Come and join us!

If you read this article regularly, you know that one thing I have expressed repeatedly is the need for our members to be involved. The articles I have written on climate legislation have continually encouraged our members to contact their legislators and let them know how you feel.

A couple months back I wrote an article about our upcoming annual meeting and a few changes to the registration process. This month I want to remind you once again about the changes made regarding the registration process and I want to encourage you to come out and see us at the annual meeting. It will be held at Jefferson High School in Lafayette on Saturday August 7. I will get into more details in a moment.

First, let’s go over what you can expect leading up to and at the meeting as far as registration is concerned. Some of this will be a reprint of my March article on this subject. Each member will receive a registration card for the annual meeting in the mail this month. The cards will have a place for the member to sign their name. The cards were altered this year and include a statement that simply indicates that the person signing the card is thereby verifying they are in fact the person listed as the registered member. In addition, members representing entities will sign the card vouching that they are indeed a qualified representative of that entity. Bring these with you to the meeting!

If you happen to lose your card, don’t let that be a deterrent. At registration, we will simply ask that you step to a separate area where our staff will help get you registered. In these cases, we will ask that you show a photo ID so we can verify you are a member prior to giving you a replacement card.

The only other instance in which we may ask for identification is if there is a reason to suspect the person with the registration card is not the registered member. In these cases, if we cannot confirm the person is a member, we will still let them attend the meeting but we cannot allow them to vote or win prizes. This is a matter of ensuring we conduct a valid and legal election. It also is a fair way to make sure the prizes awarded actually go to a member of the cooperative.

Another issue I previously discussed was that of joint membership. Many married couples have their membership in one name. Often times the spouse that is not listed on the account attends the meeting.

From a cooperative bylaw perspective, the spouse that is not on the account is not truly a member of the cooperative. This also applies to situations in which one person is deceased and the spouse carries on with the membership in the deceased name. To avoid any issues I would encourage anyone in one of these situations to give us a call and make sure the membership is held jointly or in the case of a deceased spouse, in the surviving person’s name.

When you make this change, you will receive a new account number so we can properly account for the capital credit distributions. Some members have expressed concern the capital credits they have built up will be “lost.” Member capital credits are tracked and retained in all cases. No capital credit records are purged in any way when a new account number is created to add a spouse.

As far as the meeting itself, the doors and registration will open at 8am sharp. As always, we will have some breakfast foods available. We will once again have a kid’s area for children 3 – 12 years of age. Each cooperative department will have a table set up to answer any member questions and provide information. There will be an entertaining and informative Live Wire Safety Demonstration prior to the business meeting and director elections, which will begin at 9:30am. Prize drawings will take place during the registration period and the grand prizes will be awarded at the end of the business meeting.

One comment on prizes, in the past when our directors have drawn names for the prizes we have had some instances in which we waited for the winner to come forward and eventually had to move on and draw again. Subsequently, someone would find the person whose name was drawn outside the venue and tell them their name was called. They would eventually come into the meeting hall and present themselves. However, we had already drawn another name and awarded the prize. This produced some hard feelings among a few members.

This year we want to make it clear up front, we will announce when the prize drawings are being held several times before the actual drawing. When the prize is drawn, the member will need to be in the immediate vicinity to claim the prize. We will wait one minute and repeat the winners name several times during that timeframe. When the time period expires, we will redraw and chose another winner. Once that next name comes out of the barrel, the first person drawn is no longer eligible to claim the prize.

I know it seems like we are being very meticulous about these items. We are! We are doing it for two reasons. As I stated in March, we want to protect the member and the cooperative. By taking the necessary steps up front in the registration process, we make sure the formal act of conducting the required public meeting and election continues to be completed in a legally acceptable manner. We also ensure the member prizes are handled in a fair and equitable manner.

I want you to have a pleasant experience at the meeting but I also have an obligation to make sure the legal aspects and the awarding of prizes are conducted in an appropriate and fair manner for all. We hope you will join us this year!