue he previously publicly supported and promised to act on in Board documentation.

Board Member Confuses Fiction with Fact In Board Debate

While Director Cox remained mute on his reasons for failing to act on these important member issues in a timely manner, some Board members did attempt to explain their new-found lack of support. District 1 Director Cristi Clement stated she didn’t like to do single bylaws changes because of what she her claimed were previous violations stemming from that method. When questioned as to what specifically she was referring to, she cited the decision of the Board earlier this year to establish a line of succession in case of the loss of the Board President. “There were changes made to the bylaws that were in violation of the Articles of Incorporation,” Clement stated. “Vice Presidential Succession is in conflict with the Articles of Incorporation.” In reality, the Presidential/Vice Presidential Succession established by the Board earlier this year—prior to Clement’s election—is not in violation of PEC’s Articles of Incorporation, according to attorney and PEC Governance Counsel Pete Slover. PEC General Manager Juan Garza can also be heard and viewed in the Board meeting video disagreeing with Director Clement’s inaccurate legal analysis of a past Board decision.

Arguments in favor of SMD were also made that the PEC Board, a product of the at-large voting system, lacked both the ethnic and socio-economic diversity of its membership…the primary reason behind the historic 1967 Congressional Act to require Single Member District voting. Despite these well-reasoned and member-oriented arguments, the proposal failed once again due to the four “Reform” Board members voting to extend a studied and polled election policy past next year’s election.

Director Term Limits Also Given the Snub

Following the SMD debate and vote, the policy requiring the slow-moving Governance committee to present a recommendation and vote on Director Term Limits by the November 16, 2009 meeting, was motioned and seconded. Once again, the four “reform” Board members—without explaining their reasons for going against publicly made statements supporting Term Limits—voted to put Term Limits on the same slow timeline as other Bylaws reforms…once again making them ineligible for a board vote until after the 2010 Board election. Board President Larry Landaker, was one of those voting against timely action on Term Limits. I encourage you to watch Landaker’s campaign speech from last spring (http://pec.coop/CorpProfile/mov4.aspx?mov=20090428_Forum_06.flv) where he specifically says, “I am for term limits.”

As a result of the votes of these four “reform” board members, PEC member/owners continue to not be able to elect Board representatives from within their own district and incumbent Board members can continue to sit as directors for as long as they like…which is of course made easier by having at large voting favoring special interest groups.

Extensive documentation of the Board’s study and member feedback on both Single Member District Voting and Term Limits can be downloaded at http://pec.coop/CorpProfile/BoardMeeting.aspx Download the PDF document “October 19, 2009, Board Meeting Supplement #1” and examine pages 23-63.

Adding Insult to Injury: “Reform” Board President Has Members Buy Him an iPhone

It was also revealed during the member comments period of the October Board meeting, that PEC Board President Larry Landaker had the PEC members buy him a new $300 iPhone. Landaker, in his campaign speech last spring (http://pec.coop/CorpProfile/mov4.aspx?mov=20090428_Forum_06.flv) stated that the election was an opportunity to “choose between ethical and financial reform or business as usual.” By “business as usual,” Landaker is referring to previous PEC General Manager Bennie Fuelberg and Board President Bud Burnett who also liked to have the PEC members pay for their unnecessary expenses.

The iPhone expense receipt (signed off on by “Reform” Board Directors Patrick Cox and Kathy Scanlon), states that Landaker needed the latest trendy electronic gadget for “rapid response to email.” However, Landaker later told a member that PEC was not paying for his monthly bill, indicating that he would be using the iPhone for non-PEC business…so why should the members pay for his personal cell phone? Furthermore, a PEC representative told a member that Landaker had been given a standard, company-issued Blackberry, but that he rejected this more economical option in favor of the more expensive iPhone.

PEC Press Release Vs. Media Coverage

The 10/20/09 PEC Press Release (http://pec.coop/News/Default.aspx) barely makes mention of the magnitude of member turnout, the demonstration, and the decision of the Board to be swayed by member concerns. However, at least one regional newspaper did, which gives the other side of the story (http://highlandernews.com/pages/full_story/push?article-PEC+members+protest+delay+in+changing+bylaws%20&id=4054407&instance=highlander_news).

A PEC Representative has said that members have until February of 2010 to get Single Member District voting approved and be technically possible in time for the 2010 elections. If you want the ability to elect your own Board member, rather than have other districts and special interest groups elect your board representative for you, then please contact your Board Director and let them know that you demand this reform issue. You can determine who your director is by downloading the District maps at http://pec.coop/CorpProfile/Board.aspx and look under “Downloadable Document: Board Map.

To see the members voting record on SMD and term limits click to read the rest…

The voting record of PEC Directors with Williamson County territory:

District 1: Cristi Clement (cristi.clement@peci.com)
Voted NO to Single Member District Voting.
Voted NO to Term Limits.

District 2: James Williams (james.williams@peci.com)
Voted YES to Single Member District Voting.
Voted YES to Term Limits.

District 3: Kathy Scanlon (kathy.scanlon@peci.com)
Voted NO to Single Member District Voting.
Voted NO to Term Limits.

The voting record of non-Williamson County PEC Directors:

District 4: O.C. Harmon (o.c.harmon@peci.com)
Voted YES to Single Member District Voting.
Voted YES to Term Limits.

District 5: R.B. Felps (r.b.felps@peci.com)
Voted YES to Single Member District Voting.
Voted YES to Term Limits.

District 6: Larry Landaker (larry.landaker@peci.com)
Voted NO to Single Member District Voting.
Voted NO to Term Limits.

District 7: Patrick Cox (patrick.cox@peci.com)
Voted NO to Single Member District Voting.
Voted NO to Term Limits.

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