02.24.10
PEC Board Passes Member Bill of Rights; Flawed Bylaws Proposal Dies on Table
At its February 22, 2010 board meeting, the Directors of Pedernales Electric Cooperative passed a Member Bill of Rights. This guarantees a PEC member’s right to be notified of and attend all open board and committee meetings, and their access to cooperative records under defined guidelines. The motion was passed unanimously with both legacy and new directors praising its long-awaited appearance on the table. The Member Bill of Rights, which will come before the membership for a final vote at the June 2010 annual meeting, can be downloaded at http://pec.coop/CorpProfile/Bylaws.aspx
The board, however, declined to pass a revised bylaws resolution. The proposal, crafted by the Governance and Oversight Committee, was criticized by both members in attendance and some directors for both its content and poorly crafted language. The current bylaws document, which is 5 pages written in layman’s English, is dwarfed by the proposed revised document which inexplicably ballooned up to 26 pages of legalese. Both current and the proposed bylaws documents can be downloaded at http://pec.coop/CorpProfile/Bylaws.aspx
The bylaws revisions, authored by the Governance & Oversight Committee chaired by District 7 Director Patrick Cox, failed to even garner the approval of its entire committee with only 2 of its 3 voting committee members giving it the nod of approval. Board President Larry Landaker, also a member of the Governance & Oversight Committee, openly acknowledged shortcomings in the proposal, yet proceeded to push the initiative reasoning that “the document is not as flawed as some members might think.”
Director Term Limits—which members have been requesting for over two years—was included in the bylaws revisions. However, the proposed bylaws provided for four consecutive term limits, for a total of 12 years. At past board meetings both Directors and members have asked for a two or three consecutive term limit for directors. Numerous members expressed their opinion at both the January Bylaws Forum and at Monday’s meeting that four terms was one too many.
Bylaws revisions require a super majority vote, in this case 5 affirmatives. “Reform” Directors Clement, Cox, Landaker, and Scanlon voted yes. Director Williams abstained in voting due to what he called “necessary amendments” not being made. Directors Felps and Harmon voted No.
Members Snubbed Once Again on Request for Local Representation
The proposed bylaws revisions also failed to include Single Member District voting in its election reforms. PEC members have been asking for a change from At-Large voting to Single Member District voting for over two years. The Governance and Oversight Committee was officially tasked with researching the issue and bringing it back to the Board for a full vote in an open meeting, however the committee neglected to complete that duty and failed to include it in the bylaws revisions. In January of 2009, the Governance and Oversight Committee, chaired by Director Cox, promised to bring Single Member District voting back to the table. Since then, he and three other “reform” board members (Landaker, Scanlon, and Clement) have successfully boondoggled the issue and denied PEC members their request for true local representation.
Directors Opposed to Single Member District Voting Do Not Have Support of Their District
2009 voting records broken down by district show that both current Board Vice President Cristi Clement and Board President Larry Landaker did not win the majority of votes in their respective districts. So, in effect, Single Member District voting—which they voted against at Monday’s Board meeting— would have meant they would have lost their campaigns due to failure to be sufficiently supported by the members of their own community. District 7 Director Patrick Cox ran unopposed, yet he received the least amount of votes in his home district compared with the other 6 voting districts. (You can request voting breakdowns for 2009 director elections from PEC under their Open Records policy.)
The issue of Single Member District voting versus At-Large voting is a contentious issue for a growing number of PEC members. Members have repeatedly attested that the board directors are being elected due solely to support from large special interest groups with no ties to their own district. The PEC Board, currently comprised of seven Caucasians with similar socio-economic backgrounds, has no minority representation.
Board Takes Corrective Action on Member Distribution List
At the November 16, 2009 Board Meeting the PEC Board voted to adopt a membership list distribution policy. The policy allows for any PEC member to get the names and addresses of other PEC members as long as they state a “proper purpose,” including election campaign efforts. After an outcry of protest from some members about what they saw as an invasion of their privacy, District 5 Director R.B. Felps presented an amendment to the policy allowing members to opt out of the distribution list. District 2 Director James Williams had asked for an opt-out policy at the November board meeting. However, that effort ultimately failed with District 1 Director Cristi Clement stating that allowing a member access to other members’ names and addresses was “a move toward openness.” However, Monday’s motion to allow PEC Members the right to opt out of having their personal information released was approved by a majority vote.
Monday’s Board meeting video can be viewed online at http://pec.coop/CorpProfile/BoardVideos.aspx
The voting record of PEC Directors with Williamson County territory:
District 1: Cristi Clement (cristi.clement@peci.com)
Voted YES to bylaws revisions.
Voted NO to Single Member District voting.
District 2: James Williams (james.williams@peci.com)
Voted ABSTAIN to bylaws revisions.
Voted YES to Single Member District voting.
District 3: Kathy Scanlon (kathryn.scanlon@peci.com)
Voted YES to bylaws revisions.
Voted NO to Single Member District voting.
The voting record of non-Williamson County PEC Directors:
District 4: O.C. Harmon (o.c.harmon@peci.com)
Voted NO to bylaws revisions.
Voted YES to Single Member District voting.
District 5: R.B. Felps (r.b.felps@peci.com)
Voted NO to bylaws revisions.
Voted YES to Single Member District voting.
District 6: Larry Landaker (larry.landaker@peci.com)
Voted YES to bylaws revisions.
Voted NO to Single Member District voting.
District 7: Patrick Cox (patrick.cox@peci.com)
Voted YES to bylaws revisions.
Voted NO to Single Member District voting.